Traveling North America

My travel Blog!
As I start a new year of blogs, what I write might be totally different from what you have seen or read in your travels. That’s why it’s interesting to hear others’ stories. A person can go to the same place, and see very different things. It also is a bit overwhelming to try and write a short blog about each place in North America. Every state and province can be very different depending what area you go to. My family didn’t hit much of the tourist stuff; we tended to go off the beaten track, so bear with me if my stories bear no resemblance to yours!
I’m going to begin in the northwest, and each week move southeast. I hope you enjoy what I’ve seen.
​
ALASKA
Let’s start at the Arctic Circle Line. My favorite memory of the six weeks we trundled around Alaska in our good ol’ raised roof van was Chicken, Alaska. It’s a tiny village of only 12 members anymore, but it had its moment of fame when gold was discovered there in 1896. We came into it via the “Top of the World Highway” which is an adventure in itself. It was a gravel, pot holey, no-shoulder road that gave me the shivers when I was slowly driving it during my turn at the wheel. However, I had read the book, “Tisha” so had a burning desire to actually get to this remote place where a young, 19-year-old teacher had her first teaching experience back in 1927. By the time we’d bumped and chugged our way into that neck of the bush, I had to admit that woman definitely had more courage than I. I started teaching at 18, in the bush in Minnesota, but nothing like the remoteness of this area. I don’t think I could have done it.
However, I really enjoyed our summer overnight stay there. A genuine elderly sourdough (experienced gold miner) hermit happened to come down to the river where I was trying to pan for gold and showed me a few tricks of the trade. (I later found out a journalist had been trying to track him down for his story and couldn’t get near him, so I was blessed he spoke to me!) He laughed when I said teaching was easier than panning for gold and told me I was smart to realize when I was well-off instead of straining for the pot of gold at the rainbow’s end.
As I curled up in my flannel pajamas (in July!) and lay in my tent that night listening to the gurgling of the river beside me, I was happy that I was in Alaska, seeing God’s amazing beauty. Ps 139:7-8 was a bit of a theme verse during that time, because we spent hours and days traveling without seeing another soul. David says, “where shall I flee from thy presence …” whether ascending to heaven or descending to hell there was no way to escape from God’s presence. The distances in our northern areas can seem intensely remote – but God has no border He can’t cross. How comforting that can be when one is feeling lonely!
Have you ever been to Alaska, or remote areas? What did you think? Do you love the stillness, or does it make you edgy to have no people around? Drop and line and let me know!
See you next week as we stay in the north but move eastward!