Thursday, August 8
On the Road to Vanderhoot
Our Final Day
When Ken announced that he and Carole would not leave Smithers until 9:00, there was a noticeable sigh of relief. That meant we could sleep a little later and not be in such a rush to get on the road. There has never been an official "hurry up and leave" order. Quite the contrary, we could leave anytime, but most people usually left right after Ken. Today, I found Dot, Mel, Carl, and Chris standing around watching everyone get ready to go. They must think they are supervisors or something.
As we were getting ready to pull out, I talked to a man from Canada about how beautiful his country is and how much we have enjoyed being here. He said that he knows it is beautiful, but that he and most everyone else here doesn't appreciate it's beauty. I got to thinking about that, and realized that we are all pretty much the same. We too don't appreciate the beauty and the good things about the area where we live. All too often we just take it for granted. Every part of our country has it's own character and beauty. Aren't we lucky to be able to travel and enjoy it all.
We did leave around 9:45 to start our last official 170 mile journey of this trip. What a gloriously wonderful day - lots of sunshine, no wind, temps in the 60's - who could ask for more. Good roads also helped make this leg of the trip pleasant. Additionally we had beautiful scenery to look at. The "Lake District" gave us one beautiful lake after another with awesome mountains in the background. The lack of wind made many of the lakes mirror smooth with reflections of mountains and trees that were so spectacular.
Buddy enjoyed his time with the "folks from the Great State of Texas." He sat on the dash and served as navigator for this trip.
When we stopped for Diesel he was more than willing to help pump, and his trip to the Co-Op garnered him a Co-Op cap and a ride in a Dodge shopping basket. He even got to drive.
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He found a couple of his buddies; one was going fishing and the other was playing baseball, but he opted to stay with us
We rewarded him with french fries and a cold mug of root beer at A & W.
,but that only made him have to "take a walk" with Lucy.
He also spent a little time visiting with Ron and Jackie's Buddy. They thought it was funny that they had the same name. Buddy thinks it would be fun to come to Texas too. He wants to ride a horse and go to a rodeo!
Our final dinner together tonight was bittersweet. It is so hard to believe that this fabulous trip is about over; yet, we all know that every good thing must come to an end. Many of us have children and grandchildren whom we miss; others have work or other obligations that they need to get back to; and still others have yet another adventure planned. Dinner was excellent and the stories we told about what was our most memorable part of the trip and what was the funniest thing we remembered reminded some of us of many things we had forgotten.
Cindy passed out DVD's of the movies she has made. How fun will that be to watch those when we get home. Ken, Carol, Mattie and Spence dispersed gifts for each rig. The little Buddy Bear is cute, the spice is nice, the Alaska Christmas ornament is neat, but the picture of all of us in front of the dazzling Mt. McKinley is a treasure I will cherish for a long time. It is beautiful!!
Thanks to everyone for making this such a wonderful, memorable trip. I have learned so much about glaciers, gold mining, salmon fishing, fish hatching, and life in the Yukon and Alaska. Add to that the spectacular scenery, the wildlife, the shows, the tours, the dinners, and the excellent companions we have had to travel with. It just can't get much better than this. Tomorrow we will go our many different ways, but we will always remember the good times we had traveling to Canada and Alaska.
Good luck and God's Speed to everyone!
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