Change in Plans

 Man plans, God laughs. Those are the words that went through my head as we turned around on our trip to Fairbanks to visit Barb’s cousin. AND for the first time ever I posted a map of where we WERE planning to go before we actually got there. Here is where we were planning to go this week.

Now, here is where we actually went.

Barb had a relapse on her….sickness…., she was not feeling well a few weeks ago, then got better, now she's not feeling well again. Bad enough where she thought she better not visit her cousin who is works in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a Fairbanks Hospital. She started feeling sick again when we left Ninilchik that last day and into the next day in Anchorage. She was hoping she would feel better the next morning when we were to head to Fairbanks, but when she didn’t, she texted her cousin letting her know, and should she still come? Neither wanted to answer that question, it has been several years since they have seen each other, but both knew the answer. 

In the end, we turned around an hour outside of Anchorage and headed east. Both of them heartbroken it would be at least another year or two until they see each other. The mornings and evenings are the worst, she actually feels halfway decent during the day. Halfway decent is decent enough to still do a few things along the way. 

 What did we do in Anchorage you ask? Well, let me tell you what we did before Anchorage first. On our what through Cooper Landing, we stopped by the Cooper Landing Brewing Company. Nice place, nice brews, worth the stop.

 In Anchorage, we visited The Anchorage Distilling Company of course! Being connoisseurs of all things alcohol we know what is good and what is bad (at least to our taste) when it comes to distilled spirits. Their Vodka and Gin are very good. Their flavored vodka’s, not so much. Except their Ghost Pepper Vodka, Barb loved it! Too hot for me. Their whiskey is good, but it is a blend, so it is hard to give them a rating on that. Overall, it was a good visit.

 

Now, a stop in Anchorage is not complete without a stop at Dino’s Donuts for one of their infamous Dino Bones. I just could not get myself to do it, but Barb did. She said it was okay, but she’s had bigger and better. I stuck to the normal donuts without a friend's name associated with them.

 Once we had turned around on our way to Fairbanks, we were kind of discouraged and pointed the truck towards home. The GPS said we were only 50 hours, just over 3,000 miles away, so away we went!

7 hours later we found ourselves at a wayside rest near Northway, just before the Canadian border. We spent the night at a rest area, just us a few other rigs.

 

The border crossing early the next morning was a breeze, and we were on our way. It was a series of long drives; 400–500-mile days. As the song goes; we saw fire and we saw rain, we saw sunny days we thought would never end..... We also saw some beautiful days, some fireweed which was blooming everywhere and smoke, lots and lots of smoke outside Fort Nelson. Our overnights were in Northway one in Whitehorse, another in Toad River and Dawson Creek. 

I know we are not going to get any sympathy from those of you in the heat down south, but it got hot! We hadn't even seen 70 in a few weeks, now it is in the upper 80's! We stayed in campgrounds so we could run the air conditioner.

We were done sightseeing; Barb was still under the weather. Although she was sad not to see her cousin, the next few days confirmed that she made the right decision. I have never mentioned it before, but she has a white blood cell issue, it's been dropping over the last year or so. So far, the doctors are baffled, but we need to figure this out.   

We did get out for one mini hike in Whitehorse, walking the dogs really, but it was a nice walk up a sandy embankment over the lake.

 

So, we are carrying on, headed south and east. As we are driving, we have started a list. A list of projects that we want to get done when we get home. With luck, our next post will include a picture of us pulling into our driveway where it will feel oh so good to be home! But, we will hit the ground running, so much to do in the next few weeks before it is time to head to the farm for fall harvest!