Welcoming the adventure

April 13, 2017

When I was ten years old, I went on a 6 week trip to Alaska with my sister, my brother, my mom and dad & my dog. Our journey began as we drove through North Dakota and Wyoming into the Yukon in a motor home. We stopped in Canada and spent a day at the 'Worlds Largest Mall'! According to my parents, my sister and I were lost for 6 hours in this mall. If you asked us, we'd say we were just enjoying the vast array of waterslides inside the mall! I remember seeing so many stores, restaurants, places to go, it was the best day of the trip! We continued driving upwards towards Alaska and we were special, I guess because we were the first one's to try out the new Alaskan road; in fact, it was still being laid as we traveled.

It was quite an adventure, we even had to put plastic screens in front of our windows to protect it from the various rocks flying everywhere from the road. Sure, it was a lot of driving, but we made it fun. We played card games, I significantly increased my coloring skills and jammed to a lot of different music. I would often take naps or distract myself from thinking about the fact that we were driving along cliffs and the edge of mountains on very dangerous roads in a big vehicle! To be fair, the trip wasn't all scary, there were some amazing things we saw on the road. We saw wild horses, grizzly bears, caribou and goats while driving! On one of the stops we made, my sister and I got to take a ride on a dog sled! We spent our nights at campgrounds and enjoyed the food that my mother worked so hard to make for us. We visited with family in Hanes, Alaska for a few days and one of those days were so unbelievable. It was 90 degrees and the sun never set. It was the most magnificent day I've experienced!

My family then took a 4 day cruise of the inside passage and saw enormous icebergs and glaciers. The beauty of the displays around me literally took my breath away, I was left completely speechless. I also met my first boyfriend on the cruise. Jeremiah and I ran around and played in the elevator, went to the kids events together, did most things that kids do. It was a magical experience all in all. After the cruise, we spent the next 7 days traveling back to our home. The whole while, I was picturing special moments from the trip. I went on this trip over 30 years ago and still remember specific details of it like it was yesterday. I love traveling, and I guess this was my first big trip, so it sparked my desire for more. Now, I welcome the adventure.

-Emily