49 Down One To Go

I did not do this on purpose, and I definitely would not have waited this long if I could have done something different, but this was well worth the wait.

Our 49th state was my 49th state, and for those of you who slept through American history, or geography like I did, our 49th state was the Alaskan Territory, and boy does that land deserve such a title.

I had great expectations going to Alaska for my first time, unreasonable expectations, and for a little while I was greatly disappointed, but that did not last long.  Not only did I enjoy where I stayed in Anchorage, felt as if I was back in Switzerland, but leaving Anchorage on the "milk run," and getting to see the mountains and the glaciers, and the "glacial flows" as we made our way towards Juneau one third of the way to normal cruising altitude, I was catapulted well beyond my expectations.  It is a "territory" like no other.  This is the kind of place that makes you want to just pick up and walk into the wilderness and keep on going.  I can understand why a Christopher McCandless, or Jeremiah Johnson, would do what they did.  The only thing I do not understand is what the hell took me so long to get to these places I have seen in the past six months??!!

The one aspect where I had no expectations, because frankly it never entered my mind, was the people.  These are nice people.  These are warm people.  These are fun people, and some are beautiful people, very!!

I can't say that I am dying to get to 50 because Hawaii has just never been high on my list of places to see, the Badlands and Devil's Tower were much more of a draw for me, but I can say that now I have to find a way to get back to Alaska for a much longer stay with nothing to do but take it in.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.