D is for Driving Across Countries!

Count-down 43 days until departure for Alaskan Adventure!

4322 miles to drive.

82 hours driving time.

That’s like driving from our house in Northern Ohio to Bogota, Columbia; or from Inverness, Scotland to the middle of Russia (Novosibirisk); or from Lisbon, Portugal to somewhere in the middle of Iran (Shahreza to be more precise). You get the idea. That’s a lot of road.

Our approximate route

Of course we won’t actually be driving across the entire U.S. or Canada. We are flying from Ohio out to Minneapolis, MN then we’re taking a shuttle to Iowa, where we’ll pick up the RV that will be our hotel, restaurant and vehicle for three weeks. 

   

Then we begin our 4322 mile drive.

All those miles together with our two teenaged daughters and nine year old son might sound daunting.  In fact, I’m looking forward to the quality time. We’re bringing our favorite road trip music which we plan to play and sing quite loudly (I guess that will keep the bears away!)  

I’m not overly romantic about it though.  I’m sure the close quarters might get tiresome and tempers will surely flare occasionally but we are used to being on the road together.  Our round trip road trip from Ohio to Seattle a couple of years ago was a total of about 5000 miles but we stayed in Seattle for about a month so that broke up the driving. And we all agreed that was the best trip we’d ever taken!

My biggest worry, other than the bears of course, is driving an RV.  I’ve never driven anything longer than our old Delta 88 that we had when we first got married. This thing is going to be 28 feet long!  Those curvy mountain roads that we’re bound to travel up and down are scary enough in a minivan!  I hope I don’t run us, or anyone else off the road!

Have a great day and drive safely!

Kathy :)

C is for Canada!

Count-down 44 days until departure for Alaskan Adventure

Banff National Park From Wikipedia Commons

As we make our way toward Alaska, I’m really excited that we are going to make a stop in Banff, Alberta, Canada.  I’ve wanted to visit there for a long time, ever since I saw a picture of Lake Louise, which was named after Queen Victoria’s daughter.  

Lake Louise from Wikipedia Commons

Its pristine glacier fed waters are an amazing blue-green that mystically draw me in like a luna moth to moonlight.

Established in 1885, Banff National Park is Canada’s oldest national park.  It began to be popular in the late 1880’s as a trendy stopover point along the Canadian Pacific Railroad for travelers making their way from Europe to the Far East.  At the time this was the quickest route to Asia.  

The park today encompasses 6641 square km or 4100 square miles of protected wilderness.  

Banff is famous for it’s excellent skiing. I checked the snow conditions for today. They have more than six feet of snow on the ground up there!  I hope by the time we drive through in May that at least some of that has melted!  

Speaking of the snow and ice, the most visited glacier in North America, the Athabasca Glacier, resides in Banff National Park.  It has been measured to be between 90-300 meters (330-980 ft.) thick and covers an area of 6 square km (2.3 sq. mi.).  I would love to go on their tour where you can actually walk around on the glacier.  So cool!

Other neat facts about Banff:

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Lots of movies have been filmed there, including River of No Return starring Marilyn Monroe

The Town of Banff is the highest in Canada at 4537 ft high

Two other fun Canadian spots I'm excited about are Dawson Creek and Jasper. Dawson Creek is at mile 0 on the Alaskan Highway, which was built during World War II as a way to get lend lease equipment from the U.S. to Russia. Jasper is a national park which was originally a fur trading post.

Jasper from Wikipedia Commons

If you want to read more you can check out these links:

Parks Canada

Jasper Travel

Wikipedia

Banff Lake Louise

Have a great day!

Kathy :)

B is for Bears and IWSG

Count down 45 days until departure for the Alaskan Adventure!  

From Wikipedia Commons

I’ve always been a chicken when it comes to wild animals that can eat me.  And bears seem quite a bit higher than me on the food chain. As we make our way across the U.S. and Canada and then into Alaska, we will be driving right through the heart of bear country.  

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game website says that Alaska is so special because all three species of bear flourish there. Brown, black and polar bears.  Yay!  It goes on to state, “Even if you don’t see one, you will never be far from them.” Oh even better!  

Of course the stats on actual attacks are low and deaths occur rarely but I know as we are out hiking, my imagination will run as wild as the surroundings and I’ll be peering around every tree searching for big fuzzy lumbering shapes.  The website says it’s important not to surprise a bear so make noise while hiking, travel in groups, sing, and if possible walk with the wind at your back so they can smell you. (I wonder if we should shower.)

I went on to read the steps to follow in case of an actual bear encounter. *I may have changed the wording slightly.

1. Let the bear know you’re a human by talking to it calmly, (maybe I'll try reading it my latest story), and wave your arms. They don’t usually want to eat humans, too many trans-fats.

2. Hold your ground and whatever you do, don’t run because like dogs, bears love to chase their terrified prey.  Keep talking calmly to the bear and don’t make high pitched sounds, (oh, like screams?)

3. Play dead or fight back depending on whether the bear is trying to eat you or kill you to protect itself.  Playing dead is good with grizzlies, mama bears with cubs, surprised bears, bears hiding a carcass, bears having a picnic with lions and tigers, etc.  Fight any black bear no matter the situation and fight any bear that is in your tent. Hmmm, it doesn’t give the best technique for actually fighting a bear.    

I guess this is where my insecurity for this month comes in. I try to have a positive attitude but I'm not sure I can be successful in a fight against a bear. I hope it never has to come to that. (The IWSG is and awesome group that posts monthly on their fears, insecurities, hopes and dreams. Visit Alex to find out more.)

In all seriousness I would actually love to see a bear. They are magnificent creatures but I would love it most if we see one from the safety of our moving vehicle. :)

Are there any creatures in nature that terrify you? Have you ever had to face that fear?

Kathy :)

A is for Alaskan Adventure!

For this year's A-Z Challenge, my theme is

Mt. McKinley Wikipedia

Alaskan Adventure!

In 46 days my husband and I along with our three children ages 17, 15, and 9, will be going on the adventure of our lives!

We're driving to Alaska! 

Our approximate route 

I’m super excited about it but also nervous.  As the cautious not-so- much-of-a-risk-taker member of the family, I think about all the things that might go wrong. 

  I’ve been trying to prepare, but unlike the pioneers setting out for the West, who spent months building their covered wagons and sewing clothing for their trip, there isn’t that much to do.  Which makes me feel like I’m not preparing at all. 

I thought making our trip my A-Z theme will force me to wrap my head around the magnitude of what we’re going to do. Hopefully I will learn more about what’s in store for us as I research each post.  

I'm looking forward to a fun-filled A-Z adventure! I can't believe there are so many participants this year. My posts are going to be short and sweet so we all have more time to visit others on the list.  I can't wait to see what creative posts you all have.

Have you ever been to Alaska? or taken an extended road trip?

Have an Adventurous "A" day!

Kathy :)

I also wanted to take a minute to announce the release of Kyra Lennon's third book in her Game On series,

Sidelined

It's available on Amazon here

Are You Signed Up?

I just signed up and...

wow, I'm number 1321!  

I don't know how many bloggers were involved in the A-Z Challenge my first year, but I'm pretty sure it was around 300.  I'm blown away that it has grown so much!

Thanks to Arlee, the creator and all his wonderful co-hosts for putting it on again this year!  If you're not signed up yet head on over to A-Z Challenge, to sign up and read what it's all about.  Every year I meet so many great new blogging buddies through the Challenge.  And it's a lot of fun to see what everyone comes up with.

Last year's challenge took a lot out of me.  My theme was What My Grandpa Taught Me, and it was right after his passing.  There were many mornings I left my laptop in tears.  By the time May rolled around, I just didn't have the strength to post anymore.  I had used it all up.
I think I maybe wrote ten more posts the rest of the year.

But this year I feel refreshed.
I have a theme all ready (not telling yet!) and it won't bring on the facial waterfalls.  So I'm excited to get started.  I've started planning my posts, but I haven't written any yet.  Hopefully, I'll get to that tomorrow.  In the past, I haven't pre-written posts, but this year for me is all about trying new things.  I'll let you know if it works.

Are you signed up?  Is this your first year or have you been in it since the beginning?
Do you have a theme yet?

Have a great Wednesday!

Kathy :)

Jumping Out of My Comfort Zone

I haven’t been around for awhile.  Thank goodness for D.L. Hammons Blitzs which get me visiting and commenting a little bit.  

I’ve been busy reading a lot, writing some, and taking care of Jessica who suffered a concussion almost a month ago now and is just beginning to feel better.  It’s been a challenge keeping her spirits up when she was told she had to rest mind and body completely which meant no computer to write on and no reading.  One day she was in her room and said she was just staring at the ceiling.  :(

What I’m most excited about though, is what I did Saturday.  In my last post, from January, I said one of my goals was to take myself to a new level this year and Saturday was what I was referring to.  

Two months ago my much younger skating friend talked me into entering an adult figure skating competition with her.  It was crazy, I know.  I hadn’t competed in 25 years, but I’m on the ice every day to teach, so I thought maybe it was possible.  

We had lots of fun training together but as last week came to a close and our event neared, I began to worry I was over my head.  My lungs were on fire as I tried to make it through my three minute program and two of the jumps were still giving me trouble.  What had I been thinking?  But I was also excited. I had to concentrate on the things I was good at and enjoy performing.    

Then Saturday was upon us.  I was nervous and I knew I hadn’t trained as much as I should have because of all those other things in life that always manage to create road blocks. I was as ready as I could be at that moment in time and I just had to go for it.  

I’d like to say that as soon as I stepped on the ice all my nervousness melted away, but it didn’t. I was determined though, to enjoy each one of my three minutes and show what I could do.

Jumping out of my comfort zone!!

As my music played, time slowed and each movement flowed from my body.  I had time to think about how lucky I was to be there with my kids, husband, and parents cheering me on.  

What a moment.  

During the last minute, I took a deep breath both to calm my excitement and to not pass out during my big finish.

When the last few notes played and I struck my ending pose nothing else mattered.  I had done it!  A huge smile broke across my face as I bowed and skated off.  I knew I hadn’t skated everything perfectly but I landed all my jumps and did everything I had hoped to do.  

The scores didn’t even matter.    

Alyssa, me, Jessica, and my coach

What have you been up to?  Any big news?  A-Z is coming up are you participating?



Kathy :)

New Beginnings

Here we are at the beginning of a new year.

After reading many people's posts on Facebook and their blogs, it sounds like most of us are glad 2013 is finally behind us.

2013 did have some wonderful moments.  My husband and I took the kids on some great trips, we had the opportunity to visit friends we hadn't seen in ten years, Jessica got her book published, Alyssa joined a synchronized skating team, Ryan started playing guitar, and I worked a lot on improving myself by reading more and taking some classes.

For 2014, I'm going to try to take myself to a new level.  I have a number of goals planned for this year, some of which will take me completely out of my comfort zone.  I'm a little nervous about that, but I figure even if I completely fail, I will grow and learn from the experience.  I also have more simple goals like reading some of the classics that I never got around to and writing consistently for at least one hour a day.

I'm still not sure what to do about blogging.  I love interacting with all the wonderful friends I've met through this community, but sometimes I feel bogged down.  Blogging for me was supposed to help me write more in the hopes that I would finally get a novel finished.  But I spent so much time writing posts and visiting people that I lost sight of my actual writing.  Somehow, I hope to find a good balance so I can stay connected and have fun, but also get some work done!  I'd love to hear suggestions on how you balance the two.

Here's to a great new year full of adventure and accomplishment!

Thanks to everyone who supported me last year!
I'd love to hear what your goals are for the new year. :)

Kathy