BRIEF REPORT

              So many have asked us about our trip to Alaska I need to share a little. Our biggest impression was the size of the state. It is difficult to imagine its vastness.  It is two and a half times the size of Texas. Denali National Park by itself is as large as the state of Vermont.  One road is built into the park and we toured only a fraction of it. Alaska has as many mountains as the rest of the other 49 states combined and over a thousand sizable lakes, so many that some of them are not even named. We saw the inside ocean passage with the glaciers and the railroad and highway between Whittier, Anchorage and Fairbanks. We saw whales, moose, bear and caribou (reindeer). We visited Native Americans and were introduced to their lifestyles, both past and present. Many of them still live off the land as hunters and gatherers. We were on a cruse liner, railroads (both modern and ancient), a small boat for whale watching, a rear wheel river boat, motor coaches (buses) and, of course, numerous airplanes. We saw the Trans Alaska pipeline, and panned for gold. (Together we got a few microscopic flakes of gold which assayed for seventeen dollars).

            Going in mid-September we encountered both fall and winter. In the southernmost area the leaves had turned and were falling. In the northernmost area the deciduous trees were already bare and they were expecting the first major snow the next week. Fairbanks and Denali Park will be snowed in for six months. We were on the road where the TV show about ice road truckers is filmed, but before the snow covered it. We had to wear several layers of sweaters and jackets part of the time.

            Alaska may be bigger but we still choose “Sweet Home Alabama.” And we praise God for all His vast creation. 

Grace and peace.