“I’ve made my last reservation!”

Heather threw up her arms and slumped back in her chair. It was mid-April and she had indeed just finished booking our last room to close out our six-month winter trip. While I typically choose our routes through specific countries, the job of picking our accommodations falls squarely on Heather’s shoulders. We learned a loooong time ago that I can’t be trusted to find acceptable rooms for us. Just ask her about ‘the Blue Room’ in Ireland or Valentine’s Day of 1998 in Thailand or the campground in London . . . you get the picture. So, having booked our thirty-first different room, she felt exultant. ‘Now you can relax and finally enjoy yourself’ I joked. But while the last couple weeks of our winter was now set, our entire summer was unsettled. We had a flight back to Colorado in May, and we had hopes that we would be able to spend at least part of the summer in Europe, but resurgent COVID cases through much of that continent were dashing those hopes. We were sitting on the beach in Puerto Morelos, Mexico one afternoon when Heather turned to me and said ‘you’re gonna think I’m crazy . . . but maybe this is the summer that we finally take that trip to Alaska!’ Sitting on a hot sunny beach in Mexico and talking about going to chilly Alaska might just be the definition of crazy, in my opinion. But there was some sound reasoning in her declaration. We had planned a two-week trip to Alaska years ago, which would fulfill our goal of visiting all fifty US states, as well as providing extensive opportunities to see calving glaciers, whales, bears and a host of other cool stuff. But other things came up and the plan faded from the top of our travel list. With so few other destinations available to us, and the chance to visit at a time when the crowds would be smallest (cruise ships, which carry the bulk of visitors to the state, wouldn’t resume their operations this summer), it seemed the time was right. I immediately set to work designing an itinerary, cobbling together a mix of flights, ferries and a stint in a rental car to take us to what I thought would be the highlights. When I presented the plan to her the next day, she was enthusiastic. ‘Looks great’ she said. ‘Good’ I replied. ‘We’ll need ten different rooms over the two weeks. Time for you to get back to work.’

It’s been a typical high-country Colorado summer so far: hikes to alpine lakes to enjoy the beginning of wildflower season; drives through the surrounding countryside to view pairs of sandhill cranes rearing their hatchlings; photographing the bears that have rambled into town and the mama moose parading her two newborn calves through our neighborhood. We’ve already taken a couple trips out of town – I’ve been to Long Island for a parental visit and we’ve both gone to California to see the west coast branch of Heather’s family. But the ‘big trip’ looms – Alaska. We’re keeping an anxious eye on the weather (lots of rain and temps topping out at 60 for the first week at least) and adjusting our packing list accordingly. But the weather can’t dampen our spirits. Dress warm, stay dry and keep the camera ready!

Tomorrow we drive to Denver to catch our flight to Anchorage. After picking up a rental car we’ll head down the Kenai Peninsula to visit Seward and Homer, then back up to Denali National Park during our first week. Keep your fingers crossed that we’ll see the wildlife the state is famous for, like grizzly and black bears. And humpback whales. And orcas, puffins, Dall sheep, bald eagles and caribou. And dining on fresh-caught halibut and salmon. Oh my! I don’t see how we’re going to get any sleep tonight.