23 Things

1. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to go back in time and fix all your mistakes which would you choose? A million bucks. I don’t think the mistakes I made require fixing. It got me here, didn’t it? Now where is my million bucks?

2. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what's the first thing you look at? My skin.

3. How much cash do you have on you right now? $129.39 American, $20.44 Canadian

4. Favorite plant? The Wandering Jew.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? I have no idea, but the number is 190-724-3195. Wow, weird.

6. What is your main ring tone on your phone?
Who the hell even knows. The volume on my phone sucks and half the time I don’t even hear it ringing unless I look at it and see it flashing. I hate this phone.

7. What shirt are you wearing? A red, drapey necked, sleeveless shirt.

8. Do you "label" yourself? Not really, but others seem to.

9. Name brand of your shoes currently wearing? Old Navy flip flops

10. Do you prefer a bright or dark room? Dark. My brother used to call my house “The Bat Cave”.

11. What did you have for breakfast? Did not have breakfast this morning.

12. What were you doing at midnight last night? Watching The Terminal on HBO

13. Last thought you had before you had a wreck? ”Oh shit, she’s going to hit me!”

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell phone say? ”OK, good. Just checking” from my best friend after wondering why I was so pissy and I told her I wasn’t, just getting ready to check out of the hotel and in a rush and this was her reply.

15. What's an expression that you say a lot? That is so retarded!

16. Who told you they loved you last? My friend Vicki.

17. Last furry thing you touched? A cat walking out of the Jade City shop in British Columbia.

18. How many hours a week do you work? I don’t work. I watch Eddie work.

19. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed? What is film?

20. Favorite age you have been so far? 20, since that’s the year I met my best friend.

21. Your worst enemy? Chocolate Croissants.

22. What is your current desk top picture? This photo I took in Ohio

23. What was the last thing you said to someone? ”I have GOT to buy that Kelly Clarkson CD.”

The Starfish Effect

This is an excerpt from a post on Jeff Funk's Blog, If The Fates Allow .

When you love someone it feels like they possess of a part of your heart. In theory, you should have a piece of theirs as well. But what happens when you feel like that person took from you and never gave anything in return? Are you destined to live forever with a feeling of loss? Or are hearts like the arms of a starfish? Given time, can they mend and become whole again?

I love the phrase he coined for this - The Starfish Effect. What do you think about this concept?

You Just Know When You've Met "The One"

I was just reading an article in the October 2005 issue of Red, a British magazine, about Renee Zellweger and how marriage has turned her life upside down. In the good way, of course. This was before the news of the annulment.

I'm a very happy girl, she beams. Being married feels like coming home. I've met my partner, my soul mate. And, I guess, I knew that pretty quickly.

Yeah, if home is the inside of an L.A. divorce court and your soul mate is a balding gay man.

She goes on to say,

I've not really had time to absorb it all, she admits. But I've met someone who understands me and my life, what makes me happy and what's important to me - and that's invaluable.

We've had a lot of time together and that's been wonderful. My life is much richer for it and I'm so glad I took that time".

What time?? The four months they've been married? Oh. My. God. What crap.

It's a good thing she knew pretty quickly that he was "The One".

Apparently, Aliens Tell Time With Their Ass

Because it's 8:37 in Uranus.

Rack Eyes

Today is my brother's birthday. To honor this day, I'd like to tell a little story.

I was four years old and my brother was three and we were playing hide and go seek in our apartment in the Bronx. We lived in a two family house, with our grandparents living below us.

My mother was worried because she couldn’t find Michael. She thought I might have taken him outside or left the door open and he walked out by himself. If he went downstairs, surely my Grandmother would have called saying that Michael wandered downstairs and he was safe, she had him, and not to worry. But he wasn’t downstairs. I had hid him.

We looked everywhere. My mother’s room, the sewing room, the bathroom. The front porch, the back porch, behind the curtains in the living room and in the playroom. We looked in our bedroom on the top and bottom bunk, underneath the bed and in the closet. He was nowhere to be found.

“Miiichael. Miiiiiiiichael.” She called his name in a sing song tone, but he didn’t answer. Michael knew not to make any noise because when I hid him, I told him to be quiet and at that age, he always listened to me. Besides, when he did speak, no one but I could understand him anyway, so I became an interpreter of sorts. He would say, “Mldyesdk daoe ad codked?” and my mother would want to know what he said. I would translate, “He wants a cookie.” and she’d hand him a cookie. It was like this for years.

We finally made it to the kitchen, where my mother sat me down on the kitchen floor and said calmly, but as if we were playing a fun game,

“Salena. Tell Mommy where Michael is.”

I said, “I don’t know, Mommy.”

“Is he hiding?” she asked.

“Yes.” I said, not volunteering any other information.

At that moment, as we sat there on the kitchen floor, something caught my mother’s eye and she quickly glanced over towards the radiator. Back then, most houses had a radiator. If you were lucky, you had a nice, decorative radiator cover. Ours was built into the kitchen cabinet and had doors on it. The door panels were made of metal, in a lattice design, to disguise the radiator but still let the heat through.

As she looked over toward the radiator, she saw his black eyes staring back at her, peeking through the lattice. That’s where I hid my brother; in the radiator cabinet. When my mother looked back over to me, I knew I’d been found out. So I quickly piped up, “There he is, Mommy!! See his rack eyes??”

We finally pulled Michael free of the radiator, his chubby legs stuck between the pipes. He had a giddy smile on his face, probably laughing inside because he had stayed quiet and had Mommy fooled for so long. He never said a word, even when my mother was questioning me on the kitchen floor, just a few feet away from where he was hiding in the radiator.

Instead, he just sat there silently, never even calling out to reveal his hiding place. That’s so typical of Michael, even to this day. If you don’t ask him something directly, he doesn’t speak up. You can be asking someone else a question, not ever coming up with the answer and then finding out later on that Michael knew the answer all along.

When you then ask him, “Well, how come you didn’t tell me??? You were standing right there.” He will say, “You didn’t ask me" with that same giddy smile on his face, fully aware that he was being quite devilish.Regardless of his antics, he is handsome, charming and funny. He has been a wonderful brother and is now a fantastic husband and doting father, who will begin to dispense with the knowledge and wisdom he has gained over the years, by observing life through those rack eyes.

Happy Birthday Michael!

We Go All Out!

We passed one of these convenience stores in Montana. I laughed out loud so hard when I saw the sign, that I lost the moment to get my camera and capture it, so I had to go to the website for this picture.

The company slogan: We Go All Out!!!

Well, I would expect nothing less from the Kum and Go.

Even better, they sell t-shirts. How proud would you be to display the Kum and Go name across your chest?

If you DO wear one, be sure to remember the company slogan.

All The Boring Details

I got many phone calls, emails and even comments on my blog yesterday from people wishing me a happy birthday and I wanted to thank you ALL for making me feel special!! Complete strangers wishing me well. What a great group you all are!

I really do look forward to my birthday every year. I get tons of phone calls, cards and gifts and look forward to being fawned over most of the day. My Grandmother used to call me every year at 10:49 am, the exact time I was born...to the minute. No one does THAT anymore, but I still get calls. If I were home, I'd be spending it going out to dinner with my friends and having a weekend of family celebration. But, since I'm out on the road, things were a little different this year.

My first phone call of the day came from my best friend's husband, at 6:42 am Pacific Time. He is in the Central Time Zone, which is two hours later and I figured he had no idea where I was, just knew that he wanted to call. I saw the name on my phone blinking "Honey" (which is what we call him - her AND I) and I just couldn't bring myself to answer it. I was both surprised and not so surprised that he would be my first caller. After over 18 years of friendship, I fell back to sleep with a smile on my face, basking in the fact that I'm special enough to him to get a phonecall. I made a mental note to call him when I woke up, which wasn't at late as I would have liked. The phone started ringing less than an hour later. Blast! Damn East Coast family.

My Aunt called, my father, my nephews, my mother, my cousin....there was no way I was going to sleep through these calls, so I just got up. Almost all of my friends and family wanted to know what I planned to do for my birthday. Am I going to dinner at a nice place? Am I going anywhere? What is my plan? And on and on...

This morning, while talking to a friend of mine who asked if I was planning a nice dinner out, I found myself pausing to think about her question. I thought about how most people only go out to a "nice" place for dinner to celebrate certain events; birthdays, anniversaries, job promotions, etc. A nice place might be anything from Outback Steakhouse to the new expensive trendy restaurant in your town.

Then I thought, I eat out all the time. Outback, Olive Garden, Vinnie's Italian Restaurant in Tacoma, cute places in Little Italy in New York City, BBQ joints in Dallas, Macaroni Grill, Johnny Carinos, Gavi for Italian food in Tucson, AZ, Applebees, Orso in Anchorage, Sullivan's Steakhouse, etc. We have paid anywhere from $25 to $130 for the two of us to eat dinner out and most of the time, it's worth every penny. Our "dining and entertainment" budget is huge!

With that in mind, today was not going to be very much different than any other day in the dining out department. I'm not saying we didn't go out for my birthday - we did. But we went out Thursday night instead of tonight. The reason for this, will be explained a little further down.

Since we were in Kennewick, Washington our choices were a bit limited. The first place we came across was Olive Garden, the second, Red Lobster. Since I'm Italian, I know how to cook AND I've eaten in some of the best Italian restaurants in the country, Olive Garden is a last resort for Italian. And I knew that Red Lobster could in no way compare to the scallops I had in Gloucester, MA or the Alaskan lobster tail that was the size of my HAND when I dined out in Anchorage. But, since these were my choices, I decided I wasn't in the mood for Italian, so settled on Red Lobster.

Dinner was quite tasty and after passing on dessert, we decided to take in a movie. Lord of War with Nicolas Cage. Good movie, just a little too political reference filled for me. Don't really follow that, don't know the history of other countries and typically find that kind of talk very boring. But, it was thought provoking and made you think about how screwed and corrupt our goverment has been and still is. So that was my birthday night out. Dinner and a movie.

Today....on the actual day of my birth, 38 years ago, we didn't really do much of anything. I decided that I wanted to start my 38th year by eating better and exercising. That was going to be my gift to myself. So that's the reason we didn't go out to dinner tonight. I wanted to indulge the night before the birthday, so I could start with a clean slate on Friday. Which I did.

As for what Ed got me: our weeklong trip in Alaska, a few Jade rings from the Cassair Mountain Jade Mine in British Columbia, dinner and a movie and the promise to be my kick ass Marine-style personal trainer.

And that is how my day started. Exercise. Talk about ruining a birthday. But, I did it. Ed's Tae-Bo style workout, which is certainly going to be the death of me, is how I started my morning. I think I cried. But, it's a necessary evil. I'm old now. I need to be in shape. So I ate well (grilled chicken and vegies) and got in my workout today. Keep your fingers crossed that I make it past day two and that I don't kill Eddie.

After the workout, we went and bought a new mattress for the truck. The foam mattress we had was getting a bit worn. I was feeling like the Princess and the Pea for a few weeks there. I would lay down and literally feel a speck of dirt under the mattress. For some reason, I kept getting poked with something in the hip. Each time I went to investigate, I found nothing. The last few nights I've been telling Ed that I felt like I was sleeping on a straw mat in China somewhere. I would have had better luck in the grass outside of the truck than on this bed that was bruising me in places I didn't even know a pea could reach. So the new bed in FAAABBBUUULOOUUUS! I wanted to sleep immediately, but it was 10 in the morning and I had just gotten up a few hours before. I can't wait to try it out tonight. If this doesn't help and I wake up tomorrow feeling that damn pea, I will know that my father was right - I am a true Princess. And that means, I will have to move out of the truck and into a castle. Hmmmmm.

Later in the day, my nephews called for my birthday. I was telling Nicolas how I am 32 years older than he is. He said, "Wow! That's really old Aunt Salena" Thank you Nicolas, thank you very much. Then Joey got on the phone and sang me the "Happy Birthday to you, You live in a Zoo, You look like a monkey and you smell like one too" song and then broke into hysterical laughter. When he was done and handed the phone back over to Nicolas, I asked him, "How does Joey know I smell like a monkey??" He comforted me by saying, "That's just an expression, Aunt Salena, from the birthday song. You don't really smell like a monkey...or look like one." Thank you Nicolas, thank you again. And Jake, at two and a half, sang a brilliant rendition of Happy Birthday but quickly transitioned into asking about Eddie and the truck. All he cares about is Eddie and the damn truck!

So there it is, the boring details of my birthday. As the darkenss fell, so did the snow as we drove through Montana. Yes, snow! What's up with that? That was actually the perfect way to end my special day. Anyone who knows me will confirm how much I hate the heat, so to be blessed with a day in September cold enough for snow? I am truly blessed. Here's to another year!!

38 Special

Today is my 38th Birthday. You do realize that's only TWO years away from 40, don't you?? Oh. My. God. Rather then dwelling on my age, which I've been doing for about a week now, I'm going to reminisce by looking at pictures of myself when I was young, thin and had not a care in the world. It's all about ME today.

Here I am at eleven months old and making sure I had chosen the right pair of sunglasses for my outfit. I was so stylish back then, everyone was borrowing my stuff. See that bow on my head? Do you know how it's staying there? Scotch Tape. That's right. I had NO hair when I was little, so my mother used to scotch tape a bow to my head. We were light years ahead of Velcro hair ornaments!

Here I am at three years, seven months old and riding a bike in my Grandfather's living room. Notice the ladylike way I'm straddling the thing. Niiiice.Easter, 1971. Bonnet, poncho, little girl purse, white leather gloves and patent leather shoes. I am so ready for the parade.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I'm three and a half years old and I look like June Carter Cash. Notice the fluffy blue slippers that match my nightgown. Oh, and check out the very fashionable goldleaf table and olive colored sateen couch. My family was all about the Mafia furniture.

Again with that hair! I was clearly wearing the crocheted beret years before J. Lo. Damn those style thieves! Isn't this outfit mod? That was my mother's favorite word, Mod. She still uses it today. "Oh, I like that outfit on you. You look so mod" I personally think the silver sequined clutch pulls the whole look together. Don't you? This was during my different coat for every outing phase. My hair is falling in a very delicate wave to my shoulders, grazing the top of my faux shearling and leather coat. I wore this on the weekends when we'd go feed the animals at the Bronx Zoo. You have to look good as you never know who you might meet.As I was nearing five years old, I switched to brighter colors. I thought it suited my older, sassier personality. Much like the shag haircut I'm sporting. This is so Jane Fonda in Klute.

That was such a refreshing trip down memory lane. I feel young and carefree again. I think I've been inspired to revive the June Carter Cash hair, the silver sequined clutch and the colorful coats. The shag hair...that will never be seen on my head again.

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Eddie's New Ride

Ed standing next to a dump truck we saw somewhere along our route in Alaska.  I've seen these big wheels on trucks being transported, but I've never actually seen them on a vehicle.

Laundress

This oil on canvas painting is titled Laundress. It was painted by Edgar Degas, circa 1874. I chose this painting because this is what I will look like today after doing the 57 loads of laundry that is waiting for me. The only difference will be a huge hump on my back. Gee, how come Degas didn't think of that?

Hello, America!

We entered the United States today after being out of the country for over three weeks, one of those weeks spent in Alaska. Although I loved almost every minute of our journey, I am very happy to be home.

Many areas we passed through were so remote that it was hard for me to comprehend that people actually enjoy living there. NO stores. No fast food, no malls, no bookstores, no grocery stores, no hospitals, no nothing. It's one thing to enjoy solitude and choose to not live in a crowded area, but it's quite another thing to become Grizzly Adams.

We drove hundreds of miles without seeing anything. Well, I take that back...we did see moose, buffalo, bears, bison, foxes, caribou, cows and horses, but rarely a person. I don't really like the overcrowding of a city, even though my dream at one time was to move out of upstate New York into the City. I much prefer being on the outskirts of any big town or city with no more than a 30 minute drive to civilization.

As we drove down to Seattle, my head was spinning in a circle looking at all the cars and people and stores and stuff that I hadn't seen in the last three weeks. You would have thought it was my first visit to a civilized society. And to think, the first big task I have to do now that I'm back in the Lower 48, is laundry. Oh, how I dread tomorrow.

Does A Bear Shit In The Woods?

Why yes, people, yes he does. Ed spotted this black bear squatting to answer the call of nature and I, with my trusty camera at the ready, caught him in the act!! No animal was hurt during the photographing of this act, so don't be calling PETA on me.

So, do you think we laughed at this sighting?

Um, does a bear shit in the woods??

We Live In The Signpost Forest

Ed was at a convenience store in Watson Lake, Yukon where he saw that someone had written on the bathroom wall, "I live in the Signpost Forest". We laughed at that, since people don't actually "live" in this forest. It is places and their names that live on.

I wrote in a previous post about this place and now, we have added our name not only to the landscape in the Yukon, but also to the Signpost Forest. You can see our little sign nestled between the words CITY and LIMIT on the large Riverview sign.
Here is an up close look at our sign, which has now joined the more than 60,000 signs in the forest. I think a journey of over 6,000 miles deserves to be commemorated by a homemade sign in a forest with no trees.We look forward to getting up there again someday and stopping by the forest to see how it's grown. Make sure you do the same if ever in that neck of the woods!

Rock It!!

Between Whitehorse and Watson Lake in the Yukon, there are over 100 miles of names, created in rock, on the side of the road. On every bank, on the little hillsides and any flat space that can accomodate a few rocks.

We wondered who started this fun little way to leave a mark in nature and decided on our way back through, we would add our name to the group. We wanted to leave our mark in the Yukon, too.

We chose a place high on the hillside to add our monikers - ED and SALENA. If you click on the picture, you'll be able to see it more clearly.

It was hard work climbing the hill and trying to stand there without sliding down as the incline is steeper than it looks. As you might have guessed, Ed did most of the work. I bitched about the climb up, the gnats, the dirt that got in my sneakers and the heavy rocks.

Thank God my man isn't afraid of a little hard work, because if it were left up to me, the hillside would have read...

ED and SA.

But They're Hard To Find!

Today while shopping at The Great Canadian Superstore in Whitehorse, Yukon, I came across chocolate croissants. I immediately bagged three of them and made my way to the cashier. Three? Yes. One for me, one for Eddie and one for "layta".

I always tell Ed that I have to buy them when I see them because they are so hard to find. He always counters that with, "Hard to find? Yeah, right. They are so hard to find. That's why you found them here, at Starbucks, at that bakery in Connecticut, the little place in Seattle...oh yeah, hard to find."

I looked at him and laughed when I realized that he was absolutely right. I do find them everywhere. I guess I'm stuck back in the time when not everyone made them. For some unearthly reason, they weren't popular. Only certain places had them and when they did, there were only like, three of them in the case. You had to get there first so you wouldn't miss out. So I guess I do get a little excited when I see them. I see them and blurt out, "Chocolate Croissants! Oh my God, I have to have one! They are so hard to find."

I wish they were hard to find because I have no control around a chocolate croissant. And when I do find them, they seem to find their way right to my ass.

Goodbye Alaska

After a week in Alaska, we are heading back to the Lower 48. We have had a great week up here, doing quite a bit of sight seeing and exploring the town of Anchorage and some surrounding areas. I leave you with my last pictures of Alaska, taken on our way out of the state.

Float And Set

Today, we spent part of the afternoon at the Lake Hood Floatplane Base. It's the world's busiest floatplane base lake - as many as 800 planes per day splash down and lift off from this location.

After that, we had lunch and then spent a few hours having coffee at the Barnes and Noble, reading and fooling around on the computer. We went for a drive before dinner to the top of a mountain overlooking Potter's Marsh to watch the sun set. It was a beautiful site and since tonight is our last night in Alaska, a perfect way to end our trip.

Tomorrow, we head out to Seattle. We will once again be going through the Yukon Territory, British Columbia and Alberta. I will have limited internet access, but will post something when I come across an internet connection. See you back in the Lower 48!!

What The Hell Are You Looking At?

Glacial Impact

"Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eyes, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence."

-Alfred Billings Street (American poet, 1811-1881)

Today we spent 8 hours on a tour of the icy waters in the Gulf of Alaska. We toured Kenai Fjords National Park and viewed an active tidewater glacier and several active sea creatures. This first picture is of the big fish I caught (Eddie), hanging on a hook in Seward, Alaska.
We viewed the Holgate Glacier, part of the 700 square mile Harding Icefield, which covered the Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet 17,000 to 25,000 years ago. The Harding Icefield is the largest icefield located within the United States and estimates suggest that the icefield receives about 400 to 600 inches of snow a year.
The face of this glacier is 400 to 600 feet high. These are the tips of the glacier and as you can see, it's blue, just like most of the glacier. It has something to do with the density of the ice and the color that reflects off of it. Whatever - it was just cool! As we were winding down the glacier viewing, one of the crew members fished a big floating chunk of glacier ice out of the water and promptly made "Glacier Margaritas" with it. Man, that was some good ice! This is one of the two Dall's Porpoises that we saw. They swam alongside the bow of the boat, jumping in and out of the water, showing off to us how fast they are. Here is a little Sea Otter. They do most everything floating on their back (ahhhh, my kind of animal), from eating to feeding their young. It was hard to get close to him but you can tell they are cute from far away! Ed said I was cuter than the Sea Otter. Isnt' that sweet??One of the best sights today was the Stellar Sea Lion. Another mammal after my own heart....lives in cold weather, swims when they feel like it, lays around on rocks all day and gets to play with their friends. What a life.



We also saw a humpback whale, Puffins (birds), a bald eagle and a mountain goat. They were too far away to get a good picture, but clear enough for us to get a good look.
During the cruise, we also dined on Prime Rib and Alaskan Salmon...plus a dessert bar and tasty drinks. Did you really think we'd spend eight hours on the water with no food??

Shame on you.

Tomorrow is another day...

Channeling Angelina Jolie

Feast Your Eyes

We have covered over four THOUSAND miles to get to Anchorage, Alaska! Ed is a true Road Warrior. The following are some pictures from along the way. I don't expect them to take very long to load, but this post is long, so go get a cup of coffee. I'll wait. If you don't read the whole thing, I will be very upset. And yes, I will know. (Mom!) Really though, it's quick reading...mostly pictures.

If you desire to check your atlas, you can follow our path. We started in Marietta, Oklahoma (I'll leave out the states we covered in the US) and entered the Province of Alberta, Canada at the Port of Sweetwater, Montana - just north of Great Falls.

Once in Alberta, we went through Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie. Leaving Alberta and crossing into the Province of British Columbia at Dawson Creek, we started our journey on the world famous Alaska Highway. The Alaska Highway covers some of the most remote areas we have ever seen (well, besides West Texas and New Mexico, which isn't NEARLY as pretty).

Traveling through British Columbia in the Northern Rockies, we passed through Pink Mountain, and then stopped in Muncho Lake, where we had dinner at the Northern Rockies Lodge. We were just in awe of the beauty of the nature surrounding us. Muncho Lake has a distinctly blue color due to the copper oxide that leaches into the lake from the bedrock. The color was very noticeable. I tried to get a picture, but the blue green color just didn't come out well.

The road from Muncho Lake to the Yukon was just alive with wildlife. We saw a Red Fox, Ed saw a Black Bear cub and then we saw three camera shy Caribou. Although I couldn't get a picture of the Caribou (I just wasn't fast enough with the shutter finger), I did get a picture of this female moose. She stood and looked at us for a while before trotting off.
Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam. Where the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard a discouraging word. And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Did you say Buffalo? I thought so. You will notice in the picture below, the buffalo just grazing on the side of the road. That's right. ON the side of the road, people. We stopped the truck right next to the herd. Whistled. Blew the horn. Nothing. Not one of them lifted a HEAD. They just kept chewing on grass and ignoring us. How ruuuude.

This guy is a little mangy....but he looked okay mixed in with the herd.
Back on the road… Once through British Columbia, which was INCREDIBLY gorgeous with all it's lush landscape and wildlife, we entered the Yukon Territory in Watson Lake. Watson Lake is famous for it's Signpost Forest. The true story on the sign is as follows: The Yukon was a distant and, sometimes, lonely place for the thousands of American soldiers who were sent North to build the war-time road to Alaska. While convalescing after a vehicle accident in 1942, Carl Lindley – a 21 year-old soldier with Company D. 341st Engineers – wistfully erected a sign pointing to his hometown of Danville, Illinois. The single sign has grown into a “forest” of more than 48,000 signs from cities and towns around the world and is still growing. Visitors add over 2,000 signs each year.

Apparently, Carl Lindley visited the site 50 years later with his wife, in 1992, to see the thousands of signs that had been added after his. In fact, Ed and I have constructed a sign of our own and will be posting it on our way back through. A little Yukon whimsy...
More nature...
The view I have coming and going...
More gorgeous sites...



Many of the trees were vibrant yellows and golds. There were some orange and red, but it is late in the season up here and we missed most of that color. But the contrast of the yellows against the white bark of it's tree, the deep green of the fir trees, the deep blue of the sky and the crisp white of the snow capped mountains was just breathtaking. I was truly blown away by the vast beauty of this area.

The really amazing thing to me is that only about 33 million people live in all of Canada. We have about 296 million people - living in an area just slightly smaller. In areas like the Yukon, the majority of the population in that Province, live in Whitehorse. Where, by the way, I found a Starbucks!! Sure, you have to drive past a few moose to get a latte, but sometimes, it's just worth it.

We are looking forward to the drive back through this beautiful area. I was almost sold on the Yukon once I found the internet in Destruction Bay. Although, any kind of civilization is more than 300 miles away; that's a long way to go for a Venti Carmel Latte.