Last Days

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Wow! Here is the home stretch, we are really winding down. I’ve spent some time reflecting on our time here. It seems like we’ve packed a year’s worth of adventure into 6 weeks. When I think all the way back to our first days here, it seems like ages ago and yet I can’t believe that it’s time to go already. We really were fortunate to have received good advice about places to visit. We certainly didn’t hit them all. The other thing that I am amazed by is the people that we met and that welcomed us into their lives. Here we were some family from Massachusetts dropping into Anchorage for 6 weeks and we were met with such generosity. Within days of arriving, we had 3 bikes to use and had been on a local homeschool outing. We have made friends that I know will last for a very long time.

Danielle enjoyed the Bear’s Tooth so much that we all went there on Tuesday. We met our friends Kim, Nelson, and Matthew, along with their friends Matt, Theresa, Jayce, and Kenzie. We had good food and good conversation!

On Wednesday, we hoped to make one last trek to the top of Flat Top. The girls picked me up and we looked west….at some nasty looking storm clouds. We opted for a trip to a great local bakery to pick up some bread for the plane ride home. Then we came back the apartment and went for a run.

On Thursday, Danielle and the girls ran all sorts of errands; the library, recycling center, REI… They also had a chance to get together with Berna, Kara, and James one last time. I’m quite sure that they had a great time and a bittersweet end to the trip. In the evening, we all met for dinner with co-workers at the Moose’s Tooth. It was a great send-off. Everyone at work was so good to work with and so helpful. I really feel like I was able to accomplish a fair amount of work and contribute while I was here. Without a doubt, it was a rewarding experience that will help me move forward on my projects at home. The other amazing thing is how seamless the transition could be. We were 5,000 miles from home with completely different habitat types and National Wildlife Refuges on a whole different scale. Most of the work that I did dealt with Innoko National Wildlife Refuge which is 3.8 million acres. The northeast region recently celebrated acquiring its 500,000th acre (that’s the entire 13 state northeast region). The entire planning staff was great to work with and I would jump at the opportunity to work with them again (after some time at home, of course).

We leave tomorrow, errands and finalizing our packing in the morning followed by a hellacious evening/overnight trip into JFK, where my parents will meet us for the ride home…..

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