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Vern and I made it home from the interior somewhere around 1:30 this morning. The trip was very good overall. We spent the first night at a motel in Wasilla and then headed north. The weather was cloudy and cool. We got into Nenana around 5 or so and then drove on up to Fairbanks and North Pole to visit with Vern's brother and his family.

We got back to Nenana around 11 pm and spent the next two nights in a cabin there. There were seven steps up, but we managed! I have been practicing using steps although we only have one short step at home. The cabin did not have any heat which was fine for sleeping, but a tad cold for just being there otherwise with highs in the upper 50's and low 60's. The flooding had pretty much slowed down and had begun to abate, but there were large bodies of water in the streets. Nobody was yet allowed to drink the water.

The bridge dedication was very nice. A large bald eagle (probably female as they are much larger than the males) flew over the graveyard during the ceremony which was highly unusual as bald eagles rarely go up that far north. About the only time they have been seen there is during a ceremony! We see bald eagles in Soldotna and Kenai quite often, but in the interior they are extremely rare.

Another unusual thing happened at Shirley's funeral in January of last year when a butterfly was flying around the room. Butterflies are common during the summer but in the middle of winter in the interior of Alaska is unheard of. Spiritual things like this are very comforting to all people during times like this.

Yesterday morning after we ate a breakfast we headed back to North Pole for a goodbye to his brother and to Salcha to visit Carolyn, a special long time friend, and then continued on to home. We came home via the Richardson Highway which we hadn't used in many years. The scenery is much better that way too! There are several mountains that have many colorful rocks and the glaciers are nearer too. We drove over 1200 miles in the four days!

We stopped and ate at Eureka Lodge, which has been a tradition for me since 1960 and for us whenever we find ourselves up in that area. It is now owned by one of Vern's friends.

We saw two foxes between Nenana and Fairbanks, one was a red fox and the other was a cross between a red and a black fox. We also saw two moose and a rabbit beside the road. Even though the weather was cloudy and cool it was still peasant. I usually hate the summers in the interior because of the heat. I don't do heat well at all so this year was an exception for me as I enjoyed it overall.

I had taken several bags of food for me so I would be able to eat the raw foods I so enjoy such as my fudge of walnuts, raisins, dates, and carob powder; my crunchy dehydrated mix of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, carob, raw honey, cashews and raisins; lots of green smoothies, and dates.

The most difficult time of the entire trip was that there had been no room for my bedside toilet in the car so Vern decided to leave it home. It would have fit in the van had the unnecessary and unused rear seat had been removed. I did not realize we didn't have it with us until we got to Wasilla over 200 miles from here! NEXT TIME WE TAKE A TRIP IT WILL BE GOING WITH US IF IT IS STILL NECESSARY!

It is good to be home.[/SIZE]