“And they went out two by two…..” (by Peter)

The group of three has now become a group of two.  It was with mixed emotions that we droppedAnna off at the airport in Anchorage for her return home to Joe and Ohio.  She was booked on a red-eye, leaving at 1:45a.m. Sunday morning. She didn’t want to sit for hours at her gate waiting forher plane to take off while at the same time she wanted Thomas and I to get adecent nights sleep.

We drove around Anchorage briefly to forestall the inevitable.  We helped her to the ticket counter with herbags and thirty pounds of frozen halibut, hugged, and left.  As a TCKer (Third Culture Kid – a euphemismfor Missionary Kid) I’ve never learned to appropriately deal with separations.  The sooner we got out of that airport thebetter.

Anna was the matriarch that set the rules on the first halfof the trip.  No driving after 7:00 p.m.,no using disposable dishes, rinse after you wash, use hand sanitizer regardlessif it is 3:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m.

She was the domestic that kept Thomas and I from turninginto howling wolves, and now that she’s gone she has left an open wound in eachof our hearts.

But there is an upside! We were able to drive until 1:00 a.m. last night, and were fired up andon the road again this morning by 6:00. The floor of the camper is currently scattered with debris fromcomponents bouncing out of cupboards and off of the stove as we barrel along at70 to 80 mph on our merry way to Vancouver! 

The first six days in Alaska I did not see one moose.  Last night between 6 and 10 we encounterednine and were able to witness a near miss by an on-coming vehicle.  We had seen the moose in advance and slowedalmost to a stop.  The on-coming vehicledid not.  He had to lock up all fourtires and turned the air blue with smoke from the burnt rubber.

Thomas and I are spelling each other off on thedriving.  Thomas attempted (for the firsttime) to sleep in the camper while I drove, but it doesn’t appear either one ofus will attempt that again.  With thefrost heaves on the Alaska Highway I’m sure he came close to being airborne atime or two.  He didn’t sleep a wink.