The Final Leg

Warp speed... from the Badlands through Nebraska and into Kansas... then a visit with David's brother in Tulsa.  Thankfully, Paul is responding well to treatment and is ahead of schedule.  We rejoiced with him and his family.

We then sped to Texas, crossing the Red River to our customary tune "The Yellow Rose." Had it really been over three months since we were last here?  We drove on to Gladewater to visit with my brother and family before their move to Round Rock next month.

Sunday we stopped 45 minutes short of home, wanting to pop Oz for one last time before ending our adventure.  We spent the night at Huntsville State Park and reminisced.  With a bottle of wine between us, we were able to recount each place that we stayed... in order...

Amarillo, Texas... Casper, Wyoming... Glacier National Park... Red Deer, Alberta... Pegasus Carson Provincial Park, Alberta... Dawson Creek, British Columbia... Westaskiwin, Alberta... Dawson Creek, British Columbia... Tetsa... Muncho Lake... Teslin, Yukon... Northway Junction, Alaska... Fairbanks...  Marion Creek Campground near Coldfoot... Deadhorse... Arctic Circle Campground... Fairbanks... Cantwell... Glacona Junction... Liberty Falls at Wrangell-St. Elias... Valdez... Matanuska... Black Bear Campground near Portage... Seward... Moose Pass... Skilak Lake... Soldotna... Homer... Seldovia...  Bird Creek Campground... Hatcher Pass... Denali National Park... Rocky Lake... Soldotna... Engineer Lake... Palmer... Wrangell-St. Elias... Yukon River Campground near Dawson City, Yukon... Engineer Creek Campground... Eagle Plains.. Fort McPherson in Northwest Territory... Inuvick... Eagle Plains... Dawson City, Yukon... Whitehorse... Skagway, Alaska... Watson Lake, Yukon... Fort Nelson, BC... Dawson Creek... Wetaskiwin, Alberta... Whistler Campground in Jasper National Park... Johnston Creek Canyon... Whitefish, Montana... Red Cliff Campground in Yellowstone National Park... Signal Peak Campground in Teton National Park... Pebble Creek Campground in East Yellowstone... Harding, Montana... Cottonwood Creek Campground Roosevelt National Park near Medora, North Dakota... Spearfish, South Dakota... Blue Bell Campground in Custer State Park... the Badlands National Park...  Valentine, Nebraska... Chase State Fishing Lake in Kansas...  Tulsa, Oklahoma... Gladewater, Texas... Huntsville, Texas... and tomorrow... home.

We had agreed not to make any new travel plans until we sat on the deck at home where we had hatched our trip to Alaska.  Tonight, however, as we softly spoke about the thousands of blessings we had encountered, we determined that this simply had to be the beginning rather than the end.  Dare we plan a second trip next year?  God willing... YES!!!