Delayed Plans

Between my 16th birthday and my 18th, I rather easily ran away from home well over 100 times!  Yeah, my home-life was beyond miserable!  One of my friends also had a miserable existence.  I was one heck of a good mechanic and he had a dream of flying.  I could easily see putting him through flight school to get his pilot's license and then we would be set.

Alaska was looking for gifted mechanics and there is always a shortage of pilots up there.  The 1970's were a booming time - warm bodies were needed.  My girl friend agreed to wait until I could get established and then come up.  It worked in my mind.

Of course life went terribly sideways.

Our ride out of town turned into a disaster when the car slid off the road and I was thrown free of the VW.  Yeah, a few weeks of recovery for that one!  Just enough time to get close enough to finishing high school so that I could smell freedom ...

Hence, a few changes.

I would fly up to Seattle, and then get to Anchorage by either ferry or bus, both expensive!  After 90 days I knew everything had gone wrong.

The Canadians were not allowing transit into British Columbia by anyone without sufficient money to reach Alaska.
It was far more expensive than I expected to just live poorly!
My friend Robbie never did join me.
I had written daily to my girlfriend, she only wrote once.
And I figured out that life, as envisioned by me, was over.
But, not forgotten....

So, today, after very much saving, I am on my way to Alaska.  I had actually paid for this trip back in July, however Gwen's death threw a monkey-wrench in all my plans.  Today was my first open date - andI am off!

Lots of plans to see glaciers, a steam train, photograph old Indian ruins and sleep - enough to recover from the Colorado trip!  I packed some art supplies, just enough to play a little.  Some magazines and an antique Western.  :)

Oh, I almost forgot: eat lots of crab and seafood!