BACK IN ALASKA....

I'm back in Alaska at least for a while-until the first of August.

I flew out of Abilene this trip and thought it was great not to have to go to Dallas....and I am sure Mike was glad not to have to make that trip. However, it was rather a grueling day. I had a 2 or so hour flight from Abilene to Houston. Then I had to trek across terminal B at George Bush Airport toting the laptop from hell!! The timing was good-I had just enough time to grab a sandwich.

The next leg of the trip was from Houston to Minneapolis (sp?)...that was about 3 hours. I arrived with just enough time to rush from gate A to C (much longer than it sounds-thank goodness for moving sidewalks)...toting the laptop from hell! The plane from Minneapolis to Anchorage was huge! And it was a good thing because it was full! I had been lucky with aisle seats until this flight where I was consigned to a middle seat for about 81/2 hours! It was a long and miserable flight-probably just training for the New Zealand trip.

However, once I got here everything was smooth sailing. I got a new, really cute bright blue Chrysler (sp?) Sebring. I drove straight to the condo since, of course, this time I know where things are! Nancy was there and let me in-I have a really cute little apt on the third floor of building 1. It is bright and cheery....the walls and woodwork are all painted white. The floor plan is real open. The livingroom is smaller than the last one but the kitchen is open to the livingroom....and, get this, there are glass french doors from the livingroom to the bedroom. The closet is mirrored and all the closets are fitted with organizers. I have a tv in the livingroom and in the bedroom and I even have a desk for the laptop from hell. It is just real cute and real cheerful! (It also helps to arrive during the daylight-it didn't get dark until 10pm...oh, and the snow is all melted!)

I'm pretty tired so I am making this short (well, for me it's short) but I have to say it was amazing flying in-for at least 3 hours we flew over nothing but snow covered mountains. It looked like a topo map! There was no sign of man until we saw the landing strip at Valdez and then we got to Anchorage and saw the one and only highway-it is amazing to see all of this land and just this one lone highway. It brings home the fact that there are still areas that are uninhabited, and perhaps uninhabitable.

I have the windows open and a cool breeze is blowing in-I went to the store without a coat and noticed no one else had one on either. Somehow 48 here is alot warmer than 48 in Texas!

Here is a picture of my wonderful son and his adorable pregnant wife-I really enjoyed seeing them while I was home....I am soooo glad that they made it from New Zealand at the same time I was there!