The last leg

So we’re on the Alaska highway, also known as the Alcan. The stories I’ve heard made me wary of it, but the road itself is not to be feared. Sure, there are some patchy places, some bumps and a few short sections of gravel, but all in all the road is in good condition, and totally wide enough with plenty of shoulder. So at first I was like “what’s the big deal about the Alcan?” 4 days in I get it. While the scenery is astounding, and I mean ASTOUNDING, with mountains and valleys, turquiose blue lakes and wildlife everywhere, there is no room for error here. It’s an average of 100 miles between service stations, so you’d better hope nothing goes wrong too far from a town. Sometimes gas stations are closed, so you have to fill up at every opportunity. Yesterday, our daily miracle was picking up a screw in our tire, and discovering the gushing leak 2 miles before we got to the next station. Jacob got it plugged and filled, and also topped off our spare, which was pretty low in and of itself. Phew!
Liard hot springs was everything Jacob told me it would be. We went down all 5 of us the cool end when we first got there. We stripped the babies naked and put Cloe in some shorts. As we were going down the steps into the water, each holding a baby, while Cloe held onto Jacob, I was wondering how we were going to manage. Enter an Angel here, in the form of a middle aged kid’s swimming teacher, who was on vacation with her husband. Within seconds of us entering the pool, she swept in, taking Cloe and smiling broadly. She stayed with us the whole time, switching back and forth between holding Cloe, Ruby and Wyatt. We were so grateful, and she seemed to be grateful also. She missed her grandkids and ours were good stand-ins for her.
Later, after we had dinner, and got the kids to sleep, we took turns going down to soak in the hot parts of the spring. Jacob went first, and like he tends to do, he had soon befriended the whole pool. I sat outside the camper and wrote in my notebook, and as people were walking by our campsite from the water, they would smile and wave. I knew  he had told them all about me, sitting back with the kids, waiting for my turn.
When he got back, I went down by myself. It was nice to take the long, leisurely walk down the boardwalk through the marsh all alone, and soak in the scenery around me. When I got there, I started at the cool end, and made my way up, sitting for a while under the man made waterfall, letting the water hit my shoulders and take all the stress from the trip right away. I got to the middle part, which was probably around 104 degrees, and sat on a bench in the water and soaked. There was a guy there who started talking to me, and he told me that up at the REALLY hot end, the waterfalls coming in were cold water. I love hot and cold together, sort of like sweet and salty, so I toughed it out and made it to them. It was worth it. Jacob had made it to the hottest part of the pool, and placed a rock on the wall, a right of passage for the springs. I attempted once, but couldn’t find a good rock, and then decided I didn’t need to do it, I was happy just to be there, relaxing in nature’s hot tub. Soon the mosquitos proved to be too much (they are practically the size of swallows here), so I headed for the steps. On my way out I met a lady who was studying acupuncture, so I stayed in a while longer and talked with her about natural, intuitive medicine. The air was cool when I got out, but I didn’t feel it at all. My body stayed good and warm for the rest of the night, and I was even able to sit outside when I got back without a sweater.
Yesterday was a lot of driving, with a stop at Teslin lake for the night. I am loving the people we are meeting out here. It takes a certain kind of person to travel this road, so we are getting to know some really neat folks.
Believe it or not, we reach Girdwood in 2 days! I am looking forward to meeting Jacob’s friends, and forging some new and lasting relationships with the people there. I will continue to blog, and share what we encounter. The trip back may change a bit. We may take the marine highway to Seattle, go visit some folks in California, and have me fly back with the kids from LA, while Jacob books it home by himself. We shall see. We shall see.