Forgive My Naivete

"Forgive my naivete, but the house looks so.....well.....normal!"  A puzzled comment from a dear friend looking at a picture of the rental house my husband and I will be occupying soon in Homer, Alaska.  She's right.  It is "normal".  No blocks of ice put together in a domed structure low to the ground.  No pelts hanging off poles.  No antlers festooning the walls.  No sod on top with grass growing out of it.  No stilts, branches, rocks, mud, or underground parts.  Just a "normal," modern, A-frame log house waiting for new tenants.

Nelson and I are fortunate enough to be those tenants.  But first we have to GET there!  Not an easy task.  From our current home in central PA, it's a 6,000 mile trip-----give or take a few miles.  We are planning to drive 5 of those 6 thousand miles very soon.   Sooo the plan is drive 2,700 miles to Seattle; hang a sharp right and drive 1,500 miles to Prince Rupert, British Columbia; hop a ferry and proceed 1,000 miles Haines, AK where we disembark and drive yet another 1,000 miles to Homer.  Our route is pretty much non-negotiable since other route involve crossing mountains in Canada where the passes will still be snowed in.  After all,  it will only be May when we leave!

The standard reaction when we tell people our plan is similar to being blown back by a blast of wind when  opening a door during a blizzard------eyes pop, mouths fly open, and invariably the first question is, "Why?"

The short answer is when we visited there about six years ago we fell in love with the grandeur of the place and wanted to return for a length of time to get to know it and experience life there.  The long answer will, hopefully, emerge through our lives and attitudes and yes, even this blog.