It was crying-with-joy-time again when I saw the Welcome to Alaska sign. I made it!!! Maybe not without problems and frustrations, but I went all the way through Canada's Yukon and into Alaska all by myself! I can't believe it's been a little less than a month since I left Portland. In some ways it feels like a lifetime. Canada has been great, but mainly just the place to go through to get to Alaska. In some ways it's been a much harder month of travel than I had ever thought of, and in other ways I am amazed at how smooth it went. My emotions have certainly run the gamut, that's for sure. From the loss of my greatest inspiration, Don - to a feeling of accomplishment that I've come so far alone - to doubting the wisdom of ever taking off on such a crazy and risky dream - to being totally and unbelievably excited at the prospect of spending the whole summer in amazing Alaska - I've experienced it all. If one of the things that life is all about is to experience and learn as much about ourselves and others as we can during our time on earth, then I feel like I've lived a lifetime just in the past month. Being the only one to listen to myself cry in fear and frustration or sob in joy and wonder, in that experience I've learned a lot about myself and to forgive myself my fears as I push through them.

I was also a little surprised at my reaction when I crossed the border into America again. I heartily greeted the border guard with a "God Bless America!" I loved Canada, its people and its incredibe scenery, but in the past month, I got tired of exchanging dollars for loonies, trying to convert litres to gallons, etc. The guard said he gets that reaction all the time. I guess I'm not as un-stuck in my ways as I thought.

Although the campground rates were pretty good, the gas was pretty high - in Ft. Nelson I paid almost $2.50 a gallon once the conversions were made. When you only get 7-8 mpg and have a 75 gallon tank to feed, that adds up quite quickly.