Alaska Later This Week!

Ever since I was a child, I have always had a fascination with Alaska.  I vividly remember grabbing a hold of whatever maps I could find of that state (these were the times before the Internet and computers, mind you), and poring over them, covering every single centimeter of that huge state with my mental magnifying glass.  I think my fascination lay in large part due to the remoteness of Alaska.  How could anyone possibly live so far away from where I lived?  What was it like up there?  Were people different?  What kind of lives did they have?  

As a child, I was forever questioning everything (sorry Mom & Dad!).  I wondered exactly just who was responsible for deciding who would grow up and live where, and why I didn't have much choice in the matter initially.  Eventually, I progressed from simply looking at maps to actually checking out books on the different states and geographical areas of the world from our local public library in the small town in which I grew up - spending hours and hours just fascinated with how very different certain regions of our country and world were as compared to where I lived in at the time (which was very boring and not newsworthy in any redeeming way).

I remember seeing images of the vast, open, majestic, and serene wilderness that is Alaska.  Images of jagged, enormous, snow-capped mountains, endless tall pine trees, gigantic elk and moose grazing on green hilly pastures, and rivers and streams full of big, healthy salmon trying to find their way upstream while avoiding the curious gazes of very interested brown, hungry bears.

Deep inside, I always wanted to be a part of that, even if only for a few moments; I wanted to experience the unparalleled beauty of that great state of Alaska.  I developed a yearning to visit that state, a yearning that would soon subside and stay buried in the deep recesses of my soul - until many, many years later. 

I sit here today, writing from the terminal of the tiny Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport in Weyer's Cave, Virginia, on my way from here to Houston for a Thanksgiving holiday visit with family and friends.  I'm incredibly, incredibly fortunate that the company I work for, Rosetta Stone, will be sending me this coming Sunday on an adventure to that elusive state in the far North that been so out of reach until now - Alaska.