Trip of a Lifetime

For those of you who follow me on Facebook (at Miriam Cooper or Where Spirits Walk Kennel) you will already know that life was put on hold for a week so I could travel down to Anchorage with Mary Shields for a wholesale show where we set up to sell her books, my prints and note cards.

The show itself was a little slow but we made some good connections and had a great time. I had thought the reason for the journey was to expand my retail business but in reality life was showing me a far different view. The major impact of this trip was meeting and staying with Jon and Jona VanZyle (www.jonvanzyle.com). Never could I have imagined how much meeting them would change my life...

In the next few posts I will attempt to relive this amazing experience to share with you all this amazing journey I have been on. This is an inside glimpse at what has been the major driving point in the creative side of my life. This road trip has been a major turning point for the gifts Ive been given to share with the world... as Jon said to me, "Art is not to be kept, it is to be shared, sold or given away so the world can enjoy it with you."

Here begins my journey:

At -41 degrees I left the house and headed to Mary's Shields cabin, my Jeep too full of gear, hoping I didn't pack too much, my mind too full of details, what did I bring, what did I leave at home, how will the dogs do? I was already missed everyone so much and I hadn't even left yet!

I was in far too much of a hurry to get this journey started, the roads were icy and I took a curve too fast... my Jeep spun around and I could feel that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as my mind raced wondering if I was going to hit a car, a snow berm or just go off the edge. But when I looked over my right shoulder I could see my lane, the one I was on just moments ago, I instantly got my bearings and had complete confidence wash over me. I knew where I wanted to get to, told myself, "Ive got this..." let the fear leave my body, took my foot off the break and put my focus back on where my Jeep should have been and not where I feared it was going.

A car was coming from the other direction and I bet my 360 spin looked quite impressive from the other lane! All was well though and by the time I passed the other vehicle I was on my way again, this time in the proper lane and heading forward, not backwards or sideways! :)

Once I made it to Mary's it was a bit warmer but not by much. I started loading gear into her car while she finished up some final details she needed to tend to. I had a bit of trouble strapping down the display racks to the top but we got it all taken care of without any frostbite. Before long we were on our way chatting about Alaska and mushing adventures. Once on the highway, just outside of town, Mary was able to point out landmarks of places she had been, places she thought of homesteading in the early days, where she had hiked or camped. It was an amazing thing to see this vast state through her eyes, it was a whole new perspective for me...

Before long caribou started showing up on the sides of the highway in ones and twos then tens and twenties. They were everywhere and calmly eating as we stopped along the road to take pictures.

We traveled for hours until the daylight started to fade and before long we were driving into darkness. My fear of driving the highway in the dark of night quickly vanished when I realized I could see, by the bright headlights, if wildlife were going to walk out in front of us. The state road crews had done a great job of cutting the vegetation back and there were hardly any travelers out but Mary and I.

Once we reached mile 90 of the Parks Highway (where our 40 acre property is) we figured it was a good place for a pee break. When I got out of the car all was silent, dark and so peaceful you could hear a pin drop. I thought of my husband James and how much I wanted him to be there at that moment to hear what I was hearing and to dream along with me about living at that very same place in only a few years time...

It was too short of a stay, Mary and I had to keep moving if we were going to make it to the VanZyle's by dinner time...

(next time... part two- snowstorm on the highway... )