Through My Lens

     Two weeks ago, to the day, at 2 in the morning I boarded the plane in Alaska. Destination... Phoenix, Philadelphia, and New York. When I left Alaska, it was about 20 degrees. We had felt the sting of winter in the previous days. I left the snow and ice behind and arrived in Phoenix, Arizona where it was a pleasant 73 degrees in November. I browsed a few stores during my layover, enjoyed the warm air, picked up more souvenirs, and pondered my very first flight.      Flying was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The turbulence was frightening at first, but I soon realized that no one on the plane was upset by it but me. The 5 hour flight into Arizona was pretty long, but I was overcome by sleep about halfway through the flight and that seemed to speed things up.      By the time I reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from Arizona, I was a pro at flying. The 35 minute flight from Pennsylvania to Newburgh, New York was a cake walk...

     I opened my eyes on this new day and instantly my mind was flooded with what needed to be done. I rolled over and tried to push those thoughts out of my head, but to no avail. I had to get myself up out of bed and get going. I walked out of the bed room and headed to my living area to open the blinds and check the weather for the day. The dark morning sky reminded where I was. Alaska. 8:30 am and it's still dark here.          I've been here a week now and a lot has happened. When I quit my job and left New York a month ago, I never thought that I would be staying with my partner, Kevin, in Alaska. I thought I was going to enjoy a nice 3 week long vacation and then come back home. I thought that the people who were telling me that I wasn't going to leave Alaska once I got here were crazy. Well, they were right.      Just for the heck of it, once we arrived, without any preconceived ideas, I began to put in applications. ...

     After leaving Whitehorse, we drove only 5 short hours and arrived at our destination which was Tok, Alaska. It was surreal when I first saw the Alaska sign. I sat and looked at it for a long time before I snapped this photo. I was finally here. I finally made it to my destination. 15 days on the road driving through 2 countries seeing some really amazing sight and now I was here, my destination, Alaska. I made it.... Now what?      The thought occurred to me that all this was bittersweet. I had always wanted to visit Alaska but this trip wasn't permanent. I had to fly back to NY. My partner was the one moving here, I just came along for the ride and in a few days I would have to leave him... indefinitely. I was sad and elated at the same time. But never mind that now things will work out. I pushed those thoughts into the back of my mind and pressed forward to enjoy what lay before me.      Crossing the border back into the U.S. was ...

    Although the Yukon had some really pretty sights and some new experiences, the Yukon is not a great place to be. It was quite disconcerting driving through the Yukon while not being able to obtain cell phone service. To me, that is unnerving in and of itself. I could not text, I could not call, I could not get on the internet to see where on God's green earth I was. Ok, ok... For all of you out there who are asking the question, "What did you do before cell phone's?" I get it...  so we went old school. hehe....      We pulled out the GPS.... But even that was a mute point. Literally... "Marge" as she is affectionately known (sarcasm intended), was eerily silent. It was about that time we realized that we had to OLD, old school it and that's when we grabbed our handy, dandy.... Atlas. But to no avail. We were literally off the map. This was quite scary when every gas station you pass is closed for the season and every lodging pla...