I leave on the 10th for a work trip of a lifetime.
The Iditarod Trail.
After MUCH preparation, purchasing of goods, food, winter gear, I'm just about ready to go.
I'm nervous. I feel like I just want to get going instead of prolonging the inevitable.
I know that I'm going. I know that I'll be prepared at that time.
What I don't know are the conditions.
I know how to shoot.
I have learned how to best prepare for the Last Frontier. I am aware that your survival is alone up to you.
With all of this in mind, I am ready to leave. And also am anxious.
It is discomfort.
The best way for me to get over this is to experience this. Overcome the discomfort, have it become a part of my lifestyle; another experience.
A major experience here in Alaska - the Iditarod Trail.
Here are a couple of pictures of what I have to pack. Certainly not limited to what is necessary to survive. There are things here that are not pictured which will be a part of my repertoire.
Scott's things packed up. Everything that he needs packed into one duffel bag and one backpack.
And to my apartment,the expenses incurred on my behalf due to this work trip: approximately $700.00+. Between the hand warmers, protein-laced nutrients, polypropalene underlayers, headlamps, bungee cords, etc, heading out to cover the Last Great Race is no easy task.
Also among the missing: my camera gear. That is the bulk of what is not pictured.I'm thinking I'll have the opportunity to take maybe five showers in a twelve day (ish) period. That is a max.
I'm packing three pairs of underwear, two sportsbras (polypro), a pair each of thin, mid and heavy weight long johns, among other few things. Not much, but ya know what? This reminds me of playing in my backyard with Suzy, rummaging through the "vast" land and beyond the fenced-in area of my cardboard box. The field and farm behind our house - turned housing development...are you surprised?
I remember playing with Suzy, proud of the holes I received in my grey sweatpants as we hopped fences and picked off ticks from our clothing and bods. Slightly reminiscent, yet beautiful all the same.
I'm looking forward to this new adventure, and the new parallels that I may be lucky enough to draw from.
Just another trail on the Last Frontier.
Louie has yet to know what really beholds him of my adventure. Poor guy. I can't wait to spend some good quality time with him again. That's what this next day is about: me spending time preparing for the trip and hanging out with my little buddy.
With my move to Alaska, I don't know what I would have done without him.
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Temperature update: 22 degrees in Anchorage; 40 degrees in Whitman.
Sunset/sunrise update: 8:34a/7:48p in Anchorage. 6:43a/7:04p in Whitman *(a/o 03-09-09).
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