Wow, two weeks later I am returning to Boise, Idaho from southeast Alaska. It feels like I have been gone forever, the sign, I believe, of a good trip. It has been a great trip and a wonderful adventure. I am so glad I said yes, when Leslie asked me to join her on this small ship cruise. 

I am also glad I tagged on a day at the beginning and one at the end of the cruise. Yesterday, June 13 we spent the day with a friend of mine and her partner. Jane was an amazing tour guide in Juneau. We toured, we talked, we caught up and even saw a bear. 

Here are some of my highlights from the past two weeks.

• Glaciers-all sizes, all kinds, calving, not calving, icy cold.
• Icebergs floating by. 
• Eagles-lots and lots of eagles.
• One orca.
• Humpbacks, lunge feeding in Taku Harbor. This was an amazing event to observe.
• Our Glacier Bay National Park experience was made even more amazing by having Janine, our ranger guide on board. Her enthusiasm and warmth and kindness made everything in and around the bay come alive. She even did the official swearing in ceremony for those of us who completed our Junior Ranger Badge booklet.
• Bears up close and from afar.
• Flowers-spring is happening in the Tongass National Forest.
• The Light House Keeper’s talk as we entered Frederick Sound.
• Reuniting with Leslie and spending time with her. We had years to catch up.
• Catching up with Jane in Juneau. We toured, saw a bear, walked the labyrinth at St Therese Shrine, visited the botanical gardens and saw the new humpback whale sculpture on the waterfront. 
• Hiking, small hikes, large hikes, beach combing and more.
• Learning about the Tlingit culture in the village of Kake.
• Learning about the Norwegian culture in Petersburg, AK.
• Birds-so many shore birds. Kittiwakes, Pigeon Guillemots, Murrelets, Gulls, Oyster Catchers and more. Lots of activities on the icebergs.
• Sea otters lazily floating by on their backs.
• Stunning sunsets late into the evening. The sun did not set until close to 10 pm each night and sunrise came early (4ish). 
• Food amazing, delicious, yummy food. 
• The crew on the ship was accommodating and kind. They were fun to be with. I spent a few evenings playing Bananagram with the bar-tender and the naturalists. 
• Finding quiet places on board the ship to read and ponder while protected from the wind.
• Lastly my fellow passengers. I enjoyed them all. There were close to 45 of us on board. With two weeks and a small group it was easy to meet all of my fellow explorers. It was a delightful crowd, not one fussy one in the bunch. It made for an easy family for the ten days we were on board. It would be fun to meet up with them again, although the chances of our crossing paths again is slim.

Now my summer is ahead of me. I am not sure exactly what I am doing. Yes that is true. When I return to Boise, I will catch up with my friends there, meet my sweet little El Cat after a rare separation, and return to my small home on wheels. Shortly after my return I will be off to a Roadtrek Rally east of Glacier National Park, Montana. This will be my second rally with the Roadtreking group and I am curious to see what this one will be like. A rally is a gathering of RV’s and their owners. This one will be mostly Roadtreks. 

And here is my truth-I am a bit anxious about this gathering. There will be at least double the number of people, than on the ship. I have not been a big group person since Jim died. The number of people is a bit overwhelming. I am a guest reporter for Roadtreking: Celebrating the RV Lifestyle.  People who follow this blog know who I am. I am feeling somewhat at a disadvantage because I know very few of them. It may be hard to believe but I do have introvert tendencies and I am nervous about this situation. 

How did I get here? When I started this blog, Journeys of Thankfulness, I also joined the Roadtrek Facebook page. With my first post I heard from Mike who is the owner of the Roadtreking blog and he invited me to join his group of guest reporters and post blogs from the road. I decided to be brave and do this and have intermittently been posting on his blog over the ensuing years. And now I have arrived at this place and time and this is the result. 

I have mostly traveled alone or in small groups and avoided any gatherings. I have gone out of my way to not meet other Roadtrekers and RV’ers, on-the-road. I guess I wanted to be an invisible presence. Now that may change a little bit or a lot. Who knows. It is anybody’s guess. I am just nervous about it. Like the rest of my life, I am going to push forward and know if all the people get to be too much I can get in my RV and leave or go on a hike or just close the door to my RV and pretend I am not home. 

I am getting ready for summer and can’t wait to see how it unfolds. There are adventures big and small waiting around the bend. I plan to reach out and embrace them as much as I can.

As I say a longing farewell to Alaska and return outside (that’s what Alaska calls the lower 48), I will stand as strong as I can from day to day and greet adventure with open arms.