We got off to our usual 11 a.m. start, after days on end of cleaning up the cabin and the immediate environs. The birds were building nests and we were preparing to leave ours. Definitely reverse logic. The clean-up was beginning to seem never-ending to me. I was so tired of minutia that I could have screamed. It doesn’t help that when I start to clean I see every damn detail. And yet, I could have continued indefinitely with this project. I got to thinking that this is what life in hell might be like. I’ll bet those who are incarcerated in asylums don’t have to clean up after themselves. And let this be a lesson to all of us who claim to be sane.

The horses loaded into trailer just fine. Tyra balked a bit but treats got her in.

First major pit stop was the Susitna River Overlook, a ways past Talkeetna. We always stop there on our way north. Each year it’s, a bit more run down. Lots more trash, organic matter, general decay. The picnic tables are now crumbling. Very sad. I have to stifle the urge to say I’m staying put and cleaning the place up. Outdoor cleanup is so much more preferable to indoor cleanup.

Ran into rain on our side of the Alaska Range. However, it was visible, dark blue rock with varying shades of white, enhanced by the sunlight. Blue patches of sky in the cloud cover, hopeful, we were that we’d again see clear skies, and indeed we did.

No stop lights between Wasilla and Denali Park. And no billboards. Just miles of forest, birch turning to spindly spruce. As I sat in the passenger seat, I thought of poet/essayist Louise Bogan who many years ago, in a New Yorker article wrote about the importance of observation. Look and write, look and write, look and write – this is what she said to do and this is what I am doing. Writing then, increases perceptual acuity.

We first went and checked out the place we were to stay, Chelsea Pet Resort. We got lucky, we were told we could put the panels on the property. Such a small thing but such a large thing for us because this meant that we could quickly get the horses settled in, and then head out for a dinner engagement.

We met up with our old friend Sean McGuire who insisted that we, along with Felipe and Clara, and Felipe’s four Canadian friends, eat dinner at the House of Tai in downtown Fairbanks. Once there, it was nearly 9 p.m., closing time. We all said pizza, but then Sean had this brilliant idea, which is that we order take out and eat at his place. The order was put in and we all gathered there and had a wonderful time. We also included Palmer friends Deb Moore and Terri Mielke.

Now to sleep because tomorrow we are accompanying Felipe on the first day of his Alaska to BC ride.

Next: 135. 5/17/19: Too Much to Write About