Amazing Day #27: Spectacular waves

Now THESE are amazing!!!

Five-minute Friday and the word is FINISH

Five-minute Friday.
That's when you set the timer for five minutes and just type. No editing. Just type.
Then you are supposed to link to the Five-Minute Friday web page, but my computer has not been cooperating lately. But at least I write...
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Today's word: finish

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I'm not a good finisher.
Actually I'm a terrible finisher.
I'm a good starter or even a dabbler, but I'm not a good finisher.
I get lots of grand ideas and I start some of them, but they seldom see completion.
I seem to run out of steam.

It happens in lots of areas of life, but particularly with writing. I have ideas, I start gathering notes, I may write a lot of words, I might even get it mostly done, but I seldom actually finish.
So too with big projects in the rest of life.

Why am I so likely not to finish? What things contribute to my not finishing? I suppose there could be lots of reasons. Sometimes it may simply be that the task is too complex. That I don't know how to finish - or that it may be too difficult and I don't have the determination or the follow through.
And what are the consequences of not finishing? Well, I have this huge collection of unfinished projects. All kinds of loose ends. And they tend to cause me to feel crappy about myself.

• A famous person once said that incompletions are great stressors.

Well, I really hope to finish something today. Something big. Yep, yep. Today I hope to finish the Alaska Highway. And what an accomplishment it will be - even though I am not the one to really get the credit. My hubby is the one who has driven all those miles. My major credit comes from not gasping too loudly about the latest scary curve as I clutch the door handle a little tighter and my knuckles get a little whiter...

Nope; my man gets the credit - for hanging tight to that steering wheel as he guides those seven tons of steel around the steep narrow curves, for such sensible engine braking, for his calm demeanor, and for his patience with my tension. And I get to just ride along.

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And you? How are you at finishing?

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By the way, we made it. We finished the Alaska Highway! Both ways!!!
Now let's see what else I can finish...

Campsites I have known

The campgrounds are different. One night we will be lined up with other campers in a grassy field. The next night we might have a lovely spacious wooded campsite with pine-needle-covered trails leading here and there. And then we may revert back to the truck stop style line-up on stony gravel without enough room to even open our slider.

These were in fact our first three nights of this leg of the journey.

But there is one really good thing about these different campsites: the fact that it we only have to step inside to be at home. What a blessing! Especially on nights like this when my body is so exhausted and restless and desperately needs to crawl into my own bed.

So here I go...

At home in the Yukon Territory...

Good night.

Ramblings at the half - or at the start - or somewhere

Warning: ramblings, mumblings, and possible grumblings ahead
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We must be close to the land of the midnight sun - because we had very little darkness last night. It was already light at 4 a.m. and even earlier, I think. Because I didn't sleep so well I am feeling a little groggy. So rather than try to compose a lovely piece, perhaps I just post some of my ramblings.

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Yesterday we passed the half-way point in our journey! Wahoo! Does that mean it's all down-hill from here? I think not. Besides some of the down-hills are the worst! My worst fear!

Yesterday we also arrived at Dawson Creek, British Columbia, which is the official beginning of the Alaska Highway. That's pretty significant! Last night we unhitched the rig so we could explore the town a teeny bit. We hit Boston Pizza to celebrate those two achievements, then visited Mile Zero to take the fun photos, filled the tank on the truck and bought some groceries.

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I am always curious about life in famous towns like this - so we engaged our waitress in conversation. Dawson Creek is an oil town with lots of agriculture in the surrounding valley - besides the seasonal stream of tourists. Her bottom line: The weather sucks. Don't move here!

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We struggle to find good internet. We knew that would be likely so we try not to give in to frustration. Grrrr... We are so spoiled.

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Today we start the Alaska Highway. We would love to make it to Fort Nelson by tonight, but that might be a bit over-zealous.

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And so it begins...

Or continues...

Or something.
 

Thankful Thursday - like it or not!

Thankful Thursday.

I didn't FEEL very thankful this morning. To be honest, fear and dread were rather near to the surface. I felt more nervous than thankful, but decided that this was a good opportunity to go ahead and BE thankful with or without the feelings. Fairly early in the day we got word that our little Tito was done with surgery and doing well. That helped me FEEL more thankful.

And then came the scary mountain roads. The ones that the guidebooks warn about in bright red italics. Oh, dear. The ones that start all kinds of thoughts bubbling in my head. Unhealthy thoughts. Negative thoughts. Out-of-control thoughts. What in the world are we doing? We must be crazy and irresponsible to attempt this! It was hard to FEEL thankful.

I remind myself that I have a choice. I can choose to "take every thought captive" to maintain sanity and a somewhat positive outlook. At least I can try. I choose to try - with varying degrees of success. I try to distract myself with studying the map or reading something unrelated or writing in my journal, but of course, I can't concentrate on anything else but this road. This stretch of highway. I avert my eyes - down to what I'm reading or writing. Or I try looking above the drop-off to the beautiful view across the valley.

Mile after mile. Nice level stretches when I could feel thankful. Long, steep downgrades when I had to discipline myself to stay steady and to breathe deeply. We stopped a time or three - just to stretch our legs and breathe a little more deeply and even to lay down and relax for a few minutes. And then we drove a few more miles.

Slowly we crept closer to our goal for the day. One more long windy stretch out of the way. One more 7% downgrade survived. And finally we made it. We pulled into the campground and I felt thankful. They honored our credit card* and I felt even more thankful. But I have to admit that the thing that might make me feel the most thankful is to have good internet. Wahoo!!!

...AND I am thankful for a gentle and patient man who gives me space to deal with my fears and who is such a good driver.

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*Credit cards in foreign countries: It is wise to contact your bank and credit card companies to notify them of your upcoming travel - and even then you may have to call them to work out glitches.