Less than 24 hours and a new adventure begins!

So, the time has actually arrived. The suitcases are almost packed - just a few finishing touches (like an umbrella) and I'll check my list over and over again today to try not to forget anything.

Tomorrow at 4:30 a.m. the shuttle will come and pick us up and off we'll go in the dark to the airport! Then, at 6:30 we'll be whisked off up in the air to Vancouver. We will keep you updated all along our way.

We are traveling to the "land of the midnight sun" and to the "northern lights". We could experience anywhere from 18-20 hours of daylight while we are there with an "average" temperature of 66 degrees and a low of 52 degrees. Now, that being said, keep your mind on "average". We've been in Juneau when it's been 90 degrees - so we are packing for the layered look to be ready for anything.


One thing I haven't mentioned is that we would love to see the aurora borealis. It would be an incredible thing for us to be able to see the "northern lights" while we are up in Dawson - which would be our best chance for seeing something; but with so much daylight during the summer months, our chances are slim to none.. The aurora borealis is named after the Roman Goddess of Dawn "Aurora" and the Greek name for the north wind "Boreas". Auroras are the result of the emissions of photons in the Earth's upper atmosphere, above 50 miles from ionized nitrogen atoms regaining an electron, and oxygen and nitrogen atoms returning from an excited state to ground state. They are ionized or excited by the collision of solar wind particles being funneled down and accelerated along the Earth's magnetic field lines; excitation energy is lost by the emission of a photon of light, or by collision with another atom or molecule. And so we will concentrate on the scenery and the wildlife instead.

And so - tomorrow our adventure starts - and I will leave you with this from the great poet bard, Robert Service:

"It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder,
It's the forests where silence has lease;
It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It's the stillness that fills me with peace."
Robert Service - "The Spell of the Yukon"