Twenty or so years ago Mom and Dad sorted through boxes of old family photos and scanned about a hundred of them, added labels, and put them on a cd for me. This is one of my favorites. It was taken in front of their living quarters on Fort Richardson in Anchorage. where Dad served for two years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since it was peacetime (between the Korean and Vietnam Wars) Mom was able to go with him.

Last year I wrote this chronicle of that piece of our family history, and it was published in a military anthology titled Holes in Our Hearts. It was a fun project (I hope Dad enjoyed it as much as I did) and gave me an excuse to ask him lots questions about life in Alaska in the 50s. It also spurred us on to plan a trip north.

Dad, Dave, and I are leaving for Anchorage tomorrow morning. We’ll spend a week traveling to Denali National Park, Fairbanks, and Tok where Dad worked for two summers during college for the Alaska Road Commission.

On our return trip to Anchorage, we’ll stop for a couple of days in the town of Valdez on Prince William Sound.

I hope to see some wildlife along the way, so stay tuned.