FFFs by JBV

I took one of those silly Facebook quizzes and the question was, "Where in the world would you most like to travel?" Or something like that. I thought for a moment, and replied honestly, "You name it. I'll go there." Seriously. I don't have any desire to be unsafe, and that will limit travelling, but I would be willing to go anywhere in the world given the chance. Afghanistan. Antarctica. You name it. Anyhow, I've been mulling over Alaska, most notably beginning in 1997, and to finally get to go, that was a dream. Here are some favorites:

1. Crouching in the bushes, watching a year-old moose eating grass from the bottom of the pond. Every once in a while, he'd get startled and would apply what I called "rabbit tactics." He'd freeze, look straight at us, as if to say, "I'm not moving! If I'm not moving, you can't see me!"

2. Seeing Denali full on, no clouds, after a few days of rain. I started mulling over a children's book where all the worlds mountains talk to each other. In this one, Denali was talking to Fuji, and they were both talking to Everest. And Kilimanjaro.

3. Falafel in Fairbanks, pizza at Panorama Pizza Pub in Carlo Creek, AK, and Alaskan King Crab that was wider than both my thumbs put together.

4. Being at 65' N, and contemplating for a second whether to take on the Ice Road Trucker Road in a Toyota Corolla. (We decided not.)

5. The frenzy of texting and tweeting and Facebooking Eliza, Bean, and Battle, wondering if Baby Nyah Fearn had been born yet, dreaming about the birth Saturday night, and the relief and joy when I finally got the news, even so far away. Social networking was definitely a favorite thing this week.