The vacation comes to an end...finally

This post is in memory of Missy Woodward.

So we last left you in Texas waiting for my car to be repaired. I rented a car to help myself and Emma get around. Insurance was paying for it so I was fine to drive the Mitsubishi Galant even though it was automatic.

Our lives were forever changed when the news of a tremendous loss reached us. Missy Woodward was a beacon of love and affection in the world. The number of lives she touched was limitless and that became apparent in the following days. Margaret, Emma and I left from Houston for Alaska Tuesday night. After stops in Seattle and Anchorage, we arrived in Fairbanks Wednesday morning. The house rapidly filled up after a few more shuttle trips to the airport and before we knew it, we were swimming in people and food. All the visitors spread out around Fairbanks to numerous houses generously offered by friends in an attempt to prepare ourselves for the day to come.

Thursday was a hard day for everyone. It felt like the entire population of Fairbanks showed up to remember and celebrate the life of Missy. The church was filled to the brim and left standing room only. After sharing stories, memories, funny anecdotes and tears, a reception was held that generously fed all attending for hours. We then returned to the house to share more stories that help us laugh and remember Missy even more.

The following days filled with trips to Chena Hot Spring, the UAF Museum and Alaskaland. We even went on another canoeing adventure down the Chena and went blueberry picking before flying back to Texas. We returned to Houston Sunday morning, picked up another rental car, had lunch, did some repacking and hit the road. The autoshop was not open on Sundays so we stayed in a hotel in Baton Rouge after the 5 hour drive.

Monday morning started a little later than we expected but were able to get to the shop at 8:30 to pick up my car. We then continued to the rental car office to turn in the car. After an hour in the office dealing with Avis setting up the reservation wrong, we got another surprise: the car that had just been fixed wouldn't start...

The next part went like this: jumped car, drove back to shop, told to buy a new battery and they would put it in for free, bought battery, returned to shop, told there was an object puncturing back tire, went to tire & tread shop to get it fixed, told that the rear tires were in no condition to drive to VA, bought 2 new tires.

So we were on the road 3 hours behind schedule and $1000 more on the credit card. It was a 10 hour drive to Knoxville, TN. We stopped for dinner 2 hours outside of Knoxville and decided we wanted to end this road trip early and just do it. We had 2 hours to Knoxville and another 8 to VA. With only stopping for gas, we made it to VA 8am Tuesday morning.

Now the packing lists are being made and deadlines set to prepare ourselves for the next adventure!