Ever since she was a little girl, Karla, my twin sister, has always had a fascination with Alaska, especially after she read the book, "The Call Of The Wild", by Jack London. Ever since, she had always wanted to visit "The Great Land".
She joined the Air Force, figuring that she would end up traveling. On her dream sheet, she put, "Alaska. Alaska. Alaska. Australia. Northern Japan. Alaska." She got Texas, Texas, and .... Texas. She never even left Texas!! She then figured that she would never ever get to go to Alaska.
I wanted to go to Alaska ever since I came down here to Texas, nearly 15 years ago. When I saw how beautiful Alaska was (in pictures or on video), then my own Alaska dream began burning deep within me. I wanted to go to Alaska to see the northern lights, the abundant wildlife, and the mountains.
Well, this year, we got that opportunity. God blessed us through a friend; we had no clue we were going. One minute, we were dreaming; the next, we were told the good news that we were going to Alaska for vacation. (I had been depressed because the heat of Texas was getting to me; I was talking to this friend, and the next thing you know, the cruise, hotel, air fare, etc. was paid for!)
It came that fast.
We then had to get passports, and Karla had to get her birth certificate and her driver's license renewed. We had only six weeks to do all of this. (I already had my birth certificate and Texas I.D. I don't drive.) We ran around like chickens with our heads cut off, but by God, we did it and we got everything completed!
Now all we had to do was wait for her driver's license, her birth certificate, and our passports to come in the mail. And pray that everything would come in time before we left for Alaska.
Before you know it, it was time to go on our trip. We were to fly out of DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX) to Seattle, Washington, then on to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on September 10, 2013. We were to spend the night in Vancouver, then sail out on the Coral Princess cruise ship the next day (September 11, 2013).
Our trip of a lifetime was about to begin!
~End of part one!~
