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Today is our last day of paddling. With Garnet Lodge in the estuary, the ocean is not far from us now. I observe what this does to my thoughts.

Moving closer to our destination, the view begins to widen. It’s as though we are looking into an endless abyss, seals and seagulls everywhere. Yet, I am totally short sighted. The beauty in every detail, in every stroke, loses its glow. My mind is fixated on the fact that the end is so close. It’s like I am scared to cross over. (Wrangell is where we have our US border check, after all!)

To best utilize our time, Laura and I, sharing a canoe, discuss what each and every person on the trip offered. We look back on the journey’s highs and lows, agreeing that it really is about the journey…

Arriving to our destination, Wrangell, Alaska, we find a giant gazebo along the ocean (with a fire pit) to call home for the evening. Barry, always bringing the fun, returns from town a few hours later with a piñata. Jon, always making immaculate dinners, cooks up an unbelievable fish dish (he found someone to buy fresh fish from for such a reasonable cost. What a deal!). On full bellies, we spend our last night of our “journey there” by singing, dancing, and taking our best shot at this swaying box of sweets!

I truly don’t think it can get any sweeter than this.

It’s a story of a story of a story…

Here’s to returning home, knowing that despite the fact we are sleeping on a tarp together in a public park, we are already there…

Haume.

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