Alaska - Porch Sittin’
Grandma in her rocker - just missin’ my Moonshine!
Fox ~ May 10-15, 2023
Even though we were so fortunate to have the creature comforts of home for a week, we couldn’t ignore our feelings of remorse. We were grounded. And to make matters more vexing, I now had to school myself in three-legged life. I couldn’t help feeling a bit stir crazy, watching others do what I could not. This being my first major setback, I will never, ever take being able to move freely for granted. Thankfully, during the first few days I felt almost no pain.
The next morning Nivaun carted the rest of our gear into the apartment, packed up our tent, and procured bike boxes from Beaver Sports in Fairbanks. Our home on wheels was now a gear stash to be schlepped around until our flight home in two weeks time.
As for the rest of the week, I don’t think I could have injured myself in a better place. We were surrounded by the kindness of truly good people.
Damon came to the rescue with an impromptu afternoon barbecue and Clint Eastwood movie night. We so enjoyed his hand made burger special, with all the fixings, chips and dip. What a guy! The only thing better was a wet nose nudge on the cheek from Sarge - thanks buddy, I needed that! And Shelia, was of course, oh so willing to let me scratch her bum - dog therapy will always reign supreme.
Rich and Steph were busy this week with Spring chores, filling hanging baskets, nursing garden sprouts and the major task of removing snow from every pull-in and tent pad in the park. Nivaun never says no to using a chainsaw and helped to clear another section of the park still covered in overgrowth. That evening we joined up to share a meal at Silver Gulch Brewing which gave us the chance to swap stories from past adventures and express our thanks for all their support.
On the way home, they took us by the Fox Community park and raved about the Thai food truck parked at the entrance. Just across the driveway, the hand-sculpted iron fencing surrounding the property of the owners just begged to be photographed. This became the destination for the next day’s outing. I was sure I could hobble my way down there, but Steph made a compelling offer to ride her ATV. With a few minutes of skilled instruction from Steph, a former Motorcycle instructor, I was off like a Gimp on 4 wheels, ready to race any turtle that dared poke its head out.
Before we left Fox, I was hoping to get a photo with our entire support crew. And so the week came to a close with Rich and Steph hosting a barbecue of brats and Sheefish, (yes, that’s a real fish) for all of us followed by group photos. We said our good byes to Damon, his fur kids and Tony. The chance meeting of all of us, the needs that were met in the process; it was an experience I think will stay with all of us for years to come.
Anywhere else that would about wrap up this story, but not here in the North. The story isn’t over til Santa comes a knockin’ as he did our last morning. Rich surprised us both in his full regalia and made me feel like a kid again - even if it was just for an instant. I can now say Santa came to see me twice in my lifetime - about 55 yrs apart. We of course took more photos and then Rich delivered us like ‘presents on a sleigh’ to our intended destinations - me to a Massage Therapist and Nivaun to the car rental.
My best photo with Santa and Ms. Claus EVER!
Fox will forever be in our hearts, our home away from home! Cheers!