Watery Alaska

Eight years ago this month, the worst weather on the inaugural Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride was a nasty little sleet/snow storm on Day 2. This year we might not have gotten out of Fairbanks for the water from flooding rivers throughout the state as it seems to have rained the entire month of July.

So you gotta know that mother-love is the best when yours calls to wish you a happy birthday and apologizes for being distracted by a little flood.

You see, Mom was evacuated from her rural Fairbanks home late Thursday night by canoe, along with her dog and 1 bag of belongings to a safe haven on dry land. Having learned to deal with much worse in her 20+ years in the state, she was savvy enough to flood the giant, empty oil tank that could have lifted her house off its foundation had it "floated" and park her cars on higher ground. She's taking it in stride, actually hoping the river rose just 1 more inch so she could get some new flooring out of the deal. In a couple hours, she'll canoe back in to see how it's going.
Pic 1
Pic 2
Suddenly, the strength & endurance it takes this 50 yr old to ride 560 miles doesn't seem like such a big feat at all. Go Mom!

Pics appeared on the front page of the Friday & Saturday Fairbanks News Miner, including Mom's garage and the home of the friend (Barbara) who canoed Mom out and is taking her back in this afternoon.