North to Our Future

My family came to Alaska in 1974. I still remember the phone call that November day all those years ago. The caller Tom Russell had left a message for my father to call him after work and when my father called back my life and that of my family changed forever. We were not experienced travelers, just simple farm folk all we knew was wrapped up in a honest and long days work, and time off was spent in a 7 acre garden or running our ski boat around a local lake. We knew nothing of cold, snow or the frozen north.
Come the 17th of December though my mom had sold everything we owned save clothing and pictures and a few odds and end, kissed our relations goodbye and hit I 75 with a station wagon full of girls and a ford truck full of dreams.......
When we reached the Yukon Territory the trip became perilous. Families were dying in their vehicles becoming stuck on the roads due to the heavy snow we were the last vehicles that made it through before that storm was through. Many people never made it to Alaska that year. After 1 long month on the road yes I said a month on the road we finally saw the sign that said Welcome to Anchorage at the corner of Glenn Highway and Airport Heights. We made it and the rest well are fond memories I will try and share as this blog goes on. We had many adventures those first years, there were many good people who helped us through some hard times, that's Alaska and her people...