WEDDING TRIP

May was a month of gearing up for the end of school and my forthcoming wedding. A month of frantic activity.

Mark flew down on Friday, May 2nd. He rented a car at the Dallas-Ft.Worth airport and drove to Big Sandy. It was nice to have a weekend together to discuss a wedding plans. Steve and Dona Elam invited us to had dinner with them Saturday evening. That was a nice opportunity; I wanted Mark to meet as many of my friends as possible.

The main reason for Mark coming down so early was so he could go do some work with Champion in Golden, Colorado. He planned to leave Sunday. That morning we took my car for a drive. It had been emitting a funny sulfur smell. Apparently sometimes cars do this if they haven't had any good workouts recently. While we drove around, we continued discussing wedding plans. I was eager to share my plans with Mark since he hadn't been around while I was making them. We finally had to say goodbye. I was quite lonely for the rest of the day after Mark's departure. However, I worked on Sunday evening--that helped to be among my friends.

Mark drove as far as Amarillo that evening, staying the night with my sister's family before driving on to Denver the next day. He said it was a pretty boring trip. The scenery looked about the same as it had the previous November. However, this time it was springtime. It was quite late by the time he got to the O'Dell's house. He got up early the next morning, snuck out and went to a nearby grocery store. Since there wasn't much time to do anything like going out to eat, he thought he'd pick up a few special grocery items that would be a treat to a family on a limited budget.

The next two weeks went quickly. Mark was busy with his work at Champion and I was busy with my final packing. I cleaned out my pantry. Some of the items I planned to take. Others I put in shopping bags to give to my sister and my parents. Mark returned to big Sandy about May 19th so he could participate in the end of school activities.

We went to Tyler on Tuesday, May 20th. We wanted to get our marriage license early to avoid any last minute hassles. The big activity for the day, however, was the Graduation Ball. Mark was handsome in his black tuxedo. This was the first time we had been to a formal dance together. I had ordered flowers for us. It was a nice dance except I had trouble relaxing. Mr. Marty Yale dedicated my favorite song "Moon River" to me. It was very late by the time we got to bed.

Graduation was a 2:00 p.m. on the 21st. It was a sad occasion for me. This would be the last time I would walk in and out of the auditorium an an Ambassador College faculty member. The past four years had given me wonderful memories. I'll never forget them.

My boss had told me I could take the next couple of days off. Not much would be going on since school was over for the year. Mark and I had plenty of things to do. Friday the 23rd was an exciting day for us. After having been up so late the night before, we had to get up early return Mark's rental car to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. We had to take two cars so Mark would have a way back. I was so tired I kept dozing at the wheel; I barely avoided cracking up. Mark had been following me; he worried when I begin drifting all over the road. Somehow I managed to get to our destination. The D-FW airport had two car rental locations. We found out later that we were at the South car rental at the same time Ron was at the North rental location. We were turning our car in while he was renting one. Ron turned up several hours later in Big Sandy.

We knew that my parents were to arrive that evening. Brother Chris had called Wednesday evening to say they would arrive also on Friday. My parents and Ron turned up right before dinner. I had planned leftovers to help clean out the refrigerator. About 8 p.m. we heard a car. I then got my first glimpse of Mark's mother, grandmother, and youngest brother. I had seen some pictures but they weren't enough to go on. It was wonderful that they were able to come. It was brave of Mark's grandmother to come all the way from Switzerland. Especially as Grandmother Bolzern speaks only Swiss-German. Mark did fairly well understanding her even though he hadn't been to Switzerland since 1975. But she didn't let the lack of English inhibit her from having a good time. I was glad she was able to come.

Sunday, the weather turned rainy. This worried us because our rehearsal was scheduled for 5 p.m. Another couple whose was planning an outdoor wedding at 4:30 p.m. would have to use the hall if the weather didn't improve. It continued to rain. The soon to be married couple called and assured me that since their reception was to be in another building, they wouldn't occupy the Administration building long past the appointed hour. I was skeptical. However, it was really cute how they handled the situation. When the walked down the aisle after the ceremony, they kept on walking--straight out the door. Then the guests were invited to the reception location.

Our rehearsal took a long time but went fairly well. Susan Crissinger and Brad Plumbley came to the rehearsal; they stayed long after we left to get the chairs set up. Mark had figured out a way to get my ideas on paper. We had three sections with two aisles coming together in the middle. As I'm short, I have always complained that I can never see the bride coming down the aisle. Since I'd finally landed a man, I wasn't about to have any guests go away saying that hadn't been able to see. We requested the guests to remain seated the entire time. Then I came down one aisle during the processional; then Mark and I left by the other aisle.

The photographer, Brett Ebright, also came to the rehearsal to take some pictures of the family. I was on pens and needles that his wife's baby would choose my wedding day to make his or her appearance. Fortunately my worst fears did not come to pass. My sister asked me if I was going to be upset if Karen insisted Ryan, her Cabbage Patch doll, being in the pictures with her. I was feeling so benevolent that I wouldn't have cared if a whole family of dolls had sneaked into the photo.

I had made reservations for the "rehearsal dinner" at the Steak and Ale in Longview. Mr. Hal Baird, our minister, joined us. Mark didn't see the need to have a special dinner. However, he agreed that considering our families had never met each other, it would be good to have some quiet time to relax and get acquainted.

The Steak and Ale gave us a big, long table in a fairly private room. We ordered the regular cut prime rib dinner for $8.45. I figured it best to stick to one entree. Mark's grandmother seemed to have a good time. The best laugh of the evening came when Grandma Bolzern suddenly looked at me and said something that sounded like "choochie chaashtlie." As I gaped at her, all the Bolzerns started laughing.

Before I could get offended at all the hilarity at my expense (and I still didn't know why), Mark explained that Grandmother was asking me if I could pronounce the Swiss-German word for "kitchen cabinets." Evidently, one way to tell if a person is a true Swiss is being able to say kitchen cabinets correctly. There isn't any way I can describe how the word really sounds. The English language doesn't have any letters that makes some of the sounds in the Swiss-German language. Swiss-German is not a written language (they write what is called High German). Pronouncing "kitchen cabinets" involves curling up the palate and bringing forth a hoarse, growling noise from the lower depths of the throat. Mark and I had some hilarious times on our honeymoon. Practicing saying "kitchen cabinets" in Swiss-German is one way to while away long hours on the road. I still haven't mastered it!

I don't remember what time we got to bed--I don't think it was extremely late but late enough considering how much we had to do the next morning. On our way back to campus where I had to drop Mark at his booth, we passed the building where our wedding was to be. Susan Crissinger and Brad Plumbley were still there finishing the set-up. They worked hard on it; and I believe much of the success of our wedding was due to having good friends like them.

Our wedding day dawned with good weather. We were getting married in the lobby of the Festival Administration Building on campus. I had planned to get there about 7 a.m. to supervise the last minute details.

I'm a very detailed person so had everything rigidly planned. A long-time friend, Ruth Walter, came to my aid a few days before the wedding by promising to play the piano when my pianist needed to go out of town. Fortunately, since she always played "Pomp and Circumstance for the college graduation, lots of practice wasn't needed. Instead of to the strains of "Lohingrin", I wanted to "graduate" into marriage. Kristin Schatz sang "Something Wonderful" from the King and I and "Climb Every Mountain" from The Sound of Music.

Sherry Wine and her future husband, Kurt Murrow, set up and decorated the reception. Friends had helped me make cookies and sandwiches for the big day. Jewel Kilgore, Elizabeth Millard, Nancy Blouin, and Ginger Hubbell served at the reception while Arlene Dion presided over the guest book.

Our colors were peach and aqua. Although the primary color of the carpet in the building in which we were married was purple. peach and aqua had been incorporated into the design. The flowers were peach colored. My friend, Nancy, had made the kneeling pillow of aqua fabric overlaid with lace. I wore my mother's wedding dress. To do so had always been a dream of mine. Mark, fortunately, had a black tuxedo. My sister had made an aqua dress. The best man and ushers wore dark suits.

One piece of excitement was one guest came all the way from Alaska. Mrs. Summers arranged her summer trip to her family in Oklahoma to coincide with the time of our wedding. We asked her to sit on the front row with Mark's mother and grandmother. After all, she'd known the Bolzerns for close to 20 years. She also got to be in the receiving line.

People tell us that our wedding was one of the smoothest they had attended. Isn't it nice that flaws aren't always obvious. The sound system decided to go haywire at the last minute. I think everybody was able to hear fairly well but the video tape wasn't very loud. But at least people could see! I wore my mother's wedding gown. Another thing I had always dreamed of doing.

After the ceremony, Mark and I walked out (to the back of the room) and Daddy got up and made an announcement that the reception was following, etc. The servers were in the first row behind the family so were dismissed before the rest of the guests. They took our flowers and added them as decorations to the refreshment table. We served cookies, little sandwiches, cheese and crackers. I'd always wanted to serve food instead of cake for my wedding. My friends came to my support and baked the cookies and spread the sandwiches. We made punch out of a combination of 7-Up, orange juice and cranberry juice. It was sort of peach colored. We didn't try for aqua colored food.

I had a good time at the reception saying goodbye to all my old friends. Originally, Ronald had been before me in the receiving line. We thought he could stand next to Grandma so he could speak SwissGerman to her. But after he was congratulated on his marriage for the 3rd time, he decided it was time to change his place.

We even got to eat at the wedding. Ginger had fixed up plates for us so we could have something to eat. Nancy loaned us her crystal punch cups and plates (so we could look elegant instead of using the paper plates and cups we had for the guests). After most of the guests were gone except the cleanup crew, my mother shooed Mark and me back to my apartment to start the process of getting ready to go and the final packing of the car.

The family soon showed up for the final festivities. My mother had made a special cake for us. We had used it for the centerpiece on the reception table but did not serve it to the guest. We saved that for the family to eat. That was fun! Then we opened the gifts we had received at the wedding. Grandmother Bolzern folded up the wrappings for future disposal. A few we took with us and others my parents took home to ship to us later.

We found a couple of cards had become separated from the packages. However, by process of elimination, I believe we correctly matched gift with giver. At least, no one ever informed us that we thanked them for something they didn't give us.

We finally got off about 4 p.m. Somebody took a picture of Mark carrying me to the car. I must say we looked like a cute couple. I wore my white spring suit with a peach colored silk flower corsage. The car was stuffed to the gills. Fortunately we didn't have far to go that day.

Mark and I had considered staying the night at my apartment and then heading on. However, my parents insisted we should do something special for our first night as a married couple. Since I was local, Mark told me to make whatever plans I wanted. Not very romantic, but it was the most practical. I had always heard of the town of Jefferson but had never been there. It's an old town. A number of the houses had been restored as Bed and Breakfasts. I had gotten a number of brochures and settled on one called "The Pride."

Once we got there and unloaded our suitcase, we decided it was time to eat. We drove all over town looking for a restaurant that was open. Apparently, Jefferson entrepreneurs believe in closing on federal holidays. We finally found "The Black Swan". The manager quickly spotted us as newlyweds and offered us a glass of wine on the house. That was nice and made the evening special. We ordered a chicken dish which we split. The food was really delicious. We were just so tired we could hardly eat. Mark bought me a copy of the Black Swan's cookbook as a souvenir of the evening.

Having breakfast delivered to our door was a treat. I had requested the room that had a porch with table and chairs. After sleeping late, we had a leisurely breakfast on the porch. It was easy to pretend that we were people of a century before. After breakfast we packed the car and then went to check out. We had a nice chat with the owner of The Pride. She told us that the Black Swan was the best restaurant in town. It certainly was in our opinion. We finally departed for our northward trek about 10 a.m.

As we drove, we wondered how our families were doing with all the last minute details of cleaning the apartment. My mother later told me that Mark's brother's were arguing about which was going to do what chore. My mother used a little psychology on them. She came out and asked who was ready to clean the toilet. They quickly got very busy on something else.

Our first night's stop of the coming 6,000 mile trip was to be Amarillo. We got there about bedtime. We had assumed that we would sleep on the couch. However, Sammy was out and wouldn't be returning until the wee hours. Julia insisted that we take their bed so Sammy wouldn't be stumbling across us in the middle of the night.

After breakfast and a little visit, we headed to Denver. About 50 miles north of Amarillo, I discovered that I had neglected to take my blanket off the bed in which we had slept at Julia's. Mark was so sweet. Even though he was kind of disgusted because of all the time we would lose, he willingly turned around rather than my being unhappy the rest of the trip. I won't say this blanket is exactly a security blanket like Linus's. However, I'd had it as long as I could remember on the foot of my bed and couldn't imagine being without it--especially when moving to a far away place like Alaska. Needless to say, thereafter, Mark always asks me if I've taken the blanket to the car.

We spent Wednesday night in a motel in Golden. Mark needed to do check in with Champion, possibly to do some work. We went to Champion Thursday morning. While Mark worked, I worked on a project I hadn't finished for the library. Mark set the portable computer up for me in the conference room so I could work on it. With a few instructions about the computer and WordStar, I was on my way!

We did that for two days. We spent Thursday evening with Mark's friend, Dale Wilkins. We got out our video tape of the wedding and played it. I was provoked because Mark and Dale talked most of the way through it. But other than that, we had a pleasant evening. I was finished with my project on Friday morning so got it mailed. Then I wrote some thank you notes. The day did get pretty long, but I did get some things accomplished..PA ON OUR WAY AT LAST!

We had arranged to spend Friday evening in Laramie, Wyoming, with Ada and Steve Grabowski. I had attended college with them and had known Ada even before that. The girls, Jennifer and Julia, gave up their bedroom so we could have some privacy. Since the Grabowski's weren't able to travel the long distance to our wedding, I was pleased that we were able to visit them.

We didn't travel very far on Saturday. We wanted to spend some time with the Grabowskis. Ada made a delicious, fluffy souffle for breakfast. She later sent me the recipe. We took an outing to Wheatland with them. They pointed out the sheep on the mountain tops as we drove through the Canyon. In the afternoon we drove on to Casper.

We decided not to drive all town looking for a motel. The first one we came to off the highway was Motel 6. It was so nice to relax. Mark picked up a Domino's pizza coupon at the front desk while when registering; we ordered out for pizza. We decided it would be better to stay in for a quiet even of TV and pizza so we'd be fresh the next day. The New Leave it to Beaver was on the cable channel. It was the first time I had seen that.

Sunday, June 1st dawned bright. We were eager to get to Yellowstone for sightseeing and the awesome sight of "Old Faithful." We arrived about twenty minutes before the Geyser was due to erupt. So we patiently waited. Although I had seen it once before at age 5, it was still an awe inspiring event. This time I didn't nearly drop my camera in the geyser like I did 25 years before. I highly recommend Yellowstone National Park as a vacation spot.

Travel guides recommend that campers arrive at Yellowstone before noon in order to get a good camping space. We hadn't arrived until about 4 p.m. but still were able to find a space; it was still early in the season. Mark had borrowed a tent and air mattress from a friend of Dale's. Knowing we might camp a few days, I had prepared for the event by bringing a few utensils. My cast iron skillet was too heavy to box; I had tucked it under the seat. My other preparations consisted of a paring knife, wooden spoon and a spatula. I started dinner while Mark started the fire. We set up the tent together. Mark had bought a dust buster (car vacuum cleaner); he used it to blow up the mattress. We didn't get it totally full, but it certainly was usable.

It was nice to sleep with the night sounds. I always sleep better away from city noises. The next morning while getting the car packed, 4 buffalo suddenly walked through the campgrounds. That was real exciting! We hurriedly finished loading the car, then drove around the Park. At one point, we stopped and took a walk--us and the wilderness!

From Yellowstone we headed to Arco, Idaho. Enroute we stopped at Blackhawk to visit with Max and Mary Martin. Mark's family had met them several y0ears before when they visited Alaska. We ate the remainder of our wedding cake while waiting for them to show up. They came fairly soon and offered us tea to wash down the cake. Although having spent the previous day with our Arco friends, they hadn't heard of our marriage. We thought it humorous. Mark was telling Max of our exploits and having camped out in Yellowstone the night before. Max got a funny look on his face; apparently he was wondering if we were "living in sin." He looked relieved when Mark clarified that we were married.

We headed on to Arco to visit the Hensons who run a summer tourist motel. They were cleaning and preparing to open for the season. We happily accepted their offer of a free room for the night. We really appreciated a shower, a clean bed, and both dinner and breakfast. Most people wouldn't have been that gracious in having guests land on them without notice.

After breakfast Tuesday morning, we went on to Boise. From the Henson's we had called my friend Elizabeth who had been worked in the library as a student. She, also, helped preside over the refreshment table at our wedding. Elizabeth offered us lunch which was also greatly appreciated.

From Boise, we headed to Yakima, Washington where we planned to stay the night with the Stevens family. As we drove through Oregon, the car became very hot as the afternoon sun streamed through the windows. My big impression of Oregon that it was pretty but very hot. We probably drank gallons that afternoon--or at least wanted to.

Mark had known the Stevens family since childhood. In Alaska, I was to meet two grown-up daughter. During the long hot afternoon, Mark kept me going with stories of his childhood. I was happy when we arrived. Johnny and Ester welcomed us as their mother was not yet home from work. They plied us with ice tea to cool us off. WE were provided with a a big, lovely private basement room for the night.

On Wednesday morning, we headed for British Columbia. But as we were in still in Washington, we headed first to Seattle and the Space Needle. Mark had visited it several years before when passing through. We didn't go up to the top as they were doing some remodeling. However, we did get to ride the roller coaster. It was warm in Washington, also. I wore my green shorts set, hoping to look cute for my new husband. I bought postcards in the gift shop. I wanted to be able to write a few more people before we got into Canada where I'd have to buy Canadian postage stamps.

I wrote the postcards and then promptly forgot them until just before arriving at the border station. Mark did a U-Turn which put up on the other side of the road. We were in the no-man's land between Canada and the United States; therefore, we had to go through the U.S. gate to be re-admitted into the U.S. even though we had never actually gotten into Canada. We got out our drivers licenses and explained to the guard that we hadn't yet been into Canada; that we wanted to mail our postcards before going crossing the border.

Then I had one of the most amusing, yet humiliating, moments of my life. Although accepting our story, the guard still had to ask all the usual questions. He then looked into our backseat. The contents had become quite jumbled since packing the car 9 days before. He asked "What's this mess?" My embarrassment was almost as bad as it would be if my minister had walked into my house without phoning ahead. I had to admit that the "mess" was most of my earthly belongings.

Despite my embarrassment, we did get the postcards mailed and headed back to the Canadian border station. As we drew near, an attendant walked toward us. We immediately groaned because that meant we were the car chosen to be searched. We were looked at and asked lots of questions. However, the guard only poked into various places without emptying the car. We had a tense moment when she started pulling on a blanket--I suddenly realized that was the blanket in which we had wrapped the two bottles of Adam Albert wine Mark's younger brother had brought us from Germany. Fortunately, the grape wasn't spilled and we were allowed to proceed.

It wasn't too far from the border on into Vancouver, British Columbia. Mark originally had intended for our route to go through Alberta instead of entering through Vancouver. However, I put a kink in those plans by insisting on visiting Expo 86. It wasn't every day a person had the chance to go to a world's fair!

We were really impressed with Vancouver. They had really prepared for the influx of visitors. The locals were very friendly and helpful. Several times, as we would be sitting at a red light pouring over the map, we would hear a honk and someone would ask if we needed directions. That made us feel welcome instead of feeling like a nuisances.

A friend of mine lived in Vancouver. She had made arrangements for a place for us to stay with a friend of hers who was running a bed and breakfast. Because of the shortage of housing, many people had opened their homes to tourists as a way of earning money while helping others. For us, it was cheaper than paying for a hotel. Not to mention, more pleasant. Soon after we arrived, we heard the tinkle of the bell of an ice-cream truck. I ran to my room for my coin purse. One of our wedding presents had been some Canadian coins. These we spent on an ice-cream bar.

We got up bright an early the next morning to head to Expo. During the drive over, we discussed our "plan of attack." Going to Expo was my "wedding present" to Mark. Unbeknownst to him, ever since we had become engaged, I had been saving money received back on rebates. During the 5 1/2 months of our engagement, I had managed to save $52.00. We had two choices. Get inside the gates two separate days and not have the money to do anything fun. Or we could go to EXPO for one long day from open to close and have enough extra money to buy souvenirs, ride the roller coaster, and snack a little. We chose the latter option because it would be more fun. Besides, we really wanted to buy matching t-shirts. (Buying matching t-shirts has become a tradition.)

Upon arrival, we walked around and cased the joint. That is, we checked out the first restroom we came to. We wanted to know what there was to see before we started seeing it. We stood in a couple of lines to go inside pavilions (exhibits by various countries). But we quickly decided that we'd be in lines all day and not get the whole area covered. So we decided not to stand in any long lines.

One of the first things we did was to watch the chain saw demonstration. A group of loggers put on a demonstration . We really enjoyed that. They, were artists with chain saws. I would never have believed that one could take a hunk of wood and make it look like something. Well, maybe with a chisel, but a chain saw is not the easiest thing to use. But is sure is fast! One made a little chair out of a block of wood and presented it to a child in the audience whose birthday it was that day. The demonstration area included a large pond. There was a log rolling contest; two loggers got on two ends of a log and started it spinning. The idea was that the man who stayed on the longest won--that is, the man who fell in the water first was the loser. There was also a pole climb.

Further down the "road", we came upon a food tasting booth. We missed most of the demonstration, arriving just in time for the tasting. Ever taste Hargas? Mark was trying to figure out what it was. The man next to me confirmed my guess that it was liver about the same time Mark had decided it wasn't something he was going to eat. So I got to eat to my heart's content. There are occasions that it is convenient that only one of us likes liver.

Mark and I both enjoy going on roller coasters. A big one was set up for Expo. This was the only ride we went on. There was a long wait, but it was worth it!

We had packed a lunch to eat. However we needed drinks. We got our hands stamped so we could go and and come back in without buying another ticket. We walked over to the McDonalds near the Expo site. There was bought rootbeer--the other option for a cola type drink was "New" Coke, something to which Mark and I both have an aversion. Later in the mid-afternoon, we splurged and tried a belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream.

Then we went to the t-shirt store to start our tradition.

About 5 p.m., the crowds began to thin. At this time, we started going to the pavilions. No longer was the wait in lines unbearably long. The Swiss pavilion was one of the first we went to. Since Mark is Swiss, we certainly weren't going to miss that one. They had trains and various kinds of intricate machinery on display. Mark got to speak a few words of SwissGerman.

After the Swiss pavilion, we went to the Japanese pavilion. They had some futuristic automobiles; the emphasis of the show was on manufacturing and engineering.

IBM had an information booth containing a touch screen monitor with information about Expo and how to find things. Mark though this was interesting until he figured out how it worked. I had never seen one of these even though now I use one when I go to the mall.

One of the most interesting exhibits was the Soviet space station. It was set up outside their pavilion and was an excellent attention getter. We were allowed to go inside and see how they would actually live. Life must be interesting in zero gravity. We were most interested in the toilet facilities. Imagine having to do your thing into an apparatus which was on the end of what resembled a vacuum cleaner hose. This apparently worked well for both genders.

I believe it was the Province of Ontario that had a 3 dimensional film showing us the beauties of the province. We were handed 3-D glasses at the door. The film was really exciting. One felt like we were actually "right there." In front of us we could see people reaching out to catch the ducks that were "flying past."

Since we were going to be driving through the Yukon territory, we naturally wanted to visit their exhibit. That was the start of "the rest of our trip." Namely, we decided to join in the Great Yukon Treasure Hunt. Those who wanted to participate were give instructions. One was to visit at least five of the six visitors centers in the Yukon. When there, one would be given a piece of paper on which would be written a clue. All one had to do would be to figure out where the treasure was hidden.

But more about that later!

The day ended with a beautiful display of fireworks. I really enjoyed that. Mark put me on his shoulders so I could see above the taller people in the crowd. I remember him mentioning something about the "snow machines." I gradually came to realize he was talking about "snow mobiles." To my brain, snow machines are snow making equipment. I had to get used to the fact that in Alaska people ride around on snow machines.

We were exhausted by the time we returned to the house that evening. We were glad we chose to see everything in one day so we could have a relaxed Friday. We drove around the city and stopped in to visit some people I knew. That evening we were invited to dinner at Edna's house. They were so pleasant. Dessert that evening was Nanaimo bars. They are luciously, fattening, sweet concoctions of graham cracker/chocolate crust topped with chocolate with a custard in the center.

Saturday evening we drove to Bridal Veil Falls to camp out. We had decided to tear ourselves away from our friends and get down the road a little. I had found an advertisement of the camping grounds at the falls. If one listened to the sales pitch about season camping passes for campgrounds across Canada, one could camp overnight for free. We ducked out as soon as we got to the campground and hiked up to the falls. It was beautiful! We took so much time that we missed the salesman. Not that we minded. The next morning we paid the camping fee and left.

Sunday was a long, arduous day. In fact, Sunday ran over into Monday. In other words, we drove through the night. British Columbia is a beautiful land area with trees, mountains, and streams. About 5 p.m. as we neared Prince George, we decided to call another friend from college whose parents lived there. It turned out to be Anita's last evening at home. They offered us dinner. And Mrs. Bourelle blessed me with a can of Bird's Custard Powder. That's the major ingredient used to make the custard of the Nanaimo Bars. I haven't ever found custard powder in the United States. Every time we go through Canada, we stock up.

Driving through the night was interesting. Needless to say, I fell asleep. So poor Mark had another boring drive. I vaguely remember waking up a couple of times and noting that I was missing some beautiful scenery.

Mark woke me up so we could have breakfast in Dawson Creek. Mark tells the story of one time when he was caravanning with friends from Idaho. They had determined that they would eat dinner in Dawson Creek; the choice was Mexican Food. In vain they searched for Mexican. All the signs said Chinese or American. They finally walked in one of the oriental restaurants and asked if there was any Mexican food in town. The response--"Where do you think this is, Mexico?"

I believe we settled for eggs on that Monday morning. Fort St. John and Fort Nelson are blurs in my mind. I didn't really wake up again until we hit Watson Lake.

Watson Lake was beginning of the Alaska Highway. A signpost marks Mile 0. We stopped at the visitor center. There is a "Sign Forest". Lonely GI's originally built a tribute to their home town by noting how far they were from their roots. Today, hundreds of people have added signs.

As mentioned above. The Yukon Territory exhibit at Expo '86 was sponsoring a treasure hunt. One was to visit 5 of the 6 visitor's centers in the Yukon. At the center, one would receive "clues." The answers were to be found or figured out in that general area. The first clue lead to the sign forest. All we could find that looked remotely significant was what looked like part of a sign designating the whereabouts on an outhouse. Huh?

We, especially Mark, were dead after traveling so long and so hard. I was so irritable that I wasn't fit to live with. As it was already about 4 p.m., Mark said we would spend the night at a motel so we could rest up and bathe. The rental for one night was $74 Canadian. It strained our budget b it was nice to stop for the night.

To this day, I haven't figured out what combination caused my hair to freak out. When I tried to dry it, it got real wiry, standing on end. My hairbrush got caught in it. Mark had to work hard to rescue me. I was in tears, sure that my hair would never be the same again. To cheer me up, Mark suggested that we call my parents. They were happy to hear from us since we hadn't written since getting into Canada.

The next morning, my hair acted halfway normal. Mark called the Doctor who had patched him up the previous autumn. He joined us for a quick breakfast.

On Tuesday we went to the Visitor's Centers at Teslin, Carcross and Whitehorse. We arrived in Haines Junction during the evening. We had hoped to find Mark's friends, the Prestones. We found their bus but they were gone somewhere in the car. We left a note on their door telling them we would be at the campground and what kind of car we were driving.

We slept late the next morning. Since we wanted to see the Prestones, we figured they would come looking for us. Or we would find them at our leisure. About 9 a.m. we heard a vehicle drive up. Sure enough, that was Joel! We went over to their house for breakfast and stayed for lunch. Mrs. Prestone gave us a set of towels for a wedding present. We put those to use immediately. My hair was badly in need of washing. I felt much more alive with clean hair.

It was an enjoyable day. They updated us on what their children were doing. We regaled them with stories of the wedding and our trip thus far. The Yukon treasure hunt was our big project. We had been debating about making the loop of the Yukon. Our efforts had not yet been rewarded. We had visited 5 of the visitors centers. The only one left was the one in Dawson City. That was quite a bit out of our way. But this was Wednesday. We didn't have to be in Alaska until Saturday.

The last thing we said to the Prestones was "Seeya Friday morning for breakfast!" I don't think they believed us.

But make the loop of the Yukon, we did. From Haines Junction, we headed for the border into Alaska. We turned right at 40 Mile after gassing up. We thought $1.27 was a scandalous price. Yet it seemed low after some of the prices we'd encountered in Canada. I was able to wave at the town of Chicken. We arrived back at the Alaska/Canadian border about bedtime. We had planned to pitch the tent. However, it was very cold and muddy. We decided to just sleep in the car. I had a difficult time going "to the bathroom;" I was afraid of dropping my pants in the mud. We huddled into our sleeping bags for the night. I gave Mark the passenger side of the front seat. Being slightly smaller, I figured it was easier for me to curl around the steering wheel. Besides, I can sleep in almost any position if I want to badly enough. Mark is one of these people who cannot sleep unless fully stretched out.

We woke up a few minutes before time for the border to open. We walked over to the restaurant and bought some orange juice "to go." Then hurried back to the car. We were the first car over into Canada. Once in Canada, we proceeded to the ferry which was to take us across the Yukon River. It was a neat adventure. We were happy to finally get to Dawson City.

Dawson City was a mining town. Outside the city is one of the dredges that was used in gold mining. We took a tour of it. We were attempting to follow up any clues or ideas we felt might lead to the treasure. Mark went inside the Museum. The clue indicated to read the plaque on a cabin inside the fence. Only Mark went inside since there was a fee. I stood outside the fence and copied down the information he read off to me. The clue involved distances. However, which distances--from where to where? Our clues led us to an outhouse in a public campground on the road back toward Whitehorse.

Were we way off base! We later heard the "treasure" was found inside the museum grounds. The treasure was a huge, heavy necklace made out of materials from the Yukon--gold, jasper, jade, etc. It was purported for be valued anywhere from $18,000 to $45,000.

We may have been up a creek without a paddle, but we didn't regret a moment we spent looking for the treasure. It gave us "something to do" plus made for a different honeymoon.

In addition, we had numerous tales with which to bore our friends. We arrived back at the campground outside Haines Junctions about 11 p.m. We hurriedly set about making camp. Our spot of the previous Tuesday night was taken so we found another. Mark began to blow up the air mattress while I did something else. Suddenly a rock caught in the vacuum fan. Well--a partially blown up mattress was better than no mattress at all. How fortunate that that was our last night to camp out.

We and our eggs appeared on the Prestone's doorstep the following morning. They nicely invited us to join them for breakfast. Then we headed for Alaska!

I was amazed how many miles we covered that day. With only a brief stop at Wilderness Village for a shower, we managed to make it all the way home.

We arrived in Palmer about 9p.m. Knowing that the house was devoid of food, we decided make a brief stop at Carrs to replenish our supply of groceries. We purchased bread, ground meat, eggs, and milk.

I was tired but excited when we got to our parking lot. Mark wanted to stop in at Noels. I protested that 10 p.m. was too late to barge in on people. But he assured me they would still be up and would want to see us. I headed for the outhouse while he informed them of our present. Mark came back with an invitation to dinner which he had accepted.

Since it was getting late, we decided to get the car unloaded first. We walked back to our house to get the pick-up. I was embarrassed at how loud the truck was. There was no way the Brusses could be unaware of our arrival. However, Mark said they probably wouldn't mind because at least they would know we were home instead of thinking someone had broken into our house. After we loaded the truck, we parked it outside Noel's house and went inside for dinner.

While we were taking care of our belongings, Noel and crew had pulled out the leftovers. I don't think any meal has ever tasted so good. In addition to the meal, we were presented with our wedding gift. Noel's family usually had yearly project. This year they were working on learning to make patchwork quilts. When they heard we were getting married, it was decided to present us with the first quilt they made. We immediately put it on our bed and have used it as a bedspread most of our married life.

It was almost midnight before we headed back to the house. At that hour of the night, I was even more embarrassed to roar by the Brusses house. We were so tired that we spread some covers on the bed and fell into the twin-sized bunk. The next morning we woke up feeling stiff. The bed was so small that we both had to turn over at the same time. (We did get used to it. We slept in the small bed for the first five five months of our marriage.)

But getting back to the story. The first thing we had to do was get water so I could wash my hair. Mark went to the creek while I figured out what needed to be done. I found a large pot which was thereafter used for heating water on top of the stove. I used a saucepan to dip the water from the large pan to pour over my head. Mark remarked that I accomplished washing my hair as if "I'd been doing it all my life" this way.

Our church was having two days of special activities. That was one reason why we wanted to reach Alaska by June 14. We headed to Anchorage fairly early. There we were greeted by friends. After the afternoon meeting, we decided to check into the Sheraton rather than driving back to Peters Creek. Mark felt since we had to be in town the next day, it would be beneficial to stay the night in town. I was pretty strung out from the long trip and then the effort of meeting strangers, looking pretty, and being pleasant. It was nice to be able to stay in a hotel.

We had a relaxing evening, eating dinner at Josephine's, the restaurant at the top of the Sheraton. Mark's steak was well-done instead of medium rare. He ate some of it before complaining. The second won was almost burned on the outside and raw on the inside. My meal was very good. We decided to pay for the meal. (Mark had eaten two plates of vegetables and other goodies.) Because Mark did not get his steaks cooked as ordered, the management gave us a coupon for free dessert for the entire party at a later date.

We kept busy most of the day Sunday. Mark asked me if I wanted to stay Sunday night in town as well. However, I felt and Mark agreed that we'd get an earlier start on all our Monday work if we were already at the house. Some of Mark's friends invited us to dinner that evening. That was nice so we didn't have to spend money or else scrounge at home for something to eat. We went home and did a few minor things before falling into bed.