We are going to Alaska!

After more than a decade, two kids finishing high school, one kid finishing college, three houses, but just one church district, the Boggess family is about to start on another epic adventure.

This adventure will surpass all the rest. We are going for way longer than three weeks (six weeks, actually). We are covering way more than 3,000 miles (we will let you know the total when we get back). We are driving, yes. Our previous adventures up, down, and across the great country of the USA have taken us to all of the 48 contiguous states. We have just two left: Alaska and Hawai'i. This trip will take care of 1/2 of the states we have yet to see. We are still convincing Mom that the long flight out to Hawai'i is do-able.

At this point, we are kind of taking this trip as it comes. We have to catch the ferry up North (north, north, NORTH) on June 17, 2011. Between now and then, we will be flying our mini-van through the Mid-West and Northwest. We are planning on stopping at two places on the way out. One is Mt. Rushmore (one of our favorites from a previous trip). The other is Yellowstone National Park (another "favorite" from a previous trip). While one will be smellier than the other (Yellowstone), we want to make sure these places are solidified in our memories. Ashley's nose is already squirming at the smell--er--thought. Finally, we will swing through Seattle and Pike's Place for Megan on the way to Bellingham, WA where our ferry is. The original Starbucks is located at Pike's, and Megan will really need a cup or two by the time the family hits Seattle.

The ferry from Bellingham will take us up the Inside Passage along Canada's coast up to Alaska. we will make a few stops along the way then traverse the Land of the Never-Setting (or Always Set) Sun. Thankfully, this time of year, it doesn't really set. Otherwise, we'd never get to see those moose Dad has always wanted to see, and Megan won't be able to find that bear to terrorize Ashley with. (Oh--you thought we had grown up since our last adventure huh? WRONG!)

After running around Alaska on their two roads for a while (okay, so they probably have more than two roads, but you have to zoom in really, really far on Google Maps in order to see those "roads")--seeing Mt. McKinley, trying to see Russia from Sarah Palin's house, watching the sun never set, etc.--we will eventually turn our mini-van east and head for home. Maybe. Or maybe we'll just stay. You never know.

But more than likely, we will drive back through Canada, drop down into the US via the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, then find a familiar road back to good ole West Virgina.

Hopefully our mini-van makes it. Hopefully Ashley doesn't get eaten by a bear. Hopefully it never rains when we camp. Hopefully we don't get tired of cheese sandwiches. Hopefully we all love each other more after this trip!

This is the beginning of the epic Boggess Road Trip to Alaska. Well...on Friday... :)