Back from Alaska

We are home again, wherever this is. The travelling month (September) is over and even here in Germany the trees show their fall colors.
The Alaska trip was great, as always. And it was different since we rented an RV instead of a SUV or car. When we picked it up I was not sure whether I liked it or not, but after a while I got used to the rumbling and I really appreciated the bathroom. I met most of you and I enjoyed it so very, very much. Visiting Alaska is almost coming home. And I feel very sorry for all the visits I didn't do.
We saw and did a lot during the short two weeks. First we sold Dave's house! Yeah, after one year this was a very good reason to celebrate. Then we headed up north to Talkeetna and looked for possible areas to buy some land for our future home. It is still some years to go, but we would love to invest some money from the house into a property there and then slowly build our own home.
After that we headed north again, all the way up to the arctic circle. The rental company permitted the drive on the Dalton Highway up to the arctic circle and all our tires and the windshield survived the trip. The only broken things were one cup and the mirror in the bathroom. It really was kind of an adventure. I've been at the circle in Norway and Sweden, but Alaska is different.
After that we drove south to Healy and Denali National park. That was good. I enjoyed spending 4 days with Evalyn and as always I was so sad when we had to say good bye.
Beside visiting Evalyn it was so good to see Ann and Terry and also Vic (the biologist). We also spent the days in the park and saw a lot of moose, two wolves and Dall sheep. We hiked a little bit and took pictures. And during our last night we were able to see northern lights. Perfect.
On our way home we again spent a day and a half in Anchorage and met with Jane and Al. When we told them about our wedding plans in Alaska they promised to help with the organization. Thank you.

Talking about the wedding. Maybe it is time now to plan everything in a little bit more details. The only things we did up to now are:

- decided on a day for the church wedding (14-June-2008).
- decided on a day for the civil wedding (18-March-2008).
Note: A civil wedding is required in Germany, otherwise a church wedding is not possible. And it can't be done at the same time.
- we booked a room for the reception in June
- I talked to my Pfarrer (minister, pastor) and we will visit him in November

Next things we have to do:
- Look at wedding rings (I love doing this)
- Visit my Pfarrer
- Finalise the guest list
- Design and send our invitation cards
- plan the Alaska wedding (simple ceremony and just a dinner)

It seems like the fall and winter weekends will be busy. So keep on reading.