Day 99 – June 17 (Alaska Day 8)– Healy, AK

We hit the road and said goodbye to the camper city at Wal-Mart.

From our door, just a few of the campers on the Wal-Mart lot

We hit a couple of areas of road construction where they had the pavement removed and we drove on gravel.  At one point we had a passing lane on an up slope section and then at the guardrail was a moose eating grass.  We pulled over and took pictures.  It was close enough that Dorrie would almost touch it!

Next to the highway

Dorrie didn't use a zoom, it was this close as it walked by the camper

We made it to Denali RV Park and Motel and checked in for one night.  We did some laundry and cleaned up the camper.  After supper we drove to Denali Park to see were we had to go tomorrow.  On the way back, just out of the park we saw another moose.

Rafters just outside of Denali National Park at 8pm

While we were driving today I got to thinking about my friend Jimmy Landon.  I was 22 days older than Jimmy.  I knew Jimmy before we started school.  When I was 10 we moved next door to Jimmy’s family.  His dad was an officer in the Army during the Korean War and Jimmy was born in Japan.  During the war his dad was killed in action.

For 7 years he and I would be the only boys in our class.  We went to a small grade school, Lakeside.  There were usually about 60 total students in 8 grades.  We went to grade school, high school, and half a year of college together.  We grew apart during high school, and then reconnected when we started college.  Jim ended up dropping out of college and received his draft notice not long afterwards.  He joined the Navy and I saw him a couple of times when he was home on leave, but I lived in St. Louis by this time.

Jim died at the age of 30.  He just laid down one day and never got up.  I was out of town when it happened and I never even got to go to his funeral.  I think about him a lot.  Why am I including this in my travel blog?  Just to say, if you have a friend, sister, brother, cousin and someone special that you have grown apart from make the move to reconnect with them.  Make the first contact, the second, third – however many it takes but reconnect.  I would give anything to have reconnected with my friend Jimmy.  Maybe that is why I feel so good about getting to see two of my cousins again after so many years.  Ed and Mickey please stay in touch and I will do the same.