Where in the world is Janice Maynard?

I had planned to write a long e-mail to the scamps and vamps today, and then I realized it was my blog day. So today's entry is purely personal. :)

Hubby and I are leaving Wednesday for a two week trip to Alaska! It is something we have wanted to do for years are now finally able to pull it all together. I got very lucky and got tickets for $218. They were actually $718, but I had credit card points that I had been accumulating for about 7 or 8 years, and I had enough to get a $500 credit on each ticket. Pretty cool...

We will be staying part of the time with friends in Fairbanks. Bob went to high school with us, then on to West Point, and has been career military ever since. He is now in charge of all the army forces in Alaska... recently hosted the minister of defense from Russia as well as our Secretary of Defense.

Bob and Sally have invited us to use their home as "base camp" and then make forays into other parts of the state, so we won't have motel expense the whole time we are gone. Plus, it will be lots of fun to see our friends again.

Unfortunately, we won't be doing the famous "inside passage" trip you hear so much about. Those boats only go out during the summer. So that is a treat we'll save for another day. We will, however, go out on a boat from Anchorage and tour around the Kenai peninsula where the wildlife is abundant.

It is about 8 hours from Fairbanks to Anchorage... on the way, we will spend several nights at Denali National Park. We haven't made many specific plans, so we will be flexible and spontaneous, not always an easy task for two first children. :)

One thing we are definitely going to do is drive up to the Arctic Circle so we can say we have made it there. That will be cool. And of course, we are hoping to be lucky enough to see the Northern Lights.

Traveling from Tennessee to Alaska is a challenge. We leave Knoxville at 2PM on Wednesday and finally arrive in Fairbanks at midnight local time (4 AM on our body clocks). We'll use Thursday to rest up and try to get adjusted to the time.

We're not taking our laptops, but I hope to be able to sneak in a couple of e-mails while we're at our friend's house. So you may hear from me once or twice.

If you have time, please stop by my website (www.janicemaynard.com) and check out my current contest. The winner will receive some fun Alaska souvenirs.

On September 26, the day before we return, A Very Merry Christmas officially hits the shelves. I am so honored to get to be in an anthology with Lori Foster, and I am very grateful for the opportunity. I don't know what kind of bookstores they have where I'll be, but it would be cool to see it on the shelves in Alaska.

Try not to get into trouble while I'm gone! I'll miss my daily "Scamps" fix. I count my blessings on this somber anniversary.

Love and hugs to all,
Janice