The adventure begins

Day 1 was all travel.  After loading up the vans at church, we headed to the airport and began the long flight to the tundra.  We left mid-day, and with a lay-over in Minneapolis, arrived in Fairbanks around 11:00 pm local time, or about 3:00 am Eastern time (YIKES).  We were all very tired, but excited to see our friends (who said "YAY! People from Home!!! when they picked us up).  We then loaded up the bus and headed off to the camp, and ITS STILL LIGHT at about 00:30 when we finally got out of the airport.  That was a theme that would pervade the trip... LOTS of light.

Rest came easy that night, even though we were excited by the new surroundings and seeing our friends.  I was also struck by the modern vs. rustic architecture, surely born from necessity... harsh winters and all.

Man, that's a long trip...