Page 139 - The Exceptional Harley Fetterman

THE EXCEPTIONAL HARLEY FETTERMAN

At this age, some of Harley's favorites were Dr. Seuss stories,
Boxcar Children, Artemis Fowl books, and Narnia. Early on, one of
Harley's favorite author was Louis Sachar who created the Sideways
Stories from Wayside School in the A to Z Mysteries. Beth agreed
with Harley that this was extremely, funny stuff.

As Harley was making great progress on his goal to visit all fifty
states, he was granted a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of
Central and South Texas, Inc. Harley recalled his great desire to see
the polar, northern lights (the Aurora Borealis), after he and Beth read
the fantasy novel, The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman. So, a trip
was arranged for Harley and his parents to travel to Alaska, one of the
states still on Harley's “To Do” list.

The trip began with a flight to LAX airport, on to Seattle, then on
to Fairbanks. During the five-hour layover in Seattle, they met up and
had dinner with Harley's cousin, Kate, and her son, Wyatt. The long
combination of flights (over 24 hours duration) finally ended at 2:00
AM as they checked into their hotel, Pike's Landing.

The next day, they met with Dr. Neil Brown, the foremost authority
on the Aurora Borealis. He gave them a tour of the AU Museum
where they saw exhibits on native Eskimo culture and had a theater
experience which featured a lecture on the northern lights with sounds
of natural phenomena as a backdrop.

Figure 93: Fast sledding past a bear ice sculpture.

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