Page 35 - 2018 ALASKA NORTHERN NIGHTS LIGHTS

legs home, we would be in a world of anxiety and big flight-switching

charges. He looked sorrowfully at us and his truck and said he would

love to help us but his truck was just too full of his equipment. We

thanked him for his thoughtfulness and kept on fretting.

Becoming more desperate and more "nervy," we asked him again if he

could possibly take us to the airport (actually a very short ride) if we

could cram ourselves into his panel truck. Again, he looked dubious but

then began to see what gear he could unpack and leave temporarily at

Sthe motel. Then he showed Betsy the space he had made and asked if

she could ride there in the back among the stuff. With a big grateful
grin, Betsy hopped right in. Then he told Kay and I that we would have

to share the one front passenger seat & we assured him we would

make that squeeze work. And we did. So we drove off towards the

airport and then saw two different cabs arriving at the motel. Oh well!

They were late and they lost our fare. When Mr. Ellis let us out at the
airport terminal, Betsy offered him some reimbursement but he

politely refused and wished us a safe flight and happy arrival home. We

told him to look us up in Jacksonville when he next visited his family in

Milton (not that far from our home)! Hooray and many thanks to that

gallant rescuer of 3 Florida damsels in distress.

A perfect end to our Alaska photo trip and our Northern Lights Nights

(and Days)!

The flights home started in daylight so we could enjoy a look at the
vastness of Alaska and marvel at the sunset. It is indeed a marvelous

land of vast wilderness and grandeur. But the cold is not to be endured

by one born and raised in the sunshine of South Florida!