Not a bad commute, eh?Copyright 2007 Lydia Hinshaw
DENALI NATIONAL PARK, AK -- One thing that's different about this summer's adventure is that I have to drive to work, never one of my favorite things, even when gas was cheap.
At Glacier National Park in 2005 and in Skagway, AK, last year, my workplace was just steps from my front door.
This year, it's 3.6 miles away, up a pretty serious hill. We could have lived within walking distance of my job, but then Prince Charming would have had to drive. The clincher was that the most convenient housing for me is still without running water, a fairly common situation here this time of year, I'm told. Folks living there must drive or catch shuttle buses to get to showers, and their neighborhood is dotted with porta-potties.
Outside the park, amongst the hotels and restaurants and gift shops, the toilets flush and the showers run hot. So we live near the Prince's job, and I'm a commuter.
There are two stoplights on my route, another thing I didn't expect. Traffic signals are a quality-of-life issue. The farther I can managed to live from them, the better.
At Glacier, I lived 35 miles and an international border from the nearest traffic signal in Cardston, Alberta. From Skagway, we had had to drive 110 miles through Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory before we encountered our first stoplight on the edge of Whitehorse, YT.
Once I'm past the stoplights in the morning, I don't mind the drive so much because I'm traveling down the road pictured above. The bridge crosses the Nenana River. Beyond, up the hill and around the curve is the turnoff into Denali.
Driving to work here definitely has its compensations.
At Glacier National Park in 2005 and in Skagway, AK, last year, my workplace was just steps from my front door.
This year, it's 3.6 miles away, up a pretty serious hill. We could have lived within walking distance of my job, but then Prince Charming would have had to drive. The clincher was that the most convenient housing for me is still without running water, a fairly common situation here this time of year, I'm told. Folks living there must drive or catch shuttle buses to get to showers, and their neighborhood is dotted with porta-potties.
Outside the park, amongst the hotels and restaurants and gift shops, the toilets flush and the showers run hot. So we live near the Prince's job, and I'm a commuter.
There are two stoplights on my route, another thing I didn't expect. Traffic signals are a quality-of-life issue. The farther I can managed to live from them, the better.
At Glacier, I lived 35 miles and an international border from the nearest traffic signal in Cardston, Alberta. From Skagway, we had had to drive 110 miles through Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory before we encountered our first stoplight on the edge of Whitehorse, YT.
Once I'm past the stoplights in the morning, I don't mind the drive so much because I'm traveling down the road pictured above. The bridge crosses the Nenana River. Beyond, up the hill and around the curve is the turnoff into Denali.
Driving to work here definitely has its compensations.
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