DAY 33 JUNE 19 FAIRBANKS

Day 33. We got up early and headed back for Fairbanks today. We hoped to yet see Denali on our trip past the park on the Parks Highways. No such luck. Once again the mountain was shrouded in clouds. We have a couple more opportunities before we leave Alaska. We remain hopeful. We arrived in Fairbanks around 3:30 p.m. We stopped at the Episcopal District Office to confirm arrangements for tomorrow. We fly out at 12:45 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. It will be a one hour flight to Fort Yukon. We really won't know any details about accomodations or expectations until we arrive, which is a bit unsettling. However, God has not brought us this far to drop the ball now. While 3 1/2 weeks sounds like an eternity now, I suspect the time will fly by and we will leave Fort Yukon with many cherished memories. We don't know if we will have comupter connectivity, so INTOAFARCOUNTRY.BLOGSPOT.COM may not be able to be updated. We will do our best, including seeking out alternatives (library, internet cafe, etc.), to keep you posted on our experience. Thanks for your prayers and good wishes through the duration of the sabbatical. We have learned through this experience how little control one has over their circumstances. For instance, after setting up our tent late this afternoon, it proceeded to rain--perhaps the hardest we have experienced since leaving St. Louis. God has a funny sense of humor! All's well that ends well. It is 8:30 p.m. and it now appears the rain is over and the sun is coming out. Walking by faith is a bit stressful. We'll have plenty to talk about when we get home. In the mean time, God's blessings.

Mileage for the day: 388 miles. Mileage for the trip: 6,737 miles.