We woke to the alarm on my iPhone. Eyes trying to open. Deep breaths. Up at 4 am again. Then I remembered.

I clutched at my phone to check if anyone had posted about it. Nothing. Had it happened yet?

We tossed on our clothes, grabbed our luggage and plowed out the door to leave Whitehorse for a 15 hour day on the road to Fort St. John.

This was the second day in our journey down the Alcan, from Fairbanks, Alaska to Charlotte, North Carolina.

I had been waiting all day prior, hoping to receive some news, but without cell phones or internet all through Canada, we were relying on the Wifi in our hotels at night for any updates.

I was left to wonder all day. All 15 hours of winding through the mountains. What had happened? HAD it happened? Why had no one posted by 4 am?

We passed through some gorgeous mountains.

canadian mountains picture

 

Turquoise waters that rivaled the beauty of our honeymoon in Maui.

canada mountains turquoise waters

 

We spotted bears.

canadian bear

 

Bison.

bison

 

And caribou.

caribou picture

 

Getting up at 4 am has its perks. The sunrises were insane. Magical mist hovered over the lakes, whispered down the rivers and vanished with the brightening day.

sunrise

 

We existed on goldfish crackers, beef jerky and Reese’s (which are called Reese in Canada, we found out).

Listened to Pillars of the Earth on audiobook. Bumped, bumped, bumped along.

Kept pointing and saying, “Look at thatttt…”

bridge canada

 

Stopped for construction. Kept plundering through the wilderness. Minutes ticking off. And kept wandering. And wondering.

All day.

On and on.

Never tiring of the sights. Always wondering. Had it happened yet???? 

trees canada

 

We told Al the Owlie, not to worry. He rode with us in the front of the Jeep, watching for bears and gas stations and gorges and mountains and keeping us entertained with his cuteness. He was a birthday gift from my boo several years ago and is one of the few personal items I kept on this trip.

 

chandi canada

 

And on we went. And on. And on.

The views were out of this world the entire way.

canada river

 

Finally…

Finally we pulled into the Pomeroy Hotel in Fort St. John and pounced  onto Wifi immediately.

And all my wondering came to an end.

grayson roy

 

He had made it! Baby Grayson Roy had entered the world the night before, healthy and happy and all was well.

He’s my first great-nephew, born to my niece and nephew, Diana and Robi. And he’s absolutely perfect. The sweetest of news.

Whewwww… What a day. I realized while bumping along that day that it was a microcosm of life.

You have to live in the moment. Each day, each hour, each minute, each second, each infinite, infinitesimal moment is a gift.

And to fully embrace life you’ve got to walk on in faith with a whole and trusting heart; loving what is and believing in the beauty of what’s to come.

And on we went the next day.

Happy and content…

Isn’t life wonderful?

Chandi