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| Coffee before packing up and continuing northbound on the Alaska Highway |
My father has been the single greatest influence on me. Taking chances, pursuing dreams, squeezing every drop out of life; he has always pushed me to be a better person. How I carry myself and relate to others is a direct result of everything he has taught me through long, meaningful conversations and his own demonstration. Never have I met someone who gets more excited about talking with new people at every opportunity, learning about their stories and sharing his own. If there were ever to be a single cause the entire world could make greater strides towards, it would be to be more like my dad. His open mind and willingness to see the world's controversies through the eyes of others have constantly inspired me to do the same.
The prospect of the two of us riding together up to Alaska after my graduation never even occurred to me until he mentioned in casually during our weekly phone calls during my final semester. As soon as he brought it up however, I knew that it was going to happen. There were considerable hurdles to jump over to make it happen, but as we began making our way west, we both agreed that some things are just meant to work out.
Driving through Banff National Park on the Icefields Parkway was a special opportunity for the both of us. I was able to share with him an area that had already grown in importance to myself and he got his first taste of the Rocky Mountains since his own pilgrimage to Colorado during his college years. It was only appropriate for me to drive that entire leg of our journey as he was preoccupied with bear spotting and picture taking.
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| Lake Louise, Alberta |
Now that we've checked off driving to Alaska, we're both excited to see what next adventure is in our future. Seeing as we both have affinities for water and fishing, a float trip down a wild Montanan river or canoeing in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, both seem all the more achievable due to our completed trans-continental journey. It would have been quite a different, and much less enjoyable, journey if it weren't for him.
