I'm Seeing Stars...

By Skipper Krystal:

Coordinates: 39.3210° N, 111.0937° W, 37.3382° N, 121.8863° W, 47.6062° N, 122.3321° W

Don't worry about the world ending today. It's already tomorrow in Fiji.
- Daria Blackwell

30,000 feet of air, a little metal and some plastic are all that are between me and the Great Salt Lake right now as the nose of the plane is turning west into a streaky rose-gray sunset. Second Mate Jack and I, Skipper Krystal, are headed to Seattle to meet the Northern Star!

However, the trip north is a little windy this time (and a little turbulent at the moment). We’re climbing into a cloud bank now, and I can’t help but ponder why anyone would think it is efficient to send us clear to California before getting around to Seattle. So San Jose here we come (hence some added Californian coordinates at the top). Still, whenever I fly I think to myself “passengers on an airplane who spend their time grumbling about the size of the packet of peanuts while they are soaring through the air, far above the clouds—something ancient kings would have given all they possessed to try and experience just once!" Thank you President Uchtdorf. It makes takeoff a little more magical every time. :)

We’re meeting Captain Gary and First Mate Kris (Dad and Mom, respectively) who left at 3:00 AM this morning on their own arduous trek through the friendly skies. I assume they’re still crashed in the hotel. But the important thing is, as much of the crew as we can muster are headed north (somehow or another) and this is a very important week!

See, we have to outfit the Northern Star before we can take her north. Hard tack and gruel in the 1800s might have sufficed, but we’ve gone soft in the last hundred years or so, and we’ve got to know where to stuff the crackers and the can opener and the towels and the all-important toilet paper (seriously, important). Plus we need a boat on the back—a dinghy, for the layman—to take into shore when we anchor. Gotta find the right dinghy and a motor. Dad’s looking into some with metal bottoms, so it doesn’t puncture on rocky, black Alaskan shore and we don’t plunge into the Pacific (with all our stuff).

Plus, we learn to sail her this week!

Still, preparing for the trip—packing everything and cooking and cleaning and packing and cooking some more was intense and exhausting and on the drive out I had an army-green duffle stuffed against one shoulder and a blue-and-white cooler jammed under one elbow.
Jack’s playing a game matching fruit that smile and bounce at you, and seems quite happy with himself. Wow, three stars on that level. Go Jack. Anyway, a little rougher turbulence. We’ll come into Seattle at 1:00 AM Seattle time, so going to be pretty tired. Glad I’m not sailing through icebergs tonight.

P.S. Icebergs: one more reason to have a spare dinghy around. Just a tip. ;)

P.P.S. Just looked out the window. There’s just one bright star over the fading sunset—darkest blue to light, light gold. Fitting, isn’t it?