Yes, there IS a North Pole.  And I'm glad we were there in July when it was 50 degrees and not mid-winter when -40 degrees is common, and sometimes the temperatures can get below -60 degrees.

One of our drivers told us that children are expected to go outside for gym and recess until the temperatures drop below -20.  At -30 degrees, parents have the choice of sending their children to school or not.  At -40 degrees, the schools automatically close.

And I do recall a lot of parents whining around these parts when school was in session when the temperatures were below zero.  Us Hoosiers are weather wimps.

Anyway, just 15 hours after we visited North Pole, our plane touched down in hot, balmy, tropical Indianapolis.

Alaska was incredible, amazing, and one of the best vacations we've ever taken! I took oodles of photos, which I hope to begin sorting through today....so expect a travelogue on this blog over the next several days.

I'm so thankful that I had the wonderful opportunity to go on our trip!  Just a few weeks ago, right after my cancer diagnosis, the doctors were telling me to cancel our plans.  But I pulled out the tears (actually, I tried to keep them in check but they wouldn't listen!) and my oncologists reluctantly relented and agreed I could go.

Vacation is over.  This morning I'm headed to Indy...not to the airport to board a plane to a fabulous place, but to a place I never even knew existed just a few weeks ago.

Chemo #3 is on today's/this week's docket.  

Still smiling from our incredible escape to exciting Alaska.  But now it's...

...back to reality.