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Hello friends,

Greeting from my motel room #224 at the Lakeshore Inn in Alaska! I write you today on my second full day from Anchorage after flying in Friday morning at 5 am.  I hope you are well and resting this Sunday afternoon.

I still can’t believe I finally made it here in one piece. Believe me when I tell you that there had been moments when I thought this trip would never materialize for me. The lower forty-eight have finally been traveled, some more than once and now that I’m here only the beautiful island of Hawaii remains to be knocked off the list! Although getting here was half the struggle, I still have the daunting task of scoring a job in the short window of time that I have available. I began my search as soon as I checked into this motel and have not seen any activity on the CL or any other sites I’ve searched.

My challenges here are many and my time is limited and I knew that from the start but even with those parameters in place I still took a hit my last day in the Bay area when my truck broke down on the way back from a job. I was heading back to my son’s to pack and catch my flight here when my wheel bearings popped and left me stranded  during the busy rush hour traffic. I barely made my flight thanks to my sister Ester but $395 dollars lighter due to the towing fee! I could’ve surely used that money here which I had planned on using to rent a car to get around but now I have to rely on the public transportation to get around; not a pleasant task when the temps haven’t gotten above 30 degrees since I got here.

So besides the timeline, the lack of tools and the nonexistent job prospects I still have to take the bus wherever I go, so let’s see how it pans out these next couple of days for me. Then I have the issue of dealing with the repairs on the gigs mobile when I get back to my home base in Union City and I don’t have any idea how much that is going to cost me when all is said and done. The double edge sword of course is that I need my truck to earn money to fix it, buy my Honolulu ticket and some survival cash for my last stop. I will deal with one problem at a time I suppose and somehow I will get through it as I have managed these past forty- nine stops thus far, it will just take me a little longer to get home.

On the brighter side this place is cold but beautiful from what I saw from the plane and from walking around. The folks seem very friendly and I’m sure when all the snow and ice melts in a couple of months the true awesomeness of this area will come to the fore. I will be far away by then in my desert home with my puppy Kalani by my side hopefully putting the finishing touches on my book of my glorious past ten month on the road! Until then friends I will continue to share my story with you and hope you find it as thrilling as I have.

Have a great rest of the day and thank you so much for your support and following! #Yo-Ga-Fla

Juanjohn