Last time we spoke, fine reader, The Chief and I had returned from a whirlwind Town trip. This week? Samesies! Except…not. Not the samesies at all.

Two trips.

Two weeks apart.

A world of difference between them.

In the Venn Diagram of Trips to Anchorage, of course, they shared similar aspects:

Lack of sleep

The overwhelming choices for road snacks

Endless logistics to untangle

Countless trips criss-crossing Anchorage

The fuck-its (aka I don’t care that toothpaste is on our list, I’m done shopping and spending money. I’ll use baking soda.)

You know, basically just feeling like you need to hide from the world.

But this trip? It was a ladies’ trip (cue the Lemonade album).

I don’t know about you but damn if I didn’t miss my friends this last year. Luckily for me (sarcasm) two of my closest friends and neighbors happened to be gone from our ‘hood this last year. Thankfully, two other besties were nearby to pump my estrogen levels back up and there were some winter newbies I was lucky enough to get to know. Don’t get me wrong, I love my boyfriends but sometimes there’s simply no substitute for the love that exists between girlfriends, and this weekend I got to fill my tank.

On the way into Town, I rode in with my girlfriend (one of the two who were gone this winter) you might remember from this post and the newest addition to our girl gang: Leona. She’s my Scorpio soul sister. Our connection runs deep and the strange ways her coming to be all the way to her birth crossed over with our babe and our miscarriage still give me chills. It was cathartic and healing and an overall serious full-circle experience to ride into Town together, the three of us (plus my nephew pup, Ruger of course), this time with Leona on the outside, squeaking and squealing and babbling her way through the normally 8-hour, turned 10-hour, drive. We were on baby time and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

After getting in at 1:30 am, getting to sleep by 2:30, and up again at 6:30 we were all a little blurry-eyed but gung-ho. There was a lot to do and do it we did, all the way from getting the pup in and out of surgery (he’s OK, don’t worry!), getting my friend’s car repaired, getting me to acupuncture and an ultrasound plus blood draw (I’m OK too and no, I’m not pregnant. It was just a look around to make sure all is well, and I feel very grateful to say that it is) plus countless errands in between. The consensus? We pretty much nailed it.

The next morning, my girlfriend and little Leona and I parted ways (they are staying to pick up her sister and I needed to head home for the workweek). They dropped me off at the dentist where I arrived full snail style (aka with my life on my back) and when I was finished, my other neighbor who had been gone all last year picked me up! Despite a rocky start (pun intended) when the starter on her truck gave us guff we made it out of Anchorage. We shopped separately, one of us staying with the truck while the other went in, as we were too nervous to turn off the truck and thus finally departed the grocery store at 3:30. Would it be another late night? Who cares! We were together for the first stretch of substantial time together in over a year. We talked the WHOLE time. It filled my cup, a cup I didn’t realize was empty. Gosh, I love girlfriends.

So, am I completely and utterly tired? Yep.

Do I feel a little dizzy from that whiplash of a trip? Yep.

Was it worth it? Hellllllll yea! I am so grateful to Alaska for the hard it provides and the beauty that hard creates. 18 hours in the car never felt so good.

Cheers to the friends in our lives who help us to learn ourselves, push ourselves, love ourselves. I am so grateful for each and every one of you.

With love,

From Alaska (aka Dogtown, U.S.A)

P.S. Have you had any adventures as of late? Reconnections? How is your cup? How do you fill it up?