Day 9: Dreams do come true.

In years to come, when I think of my 50th birthday, I will have a memory of purest gold.Let me tell you about it…The riding, if it is possible, might have got better. The roads, the endless roads with no cars, no cops and the steady hum of the triumph, hour after hour, mile after mile.And the scenery, did I mention the trees? This forest is bigger than the entire country of Ireland!We use “awesome” too much, we need it for days like this, places like this, because this land is truly awesome. It takes your breath away. At one point I wept in my helmet. And then, cresting a ridge, approaching another vista, I actually wanted it to stop, I truly felt that I could not cope with any more wonder!It was cold and foggy, the skies were dark and ominous which added to the majesty.But it was not just the scenery that made this ride beyond our other days of wonder, it was also the wildlife.We saw bear and moose and caribou.And herds of North American Buffalo.Lunch was enjoyed in a lovely little roadside log cabin cafe where we had the biggest cinnamon bun I have ever seen!Back on the Alaskan highway for more awe and our final destination for the day, Liard hot springs.That should of course be enough wonder for the day, right? Well there was one more gift that the world was to bestow upon me this day:The Aurora Borealis!Walking back to camp from the hot springs, I turned around to look at the night sky, behind the tree lined mountain ridge above us, the sky shimmered with a glowing cloud of green and pale blue. You have seen the pictures, no doubt, so have I. But in the life? In the eye ? In the North?I need a word to describe it, something like ‘awesome’ only bigger, greater.I have nothing, sorry.