And the hosts and with some of the crew

And here are our hosts--the folks we're going to be visiting-- plus one. The tall, guy on the back row is my cousin Don (Barb's brother), darn it, he won't be there, but he's following the blog from California. Oz has the super moustache and is standing on the left. He's married to my cousin Barb who is front and center. Her mother, Meri, is right in front of Bob on Barb's left Meri was married to my Uncle Jack. Got that all straight?

The other news is that the bearded man behind Meri is no longer bearded! I'm embarrassed--I didn't notice for a couple of days! I'm the other person (on Barb's right and by the dashing Oz). We're a great crew!

Meet more travelers

We've presented our first traveler, Taite, a few entries back. Now here is the rest of our travelin' crew. Katy's in Atlanta putting in her last day of work before our big adventure. She's made lots of the plans and probably has the best grasp of exactly what it is we're going to be doing. She put together our last summer adventure when we explored the Hill Country of Texas. Here she's about to explore that great Texas dish--the chicken-fried steak.

And here are the parents--on that Wimberly Hill Country ramble. Bob surveyed the heights from a really high hill--he's be at much greater heights next week in Denali. Along with Katy, he's made the plans. Don't know how he managed to find a flight that goes from Atlanta to Houston and then on to Anchorage. We'll all be together,And me, Trilla-the-hat-lover enjoying her birthday Stetson very, very much.

News of our hosts soon.

A week and a day and we are on our way! Meanwhile, meet the travelers. And one of them is traveling right this minute. Taite is in the air between Detroit and Houston. A week in Houston will give him a taste of big city life and a plateful of Houston heat—all the better to appreciate the cool Alaskan air.

Taite is a rising senior at Albemarle High in Charlottesville, Virginia. (He lives in nearby Earlysville.) He enjoys history best of all his subjects. He’ll get lots of family history this summer. It’s not all books and reading. Sometimes he flys when he’s not even in a plane!