5,523 Miles in the Making

(July 27)

Dear Folks,

Today was quite a day..  

We started out going to the hospital.  We were prepared to explain, but we did not have to–the word must have been passed.  They have a large paved parking lot where we can run.  The campground is gravel, which is tough on Karma.  They also have an accessible flush toilet, which is a luxury.  We bought a juice and headed out.

 Today we went up Canada’s Arctic Highway.  It’s an amazing feat.  It had been a dream and vision for a long time.  Up until they built this, you could only reach Tuk by motor vehicle in the winter by the ice road.  In the warmer months, they would have to be supplied primarily by ship.  A hope was that having an all-seasons road would help to promote tourism and development.  

The road is less than a decade old and constantly being worked on.  Both the Dempster and the road to Tuk have yards of gravel beneath the surface to protect the permafrost.  They are very busy right now putting down more gravel.  

They work long days, seven days a week.  A couple of people we talked with who are from Inuvik said that the road to Tuk is rough–soft, with potholes and LOTS of gravel.  They weren’t wrong.  Miracle, our van, may never speak to us again

With these roads, there is either mud or dust.  Today it was dust.  Whenever you met anyone the dust would obscure everything: like a whiteout with dust.  

When we got close to Tuk, we came to the Pingo observation area.  You may be able to read an explanation on the signs we photographed.  Or look it up.  Pingoes look like regular hills.   They have ice cores–very cool (with no sense of irony).  The area is very flat and then you see these pingoes.

In a little while, we got into Tuk.  You follow the road until it ends in the Arctic Ocean.  There is some camping right there, but we had decided to stay in Inuvik for our three nights in these parts.  

The insects are voracious.  We had heard and read that.  The summers are short and intense and the bugs make the most of it.  Just in the short time we were outside there, we all got covered with bug bites.  

We felt pure joy to be at the Arctic Ocean and its sign.  All those years of planning came to fruition.  It took 5,523 miles, but well worth it.

The man in the photo is Mickle.  He and a friend rode their motorcycles up from Prince George BC to the Arctic.  They hit rain a couple of days and had to go to a laundromat in Whitehorse to dry all their clothes.  They plan to go home by the Alaska Highway, down through Watson Lake and Ft. Nelson.  We shared our experiences with those places and also cautioned about the wildfires.  Mickle’s wife has an interior design business.  So he put a few stickers from the business on the back of the Arctic Ocean sign.  It is covered with stickers.  We never thought about stickers for BEYOND LIMITS.  We should probably get some.  

The ocean is reclaiming Tuk.  Every summer, they have to pump out the town.  But the ocean is winning.  The structures are up on stilts but are settling and sliding.  At some point, everyone will have to relocate.  

The photo of Our Lady of Lourdes: she was the ship that they used for ministry until they built an actual church.

Tuk has a nice welcome center with a restroom and information .  It has a wonderful ramp .  Unfortunately, there is such a lip at the bottom of the ramp that a wheelchair would have a hard time accessing it.  I could not get on it.

We needed gas before we headed back to Inuvik.  We had underestimated how much gas it would take to fight our way up there.  The one gas station, run by Arctic Petroleum, is what people here call a “card lock.”  That means that no one is there: you are on your own.  We have used those before.  But this time the pump was surrounded by a wide mesh barrier.  I could not get close enough to use the pump.  There was an 800 number on the pump to call, which we did.  But it is Sunday and the company is not local.  What to do?

Then Derek appeared.  We don’t know how he noticed us.  He asked if he could help and we excitedly said yes.  Derek is indigenous and has lived in Tuk his whole life.  He likes to help tourist visitors.  We can’t tell how old he is–certainly mature.  

He said that already the days are starting to get a little shorter.  The 24 hours of daylight there are in June and the first week in July.  As they ease from September into October, the darkness grows.  They have about five weeks of total darkness.  In January, when the sun reappears, they have a festival.  Derek said that next month, all the grass will turn color.  We asked him about the sea reclaiming the land.  He agreed that it’s coming.

And someone asked about charging Karma, our wheelchair.  The device that plugs into 12 volt and converts to 110 does work now.  We plugged in the 24 volt battery charger.  It did indicate that it had power.  But it would not charge–must not have been able to draw enough power.  We are at the campground now, plugged into the power force.  We will try to keep plugged in overnight.  And we can plug in at Eagle Plains and the Tombstone interpretive center.  Then we will be back to hotels.

Hugs and wags.  Thanks for all your love and support.  It has made a huge difference on this Journey.

The Lowman Family

Miracle Gets Her Spark Back

(July 26)

Dear Folks,

Here are some images from today.  But first, a bit more about our stay at Ft. McPherson.  We were apparently an object of interest.  We had drawn our curtains on the side facing the houses.  At one point, we could hear children.  Then a little boy popped round to our side without curtains, peered in, giggled, and ran.  Shades of Boo Radley.    Later, two ladies in a pickup stopped to see if we were all right.

We hadn’t gone far this morning when we came to another ferry.  The river was wider here and the ferry a bit more elaborate, with a little tower.  This one runs from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.  These pilots know their stuff.  They have to angle upstream to let the current help them.  Everything goes on these ferries: from motorcycles to RVs, to big rigs.  There was an oil tanker in front of us.  The driver–a young woman with a French accent–jumped out of her truck and asked where we were going.  She said to go ahead of her.

After the ferry, we drove for a few hours.  The gravel road was mostly good.  At times, we actually got up to the 90 kph speed limit.  We had a reservation at Jak campground ( pronounced “Jack.”). We missed the turn initially, perhaps because we were in shock.  This small stretch of the Dempster is actually paved!  What we noticed first was the striping on the road.  Then realized how smooth it was.  We retraced our route and found the Jak.  

We had reserved our space back in March.  At that time, we didn’t think that we would need electricity.  But now….  so we needed to stop at the office and explain.  But the office is in a building accessed by a flight of stairs.  We asked a man who was camping if he could ask someone in the office to come out.  A young g woman came out and we had quite a visit.  There were a few spaces with electricity available for when we are here.  So we chose one and paid the difference: electricity costs more.  And the space is a pull through–no need to back up.  I said to the young woman that she must have seen me drive.  😇

There is nothing fancy about the space with electricity: just a post with outlets.  We were able to plug in Karma and she started gulping power.

While in Ft. McPherson, we had called around for auto repair in Inuvik.  The guy at CMS Auto was rude.  Although his website said he had Saturday hours 10 am to 10 pm, he said that he didn’t know if he would be around.  If he was, MAYBE he could take a look.  That didn’t inspire confidence.  So we looked and called some more.  We found Donovan Archie.  He looks like a young man to you, but to us he looked like an angel.  He said that we should get settled at the campground and then call and he would come to us.  He did very promptly.  

The 12 volt extension that we had bought had burned.  When it did, it blew a fuse in Miracle.  Donovan said that we were lucky that we didn’t have a fire.  He replaced the fuse.  Then we tried our converter of 12 volt to 110 amps.  Fine.  We also tried our coffee maker–fine.  

He also torqued our wheels and checked Miracle’s fluids.  Everything looks good.  

We had a nice little visit.  Small-town NT is a lot like northern Maine.  Donovan has been here his whole life.  He says that the population grows when people come here for work, fall in love with the place, and stay.

The young woman in the office here said that we could access free WiFi and a cafeteria at the hospital.  The hospital has a teepee on its grounds.  It is also small and brightly painted.  I thought, “Ah, an accessible flush toilet.”  The kitchen at the hospital closes at 6:05 for dinner.  We didn’t know if we would make it, but we wanted to try.  There was lots of accessible parking near the door: no room for our ramp, but we parked on the end and hurried out.  They had automatic openers: that’s Dusty’s strong suit.  But we were stopped at the door.  The security guard said that we could not bring dogs into the hospital.  I explained that they are service dogs and can go anywhere.  I said to look up the law: Canada has an excellent service dog law.  People called supervisors: they did not know.  The people were very nice and polite, saying that this had never happened before.  Finally, someone did check the law: and we were in.  They apologized profusely.  I explained that I am a teacher and that this was a teachable moment.  

We got to the cafeteria with two minutes to go.  What they had vegan was salad.  No vegan dressing, so we will have it with humus and cheese.  And the restroom was very accessible.  The hospital grounds were also a good place to run the Girls.

When we were checking in here, I said, “You don’t get many wheelchair users?”  She said a few, but they always have Someone with them to help.  That kind of hurt the Girls’ feelings.

Tomorrow we hope to make it to Tuk.  Stay tuned.

Hugs and wags.

The Lowman Family.

What Goes Down Must Come Up

(July 25)

Dear Folks,

Here we are in Ft. McPherson.

We are at a small recreation area overlooking a lake.  We are on Indigenous land.  The entire highway goes through indigenous land.  We stopped for gas at a coop.  We asked if we could buy a broom.  They gave us a broom!  Very generous.

At the coop, we asked where the campground is and how we would pay.  There is no charge.  It is free to anyone who wants to use it.

There are outhouses (not accessible), water, picnic tables, metal containers for recyclables and trash.  The surface here is gravel.  We do pretty well with it on the flat.  The metal containers are in little hollows.  Karma got down, fine. Trying to come out, we got stuck. Fortunately, there is cell service here.  So we called 911 and were rescued by the RCMP.  That’s Miranda McKinnon by her cruiser.

We won’t try to put anything else in the containers before we leave.  

Yes, we will definitely not try to reach the bins again before we leave.  

We actually came to the “wrong” campsite.  There is a bigger one right before you get into town among trees overlooking the Peel River, which we crossed by ferry.  This one is on the edge of town, next to houses.  But we like it here, so will stay put for this night.  We can hear the ravens (which sound like the screaming sheep meme), loons, gulls. Huge dragonflies are zipping about.  We may check out the other site on our way back.  

Officer McKinnon is from Prince Edward Island.  Her family has a cabin in Maine.  They go every summer.  She loves Maine.

ALWAYS an adventure!

Wags and hugs.

The Lowman Family.

ALWAYS an Adventure

Despite Several Roadblocks, the Lowmans Press On

(July 24)

Dear Folks, we are sitting in the lobby of the hotel at Eagle Plains.  This is where we will camp for the night.  Since our 12 volt charger in Miracle fried, we are charging Karma.  We are using our good, powerful charger.  When we tried charging yesterday at Tombstone, we used a smaller car  charger that is not powerful enough.

As we pulled into the hotel parking lot, a pack of dogs surrounded Miracle.  They knew that Dusty and Mari were inside.  I couldn’t get the Girls out.  I wasn’t sure if they would let me out.  They did.  

But I could not enter the building.  There was a step and a gap.  A young girl asked if I needed help.  I asked if she could get someone who works here to come.  I explained the situation.  They said (two young men) that they would lift it.  I said that they could not–the chair  alone weighs 350 pounds.  They found a few flimsy pieces of wood.  I said that they would not work.  Many guests got involved.  Finally, we used a table–which the chair broke.  I explained the situation–that I needed to charge my chair but that I also needed to get my dogs and didn’t want them to be attacked.  The desk clerk said that I could charge Karma in the lobby.  He would try to find the dogs, which belong to the owner, and lock them up.  But he could not find them.

They put some boards to support the table, so that I could go out and get the Girls, which were frantic.  By the time we came back to the door, they had an old door for the ramp.  We will be here until the chair is fully charged.  Then we will ask where to camp and get gas.

We are very lucky: people along the Dempster are like a family: everyone is very helpful.

Dad is in heaven laughing and saying ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE!

We don’t know when we will be able to get a text through again.  But we are doing fine and problem-solving.

Wags and hugs.

The Lowman Family

A Problem Arises

(July 23)

Dear Folks 

Greetings from very rainy Tombstone Territorial Park.  It is supposed to clear tomorrow.  They say that the rain will make the road to Eagle Plains difficult.  We will take our time.

We have met many nice people.  This morning it was Lu and some others from Montreal.  They helped us get into a shelter where there was a roaring fire in the wood stove.

We came to the Interpretive Center to learn about the area.  We also came because we have a problem.

We have a device that plugs into the front 12 volt outlet.  We are supposed to be able to plug other items into it.  Last night, when we turned on Miracle and tried to heat water by plugging that device into the converter, we started to smell smoke.  We looked down and saw smoke billowing out of where it plugs in.  It seems to have fried that outlet.  You may be thinking, what a shame–no soup, tea, oatmeal.  The biggest problem, though, is that we can’t charge Karma, our wheelchair.  So that’s why we are here.  

There are supposed to be a few mechanics along the way.  So perhaps someone can fix it.

Being able to text today was an unexpected bonus.  We don’t know that that will happen again.  The curtain system, commode, and Jacqui bed are working great.

Wags and hugs.

The Final Preparations

The Lowmans Prepare for the Ultimate Camping Expedition

(July 21)

Dear Folks,

This is a continuation of yesterday’s text.  We are in Whitehorse today, preparing for our car camping.  We leave tomorrow.  We will return to Whitehorse on August 2.  We will be off the grid until then.  We will write more about Whitehorse then.

Yesterday, we knew that we would be driving out of the smoke_unlike those incredibly brave firefighters.  We had checked the weather for Watson Lake, which is about halfway–it indicated good air quality.  

About an hour into our trip, we hit rain, at times torrential.  It continued, off and on, throughout the trip.  We don’t know if it helped with the fires–we checked the weather for Ft. Nelson today, and it is still poor.

Although the Alaska Highway can be a tough drive, it is often incredibly beautiful.  We took a pull off to capture some scenes.  They look like fjords.  

If you enlarge the photo with  the sign, you’ll see that it gives tips for wildlife viewing.  We saw signs for wild horses and Dall sheep.  We also saw signs for moose, caribou, and bison.  We didn’t see any traces of the first three.  As we were driving along, we saw something moving toward us.  As we got right up to them, we could see that it was caribou.  There were four or five walking in single file along the road.  It was so adorable.  We lament that we were unable to get a photo.

We made up for it with the bison.  Many of us are familiar with bison on the Great Plains.  There is also a woodland variety.  The government in BC reintroduced them into the area a while back.  Now they own the road.  They range in size from tiny babies to huge bulls.  

We thought that you would enjoy the photo of the 60th parallel.  And no photo show would be complete without an image of Tags.  Tags is a/the hub of Watson Lake.  If you’re on the highway between Ft. Nelson and Whitehorse, it is THE place to stop.  It is also the hub for all the surrounding campgrounds and recreation areas.  Not only can you get gas, you can get your groceries, get pizza and other food at the restaurant, do your laundry at its laundromat.  We like it because it is a good place for the Girls to stretch their legs and they have a bathroom with an accessible stall (although the door swings in, not out, making it a challenge for a wheelchair).

It’s a relief to get to Watson Lake on the way to Whitehorse: you know that you are more than halfway there.

Take care.   Be well.  We will text again in a few weeks.  

The Lowman Family

“Stay on the Alaska Highway for 588 Miles”

The Longest Leg

(July 19)

Dear Folks,

Greetings from the Woodlands Inn and Suites in Ft. Nelson, BC.  As the sign indicates, this place has everything.  It is also the only game in town.  It is not a chain—very folksy.

We wish that you all could have been with us us today—although that would have made Miracle very crowded.  We drove from Grande Prairie to Dawson Creek.  Then we picked up the Alaska Highway and went several hundred miles on it.  It takes you through the Canadian Rockies and has splendid terrain.  You go up, down, and around.  You drive on bridges spanning gorges with rivers.  The forests vary by altitude: conifers up high and birches and aspen down lower.  The green meadows have purple flowers.  We wish we could have taken some photos.  Most of the forests looked healthy.  There were some stretches, though, with dead trees.

The Alaska Highway was built during World War II.  Up until then, Alaska got most supplies by sea.  There was concern that this made her vulnerable.  So the two nations cooperated and built this marvel in EIGHT MONTHS!  It is 1500 miles long.  It is a major truck route.  It didn’t seem that busy today.

The Woodlands is bustling.  They have had a lot of firefighters staying here for the past few months fighting fires up north.  We may see that tomorrow.

Forgot to mention that when we were in WI and MN, there were air quality alerts because of smoke from other Canadian fires.

Tomorrow we make the long hike up to Whitehorse.  That should be our longest drive.

Wags and hugs.

(July 20)

One of the intriguing things about the wheelchair accessible rooms here is that you get BOTH a roll/in shower and a separate tub.  We think that the object on the bed is supposed to be a raven.

We started out the day in Ft. Nelson, BC.  The wind had shifted and it was very smoky.  You could see, smell, and taste it.  As we took our morning walk, we saw the firefighters preparing for their day.  They were checking their gear.  They travel in a number of Mack pickups.  They also have a medical treatment center in a pickup that travels with them.  Everyone we saw looked very young and lean.  We did see one young woman in the group.  They wear uniforms: maroon shirts, black pants and caps, army boots.  We hope they have respirators and oxygen.  Inhaling that smoke must be like chain smoking for decades.  

We mentioned yesterday the dead trees.  We don’t know what caused it, but they would make awesome fuel for fires.  As we drove along, we saw that there is some cutting out the dead wood.  They need lots more.

The visibility was very poor when we started out.  The smoke made it tough.  Then as we drove into the mountains, we drove into clouds.  We crawled along.  At one point, a truck was coming out of a rest area and did not see us at first.

It was intriguing to start off this morning and have Google say: stay on the Alaska Highway for 588 miles.  

We feel grateful and privileged to be able to make this trip and see these sites.  That said, it is challenging.  Driving through the mountains, you often can’t use cruise control.  I am grateful for every moment of upper body exercises I do.  Still, this kind of driving with hand controls tears up your shoulders, arms, and hands.  If someone asked if I would recommend the trip to another hand controls user, I would say that they need to be very determined.  Fortunately, that describes the Lowmans.  We have no regrets.  Just enormous thankfulness.

Wags and hugs.

The Lowman Family

A Much Needed Rest Day

(July 17)

We did get through today’s very long day.  It was very interesting.  There were fields of rich croplands–lots of canola.  In dryer areas, there is ranching: cattle and horses.  We climbed into the foothills of the Rockies.  There are wonderful conifers and logging.  Many of the deciduous trees are dead, though.  

We are at the Encore Suites in Grande Prairie.  We stayed here last time.  This time, our room had a wonderful opening for the shower, but no seat.  So for tonight, we are sharing with another room 

Tomorrow we lick our wounds and get organized.

(July 18)

Dear Folks,

In hiking parlance, this is what’s called a “Zero Day.”

It’s a chance to get organized for the next leg of the journey.  

On our way up to Grande Prairie yesterday, we went through Calgary.  It never rained harder.  We kept getting alerts from Google saying that “poor visibility reported ahead “. We were in it.  It certainly did make Miracle’s windshield clean.  When the rain stopped, so did the clean windshield.  Driving through fields and forests–lots of insects gave up their lives on our windshield.  

Grande Prairie is quite urban.  And it isn’t designed with walking in mind.  It’s hard to find sidewalks.  This morning on our walk, a hotel guest had his dog chained on a stake by his truck.  The dog was barking and lunging at us.  They were gone by the time we got back.

We organized Miracle a little so that we have a good sense of where our camping materials are.  

We got gas so that we could try to scrape some bugs off the windshield.

And we did some laundry and learned about Canadian coins.  The $1 coins are called “loonies,” because a loon is depicted on them.  The $2 coins are nicknamed “toonies,” combining “two” with “loonie.”  That’s Mari in the laundry room 

Then we went to the market for a few items.  That’s a photo of the Girls in front of a natural foods case.  

A recurring theme in our travels is how kind many people are.  The market was no exception.  A man who worked there asked if we were finding everything all right.  By that point, we were still looking for non-dairy yogurt and cheese.  Although that is not his department, the man took us over to dairy.  We did not find anything, so he asked.  We were told that those items were in aisle 12–organics.  The man pulled out things and made sure that we got the best dates–even though the market would like you to take the older things first.

We also got some Triscuits.  In the US, the packaging says “Proudly grown and baked in the USA.”  We wondered how that would play in Canada.   The packaging is different here.  It is in both English and French.  It does not say where it is grown or baked,  it does say that it is imported by a company in Toronto.

Many businesses in Canada say: “Proudly Canadian owned and operated.”

Tomorrow is a shorter leg over to Ft. Nelson, BC.  Then a long haul to Whitehorse.

Hugs and wags.

The Lowman Family

Into to the Great Green Yonder

The Lowmans Leave the U.S. Behind for Five Weeks

(July 15)

Dear Folks,

Greetings from very rainy Billings, MT.  It has rained hard all day.

We are at the Best Western Kelly Inn.  It is supposed to look like a lodge.  It is the cutest place we have stayed.  The room is semi-wheelchair accessible.  There is a bear theme here.

We took some photos from a rest area where we stopped.  

Also, there has been interest in the camping part of our trip–where we will be, when.  It wasn’t in what we shared before because it is in a handwritten document.   So we photographed that and have attached it. For your information.

Also, we reached a huge milestone today.  Some of you know that we wanted to learn some French before this trip.  Our niece, Megan, has a Duo Lingo family plan.  So she very generously added us to it.  We started on Jan. 1, 2024.  Today, after 559 consecutive days, we finished all the French material!  🎉. What a relief.  And just before we enter Canada tomorrow.

This will be our last night in the US for more than five weeks.

(July 16)

Dear Folks,

Greetings from Lethbridge, Alberta!

On our way up today, we stopped at a few monuments in MT.  

Our big focus for the day was crossing the border.  When we came in 2022, we crossed at Sweetgrass.  It was so neat: it is a major crossing, so you go through something like a toll booth: you showed your documents and were quickly on your way.  But that was then.  We wondered how things would have changed with the current situation.  

We stopped before the border to  put the Girls’ gear on.  We had all their documents at the ready.  I had my passport card.

When we got to the border, there were two lanes open.  We figured that we might need to go to the building for the Girls to get a pat down.  The left open lane had a few cars waiting.  The right open lane was wide open.  So we pulled up: and saw the agent up in an area like a two-story building.  I put down my window.  He opened his window.  I said, “You’re really up high.”  That’s when I realized that I was in the truck lane.  I said, “I’m in the wrong lane, aren’t I.”  He agreed.  I apologized and asked if I could back up and go to the correct one.  He said yes.  But by then, there was a truck in back of me.  He said that we would make it work.  

He asked where we were going.  We told him.  He said, for a vacation?  I told him about BEYOND LIMITS.  He asked how long we would be in Canada.  We could tell him exactly.  He asked if we had tobacco or liquor, weapons or firearms.  Then he asked if we had more than $10,000 in cash.  I said, “I wish!”

He asked for my passport.  I said I have a passport card, and tried to hand it up to him.  We couldn’t connect.  He said, no problem, he would come down to get it.  He did and ran it.  Then he came back.  

By then we had quite a line behind us, so he wished us safe travels.  The Girls were a little put out that they got all dressed for that.  The guy probably was thinking that the US wasn’t sending particularly choice specimens to Canada.  😇

ALWAYS an Adventure.  

Tomorrow is our longest day yet in terms of distance to cover.  So we will try for an early night.

Wags and Hugs

The Lowman Family

The Familiar Face Finale

The Lowmans Visit their Final Preexisting Friend of the Trip

(July 13)

Dear Folks,

We are in Bismarck now.

Before we left Eau Claire, we took a photo of the sculpture near our hotel there.  It is a giant crustacean.  When we went walking the first night, we didn’t know what it was.

Today was our longest drive so far: 530 miles.  North Dakota does have some cities.  It also has LOTS of farmland with little villages with no services.  The last rest area in MN said that the next rest area would be 90 miles away in ND.  OK.  And it seemed too soon to get gas in Fargo.  But then we drove and drove and saw no signs of gas stations.  There was an indication that Buffalo, ND, had gas.  It is a small village, yet we managed to turn the wrong way.  We found ourselves on dirt roads in corn fields.  So we asked Google about gas.  She took us back out to route 94.  In 22 miles, we came to Valley City and a Love’s travel plaza.  We went to the bathroom there, as well, which was good.  The rest area we had intended to use had been torn down, but they never removed the signs.

The Home2 Suites in Bismarck is quite nice.  The odd thing is that the  bathroom door has been bolted open because someone had been locked inside.  😇

(July 14)

Today was our last day visiting friends as we drive west across the northern US.  Jill came over from MN and spent the day with us.  It was so wonderful to have a chance to visit and catch up.  

Our hotel in Bismarck, the Home2 Suites by Hilton, is really nice.  It has a sitting room, a kitchen, a separate bedroom.  So we did some visiting in our sitting room.  Then we went to the Shogun Japanese restaurant for lunch.  That was delightful.  We were the only ones in the room, so had some more great visiting.  Jill is our “writing coach,” and so we talked about how to tackle our book.  We had a nice chat with the waitress.  We are continually impressed by the acts of kindness by so many of the people we meet.

Then we got gasoline.  ND gas must have more ethanol or something.  Our mileage always goes down when we are here.  So we gave Miracle a treat: Premium grade!

We went back to the hotel and Jill got a tour of how decked out Miracle is.  And we parted.

We always hate to see our friends go.  But that’s probably a good thing.  It would be way worse if that made us happy.

We feel so loved and supported by all of you.  That makes us know that we can go BEYOND LIMITS!  🧑‍🎓

Tomorrow, it is on to MT.

Hugs and wags.

The Lowman Family