Beginning of the end

First, I want to thank two very close friends for their donations today.  I woke up to two emails early this morning that we had received donations.  Not sure if they were working night shifts together or it was just a coincidence, but 

THANK YOU

Dave and Mary-Beth for your donations!!

We are making great progress toward our goal thanks to some big donations in the last few days.  

Keep'em coming!

While I was writing this out, we got another donation!  Thank you Miss Stephanie!!

I love my friends and family.  You guys are all so great!

So maybe you are wondering why I named this the "beginning of the end".  When I think back to what was going on last June, I believe this is about the time we found out we were moving from Alaska!  So it is fitting that two of my work buddies donated today...cause now I get to start sharing some pictures I took from the office at the end of my tour.  I believe these pictures were all taken after a couple of night shifts in late June.

This little guy couldn't have been but a few weeks old.  I was standing at least 30 yards away but you could tell he was very curious what I was doing.  He always had one eye on me.

Notice the dandelion spores on his nose.

Finally he worked up the courage to take a few steps away from his mom and out into the grass.

He stood around for a while to make sure we were watching how brave he was...then he did a little dance

...and ran back to mommy.

The next morning brought one of the best sunrises I've seen in Alaska.  What's great about Alaska sunrises is they last a VERY long time.  

So I had a while to try different settings on the camera and get a great shot of myself in the foreground.

Hard to tell but this is a picture of Andy D taking a picture with his phone.

This was the view from my desk as the sun came up and reflected off the dome.  

This next week will be a challenging week to keep the fund raising alive.  I won't give away why exactly but I will do my best to continue blogging with every donation we get.  

Getting close to our epic journey from Anchorage to Spokane!