 Life is always an adventure!—By Debra Costner Published: October, 2007 I love to travel! Every trip is a bit of an adventure, but also an incredible learning experience. Throughout my life I have been fortunate to be able to travel quite a bit, and in fact, have visited every state in the contiguous U.S.A. It’s remarkable how much you learn along the way, simply meeting people and seeing how they live. Our country is amazingly vast and diverse; from the simple beauty of Lake Minnetoka in Minnesota, to the hundred miles of man-made bridges leading to Key West, to the quaint, tree-lined roads leading to the Rocky Mountains in Estes Park, Colorado. The beauty is stunning. Traveling throughout the United States, I thought I’d seen it all – but then there is Alaska . . . What a magnificent state! Incredibly diverse landscape, abundant wildlife, from the coast to the fiords, from the glaciers to the mountain tops – it was a vision of exquisiteness. In September we started out cruising the inside passage from Vancouver. The coast is gorgeous to see while uninhabited islands dot the ocean-side. In Ketchikan we took a small boat into the misty fiords where the steep cliffs gave way to beautiful waterfalls. In the capital, Juneau, we boarded a small float plane, that flew us through jagged cliffs and over eight stunning glaciers. Then a golf cart, took us up muddy narrow roads, into the beautiful Mendenhall Gardens – who knew everything grew so big in Alaska! Those 20-hour days really impact the flora and fauna growth. Skagway is the quintessential Alaska town! It was charming and well-preserved, the original gold-mining destination. While many chose to take the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway up the mountain, we stayed in town and took a horse-drawn carriage through the wooden-sidewalk lined streets. We stopped along the way to tour the original Red Onion brothel, established in 1896, where the women earned $1.25 for each man they serviced. Then in Sitka we discovered the Russian origins of Alaska. We also took a semi-submarine to view the incredible life underwater – learning that seaweeds and grasses actually give off more oxygen to the earth’s atmosphere than all the trees and plants on earth! We got up close to the Hubbard Glacier, to hear a thunderous roar and see the blue ice calving – that is immense fragments of ice breaking off and falling hundreds of feet into the bay below. With our ship navigating through the floating ice surrounding us, we were surprised to learn that Hubbard Glacier one of the few glaciers in Alaska that is still advancing. Most glaciers are retreating due to the affects of global warming. We ended our trip in Anchorage, and took a day to drive up to Danali National Park and see Mt. McKinley. It has to be one of the most scenic drives in the country! The leaves on the Aspen trees were showing the autumnal changes bursting into orange and yellows. Driving with the Chugach Mountains on one side and Danali on the other, we stopped frequently to soak in all the beauty surrounding us! And if that weren’t enough, throughout our trip we saw amazing wildlife; all kinds of bears, whales, seals, eagles, moose and reindeer. So now Hawaii is the only state I have left to visit! Getting back to work . . . we have some great stories in this issue for you! On the cover, Beth Rypins shares her moving story of overcoming childhood paralysis to become a world champion kayaker. In full disclosure, Beth is actually an old friend of mine from my white-water rafting days, but her story is an inspiration to many. We were fascinated with the story of Dr. Meg Jordan who has traveled the world to learn about natural remedies. For those of us not happy with the potential risks and side-affects of doctor-prescribed pharmaceuticals, natural products are really increasing in popularity throughout the country. In this issue we learn how Joanne Copperud is helping to clean up the environment by making it her life’s work. And we were so excited by the new book Women Who Light the Dark; we wanted to share it with our readers right away. There were many great events this month, and we’ve captured a few of them in photos on page 16. We’ve also added a new regular column entitled “Strategies for Success”on page 16. Here we’ll feature advice for how to keep your business growing and evolving to keep up with our ever-changing economy. On a sad note, we report on the passing of Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop stores. She was a pioneer for the socially responsible women entrepreneur, who dedicated her life and her business to making this world a better place for all. We had so much to write about in this issue, that we ran out of space for your letters! But please, keep writing to us and tell us how we’re doing. Tell us if you know of a business or subject we should feature in an upcoming issue. And we promise to bring back the Letters to BABW in the next issue. debra@babwnews.com. | ||
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