My Flat Stanley: Part II

My flat Stanley arrived in Anchorage, AK on Wednesday, January 22, 2014 from Long Island, NY.  Enclosed in his envelope was a letter from Lauren in New York which told me his story:  

 

Dear Aunt Dorothy,

 We just read a book called Flat Stanley in class.  Stanley Lambchop had an accident while he was sleeping.  A very large bulletin board fell on him and flattened him like a pancake.  As Flat Stanley he had many adventures.  One day Mr. Lambchop, Arthur, and Stanly were walking in the park.  Then Mr. Lambchop’s friend ran into him.  “So, you got new wallpaper?”  “No! That’s my son!”  He unrolled Stanley, because he had been rolled up.  The Stanley got rolled up again.  Then it started to rain.  Mr. Lambchop and Arthur got wet but Stanley didn’t. That was the 1^st adventure.  One night Stanley was crying, “What’s wrong?”  Arthur asked.  “Go away!”  Then Stanley said, “I don’t like being flat.  People make fun of me”.  Then Stanley came up with a great idea.  He got an old tire pump.  He blew Stanley up. He was round!  The family celebrated.  Then they went back to bed and lived happily ever after until next time.  So, now it’s your turn to take Stanley on another adventure.  Please show Stanley around the place where you live.  Take a few pictures of Stanley having fun with you.  Return Stanley as soon as you can.  Please write back too.

Love,

Lauren 

As you can see by the map picture, you could actually drive the 4,409 miles it is from New York to Alaska crossing Canada.  However, once you cross into the Yukon Territory, there are only about two places you can stop for gas and food until you get to Alaska and then it is approximately another 300 miles before you get to Tok which is the first place for services once you cross over into Alaska.  In November 2010, I drove to Anchorage from Seattle and found it was very different from driving state to state in the lower 48.  The Lower 48 is what Alaskans call the continental United States.  

Flat Stanley was very surprised there was not more snow here and that is was not as cold as he thought it would be.  Because he is not very tall, I let Flat Stanley stand on the hood of my car so he could see the mountain range in the distance from my office.  I told him the weather we are having currently in Anchorage, is not the typical weather for January in Alaska due to the Polar Vortex which is why it was much colder and snowier in New York where he was from.  

One of my co-workers will be traveling to Bethel, Alaska on Thursday, 01/22/14 and she is going to take Flat Stanley with her.  Bethel is a city of about 6,000 people located 400 miles west of Anchorage.  

Stay tuned for more My Flat Stanley Alaska adventures as he travels to Bethel on the 6 am flight.