Chapter 1

Traci Mitchell was looking for a change. She was tired of her dead end job and her dead end life. She sat at home again in her tiny apartment watching television while waiting for her pizza to arrive. This was a typical night for the 28 year old Traci ... working all day as a receptionist for a small dentist office, and then home to her lonely small apartment for a night of television and dinner by herself.

She flipped through the cable channels trying to find something decent to watch, not having much luck at it. “All these channels and nothing but crap on the TV tonight!” she complained. Finally, she came to a program about Alaska and she decided that was about as good as it was going to get for awhile. Besides she had always been interested in Alaska, it seemed so exotic and adventurous!

She watched as the program began talking about life in Alaska and how challenging it could be. Between the extreme temperatures, the remoteness, and the wild animals, life in Alaska certainly wasn’t for the timid! But then the program began showing the beauty and splendor that Alaska offered, and Traci fell in love.

She had never seen anyplace so beautiful! She watched as the TV showed mountains covered in snow. Glaciers melting into streams running down the hillsides into swift rivers, the trees and flowers that were in abundance everywhere, and the wildlife, from the smallest birds to the mighty moose. It was all so amazing and breathtaking to her.

Something stirred inside her and the more she watched, the more certain she was that this was what she was missing. Alaska had her hooked! She watched the rest of the program with great interest and when it was over she advanced the remote until she found the show repeated later that night. Since she had caught the program halfway through it the first time, she decided to watch it from the beginning when it came on again.

Traci finished her dinner and afterwards took a shower. She wanted to have everything done before the Alaska show came on again. When the time came for the show to repeat, Traci was ready with a big bowl of popcorn and a soda. She plopped down on the old sofa to watch, fascinated, as the show began. An hour later, Traci knew what she had to do.

Over the next couple months, Traci tried to learn all she could about Alaska. She went to the library and got books on Alaska and about life there. She watched every TV program she could find on it. And she went online and researched Alaska. She was voracious! One day in her web-searching, she came across an Internet chat group on Alaska and she eagerly joined it.

Traci tried to learn all she could about the state without asking the typical dumb tourist-type questions. She didn’t want to sound like some starry-eyed young girl, giddy over the romantic idea of living in Alaska, she was genuinely interested in it. Something deep inside her told her that was where her destiny lay, and she was going to follow it.

In one of her visits to the Internet chat group, she came across a man who claimed to live in Sitka Alaska. Sitka is a city of roughly 9,000 people situated in southeast Alaska on the west coast of Baranoff Island. It is the seventh largest city by population in the state.

Traci made friends with the man and found out his name was Mark Thibodeau. They struck up a friendship and as they got to know one another, she learned more and more about Alaska and what it was like to live there. She learned that Mark had lived there for about 15 years, going to the University of Alaska and then staying there once he graduated.

She learned that he was a lumberjack and worked for a lumber company that shipped their product to Seattle for use in building homes. It was hard work, he had told her, but it got him out in the woods where he loved being. “I am not one to be tied to a desk,” he said.

Traci and Mark became good friends and got close. One day in their talking, the subject came up that she was sick and tired of her job. It had been a hellish week at the dentist office and she was fed up with all the crap that she had to take.

“Why don’t you come up for a vacation and see some of Alaska?” he suggested.

Traci was speechless. She hadn’t ever talked about actually coming up there, only that she was interested in life up there. Yet here he was suggesting that she fly up there and spend her vacation in the place that had captured her heart!

“I ... I don’t know. Where would I stay? Are the hotels there pretty reasonable?” she asked.

“Oh, you needn’t stay in a hotel, you can stay here with me. I have plenty of room and I can be your personal tour guide too! I have some vacation time coming myself from work and I would love to show you around,” he said.

“Oh, Mark ... I’m not sure about that. I mean we don’t know each other...” she said.

“Listen Traci, I know we have never met and that you don’t really know me all that well. I don’t know you either. But we have been talking back and forth for several months now, and I’d like to think we have become good friends. I like what I do know about you, and I hope you feel the same way.

“So as one friend to another, I am offering you a trip to Alaska. No strings attached and no expectations about anything. And I will make you a deal ... if you can pay for the way up and back, I will see to it you don’t pay for anything while you are here. I am pretty well-connected in this town and I will see you have a great time, okay?”

“Mark that is a wonderful offer, and I do appreciate it. Let me think it over for a couple days, okay? I will let you know, all right?” she said. In reality, Traci didn’t need to think on Mark’s offer at all. She was ready to jump on it the moment she heard it. A nearly free trip to Alaska? Well, drastically reduced trip at least, all she needed to do was pay for her flight up and back.

The only thing she was leery about was the accommodations. Staying with a man she had never met? It was a risky move. Yet Mark had never been anything but sweet to her, a perfect gentleman in the chats, he never talked about how bad his day was, yet he listened to her tell him her woes. He never seemed to get angry or even use bad language. He was always calm and collected and helped her whenever she needed someone to rant at or vent to.

Still Traci was no fool. She knew the pitfalls and dangers of the Internet all too well. She had heard the horror stories and Internet legends. And she had no intention of becoming another “statistic”! She gave it a couple days thought and consideration before making up her mind one way or another.

“Mark, if that offer to come up for a vacation still stands, I would love to!” she said, a few days later during their chat time.

“That’s wonderful!” he replied, and the two began making plans for her trip. Traci had a great deal to do before her trip. Fortunately, it was just moving from Alaska’s short spring into summer so the weather was nice and the trees had fresh green sprouts on them. It was the perfect time to come to Alaska!

And so, with her vacation put in for at work and things at home taken care of, Traci found herself at the airport with a ticket in her hand to Alaska.

The trip to Alaska from her home in Chicago was to prove daunting, considering she had never flown before. Her journey began with a 45 minute cab ride to get to Chicago O’Hare International Airport where she boarded the first of three planes she would be flying in. A four and a half hour flight brought her into Los Angeles International Airport, where she had to run to catch her connecting flight.

She had a 30 minute layover in Los Angeles, and then she boarded her flight to Seattle International Airport. Two hours and 45 minutes later, she landed in Seattle. Here she had a four hour layover while waiting for her next flight.

Finally, her last leg was about to begin and she boarded the plane that would take her to Sitka. Traci was a little surprised that this flight was a sizable plane as well. She was sure it would be some prop-driven puddle hopper, but instead it was a Boeing 737 similar to the other ones she had flown on this trip.

Sitka must have a pretty good airport if this is what flies into there! she thought to herself. She settled into what she thought was the final part of her trip. Two and a half hours later she was landing in Sitka. She was in Alaska at last!

Traci walked down the stairs and went into the terminal building. She looked around, it was a small, but nice little airport. Then she saw a man dressed in blue jeans, a plaid wool shirt, and sporting a full, but neat beard. He was holding a brown cardboard sign that read Traci Mitchell on it in big, bold, black letters.

“Mark?” she asked as she approached him.

“Traci?” he said, “I am glad to finally meet you face to face!”

“Me too,” she said, smiling shyly.

“How was your trip?” he asked as they walked through the small terminal building to get her bags.

“It was long! But I am really glad to be here. Wow! I can’t believe it – I’m in ALASKA!” she said.

“Well your trip isn’t quite over yet ... we still have a three hour boat ride to get to my cabin,” he said.

“I thought you lived in Sitka! How is it that you and I could chat if you live way out of town like that? Do you have electricity and Internet out there?” she asked, shocked at what he was telling her.

“Well, I live in town during the week when I am working, but on the weekends I go out to my cabin. You see, I am kind of a loner and I like the peace and quiet away from town and people. When we chatted, I was in town at a place I have there. But I want you to see how REAL Alaskans live!” he explained.

Traci was a little taken aback at this development, but she had read enough books and watched enough television documentary shows on Alaska to know that this wasn’t all that uncommon. And she did come to Alaska to see the real thing.

She knew what city life was like and she knew about the hustle and bustle. She wanted to see the wilderness life that Alaska offered. So without further questions, she went along with Mark to get her adventure started. It would be much more of an adventure than she ever imagined!

The morning was cool and crisp with a damp chill in the air as Traci and Mark left the terminal building. Traci had been traveling all night, a little over 14 hours travel time to reach Sitka, and now she faced another 3 hours by boat to reach the cabin.

She was very tired, but glad to be in Alaska and looking forward to seeing all that it offered, after a good nap! Mark hailed one of the local cabs and the driver put her bags in the trunk. Mark directed him to drive them to Thomsen Harbor where his boat was moored. Once there, Mark took her and her bags down to where his boat was docked.

“Well here she is – the Sea Dreamer – my boat, and your ticket to the Alaska you have always wanted to see!” he said smiling.

“My, this is quite a nice boat!” she said, looking at the large aluminum boat.

“Yeah, she is a good old girl. She is a 30 foot Glacier Craft, a popular boat for offshore Alaska fishing. I bought her from a guy who kept her in his backyard because he couldn’t fish with her anymore. She was in pretty bad shape, but I restored her and got her back into top shape again. It took a few years and a lot of hard work but she’s worth it!” he said, beaming.

Mark climbed aboard and put her bags in a corner behind the seats and then went back to help her aboard. He helped her to her seat as her legs weren’t used to the bobbing and rolling of the boat deck.

“It takes a little to get your sea legs. It will smooth out and be easier to walk around once we get going,” he said, trying not to laugh at her. “Are you ready to get going?”

“Yes! I am anxious to see where you live!” she said. With that, he turned the key on the dash and the twin Yamaha 250 motors roared to life. Warming up in neutral, he went forward to cast off the bow line, then back to cast off the stern line freeing the boat from its moorings.

He gently nudged it into reverse and the boat backed away from the dock until it was completely clear. He turn the wheel and then put the engines in forward and the boat began moving forward slowly.

Traci watched with interest as Mark operated the vessel, admiring how easily and gently he could maneuver such a large boat. a minute or so later they were clearing the final channel markers and out into the open bay.

“Why don’t you shut the cabin door, it’s liable to get a little loud here in a second!” he said. Traci went back and shut the door to the boat’s cabin and the sound of the motors all but disappeared as he idled along. Once she was back in her seat however, things changed.

“Okay hang on, I’m going to open her up!” he said, and pushed the throttle handle fully forward. The two big motors responded instantly and Traci felt the bow of the boat jump up as they accelerated like they had been shot out of a cannon.

“Oh my goodness!” Traci exclaimed as she was thrown back in her seat.

“Yeah, the old girl still has a bit of a kick to her!” he smiled. Traci noticed it had gotten louder, although with the door closed they could still hold a conversation about as easily as they would if they were in a busy restaurant.

Traci wasn’t concerned about conversation though, she was happy just sitting there observing the man at the helm. She watched as he piloted the boat, glancing over his instruments and watching the depth finder and chartplotter. She admired the skill and precision it must take to pilot such a powerful boat and all that you must be aware of. His skill gave her a sense of safety and security.

Traci thought back on their past conversations and chats online. She had been at ease with him almost from the first words. It was a bit strange how easily they fit together, but she had enjoyed getting to know him and felt comfortable telling him things about her.