the buck stops here

I consider it a beautiful Juneau day when I don't have to wear my XtraTufs or a raincoat or 2 fleece liners, but to have all 3 of these things happen concurrently is flabbergasting. And then to even require the use of *sunglasses*!! That's a virtual miracle! Like a Mafia underling to his superiors, I had to pay my dues for this blessed weekend of clear skies and intact appendages, so a visit to the Shrine seemed fitting.

The Shrine of St. Therese is past Auke Bay, near the end of the road. It's serene and tranquil and if the Rapture were to ever actually happen, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the pit stop for a thousand souls before ascending into Heaven. Or if the Rapture included "second place winners" if you will, then this would be a pretty good compensation package. But I am technically Catholic and thus do not believe in the Rapture anyway so I guess it's all moot, but one likes to imagine or we wouldn't have invented religion at all now would we?

Since we were already so close to the end of the road, and I'd never been before, we drove there too. I get a huge kick from living in a place where there is a sign that tells you how many miles to go before you will, indeed, stop having paved access to anything. The sign is seemingly polite, like it has taken etiquette lessons or at least read an article or two of Miss Manners. After all, it does warn you it's ending. 'If you were hoping for a fast food place,' it advises, 'don't keep going this way! And if you needed a gas station, then you are in the wrong country.' But underneath its gracious exterior, it is actually mocking you. 'Oh you say you wanted to drive to Skagway?? Too bad! Take the ferry sucker!' And if you really persisted on driving, say, a Hummer, past it anyway, then I hope you and your steel monstrosity fall into an ice crevasse and die.