Andy Rogers (Daddy): Andy is a writer and artist from Alaska.
Zuzana Rogers (Mommy): Zuzi is a physical therapist, skier, gardener and mother extraordinaire.
Originally from Slovakia, she’s lived in Alaska since the early ’90s. Zuzi is a co-owner of Advanced Physical Therapy and a traveling physical therapist with the U.S. Ski Team.
Lucas Rogers: Lucas is our 10-year-old. We celebrated his birthday before leaving Alaska to let him party down with his friends. Technically, he’ll turn 10 on the trip. Barring disaster, it’ll be shortly after we get to Seattle.
Lucas is an engineer at heart. And in his head. And in most the rest of his body, for that matter. He has a mind for machines, mathematics and all things mechanical.
Unfortunately, he only speaks Minecraft-ese, so communication is a challenge. Still, he’s a great kid, a helpful big brother and a ton of fun to have around.
Eva Rogers: Eva is our strong, fierce, beautiful 6-year-old. She’ll turn 7 shortly after this trip.
Eva is up for anything. She loves anything active and creative. She’s confident, adventurous and competitive.
The Beluga: And what would a band of foolhardy adventurers be with their trusty steeds? Erm… steed. In our case, a 25-foot, C-Class Coachmen motorhome; circa 1995.
We named her The Beluga. She’s our white whale. At 25 feet, she’s not a particularly imposing whale, and she’s relatively unassuming when it comes to frills and amenities. Plus, she’s Alaskan. The Beluga seemed perfectly descriptive name.
She ain’t pretty. She ain’t quiet. She’s not even a particularly smooth ride. But she’s ours and we’ve put a lot of time in and miles on her. For the next five weeks… she’s home.