DV, Day 3

Isn't this fun? You're either enthralled by my travelogue or bored silly and wishing I would stop posting already. Either way, here's another one!

We woke up in Ketchikan, Alaska on Monday morning. At 7:45, we had to be ashore and ready to go on our excursion... so we were up early once again! Here is what we saw as we walked out to disembark:



The view from the ship

We met up with our excursion guide and drove about 10 minutes out of town to a pier near Eagle Island. On the way, we had a driving tour of Ketchikan. Our bus driver told us about how the city gets 13 feet (on average) of rain every year, and how 4-5 days in a row without rain = drought. He told us about how everything that gets into Ketchikan has to be flown or shipped in, and then recounted what happened the day Walmart opened: they opened for 4 hours, then closed to restock their shelves. Then they opened for 4 more hours, then closed for 4 days until they received their next shipment of goods. Oh, well. We saw shipping containers stacked 5 and 6 high, sometimes with semi trailers or houses on top of them. We learned about slugs. Banana slugs make your tongue numb if you lick them. Apparently the slugs are everywhere (he was not wrong here; we saw 3 or 4 of them on the walk down to the pier when we arrived!). It was an entertaining drive.

After a brief training from our sea kayaking guide, we jumped into our kayaks (OK, not really. We were carefully helped in ... but jumping sounds more exciting) and paddled off into the sea. We saw starfish - purple and orange ones, bald eagles, jellyfish, a few quick glimpses of seals, and even a curious sea lion (he was just a little too close to some of the kayaks for comfort, though!). I was sitting in the back of the kayak, and therefore was responsible for steering. For the most part, I figured it out, although going backward was not my forte. 

Unfortunately, my camera was inaccessible, so images of this fun adventure will have to wait until I have downloaded my friends' pictures. I did take a picture of the trees after we finished our adventure, though. The entire island was green and absolutely beautiful everywhere you looked.

Trees ... and proof of a sunny day in Ketchikan!

After our kayaking journey, we traveled back to the town, learning about how most out-of-town folk capture rainwater in cisterns to obtain water for drinking and other household functions, hence the perception of drought conditions after 4-5 days. No rain = no water. No water = no way to wash clothes, dishes, you, etc. Folks have to buy their water when it doesn't rain - and it's not cheap. I'm sure our bus driver told us other things, but that's the one I remember.

We wandered through Ketchikan, and discovered a few treasures along the way:

The welcome sign for this little city

Whale Park - a cute little place to walk

The park benches were all fish and whales!

We wandered Creek Street, explored Married Man's Trail,
and saw Fish Ladder.

This is the path to Civic Center via stairs

Paths like the one above are often public streets - and therefore the city is responsible to plow if it snows. That sounded appealing. Especially for those whose homes are at the top of these stairstep streets!

We got back on the ship in the early afternoon, and after lunch, I sat on the deck and watched the world go by some more. And wrote postcards to some of my favorite people. Later in the evening, we tried to spot some whales, but all we saw was this:

The sunset

The sunset, 30 minutes later

Tragic, huh? No whales. Only a phenomenal sunset. It was absolutely stunning and one of my favorite moments of the trip.

For reference, whenever we were up on deck taking pictures like the ones above, I was dressed in a windbreaker (and sometimes another long-sleeved layer over my shirt), ski cap, and gloves. The wind was blowing constantly (a natural byproduct of cruising at about 30 mph) and it was cold! But well worth it, obviously. Especially after we found the vents that originated in the sauna and were blowing warm air. That made the starboard side of deck 13 the ideal place to watch the view. :-)

DV, Day 2

I woke up early (6 am) since my body was still on Boston time. After breakfast at the buffet, we got ready for the day. We were cruising all day long, so it was a quiet Sunday. I studied scriptures for a while, then went outside to the upper decks to see what I could see.

Sunday morning was one of my favorite times on the ship, because almost no one was awake early, and I could enjoy the quiet on my own. I spent the morning bundled against the wind and chill, looking for wildlife in the vast expanse of ocean. All you could see in all directions was ocean.

I spotted a few whales and some other animals, at a distance so great that taking a picture of them was useless. See?

If you zoom in a lot you can see where the whales were.

It got me thinking, though. All that water! Captain Lars said the ocean is over 6000 feet deep in this part of the world. When Heavenly Father created the world, He made a lot of water. I felt grateful to experience such marvelous beauty. It makes even the giant whale seem small in comparison.

After lunch, I spent time with two of my group sitting and talking outside on deck 7. It felt more normal to be outside where you can see the horizon move when the ship sways, and made the motion more tolerable. Then we came in for an hour to warm up (and learn about the best places to go shopping in port). Then two of us went back out, this time up to deck 13 (where it was a lot windier but had better views) for a while.

The late afternoon view

The view an hour later

After a yummy dinner, we walked laps around deck 7 promenade to burn off the extra calories (and because it was something to do).

Days at sea are relaxing but not very eventful. Overall, I felt it was an OK way to spend the Sabbath despite not going to church; I came to appreciate the beauty and vastness of God's creations more than I had before.

Dream Vacation, Day 1

We woke up early - 3:30 am - to catch our flight out of Boston. I was grateful I had made a list of last-minute things to do the night before, because my brain doesn't work at that time of day. The taxi picked us up at 4, and we made it to the airport in plenty of time. Pay the cab driver, online check-in at the kiosk, bag drop, and security - it all went smoothly considering we weren't quite awake. (I did discover I don't calculate tips - or do any other kind of math - that early in the morning...)

There was time to spare when we got to the gate, so I wandered over to Dunkin Donuts and picked up some breakfast for later. As I sat at the gate, I realized my boarding pass didn't have a seat assignment on it. For a few minutes, I wondered what would happen if I wasn't able to get on this flight ... but eventually my name showed up on the "cleared list" and the desk agent provided my seat assignments for both legs of the journey. Phew.

Once on the plane, I went back to sleep, basically coherent only for the mid-flight juice handout. When we landed, we had just enough time to walk to our next gate before boarding the second leg of our flight. Breakfast, another nap, and a magazine, and we were in Seattle.

After we claimed our luggage, we checked in with our cruise line, gave them our bags, and boarded a bus for the pier. After I got on the bus, I realized the cruise documents I should have kept with me were in the bag I checked. Oops. (See brain not working part above.) We arrived at Pier 66 around 12:15. For the next hour, it was like waiting in a Disneyland line, only with a longer ride at the end.

The sign: Pier 66 Jul/21/12 12:25 pm

Once inside, we waited in yet another line, went through security (again; fortunately they didn't look really closely at anything but the passport) and up an escalator to a third line, and finally were checked in (they were able to look me up by name, so it was OK that I didn't have my paperwork after all. Phew again.). Then we waited in line (again) - this time to have our picture taken (because everyone wants a picture of what they look like after having gotten up at 3:30 am!) before we boarded the ship.

We had lunch in the all-you-can-eat buffet, and oriented ourselves to the small city we would be enjoying for the coming week. Fourteen decks, ten of them accessible to cruise patrons. For scale, walking 2 2/3 times around the promenade on deck 7 is one mile. The ship is 965 feet long and can hold over 2,300 passengers.

By mid-afternoon, we set sail, leaving Seattle behind. The party started in full force, including a sail-away BBQ on deck 12. Swimming, food, sunshine and gorgeous views; what more does one need?

The view from deck 14 at the start of our cruise

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the view, and going to mandatory emergency training, wherein they demonstrated how to put on a life vest in the unlikely event we would need one (we didn't).

The view

The view about half an hour later

The view a little while later.
Check out the colorful sailboat.

We went to dinner at one of the sit-down restaurants that didn't have a cover charge (there were three of these and about 13 others that did), and discovered it was a 3-course meal with different specials each evening - starter, entree, and dessert. And all the rolls you want. Mmm...

Dinner's entree: salmon with spinach and potatoes

The main difference between eating here and eating inland was that the portion sizes were actually reasonable here. And since one of three main activities on a cruise is eating, that was good.

Considering I had been up for longer than was reasonably normal by the time we finished dinner, I called it a day pretty early and went to bed at 9 pm. We cruised all night at about 25 knots.

The stateroom: three of us shared an inside stateroom. It was approximately 143 square feet. The bathroom was tiny but very functional, all things considered. The shower was about 3x5 feet (that might be a generous assessment), and two people could stand (but not move) in front of the mirror. There were enough cubbies and places to hide things that we stowed our luggage fairly effectively. Considering we didn't spend a whole lot of time in the room while we were awake, it worked. Inside rooms have no windows, so when we wanted it to be night, we just turned off the lights. That has its advantages during the summer in Alaska.

Gratitude

I try to be grateful for my blessings. Some days I am better at it than others. Today, I am grateful that in my work I have been doing a little bit of html coding. It helped me just now to fix my broken button on my blog. :-)

I am grateful that my graduate schooling taught me problem-solving skills, and that it taught me how to not be afraid to try different ways of doing things until you find the one that works.

I am grateful for the children in my life. My niece gave a talk in Primary today that was shared by her mother on her blog. I learned a lot from it. After church today, I saw our only three-year-old, Miss C, in the gym. She was running from one side to the other while her daddy timed her on his iPhone. She wanted someone to run with her. So I grabbed her hand and we raced. It was fun.

I am grateful for air conditioning. My dear friend gave the closing prayer in Sunday School and expressed this in her prayer. I couldn't agree more.

I am grateful for mercy and forgiveness, and for examples of these virtues in the scriptures and in my own life. I am grateful for those who take time to prepare spirit-filled lessons so I can be taught at church.

I am grateful for friends whose lives have touched mine. I have four such friends leaving Boston this week. I am sad to see them go. The quiet, steady faith and faithful filling of callings will be sorely missed. So will the gentle love and consistent hugs. So will the musical talent and love of the gospel, the willingness to do that which the Lord asks just because He asked. Not to mention the faithful, consistent friendship and self-reflective conversations. I love these men and women because they have helped me become better.

I am grateful for naps. They make hard things seem less hard. I am grateful for the Spirit of the Lord, and for this statement by George Albert Smith: The companionship of the spirit of the Lord is an antidote for weariness, … for fear and all those things that sometimes overtake us in life. I needed to remember that today.

I am grateful for good colleagues who accept me and respect my values and standards. I am grateful for the example of generosity I see in those around me. I am grateful to have confidence in God's plan for me, and to know that I can be successful because I am doing what He wants me to do.

I am grateful for quiet times to reflect and acknowledge that God has been kind to me. It helps me feel of His love.

The Land of the Free

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved,

And mercy more than life!

I'm guest posting over on Mormon Perspectives today. Come on over.

And in other news,

as I sat in my sunroom

writing this post,

I noticed a sparrows' nest

in the hollow of the tree

just outside my home.

The babies are chirping

and their mother is diligently

going back and forth from the nest

to feed them.

It's kind of cool.

Independence

It's the Fourth of July (in an hour, anyway). Time to think about our independence and be grateful for those who did something to help us attain it.

As I sang our national anthem with the rest of the Relief Society on Sunday, I was struck by how important the American flag must have been to those who were fighting for their freedoms: freedom to worship, to speak their minds, to defend their properties and homes, and more.

What is that which the breeze,

o'er the towering steep,

as it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

in full glory reflected now shines on the stream;

'tis the star-spangled banner!

It reminds me of another flag, the title of liberty, that an ancient military prophet-leader erected to inspire his people to defend their country's freedoms. (read the story here)

In memory of our God,

our religion, and freedom,

and our peace, our wives,

and our children.

The stars and stripes remind me that our God watches over this land, and that He prepared it as a place of peace and freedom for His children so the fulness of the gospel could be restored. Seeing it makes me grateful for the blessings I enjoy.

Oh, thus be it ever,

when free men shall stand

between their loved homes and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace,

may the heaven-rescued land

praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

To those (and their loved ones) who give part or all their lives in defense of my freedom, thank you. I am grateful.