Alaskan adventure

EIGHT WHALES in THREE DAYS!!!!

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:59:21 -0700

This entry is brought to you by Megan. I apologize in advance because it will not be as great as Abs entries. Ok, here we go....Monday started off with a fabulous bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and 2% milk (I like skim but beggars can't be choosers). Anyway, Ab and I got dressed and headed to Blue Lake for a wonderful morning hike. The weather was beautiful....blue sky and sunny. The trail leads you to two different lakes that were covered in about 3 feet or more of snow. It was great! We hiked for about an hour and a half and made our way back to the car. Then since we were out on that side of town we went to the chocolate factory for the second time! On our way back from there we spotted a WHALE! Of course, we both just about jumped out of our skins and pulled out the camera. We got out of the car and realize the whale dispapeared and of course I had the brilliant idea to run along the street while Abby drove like Cruella Deville to catch up with it. If this doesn't describe our excitement I don't know what will. We finally saw the error of our ways and got into the car together and drove to Whale Park. where we had to plow ourselves thourgh SO MUCH snow in order to make it to even see the whale. We finally make it to see the whale and then it dove deep. We stayed in our same spots for about 30-45 min and didn't see our whale friend again. Ab and I finally end up leaving and on our way back to the van (which by the way has more smells than anyone would know what to do with) we see yet another whale. After whale watching we make our way into town for some lunch at a little Italian resturant named Roma's. Roma's had the greatest service and when I say greatest I really mean hilarious. We had two different servers one woman who was the loudest person ever and then another woman that was so soft-spoken/hard of hearing. Who knows the one who was hard of hearing could probably thank the other lady that yelled instead of talked. It was a great experience. After lunch, Ab and I went shopping for the fam. I think we hit every shop in Sitka that sold something.....if that doesn't give you some perspective. When we were finished shopping we headed to what's known as Sandy Beach or what I like to call Rocky Beach because I saw no sand. We made our way down to the "beach" and took a million and one pictures of course of ourselves jumping off a huge rock. This was the best Monday I have ever had. Not only to spend it in a beautiful state but to share it with by best bud.....nothing could be better! Thanks for letting me share our Monday with you. This is Megan signing off.

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Megan's been here 2 days and we've seen SIX whales!

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 23:04:09 -0700

It's true! I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Megan (I've had a count down for about 3 weeks now) and IT'S FINALLY HERE! She got here late on Friday night and have seen and done just about everything so far. We got up on Saturday morning and I showed here around Sitka. We drove to either ends of the road and went to Totem Park. It has snowed everyday in March and Saturday was another day full of snow. She saw her first eagle and acted like a 5 year old, she says. We were both so excited and having her here has made more aware of the beauty around us....it's crazy how quick you can take things for granted. After a snow filled stroll in the park we went to lunch at the Bayview (my favorite restaurant) which overlooks the harbor. After lunch we went cruising out Sawmill Creek Road and found ourselves a pack of sea lions. So I pulled the car over and we jumped out to get a better look. THEN we saw some whales way off in the distance and we both just about peed ourselves and then they disappeared. Just as we were about to leave...little did we know they had swam closer to us and we snapped pictures like there was no tomorrow! Megan has dubbed herself the "paparazzi". It's perfect! After watching the whales until we couldn't any longer we took a little trip to the Theobroma Chocolate Factory of Sitka. We got ourselves a couple of bars of chocolate and went back to see if we could find our whale friends again but we didn't. We came home and took some cat naps and then went to the grocery store to get some groceries to make dinner at Annie's house. Kristen (Annie's roomate) and Pat joined us for some quesadillas and David Bean came over and entertained us with some fun stories. And that was day one of Megan's Alaskan Adventure.....

....AND for day two....we arose early today to catch a boat for a whale cruise! And did we see some whales! We climbed aboard a mini ferry with about 50 other people and got some breakfast that they served. We sat down and ate as we made our way into the Sitka Sound. We quickly came upon a pod of 4 whales. Humpbacks...we learned some fun facts about them...can grow to 45 feet and weigh 45 tons, they usually stay under for 4-9 minutes before coming up for air but have been known to stay under for as long as 20 min., they go to Hawaii to have their babies and stay there until the baby is "beefed" up and then they come to Alaska, they carry their babies for 12 months (crazy!!).....those are just a few! We just about jumped out of skin and OF COURSE snapped more pictures like there was no tomorrow. But this time we were a bit closer to them. It was unbelievable...pictures just don't do it justice!! The captain of the ferry kept our boat in the area of the whales for about an hour so we just watched them do their thing! Then he took us to see some sea otters and then some sea lions....pretty amazing creatures. We got a pretty great view of Mt. Edgecumbe while we were out there and the "paparazzi" got some sweet shots of that. It's been pretty rare because visibility has been so poor. It has snowed everyday of March so far and TODAY was the first day that it didn't!...the LORD is good! Sitka a broken their record for snowfall day after day this month...pretty crazy but fun for us! After our excursion out to sea we went to lunch at the one and only Hermanos....pizza, mexican and american food. Pretty fun and a great crowd pleaser. Then we came back to the house and hung out for a little bit to rest up for the hike we planned. We headed out to the other end of road where we hiked a little bit to get some water from the artesian well. Then we made our way to the Mosquito cove trail which is almost 2 miles. There was tons and tons of snow which made the hike about 10 times harder but made for one heck of a sledding hill at the end! And that was a wrap for the second day of Megan's Alaskan Adventure!

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dad's home!

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 15:23:05 -0800

It's been a while! Sorry..it has been kinda crazy around here. Cheston (the dad) came home to surprise us all from the Bering Sea and what a surprise it was!! It was extremely weird at first but it is getting a little more comfortable. I think it's been a great thing because i've had to completely seek comfort in the Lord. He is working in my heart in some neat ways I believe and stretching me beyond my imagination!! Cheston brought home king crab and lots of other kinds of fish...so that's what we've been eating just about every meal. The kings are incredible, they are HUGE! His boat took about 2 weeks off and everyone goes home to see their families. So he has to go back on the 18th. When he first got here I had about 4 days off. It was great. I got to hang out a lot with friends and it snowed more..we got about 2 feet of snow. So we played in the snow quite a bit. It has been snowing off and on for about 2 weeks now. I love it...it makes it so beautiful! Things here are pretty good. Megan is coming this Friday and I don't know that I could be more excited! It is going to be so great and something that I need badly!! These are some pics of our house because I'm sure many of you are wondering what it's like! I miss everybody!

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SNOW!

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 10:35:49 -0800

The past few days have been pretty fun. We got about 9 inches of snow all in one night...i think it was thursday night. We woke up and I bundled the kids up and went outside. Neva couldn't move in her snow suit so she just sat in the snow and ate it. We went out a couple of times that day....very fun! On Friday night Annie called and wanted to know if I wanted to go on a walk in Totem park because it's her favorite when its snowy. So we went and picked up a few of the Mt. Edgecumbe kids (Baby Girl, Jupe and Jennifer) and met TJ at the park and walked around. It was gorgeous...lots of snow, and VERY dark and quiet! TJ used to be a guide at the park so at one moment all us girls took a seat and he told us about some of the totem poles. It was great! Then on Saturday we finally finished moving out of the old house with some help of Angela's friends. It has been quite a process if you know what I mean. But it is finally done and we don't have to worry about anymore...thank goodness! Then that night Annie and I went on another walk in the snow. We went across the bridge that connects Japonski island (where the airport and Mt. Edgecumbe is) and Baranof island (where we live). She is so great and I'm so thankful for the friendship that we have gotten to form. We just have a lot in common and I love her! Then on Sunday I had the day off. Went to church at Grace Harbor and then some of us (Leah, Annie, TJ and I) went on a hike on Beaver trail. The sun was shining but it was pretty chilly. They close the road that leads up to the trail in the winter because it's dangerous so we walked about 30 minutes to the trail...uphill and then got to the trail. A lot of the trail here are boardwalks so part of this one was. BUT there was about a foot of snow covering them so you didn't know if you were walking on them or not and we were slipping off them like crazy. There was anywhere from a foot or more on either side of you so you would be walking and all the sudden be laying in the snow. It was pretty funny! Well we got the the top and there was a lake up there that you can walk around but we decided not to but it was BEAUTIFUL up there! I didn't take any pics up there but the one that I did take was along the road....this road goes in between two mountains so parts of it don't see any sun so there were some incredible icecicles. SO that has been the extent of the last few days here in Sitka, AK. The days seem long but I usually have something fun to look forward to. Signing off for now!

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fun pics

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:26:51 -0800

These are just some fun random pics from the last few weeks. Things here is Alaska are good....I've been pretty busy although I think that I had my first official day off this weekend and it was so great! I ended up not going to Juneau again which stinks but it was a good to relax a little bit. Annie didn't go on the YL ski trip either so we pretty much spent the weekend together. It was great and I'm so thankful for her! TJ took me on a hike on Saturday through the cross trail. He is neat....he knows just about everything about Sitka so it's always a learning experience when you're with him! Well, that's all for now! Hope everyone is great! Miss you!

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The trip to Juneau

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:19:23 -0800

Just last week Angela decided she wanted to go to Juneau to shop. So she got online and ordered our ferry tickets. We got on the boat on Friday and traveled the inside passage for about 6 or 7 hours ("the fast ferry"). We drove onto the boat in their 15 passenger van so that we could load it up with everything we bought and take it back. You unload all the stuff you want for the trip and take an elevator to the top level. Friday was the clearest day I have seen yet. It was so pretty! The inside passage is just an area of water and islands basically between here and Juneau that the cruise ships come in on. It was unreal...just a sight that you will see no where else. The ferry ride was about 5 hours too long though. The kids were everywhere and on this ship there is this upper level of just reclining chairs. So it is all open meaning the kids had no containment what so ever. Needless to say I think I sat down about 3 times total. We finally got to snowy/cold Juneau and drove off the ship and straight to Fred Meyer which is a more extensive Walmart. Pretty incredible. We shopped for a while and then went to the hotel. Woke up the next morning and went to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was my first sighting of a glacier...very cool! Then we went shopping at Costco and the mall (with about 10 stores). Juneau was a neat place. It wasn't very big but they did have a "high way" (a two lane road with a speed limit of 55 mph). It had a Colorado feel to it. So we shopped until we literally dropped. I wanted to go back to Mendenhall and check it out (this was the highlight of my weekend!). The huge lake or body of water leading up to it was frozen over so there were tons and tons of people there, doing anything from sledding, cross country skiing, hiking, dog sledding. It was so great and a beautiful day outside. I walked on the frozen water towards the glacier but it was A LOT further than I thought and I had to be back so I didn't make it all the way there. It was really neat and the sun was setting....again, the Lord's creation is unreal and gorgeous. Chatham and I went swimming at the hotel and went to bed. We woke up on Monday morning and Angela had the flu.....throwing up and all. So I did everything that I could to stay out of our hotel room. Chatham and I pretty much saw all of Juneau. We ran some more errands and went to downtown Juneau. Then Neva and I went to Costco for the second time and Fred Meyer for the third time. The snow started coming down so we went back to the nasty smelling, hot hotel room and went to bed excited that we were leaving in the morning but it wasn't over yet. Little Neva caught that flu and was throwing up the whole night. And since Angela was sick too the duty of making sure Neva did not puke on the bed was up to me. One of those things you just have to laugh about. After just a couple hours of sleep we woke up at 5:45 to catch the ferry back to Sitka. One the way back we were on "the slow ferry" so it took pretty much all day to get back. You can buy cabins with bunk beds in them. So we did and it helped a little bit with containing the kids but it was just a long trip. They announced that there were orcha's to the left of our boat but we missed them so I was pretty bummed. Well we made it back all in one piece and I didn't get the bug, praise the Lord! I was thankful for the chance to see Juneau but I could have done without the sickness. I actually might have the chance to go back to Juneau this weekend for the Young Life ski trip. But I'm trying to work things out with Angela. I hope it happens and I'm sure it would be a much more enjoyable experience. I'll let you know though! Love you all and miss you too!

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FINALLY...The camping trip!

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:48:58 -0800

We are finally getting settled into this new house. But it almost seems like an endless process. But we have internet connection now and so about that camping trip........

We loaded up in a boat (a skiff) and bundled up and took off for a 15 minute boat ride to a little cove across the channel. We start to pull into the cove and the ice started to thicken as we went in. It was crunching around the boat. Annie and I we kinda giving each other looks like...should we really be doing this? But Jesse who drove us there and picked us up just kept going and we pulled around the corner and there sat a little cabin just floating in the water. It was SO cool. We pulled up to the dock and piled out. Annie and I stayed with the kids while he went back to get the second group. We started a fire and lit the kerosene lamps....because there was no electricity or running water. There was a huge stove that kept the cabin warm. The second group arrived and we played some cards and made dinner. The kids here are just so great! It was a random group from Mt. Edgecumbe (the boarding school). They did a raffle to pick to who got to go and then those 5 people got to invite a friend. So they weren't all really friends but you would not have known it. They each have these stories that are out of this world. They all come from northern Alaska which is probably what you think of when you think of Alaska, tiny villages, freezing, snow everywhere, they hunt their food, and they just don't have much. So they are so greatful for what the school provides for them and very thankful for an education beyond grade school. Most come from crazy families. Alchohol is huge up there and the kids are exposed to pretty much anything and everything. It was just neat to get to here where they come from and just hang out with them. They are very self sufficient and know things that most normal high schoolers wouldn't. They know pretty much everything about the wildlife and nature. It's amazing to me because they love it and are in awe of it even though they live in it all the time. So....we fixed our dinner over the gas stove and continued to play cards and hang out and talk. There was sona on the dock so Pat went out to light the coals and most of the kids went out and did that. I chose not to get into a swimming suit and walk outside in the freezing cold but they had fun! Then we made tea for everybody and started going to bed. We woke up the next morning and started the fire again and made some oatmeal. There was a little outhouse behind the cabin to go to the bathroom. I didn't dare go out there in the middle of night. It was SO creepy...the ice around us just creaked all night. It was so awesome but very scarey at the same time. We hung around the cabin for a while and a couple of us went on a little hike. There was this long floating log that allowed us to get from the float to land but it had to be just right so that you didn't have to get into the water to reach land. It took a while to get it there but once we did we all jump off and went straight up this hill and then down the other side to a beach. It was beautiful and nothing was out there. It was neat. Then we hiked back and Jesse came to get us. The night before he dropped his keys in the water.....the water is SO clear here. Like in the dark you could see the things at the bottom of the water just by the moonlight and it was really deep. So Jesse brought his diving stuff and dove for his keys because apparently he would have to pay a lot if he lost them because they were the school's. So we all watched up jump into the freezing water and he found them. It was cool though. That was about the extent of our trip! It was a blast and I'm so glad that Pat and Annie invited me to go. The Lord's grace has been so great to me. He has blessed me and surrounded me with such great people! I am just so thankful for them and the way that we gotten to know eachother. I honestly feel like I have known them for years but that's not that case at all. It is way too much fun!

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Moving....

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:42:53 -0800

Hi! Things are going pretty good here in ALASKA! We have been moving so I haven't had much time to update this thing. And we don't have internet hooked up yet but we are supposed to tomorrow (I'm at the library...where I spend quite a bit of time when I'm free). Moving has been kinda crazy...very tiring but I feel like we've made a dent. We are still in the process and probably will be until the beginning of March when they HAVE to be out of their old place. It's just the way things are around here...very chill and not much motivation on Angela's side of things since we have everything we need to live in the new house. The new house is great. There is much more room and I feel like I have some of my own "personal" space now. I got to go camping last weekend which was a blast. We stayed in this little cabin floating in the water in the middle of nowhere. It was so quiet out there and so neat. I will put pictures up in the near future and tell more about it. We are also going to Juneau this Saturday until Tuesday to go to Costco and Fred Meyer (?). Should be interesting being on a ferry for a few hours with the busiest and most rambunctious toddlers in the world!!! I'll let you know how it goes. I will update soon!

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The kiddos

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:03:25 -0800

Here are some pics of the kids. They are pretty much fun and very cute! Things are going good...we started moving yesterday so we've been very busy. They hope to sleep there tomorrow night. I'm going camping tomorrow though with Pat and Annie and some Mt. Edgecumbe kids. I'm pretty excited and I'll share about it later! Miss and love you all!

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An INCREDIBLE day

nobody@vox.com(Alaskan Adventure) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:43:39 -0800

Today was an INCREDIBLE day!...lots of first time experiences today!! It started by Andrea inviting me to go out on a boat of a friend of hers at the hospital. She is a med student doing a rotation as a pharmacist here in Sitka. She is the one that got here 2 weeks ago too...not knowing anyone. So we met at her house really early this morning and drove to the harbor and got on his boat. It was Andrea, Steve (her roomate), Eric (the guy that has the boat) and me. It was raining when we left and didn't stop the entire time we were out...well it turned into snow because we went up north. But we headed towards Eric's shrimp and crab pots that he set out a couple of days ago. It is kinda weird but they attach bouys to a huge cage filled with smelly dead fish and throw them out in the middle of no where and the cages sink and then they come back a few days later to see what they caught. You would think that someone would come steal them or something but they don't...well not many boats go out this time of year. We maybe saw one or two the entire time we were out today. So we were driving along looking for his bouys and found them. We pulled up the crab pots first and he had caught 3 crabs and then we found the shrimp pots and pulled them up and he thought he would have only caught about 8 but ended up catching 51 to be exact. These shrimp were the size of my palm. We are talking HUGE. So we headed back out because Eric wanted to see if we could find some more wildlife and he wanted to hunt some. For deer mostly but he didn't find any...thank goodness. As we started to head north we came across A WHALE!!!!!!!!!! A humpback whale! It was the first one that I have ever seen in the wild. It was so amazing. First we saw a huge puff of air and then it rolled over and it's tail flipped out of the water. We watched him for quite a few minutes and it was just unbelievable!...definitely the highlight of my day! Then we saw sea lions, otters, seals and tons of eagles. The eagles are really cool....they just swarm this place. We kept on going north and as we did the rain turned to snow and the the ground and trees were covered in snow. It was pretty amazing how drastically the weather changed within a 15 minute boat ride. All along the way we were on the look out for more wildlife which was so fun. We finally made it to this cove mainly in search for deer still. It was SO cold...I honestly think it was the coldest that I have ever been in my life and I had several layers of clothes on. We wanted to get out of the boat and walk on the land so Eric had this little row boat that we got down and threw in the water and 3 of us piled in and rowed to shore....it was a pretty funny sight. And then Steve went back to get Eric and brought him to shore. We walked around for a while and it was the most peaceful and quite place I've been to. It was almost scarey because there was not a single trace of humans in sight besides ourselves of course. It was very NEAT! We finally rowed back to the boat and got on. Eric wanted us to de-head the shrimp...so we did and threw the heads overboard. It was very gross but fun. I will never look at eating a shrimp the same probably. Eric took care of the crabs by cracking them open and throwing the guts overboard. Then we finally headed home....FREEZING and wet but I wouldn't have traded it for anything!! It's just crazy to think that that's just a normal day in the life of an Alaskan fisherman. It was such a neat day and I learned quite a bit and I'm so thankful to have gotten to experience something so great today! Sorry this is a long one.

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