TURNING ADVERSITY INTO ADVENTURE (June 27 - July 26, 2019)

Pair A Dice Point @ Camp Clifford

Betsy Ross Home

Our flights from Anchorage to Cincinnati went well and, after picking up a vehicle from good friends, we made our way back to Indiana and our cabin.  Our time in Indiana was spent between watching our daughter's house while she went on vacation with her family and the cabin. 

We packed for a week's visit to Michigan and headed back to Cincinnati and the airport.  This time, standby flying didn't go so well.  All flights to Chicago were canceled because of weather and all flights to everywhere else filled up with those flyers trying to find a way home.  After talking about what to do, we decided to find a plane with empty seats and have an adventure. 

Philadelphia it was and we boarded for a couple of days in a city we had never visited.  Lodging was taken care of by our Wyndham Rewards Points and, with just the clothes on our backs, we spent a full day, in 95 degree temperatures, visiting the sites in the Historic District.

Camp Meeting in Howell, Michigan

Somethin' Fishy

We finally made it to Michigan a couple of days late and enjoyed a visit to the Eastern Michigan District Camp Meeting on the Water's Edge Campgrounds in Howell.  It was there that I attended church camps as a kid.  We went with friends Gene and Judy Smith and Fred and Linda Hall.  Fred, Gene, and I went to those camps together as boys 60 years ago.

Grouts

We spent most of our time with Gene and Judy at their wonderful country home outside of Davison.  Temperatures in the 70s were pleasant and the fish were biting.  Hours were spent visiting and we took a trip over to Lake Huron.  On the way, we stopped by to see Bob and Eleanor Grout.  They are distant relatives for whom I was their ring bearer back in 1953!  They are both around 90 years old and still active in farming a 6,000 acre farm in the thumb.  Then it was back to Indiana to have three teeth pulled.

REFLECTIONS

Once again, we were reminded that things don't always go as you plan.  Once again, we choose to make the best of the unexpected and turn it into an adventure.  So the Philadelphia jaunt just added to the entire experience of a summer journey.

The Michigan part of the trip was absolutely perfect.  Long time friends (I refuse to say old), fishing until the sun went down, traveling down memory lane with family I hadn't seen in years, and walking the ground I had walked so many years ago as a kid, all went together to make the perfect interlude between lengthy times away.  I could have done without the oral surgery at the end but "it is what it is".  Now, it's off to Fairfield Glade, Tennessee for five weeks.  And the beat goes on.

Dicers and Smiths

ALASKA 2019: THE ROAD (June 10-26, 2019)

Richardson Highway

Horse Tail Falls

After arriving in Anchorage by railroad, we rented a vehicle and drove the hour or so to Big Lake, Alaska where we began the road trip segment of our Alaskan adventure.  I've thought about the best way to tell about this over two week, 2,000 plus mile trek part of our experience and have decided that a machine gun type of explanation might work best.  So here we go.

Our time included overnights at a B & B (Glennallen), a church campground lodge (Big Lake), friends' homes (Chugiak, Soldotna), a church guest room (Homer), and a tent ( Ekultna Lake State Park).

During this time we visited Valdez (Richardson Highway), Eagle River (Eagle River Nature Center), Seward (Exit Glacier), Thunder Bird Falls, Gridwood (Alyeska Resort), Seldovia (Nature Cruise), Portage (Portage Glacier), Wasilla (Iditarod HQ), Palmer (Musk Ox Farm), Talkeetna, Hatcher Pass (Independance Gold Mine), and North Pole.  There were many other stops and places, but these are the main ones.

  Ekluta Lake

We saw eleven eagles at once on the shores of Cook Inlet, a Moose (up close and personal), a grizzly bear (walked through campsite), sea otters, thousands of nesting sea birds, Dall Sheep, Reindeer, Alaskan Pipe Line, glaciers, waterfalls (Bridal Veil and Horse Tail on the Richardson Highway near Valdez were the best), and mountain after mountain.

We ate at places named;Summit Lake Lodge (Moose Pass), Bobby's (Chugiak), Little Richard's Diner (North Pole), Old Roadhouse (Talkeetna), Denali Family Restaurant (Wasilla), Lucky Wishbone (Anchorage), Artic Roadrunner (Anchorage), Moose Is Loose (Soldotna), Louie's (Kenai), Duncan House (Homer), Land's End Resort (Homer) and, above the clouds, at Boar Tide Deli (Girdwood).

As huge as Alaska is, its road system is about the size of the road system in New Hampshire.  Having said that, it really doesn't matter which way you go there is always something spectacular around the next bend.

Seldovia

REFLECTIONS

Big Lake

Our month long Alaskan experience came to an end with an exciting road trip from Homer to Anchorage.  In order to make it back to the airport in Anchorage, we cut things a day short so as to make it through the edge of the 50,000 acre Swan Lake forest fire.  The blaze was threatening to shut down the Sterling Highway (the only artery through the Kenai Pennensula).  We sat in the 400 car line waiting for the guide vehicle to lead us on the ten mile stretch of  ground where the fire bordered the road.  The wait was well over two hours.

Many times the journey of our lives come down to an end that we could not anticipate; an end sparked by things beyond our control.  Most of us have stood beside someone whose life adventure came to unexpected stop and the waiting was long and difficult.

For those of us who are Christ followers, we believe that this waiting is but a pause before the One who said "I am the Way" comes to guide us through the smoke of death to the beauty on the other side.  It is then that we say with the song writer; "I'll fly away".

Sterling Highway (Swan Lake Fire)

ALASKA 2019: THE TRAIN (June 5-9, 2019)

Grandview , Alaska, Hiking Stop (End of the line)

Spencer Glacier

After disembarking from our ship in Whittier, Alaska we shortly boarded the Alaska Railroad train for an excursion to Spencer Glacier and Grandview.  This short but beautiful rail trip would bring us back to Whittier later in the day and then continue on to Anchorage where we would spend the night.

Thanks to an Alaska friend, who works for ARR, we had been given "family passes".  These passes allowed the four of us to travel 1/2 price for one continuous booking.  Sherry figured out a way to get us on every inch of passenger track with the exception of the spur to Seward.  All told, we spent about 36 hours on the rails.  I would highly recommend that any trip to Alaska include at least a short trip on the ARR.  I would recommend the run to Grandview or the run from Anchorage to Hurricane Gulch and back.

Time on the train can be spent reading, sleeping, or enjoying the scenery from the upper level of the observation car.  From this vantage point we saw eagles, swans, beavers, moose, bears, homesteaders, mountains, valleys, passes, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and so much more.  It is an excellent way to get from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back without the hassle of driving.

REFLECTIONS

There is an old gospel song entitled "Life Is Like A Mountain Railway" and I would have to say after spending such a long time aboard the Alaskan Railroad that the journey did remind me a little of my life.

There were times of weariness as we chugged through the final hours of a twelve hour ride.  There were times of excitement as we watched a moose run along side the tracks.  There were times of awe as we encountered breathtaking scenery and the high waterfalls splashed down the mountainside.  There were times that were good to be shared with others and times when it was right to just be alone and drink it all in.

Put it all together and it was an interesting and enjoyable experience.

Such is life.  There will be together times and alone times.  There will be times when we get caught up in all the beauty of the things that have appeared along the track of our life.  And, yes, there will certainly be times when we are just weary; warn out!

Put them all together.  See them all as a wonderful tapestry and, as you look back, you will understand what a beautiful adventure you have been on.

Keep on rollin' and be blessed.

ALASKA 2019: THE CRUISE (May 28 - June 4, 2019)

After going the long way around (Indianapolis to NYC to Seattle to Vancouver) we found ourselves aboard the Coral Princess on our way to Alaska.  This would mark our 5th visit to the "Last Frontier" for Sherry and me but the 1st for Sherry's brother, Curt, and his wife, Jenny.  We would be their willing "guides" for the next month.  The weather was great and each port of call provided wonderful excursions.

We stopped at Ketchican, Juneau, and Skagway and cruised through Glacier Bay and College Fjord.  College Fjord was absolutely the most spectacular sight I have seen in my lifetime!  The deep blue skies, the fluffy white clouds, the towering mountains, and the bluish glaciers brought almost more than I could take in!

Sharing a small cabin with two bunk beds was interesting to say the least but it did not diminish the wonderful time we all had as we traveled.   The food was delicious, the service was outstanding, and no one got sea sick!  It was also great to be able to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary with a formal dinner with special friends.

After the seven day journey, the ship dropped us off at the dock in Whittier, Alaska and we began the next stage of our adventure.  This time, the Alaskan Railroad would be our transportation as we started to explore this expansive state.

REFLECTIONS

Sometimes, when on a cruise ship, we begin to think that all the food, entertainment, and lodging are free.  It's great to be able to eat all you want, anytime you want, and they never bring you the bill.  The problem is that we forget that we paid for all this up front.  The fact is that you are only getting what you paid for!

Many times, life is so much like that!  We find ourselves enjoying the blessings of life or struggling with the issues of life and forget that, in reality, we might be getting just what we paid for.  Paid for with choices that we made somewhere along the journey.  It is a life principle that we often overlook.  It's called reaping and sowing (getting what you paid for)!

Please understand that I am not saying that there will be times when, in spite of right choices, things don't turn out just like you hoped.  Nor am I saying that if you make poor choices sometimes everything just seems to work out.  What I am saying is that you have a good chance to receive good results if you've made good choices to start.

Cruises can also be very demanding and hectic.  They can wear you out.  It's good to find a place where you can be renewed.  Life, too, demands much and can get very busy.  We must be able to find a place were we can "center down" and be refreshed in body and soul.

Be blessed, make right choices, and cruise on.  Now to get back on that diet!