A PHOTGRAPHIC JOURNEY THROUGH ALASKA WITH FRIENDS (May 16 - June 14, 2022)

 

Eagle River, Alaska

Usually, this blog is a written recall of events along our way but this one will be photographic odyssey of our past month in Alaska.  After finishing our assignment as "pulpit supply" in Anchorage and before our tenure as "Interim Pastor" in Juneau, we had about a month to spend relaxing and traveling with friends.  These photographs will chronicle those days and paint a picture of the beauty and wildness of this great state.   

If a picture says a thousand words, then this will be my longest blog ever.  Here we go!

Ninilchek, Alaska (Bald Eagles in Nest)

Denali on a rare perfectly clear day

Richardson Highway between Glen Allen and Valdez, Alaska

Landscape just outside of Seward, Alaska

Valdez, Alaska with our traveling friends, Wes and Marcia Bittenbender

Harbor in Valdez, Alaska

The Dicers in Girdwood, Alaska, at the Alyeska Resort

Dall Sheep on cliffside along Turnagain Arm

Sea Otters outside of Homer, Alaska on the Bay of Alaska

Moose in Denali National Park

Big Lake, Alaska (Hour Glass Lake at Camp Maranatha)

Eagle River, Alaska (Black Bear)

Dicers at Horse Tail Falls (Richardson Highway near Valdez, Alaska)

Seldovia, Alaska (remote Island village)

I could post several more but I figure that fifteen should be enough to give you an idea of the 3,000 mile journey we took during these fourteen days.  (pick a photo and comment if you like or ask any questions you have)

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER (March 31 - May 15, 2022)

 

In a week we will end the first of three phases for our time in Alaska.  When we arrived, there were only two.  But we were asked to extend our stay by about three months to serve as interim pastor of the Juneau Church of the Nazarene while they are between pastors.  Phase one has been an assignment in Anchorage while the pastor of the Jewel Lake Church of the Nazarene has been on sabbatical in Israel.  Phase two will be a month of enjoying the great white north, including a two-week excursion with good friends, Wes and Marsha Bittenbender from Michigan.  The final stage will be the stay in Juneau.

This first segment has been filled with meeting new friends, preaching the Word, and exploring the

Anchorage area.  It began with snow and ice covering the ground and is ending with people out cutting their lawns.  There is no way to explain how quickly spring comes to Alaska.  It is amazing.

Once again, the people we have met have been gracious and kind.  The friendships which we have made here are solid and ongoing.  We have been blessed.

The six weeks of time here in the "bowl" have gone by rather quickly, and we have so much more we'd like to do and see.  I have enjoyed walks at the Potter's Marsh Wildlife area and Kincade Park. (Moose were spotted at both).

REFLECTIONS

The picture above is the road that I took to the Church when I went to the office or worship.  It never ceased to cause a deep sigh and a few words of praise.  The panorama of the "Last Frontier" cannot be captured by a photo.  It is ever changing and always breath taking.  

I was thinking the other day about the chain of events that have brought us to this point of staying in our 50th state for about six months this year.  It reminded me of how our choices, when they are made, seem to always end with results that we can't begin to imagine.  Sometimes for our good and sometimes not so much.

I know I could go all the way back when I accepted a "call" to ministry back in 1965, but I think I'll start the thread in this century.  

2004: Accepted a "call" to a church in Orlando, Florida (1)

2006: Sherry hired into Northwest/Delta airline giving us "flying privileges" (2)

2010: Retired from pastoral ministry and started "Free To Fly Ministry" (3)

2011: Held Revival in Swartz Creek, Michigan because scheduled speaker couldn't (4)

2011: At Swartz Creek Revival met parents of pastor's wife in Cordova, Alaska (5)

2012: Spoke at church where former Alaska Pastor asked if I could hold 2 more Revivals in Alaska (6)

2013: Held Revivals in Cordova, Homer, Soldotna, Alaska (7)

2015: Invited back to Cordova, Homer, and added a meeting at Seward (8)

2017: Returned to Cordova, and Soldotna.  Soldotna needed interim pastor (9)

2018: After having been interim pastor at Soldotna, I was asked to do the same for Eagle River, Ak (10)

2022: After two good interim assignments in Alaska I was asked to do fill-in for Jewel Lake AK  (11)

2022: While in Alaska was asked to move over to Juneau and interim until the end of September. (12)

We have always heard that one thing leads to another, and it is obvious that they do!  Good choices lead to manifold blessings.  Trust you will have a blessed year.

BON VOYAGE (March 8 - 29, 2022)

Our final week on Edisto Island, South Carolina, at the WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE RESORT was spent with my daughter's family as they visited during spring break from Indiana.  We enjoyed watching the dolphins play in the Sound and watching the magnificent sunsets.  This out-of-the-way island has always been a favorite of Autumn, and her family come to visit just about every year.  Time was spent bike riding, at the pool, playing cards, eating out (Pressley's at the Marina and Whaleys), and just having a great time being family.  

Scott and Autumn stayed an additional five days by themselves while Sherry and I took the two girls on a cruise from Charleston, South Carolina, to the Bahamas.

We are scheduled back for ten weeks next year and can't wait.  

REFLECTIONS

The Bahamas

"Guy's Burgers and Ice Cream!"

Cruises tend to be one of the most amazing events that one can experience.  We have found that no two have been the same.  They all offer to meet your every expectation and, quite honestly, they try really hard to make everything as special as it all looked in the pre-cruise hype.  Yet, there's only so much they can control.  They can't control all "cruisers" as they return to their room after a day of drinking too much.  They can't be there when the screaming begins in the hallway at 2 a.m.!  They can't control the weather.  After thinking that it might be awesome to take a loooooong cruise and talking to my wife about it, the next morning the ocean decided to rock and roll and roll and rock and rock and roll for about 6 hours. (not thinking about that round the world cruise anymore).

The opportunity to eat 24 hours a day sounds like a great idea, but the food is only mediocre at best (except for Guy's Burgers, which were outstanding).  It was another example that quantity does not always equal quality.

I am not saying that I didn't enjoy the cruise.  I am just saying that many times the reality does not

match our expectations.  We must be very careful not to build things up so high that, when the item doesn't match our expectations, we fail to enjoy the blessings that the experience provided.

We spent five wonderful days and nights with two of our favorite people on planet Earth.  Our two granddaughters, Abigail and Adelyn, were fun and understanding.  They seemed to enjoy their time with us old folks, and their first cruise.  We have now completed three such cruises with our six grandchildren.  I trust that we made some memories for a lifetime.

Life is short, and with our traveling lifestyle, it is super important to spend quality time with those we love when we can.  Other grandparents might be able to give their grands more quantity of time but, we are determined, none will give them more quality of time.

Although the "cruise of life" may not always meet our expectations, we can make it a goal to enjoy the journey and those who sail beside us.  BON VOYAGE!

Now, it's off to Alaska through June!

OCEAN BREEZES AND WEDDING FREEZES (February 12 - March 7, 2022)

Edisto Island Sunset

We traveled from Florida to Edisto Island, South Carolina, with good friends, Darwin and Jean Pressler, they dropped us off and headed back to Indiana.  It felt like we'd come home as we opened the door to our Bay Point condo at WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE.  Since retiring in 2016 we will have spent more days here at Ocean Ridge than any other Resort (227 days).  To us, it is a little bit of Heaven on Earth.  Its laid back, peaceful demeanor is perfect for just "Chillaxing".

This time our visit here is going to be a little disjointed.  After the first five days of enjoying the quietness of the island and watching the dolphins play in the bay in front of our lodging, we boarded the big sliver bird and flew to Missouri where I officiated at the wedding of my oldest grandson, Austin.  After six days with my son's family in Republic, we flew back to South Carolina.  We enjoyed a few days of islandness before my brother and his wife drove over from Simpsonville, South Carolina to spend the weekend. They have headed back home and now we await my daughter's family from Indiana later this month. But that will be another blog. 

REFLECTIONS

Austin and Maddie Dicer

    

     Family has always been of primary importance in our lives.  That's why we started this journey with Fairfield/Wyndham in 1982.  It was a way that we were forced to vacation annually as a family.  It provided memories that continue today to be talked about and remembered.  Back then, we didn't envision that someday we would become the retired timeshare travelers that we are today.  

     It shouldn't matter if you live next door or hundreds of miles away you should always strive to be involved in the lives of those you love.  You find a way.  

     I wouldn't have missed my oldest grandson's wedding for anything.  It was a testament of our efforts to keep family primary that he and his bride asked me to perform their ceremony in Missouri.  They knew we would get there somehow.  They chose 2stoday, February (2) 22nd, 2022 as their date.  Oh yes, he is 22, and the temperature at the time of the "outdoor" wedding was 22!

Brothers

     

It was also wonderful to have my brother and his wife visit with us at Ocean Ridge.  Gary is 10 years older than I am and lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina.  We don't get to see each other often but, when we do, it is special.  There is always so much to talk about.  I am feeling sentimental and blessed right now as I pen these words.

     Do not take your family moments together for granted.  Enjoy them to the fullest.  Put aside differences.  Be available.  Love them while you can!  

     I can attest that it is possible to enjoy the freedom of retirement and not sacrifice the blessing of family.  

     

 

Our front yard this month

   

HOMES SWEET HOMES (January 2 - February 12, 2022)

   

B. Solomon   A. Dicer      
Mark Vice   

 

 Our six weeks stay at the WYNDHAM CYPRESS PALMS RESORT in Kissimmee, Florida will soon come to an end, and we will make our way to WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE in Edisto Beach, South Carolina.  While in Florida, the weather was a little cooler than expected but the average high temperature was 70 degrees.  The average high at home in Indiana for those days was 35 degrees.  I guess one could say that it was twice as warm in the sunshine state. Our time was spent enjoying the comfort of our two-bedroom condo, the swirling waters of the hot tub, and the warmer than Indiana temperatures.  This resort commands a strong community feeling and it always has felt like a welcoming location.

Presslers

     We took a three-day break from our stay to spend time at the Central Florida Holiness Campground where I spoke in their chapel.  It was nice to be able to share God's Word again and to reconnect with good friends, including Rosie and Bryan Solomon, Mark Vice, Mark Murphy, and Ted Lee.

     Our Florida respite ended with friends from Indiana, Darwin and Jean Pressler, spending the final four days with us.  We will share a ride to South Carolina with them where they will be our guests for another four or five days at Ocean Ridge.

REFLECTIONS

Edisto Dolphin

Whoever would have thought, when we bought a week's vacation at Fairfield Glade, Tennessee, that the time share lifestyle would be such a large part of our retirement journey.  It certainly wasn't on our minds when we first became involved with Fairfield/Wyndham in 1982.

Then, it was simply a way to have a nice vacation annually at a fixed price.  It was a way to force us to get away.  Those years, traveling as a family, were some of the best times of our lives.  

Cypress Palms Gator

Now, we are retired and for the last six years have made Wyndham properties our vacation homes away from home.  We spend about 40 weeks a year in timeshare resorts.  Some have said that we have spent considerable dollars across the years, and I agree that we have.  But never did we spend beyond our means, and I doubt that we have spent more than we would have for a retirement home somewhere.  The difference is that when I look out my "vacation home" window I might see a dolphin frolicking in the ocean, an alligator sunning in the warmth of the sun, or a deer sneaking along a tree line.  

As we enter our condos, we feel like we are home!  The appliances are the same, the bedding is the same, the coffee maker is the same, the dishware is the same, the blue glasses are the same, and it feels like home.  

Someday we won't be able to travel anymore, and we'll have to settle in somewhere.  The kids will take over maintenance fee payments or unload the points somehow.  Until then it's full speed ahead.  I have to book March 11-18, 2023, at Ocean Ridge tonight at 12:01 a.m.! 

Fairfield Glade Deer

TWO LOGS FOR SHERRY (November 16 - December 31, 2021)

Family "Beatstar"

Our final eight weeks at the WYNDHAM FAIRFIELD GLADE in Tennessee were spent relaxing and enjoying the wonderful property.  Autumn and early winter at "the Glade" are the perfect times to just lay back watch the seasons change.  We did have the blessing of being joined by children and grandchildren between Christmas and New Year's Day.  Puzzles, table games, televised football games, and many other great times filled our hours with laughter.

It was in 1982 that we joined the Fairfield/Wyndham family and we have been returning to the Cumberland Plateau on a regular basis since then.  Our family has grown up exploring this expansive resort.

With Ed Kile at Dorchester Golf Club

We introduced many others to "the Glade" back in the early days, including Ed and Ruth Kile.  They are the parents of our oldest son's wife, Jennifer.  They were here, in their own unit, during the last week of our stay.  They were on their way to Florida and so were we so we ended up riding with them as we made our way to WYNDHAM CYPRESS PALMS in Kissimmee.  We will reside there until the middle of February.

REFLECTIONS

One of the reasons we have regularly found our way to WYNDHAM FAIRFIELD GLADE in Tennessee during the fall or winter is because they have wood burning fireplaces in the condo units.  Since 1982 (our first purchase) we have enjoyed the warmth and the ambiance of the flaming logs as they crackle and flicker in the recessed indoor fire pit!  The quivering flames rise and fall as they reach toward the chimney and the smell of the burning wood reminds one, somehow, of days gone by.  The resort even provides the spilt wood and the daily journey to the "wood shed" is, in this case, not an unpleasant experience!  The walk back to the room, with an armload of fuel to be burned, in the brisk cool air of the Cumberland Plateau is enjoyable as one knows of the warmth that your burden will bring.  For 40 years it has been an experience to which we have always looked forward.

Now they are digging gas lines behind our unit in order to install "gas fireplaces"!  I understand the reasoning......safer, cleaner, less hassle!  But there's just something about artificial, constant, regulated, flames that leaves one feeling cheated.  Simpler, yes, just throw the switch, but something special will be lost, at least for us.

Now, every night when I go to bed, I place two logs in front of the roaring fire so that my wife can continue to enjoy the comfort, warmth, and peace of the fire before she joins me in a couple of hours.  TWO LOGS FOR SHERRY.  It is an act of love and a reminder of my desire to make her happy and to provide a place of calm in a sea of tumult.  Next time, if there is a next time, it will be; "Make sure to throw the switch before you come to bed."

It won't be the same!  I know that change is inevitable.  I know that nothing on this earth is forever.  I know that I will miss the "two logs for Sherry" times.

FALL FOLIAGE AND THE FRAILTY OF LIFE (October 18 - November 15, 2021)

Curt and Jenny

As we conclude a month at Wyndham Fairfield Glade in Tennessee, I am reminded of both the beauty of autumn and the fragility of life.  Some blogs are difficult to pen but must be written none the less.  Thus it is with this edition.

The Cumberland Plateau was ablaze with the changing optics of fall.  The canvas, with random patches of yellows, greens, reds, and oranges, blended wonderfully against the backdrop of deep blue skies, flowing white clouds, and distant mountains.

Scott and Autumn

Our spacious two bedroom Kensington Woods condo was filled several days with the blessing of family and friends.  Picture puzzles were pieced together, table games were hotly contested, and hours were spent in front of a flickering natural wood fireplace. Drives into Crossville for lunches at Fortes, shoe shopping at French's, and the Military Museum, provided opportunities to enjoy each others company.  An outing to the Cumberland Playhouse to see Scrooge, The Musical was a perfect night out with Curt and Jenny, Sherry's brother and sister  in law.  Our daughter's family from Indiana joined us for a few days too.

Here's where it gets really difficult.

Jimmie and Doretta Durnil

The Durnils had joined us before on our WYNDHAM adventures.  We had explored the beaches of South Carolina together at Myrtle Beach and Edisto Island.  Now they were joining us to enjoy the beauty of the Cumberland Plateau as it transitioned from summer to fall.

Doretta and Sherry had attended High School together so each visit contained several trips down memory lane.  They were again good days until the day before they were suppose to leave.  Doretta complained of a headache and within a couple of hours was having difficulty communicating.

Jimmie took her to the hospital in Crossville where she lost consciousness and was air flighted to a trauma center in Murphysboro, Tennessee.  She never regained consciousness and sixteen days after walking out the door of our condo she was gone.  From prayers, hugs, and kisses to eternity in two weeks.  Her diagnosis was viral meningitis.  She will be missed by many.

REFLECTIONS

Doretta was a Christ follower.  Like so many, she believed that for the believer "the best is yet to come".   Our hearts are broken but our hope is in Him.

I look out over the Tennessee woods beyond our deck.  Once vibrant with fall colors, the trees stand naked and stark.  Their colorful leaves lay in wind blown piles on the ground.  Life, in every regard, is a cycle and can change quickly.  Once again I am reminded that we should treasure every day....every moment.  Tell those you love often that you do.