Beautiful Day

Steve and I have discovered a new adjective: G-l-o-r-i-o-u-s. Granted this isn't a new word to my vocabulary, I've just found a new way to use it. I don't think I've ever thought of the word glorious outside of a theological context, as it relates to God or heaven or forgiveness. But glorious is just the word to describe the last two days here in Sitka.

The sky has been completely devoid of clouds and it was the most transparent shade of royal blue. The sun reflecting off the water gave it a silver shimmery hue, the likes of which I have never witnessed before. And although it was clear and sunny all day (something like 16 hours) it was never hot. Technically it was probably around 80 degrees but Steve says on days like these, "There is no temperature."

It has been so awesome to witness God's handiwork and creativity in this beautiful landscape. I guess when you think about it, my use of glorious to describe the last few days still is in the theological context. Sitka, what a glorious place to live.

Mr. Chocolate

My oldest son has a BFA in film studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. One of his favorite documentary directors is Werner Herzog, the director who took footage Timothy Tredwell shot in Alaska and created the movie Grizzly Man. Needless to say that before we moved to Alaska my son insisted we watch this film. Tredwell spent 13 years in the Alaskan wilderness trying to befriend grizzly bears until he was devoured by one.

Sunday evening we made a trip to Starrigavan Recreation area. Steve waded into the water to fish for pinks while Oscar and I explored the coast line. A couple of other fishermen where further up-shore fishing off of some large rocks. A light misty rain fell and brought a tranquil silence over the area. It was so quiet and still that you could actually hear the splashes made by the feeding salmon as they burst through the surface. It didn’t take long for Steve to hook one. With a big boyish grin on his face, he slowly and deliberately reeled the fish in, each turn of the reel bringing his prize another inch closer. The fish was at least 18 inches in length with a brilliant, silver shine. Just then a couple of guys hollered to us that they had seen a bear just 100 feet or so up the coast and around the bend. They were heading back to the parking lot and wanted to give us a heads up. The guys on the rocks pulled in their catch and decided to call it a day. I was getting a little tired of watching Oscar hunt for stale sushi so I tugged on his leash and led him up towards the parking area.

Meandering around the deserted parking lot I started to feel a bit uneasy knowing there was a bear lurking about nearby. I thought it would be wise to head back out to the shore line and watch Steve fish. Oscar and I returned to the rocky beach area to discover Steve had hooked another salmon. Just as I approached the water Steve yelled, “Sharon, there’s the bear. Be calm and don’t run.” Yeah right, he sees a bear and I don’t, and he wants me to be calm? “Where is he,” I hollered? “Right over there,” he answered. I was panic stricken. The problem was that he saw a bear, “right over there,” and I didn’t know where “right over there” was. Steve kept telling me to stay calm and not to run as he made his way to shore. I finally spotted the big brown bear at the edge of the trees about 50 yards away. He stood up on his hind legs to get a better look at us. It was obvious that he was interested in what we were doing. Scenes from Grizzly Man flashed through my mind and I contemplated how I could use Oscar as a distraction. Between Steve’s yelling at the bear and us slowly making our way, backwards, towards the parking lot, the bear retreated back into the woods.

Safe and sound back home Steve flipped through channels on the TV. Ironically Grizzly Man was playing on the Discovery channel. We didn’t watch it, we didn’t need to. I’m just glad Mr. Chocolate didn’t eat us.

2 Week Anniversary

Today marks our 2 week anniversary in Sitka. So far it has been a fairly smooth transition. Steve has begun his job and in typical Steve fashion is ecstatic about every aspect of it. He commutes to work on nearby Japonski Island via road bike. During his 2 mile trek he climbs a couple of hills, passes through downtown, traverses a cable-stay bridge and never gets stuck in traffic.

I've managed to land a "part-time" job with the local produce shippers. Every other weekend I'll be outside in the fresh air mingling with the locals and selling produce. My other job (so far) is a volunteer position at the "White Elephant." The White "E" (as the locals call it) is a thrift store that is 100% volunteer run. Donated items are sold with all proceeds going back to the local community. I've been able to find some real bargains at the White E including a $4.00 microwave and a $6.00 iron and ironing board.

The other day when I went to get our internet and cable TV connected the power went out. The lady at the counter said, "I guess an eagle must have run into the transformer again." I asked if that happened a lot and she said, "occasionally." Power was out all over Sitka, traffic lights were out, ATM's were down, the town was powerless. No one was angry or anxious, they just chatted and patiently waited for the power to be restored. It was a bit of insight as to this town's psyche and I found it refreshing.

Pride before a fall

On Saturday Steve and I decided to meet some folks from Sitka Trail Works and join them to hike up to the summit of Mt. Verstovia. According to Tongas National Forest info. "the trail is 2.5 miles in length and takes about three hours to hike up one way. The trail ends near the summit of Mt. Verstovia with an elevation gain of 2,550 feet to Mt. Verstovia and a 3,300-foot gain if one continues on to Arrowhead Peak." I felt confident that this would be a fairly easy hike, it was only a couple miles and I did climb 7 fourteeners in Colorado last summer. Boy was I wrong.

Charles was our guide and he started out at a pace that I didn't think we would keep. I was wrong. After about an hour I was drenched in sweat, my legs were tired and even though our elevation was only a couple thousand feet above sea level I was winded. Upon reaching what the locals call "picnic rock" we all decided to continue on to the summit. I confessed that I couldn't continue with the pace we had been keeping, hoping that they would release me to go back down, but instead they promised to go slower. About an hour later we were on the summit. I don't have any pictures from the summit as it was shrouded by clouds.

The trip back down the mountain was when I really began to get humbled. It had begun to rain and the trail was wet and slippery. My thighs were so spent that with each step I wasn't sure if my legs would give out. The more it rained the slicker the trail got. My knee gave out once and I fell to the ground. I laughed it off but was beginning to get frustrated. I realized that my attitude about this hike was changing. It wasn't an easy hike, it was hard and I was struggling. I expected this to be a piece of cake and instead Mt. Verstivoa was kicking my butt.

We made it down safely and I was glad to be alive. I was also thankful for the reminder not to let pride get the best of me.

God always has a way of humbling me when I get prideful. I just hope next time I won't have so many bruises.

View from the deck

Thought you might like to see a couple of shots from the balcony above our apt.

These were taken just a few hours ago.

It's now 10:45 and it's finally dark outside.

Brewed Tea

As Steve and I drove towards town from the ferry terminal we both had silly grins on our faces. Maybe it was the excitement or maybe it nervousness. I hadn't felt such anticipation since I was a small child on Christmas eve. Steve and I looked at each other and just busted out laughing. It all seemed so absurd.

We quickly found our apartment. Met our landlords and began to unpack. We couldn't get over the views. The absurdity of it all gave way to surreal beauty. It didn't take too long to unpack all our stuff and get our bed assembled for a great night's sleep.

The next day we spent a couple hours checking out the town and getting our utilities, phone, internet, etc. set up. I was having iced tea withdraws but alas there is no Panera here. I drove up to one of the two fast food restaurants here in Sitka, McDonalds (the other is Subway). Low and behold, they had brewed iced tea! I purchased a large with extra ice and took a seat at the picnic tables outside. There were eagles perched in the trees as fishing boats cruised in and out of the harbor. Yes, I do believe this is probably the most beautiful view from a McDonalds in all of the world. (That's my tea in the right hand corner).

Land Ho part 2

Steve driving the truck onto land...

Land Ho

Sitka ferry terminal on the horizon

July 7th our boat entered the ferry terminal on the outskirts of Sitka. Although the trip was fun I was ready to get off the boat for good. It took a couple of days to feel like I wasn't swaying everytime I stood up. We were also looking forward to getting to see our apartment and sleep in our own bed.

While Steve sat in the truck waiting his turn to exit the ferry I walked ashore to take some pictures. It was a really weird feeling arriving in our new town for the first time.

See Land Ho part 2 for a shot of Steve driving our truck and trailer onto land.

All aboard part 2

As promised here are some more photos from the ferry trip. This photo I like to call "a tent with a view." Yes, that is actually a view looking out from our tent. A million dollar view for just $2,300.00 (this was the cost of our ferry ticket for our truck, trailer, Steve, Oscar and myself).

The second shot is of the seniors in the observation lounge. This was during one of the evenings where it rained and was quite cold.

The other shots are just random shots of the boat and scenery.

All Aboard

In Bellingham Washington we drove our truck and trailer onto the ferry. Everything we owned was packed like sardines (in mustard) in the trailer and cab of the truck. (everything except my kitty, Felix, who I understand is wreaking havoc on Aaron & Ben's long beach apt. and bachelor lifestyles).

All vehicles and pets are kept in the belly of the boat, owtherwise known as the car deck, while passengers go topside. We didn't have a cabin so we opted to pitch our tent on the back side of the boat. I've posted a photo of our tent, it's the one with the yellow rain fly. There is also a photo of the solarium where "tentless" folks camped in lawn chairs. The solarium had heaters mounted on the ceiling so it was quite comfy in there. I liked having the privacy of the tent and the fresh air. We slept on our therma-rests, covered with a thick quilt and then our down sleeping bags on top of that. I never got cold which for me was a miracle.

In the photo of the solarium you can see the "Haines Hippie" in the far back right. I don't remember his name but I believe he was headed to Haines Alaska and he was a hippie. He had some sort of full length animal fur coat he wore when it got chilly. He occasionaly played his wooden flute when the mood struck. I really don't know if it was a flute but it was some sort of primitive looking wooden instrument. I learned he was a vegan and he harvested wild mushrooms. He talked all about eating healthy and pure but didn't seem to have a problem indulging in all sorts of mind altering physco-drugs (all natural of course). We also met Serine and his son who were on vacation. They lived in Maui, Hawaii and were spending a few weeks traveling the coast of Alaska and fishing. There were several coast guard families moving to Juneau, a university professor heading to a conference and various seniors on vacation (as if retirement isn't vacation enough). The types of people on this boat ran the gamut. We only came across the seniors in the cafeteria, they tended to hang out in the front of the boat in an enclosed "observatory lounge" where they could stay warm and dry. I went in this front area and hung out a little as the ferry captin navagated through the Wrangell Narrows, but it was too quiet and smelled funny.

Since I am limited on how many photos I can post per blog, I'll split this one up and post more later today.

We're here

It's been crazy trying to keep a blog updated without internet access. We didn't have access while on the road from Long Beach, CA to Bellingham, Washington. Once we boarded the ferry at Bellingham we still didn't have any internet access. During a 4 hour stop at Ketchikan we found an internet cafe that charged $5.00 for 1 hour. We quickly checked email and bank balances and then our time was up. So then, for the next couple of days I will update you on the trip thus far.

Here a two more photos from the Long Beach trip. One is the kids apt building and the other is...well you can see for yourself.

The next update will describe the ferry trip with some great photos of us "camping on the deck of a boat."

Stay tuned or wired or whatever it is.

Long Beach

Spending the past week in Long Beach with our two youngest sons was a blast. It seemed like we would never get there but after two full days of traveling we finally arrived on Monday morning. Completely exhausted and overwhelmingly excited to see our boys we “crashed” at their place for two full days. The rest of the week we were able to get out and see the town, even though there were a couple of naps interspersed throughout the day.

We toured Long Beach and Westwood. Spent a day at Huntington Beach followed by In and Out Burgers. Ate two dinners at Out Back, one with Aaron and one with Ben. Were treated to an awesome dinner at Rock Bottom. Shopped with Aaron all day Thursday and had Chick-Fil-A for lunch (Aaron had coupons). And topped off the week by visiting Revolution Church and going to Ben’s improv show at a small studio on Hollywood Boulevard.

Long Beach was an interesting and entertaining place. The 12 lane highways were always busy and I pondered the irony of these freeways compared to the 14 miles of road in Sitka. Everywhere you looked there was a vast sea of people. It was as if we were treated to one last crazy dose of humanity before departing for the isolated less-populated town of Sitka.

Enjoy the photos, I only wish I had taken more.