56 Today

Today is my mother's birthday. If she were still alive, she would be 56 years old. The last birthday that we got to celebrate with her was her 40th. I can remember what she was wearing at her party, assisted a bit by a photograph that we still have. She was wearing pink, white and blue with a pink scarf wrapped around her forehead. I can still see her crooked smile. That is a gift for which I am really thankful.
I remember her...
singing while she did the laundry
coming to our rooms at night to read or sing us to sleep
making beautiful dresses, costumes, and wrapped presents
staying up really late to finish a book
staying up really late to wrap presents
staying up really late to sew a last minute costume
talking with anyone who came to the door for an hour
loving the Christmas season
spending all of her clothing budget on my three sisters and I and not on herself
working for the Lee jeans company
smiling every minute of the roller coasters at Worlds of Fun
telling me not to shave my legs until jr. high (which I disobeyed and regret!)
being a goofy actress with her sisters
lighting up a room
being a friend to dad's sisters and cousins
favorite flowers were yellow roses
being persistent about my youngest sister's education
smelling like raspberries when she left the world
leaving the world when the sky was pink
always wanting what was best for me and my sisters.
We love you, Mom!

Cruisin' in Alaska: Skagway

In Skagway we took an excursion by helicopter up to a mountain river and hiked about 2 miles up to a beautiful lookout point. Along the way we walked out to two spots on the river that were gorgeous! Our tour guide, Erin, taught us about many plants and animals that live along the trail. During the helicopter flight, our pilot took us to see another glacier up close. About 25 feet away, actually. Then he landed on a concrete slab near a railway bridge. We began our hike along the river. When we reached the lookout point, we returned to the landing spot and got on a train back to Skagway.

Cruisin' in Alaska: Juneau - City Walk & Whale Watching

The nice thing about taking a cruise is that if you decide to do any of the excursions that the cruise ship has to offer, everything is taken care of for you. You don't have to think about where you're going and if there will be tickets available or not. There is a tour guide from the area and you get picked up and dropped off right by the ship. We also took advantage of a few hours between excursions to wander around Juneau. There were shops of course, as well as the capitol building, which we toured. It was interesting that Juneau has the largest area of any city in the country and only about 30, 000 people. Alaska also had a big part in the gold rush days. The Klondike Gold Rush to be exact.

An old mining building used in the Klondike Gold Rush days.

A cable car that takes you to the tip of a mountain above the port.
A cute little house in Juneau.Flags that tell the city's story.
A Russian Orthodox Church.

The capitol building in Juneau.

Alaska's state seal.

Side shot of a humpback whale coming up for a breather.

Humpback fluke.
A deep dive of a humpback whale.
Caught the fluke again! Sea lions resting on a buoy in the middle of the bay.

Can you believe this is ONE vertebrae of a whale!?!

Michelle, our naturalist, showing a part of a whale's baleen.

On the whale sightseeing boat. I think Dan was tired of pictures...
This is the ferry that takes people in and out of Juneau.
If you want to take your car, you bring it on the ferry, too!

Cruisin in Alaska: Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier

We got off the boat in Juneau, Alaska's capitol on Day 4. This was a beautiful city of about 30,000 people. It sits in a valley surrounded by a magnificent landscape of mountains filled with glaciers. Donnie really wanted to go on the helicopter ride up to the glacier trek. I'm really glad he picked this one! It was the most amazing thing that we did. I had only seen a couple of pictures of glaciers and they could not compare to the experience.

In the helicopter flying to the glacier.

Glacier peeking beneath foggy mountains.

An Ice fall through the helicopter window.
And we've landed on Mendenhall Glacier.
Standing on and in front of part of the glacier.
This glacier is about 2,000 feet deep...

Lori and Dan.

Squinting for a picture.
Up close of the glacier's peaks.
Crevasses that have widened and deepened as the glacier has moved.
Donnie "Walking on water" with our guide Craig.

The 4 of us.
One of the deep crevasses.
The guides helped us straddle the crevasse.

That's Dulcie giving Lori bunny ears.

Fresh, icy glacier water. Mmmm!
Mendenhall Glacier. A deep pool that used to be covered in snow.
Never walk on snow on a glacier. You never know what's hidden.
Dulcie poking at the edge of the pool.

Cruisin' in Alaska: Ketchikan

On day 3 we arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska. At this time of year, Akaska gets A LOT of sunlight. About 21 hours per day actually. And when you see the sun go down, it still has the affect of dusk and dawn, so there really is not any time of complete darkness in the summer. (In winter it is the opposite.) When we woke up and went out to see the city on the top deck, there were bi-planes flying all around us in the sunshine! This city also usually has rain about 2/3 of the year. We were told that we were lucky that the sun was shining.

Ketchikan is know for its salmon fishing. Every year, salmon swim fro the ocean up rivers and streams trying to get as close as possible to their place of birth. Then they lay eggs. We just missed the salmon season by a couple of weeks. Dan and I went on a little tour while Donnie and Lori snorkeled. We got to see a couple of bear cubs near one of the salmon hatcheries as well as a bunch of totem poles and a really pretty waterfall. While on our tour, we saw Donnie and Lori snorkeling from a distance! Then we went to Creek Street which is a bunch of shops in the old Red Light District of Ketchikan. Dan thought it was pretty much a tourist trap, but I had fun taking pictures!

Cruisin' to Alaska: First 2 Days at Sea

When we got on the Coral Princess Monday afternoon, we did so with only our carry-on luggage. We had filled out at least three forms each for our checked bags that stayed overnight in Minneapolis. Donnie and I were freaking out about the possibility of having to go 8 days with only 2 pairs of underwear and no deodorant. His parents were a bit calmer. Thank the Lord, during our drill the first evening, Donnie ran to our rooms to call the front desk and there sat our luggage! Thank you Northwest Airlines!
The first night at sea was a bit chilly. We had been running around in the rain in Vancouver, so when we got on the ship and found our bags a few hours later, we took hot showers and went to dinner. It is so much fun to get dressed up for dinner each night and have lots of fabulous food from which to choose. (At least that's what I thought. Donnie and his dad would have rather eaten at the buffet for every meal so they could eat all they wanted and wear jeans!)
The second night was a formal evening. What a site to see so many people with white hair all gussied up. Oh, I forgot to tell you that Donnie and I were two of a small group of people under the age of 50 on the boat. Anyways, we ate dinner - 4 courses in all, and then we went dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar. We also went out into the heavy wind and took some silly pictures in our fancy get up!

And look! It's the Music man, Harold Hill, standing in front of a poster of his show!

Cruisin' to Alaska: Vancouver, British Columbia

Just a few days ago, Donnie and I got back from a trip to Alaska. The best words to describe it would be breath-taking and exhilarating. We did some adventurous activities and saw things I'd never even seen in pictures. The first night, after we figured out our luggage hadn't followed our flight, we stayed in Vancouver. We spent the next day walking around the city and on the phone with the airline.

While in Vancouver, we learned that the Winter Olympics wil have their opening ceremonies in Vancouver in 2010. A girl working in the lookout tower building told us that Vancouver is also a site for tons of movies. She said that often Vancouver plays the part of New York... We also visited China Town. It was actually the neatest part of Vancouver to me. There was a lot of bright color and I really enjoyed watching people shop for things that were different.

Check back later for more from other places we visited!