Anchorage

So, first to quickly finish our luggage saga. Last night at about 9 Alaska Airlines called and said the suitcases had arrived and they were going out on the next delivery. At midnight still no show so I called. The woman said there were 35 to deliver so it would be a while but they'd be here. I asked if the driver would call my cell since the inn doesn't really have anyone on premise overnight. We all have a code to the door. She said he would. I did not sleep as soundly as I might have because I kept waiting for the phone or doorbell to ring. I woke up at 3 and still no phone call. At 5 I called again. The woman was surprised they weren't here and said she'd call back. Just as she was telling me they were here, Randy came in and said they were in the kitchen. I don't know who let him in. But all's well that ends well. It's so nice tonight to be sitting here in my pajamas after a shower.

We had a nice breakfast here and met some of the other guests. After breakfast Randy and I walked to get a mocha and latte. We wanted to go to a local coffee place, of which there are quite a few, but every one we passed was closed on Sunday. So we gave up and went to Starbucks.

Then we went to CrossPoint Church with Bob & Marj. Back when our family was here at Elmendorf Air Force Base we visited the Christian Reformed Church several times and my folks knew the minister there. CrossPoint is a church planted by that church, Trinity CRC. That minister's son, Dave H, and his wife attend and I met them. Dave (the son) right away remembered my dad: "Oh, Chaplain Kok!" He said he and I probably played together as kids. It was a good service. I also met another woman, Cheryl Visser, who recognized my name as someone who she'd seen her friend Barb V write about on Facebook. Turns out Cheryl and I were in the same class at Lynden Christian High School, where I attended for just one year, 9th grade, while Dad was in Vietnam. Small world, as always in these circles.

After church Bob, Marj and we went to the arts & crafts fair and had some lunch. On the way back to the B&B we walked through the railroad station (Bob & Marj will be taking the railroad to Denali, which sounds very fun to me!) and visited a little "ulu factory." Ulus are a curved knife that the Native Americans use. Then we thought we'd go to Alaska Native Heritage Center, but as we drove there Bob got a call that he needed to meet with someone at 4. So, instead, we drove to Kincaid Park, where guide books say that moose can often be seen. It was a pretty drive but no moose. There were quite a few cars and people about so we thought the moose were probably hiding out looking at us.


After dropping Bob & Marj off, Randy and I drove out to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, after all. It closes at 5 and it was close to 4 when we got there so the person at the ticket desk let us in for just $10 instead of $25 and we had a quick tour. It turned out well, actually. It had been raining but the rain took a break while we were there and hardly anyone else was around. Normally we could've seen demos and talks by Native Americans who run it, but we still enjoyed seeing the different dwellings and one or two of the guides were there and talked to us a little about what we were looking at.



Then we went to a "salmon viewing bridge" Randy had read about. It was right behind the ulu factory. There were lots of fishermen in the river, some right in a row. You'd think no one could catch anything but we saw a few guys walking with several on their strings. Randy actually saw 2 fish swimming by, so that was kind of fun. Soon he'll be trying his luck.


For dinner we were going to the Glacier Brew House, which several people recommended. It had an hour and a half wait, though, so we went next door to Orso's. We had an excellent, delicious meal there. I had King Salmon with a potato-artichoke side dish that was heavenly. Randy had a seafood pasta that was also delectable, and there was so much of it he couldn't finish. It was a little bit of splurge but really, really good food, and our waitress was a sweetheart.

So, there is our day in Anchorage in detail! I want to be able to read this later and remember all the details. :) Tomorrow to Talkeetna for a plane ride over Mt. McKinley and then Denali. We're praying hard for decent weather. It's raining quite heavily now and has rained off and on all day. The forecast says rain, too, but at different times throughout the day today it would clear, so we'll hope for that to happen tomorrow.

We're here

Well, we made it. Our flight was delayed about 4 hours out of SFO but we finally got going. We knew we'd miss our connecting flight from Seattle to Anchorage but they booked us on another one. We missed that, too, probably by about 5 minutes. They put us on standby with another one and booked on yet another. We got on the standby one and finally made it to Anchorage, although our luggage did not. It's after 10 now and we're still waiting for the luggage. I got a call about an hour ago that they were delivering it.

Unbelievably, we just got finished sitting on the deck of our little bed & breakfast, The Arctic Inn, with our old friends Bob & Marj Terpstra! We discovered that we were both going to be in Alaska from our Facebook updates, but who'd've thunk we'd end up in the same hotel?! What are the odds? We all could not believe it. So great to see them. We're going to go to church together tomorrow. We had the innkeeper take a photo of the 4 of us but I can't upload it yet because I only have my iPad and no way to get photos to it from the nice, fancy camera I'm using. Dumb ol' Apple has no USB port on the iPad, at least the iPad 1 that I have. What's up with that? Anyway, I'll post the photos later. Mark, if you're reading this, Bob said to tell you we took that especially for you and we're wounding why you and Grace aren't here. :)


Randy and I walked downtown for dinner. We went to a place that had a nice deck on the 2nd floor. The sun was shining while we sat there. I took several photos -- the sun at 8 pm, the sun at 9 pm. :)

The mountains were beautiful even just out of the airplane. I always think of Psalm 8 when I fly, but when I'm looking at mountains and glaciers, even more. I kept singing the song in my head, "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth."

Our flight from Seattle was enlivened by a little girl traveling by herself. Her name was Callie and she is 10 years old. She and her mother live in Healy, Alaska. Her mother takes care of dogs in Denali. I could tell you many more details about her -- she was a chatty little thing. Cute, really. Isn't it amazing how trusting kids are? She pretty much treated me like a mom within about 5 minutes. She'd ask me to help her open her food and she told me about her ears plugging up and then popping, just made herself at home. It was nice. We're going to look for her and her mom if we get to see the dogs in Denali. I think it's a stop on our bus ride into the park.

Well, now I'll do some looking around at stuff to do in Anchorage. We're thinking of going to an arts & crafts fair that is a few blocks down from here, after church. We saw it on the way back from the restaurant.

Click below to link to the first gallery of 10:

Minor drama at the ticket desk

Randy and I are at our gate, waiting for our delayed flight to Seattle. If we miss our connection they have us on the next flight. Hopefully we'll be okay. I told the ticket lady here at the gate that she has a lot of patience and kindness. She's doing a good job all by herself.

So, the minor drama? We have 3 suitcases: one huge one for me, and two smaller for Randy. Already when we were packing at home Randy took some of my stuff to give me more room. Then when we got in line to check our bags, my bag weighed 59 lbs. Oops. Randy asked what did I have in there. Well, at the last minute I put my laptop in there so I wouldn't have to carry it, and I also had put my CD collection in there. When he heard I had my CDs he was so disgusted. I took them out and also my laptop and the weight was fine. I was going to carry those. Then while we continued to wait I first asked if he had room for the CD case in one of his bags. It just fit. Wait a little longer. I asked did he have room for my laptop in the other bag. It fit. But all this was done under a cloud of disapproval and disgust.

To be honest, I didn't tell Randy I was bringing the CDs because I thought he'd think it was stupid. I really want some stuff to listen to on the road, though. Wouldn't it just serve me right if the rental car has no CD player? Then he'd have a real "I told you so." On the other hand, if it does, and we get to enjoy music and Garrison Keillor, I'll have the "I told you so." Who will get to say it (or more likely, think it)? Stay tuned!

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you're only a day away!

Tomorrow! We go! Wow!

Last night Randy and I were up very late packing. First both of us were on our laptops to try to get things done for work, and then we started packing. I have our biggest suitcase and it's chock full. I am trying to leave a *little* bit of room for something I might buy, but it's hard. There's so much I want to bring. Usually I'm pretty good at packing lean but I've got some sweatshirts and the guide book and other things that are kind of bulky. Oh well, it'll be fine.

Can't wait!

Prairie Home Companion in Alaska?

I just ordered several CDs of the Prairie Home Companion to take with us to Alaska. I was thinking there might be some long road trips and these are always fun to listen to. I ordered the "Summer," "Winter," "Fall," and "Spring" CDs which I owned back when they were in cassette version. One, probably "Summer," has the famous "Tomato Butt" story. That was our kids' favorite.

I still haven't decided on the bag I'll use to carry stuff. I want to combine my purse and the big camera in one. I tried out a cute one I got in London (how cool is that to say?) and it worked all right but was kind of floppy. Randy needs new walking shoes for the trip so maybe I'll look for a bag when we go for those.

Another day of work done. Only 4 more to go!

Google Map

One more week of work and we're off!!

View Our Alaska Trip in a larger map

A week from today....

A week from today will be our last workday before we leave! Woo-hoo!!

This makes me think of when Cori and I were waiting to leave for our trip to England. Cori was in San Diego and I was here at home in San Jose. One day I had a voicemail from Cori and all she did was whisper: "10 more days until we leave!" We were so excited. And it was a terrific trip. Hope our Alaska trip is just as great.

Can I blog with my iPad? This is the question.

I'm trying to see if I'd be able to blog about our trip using my iPad. I've got a new keyboard case for it and I'm trying it out. I'll need to practice uploading some photos, too. It's pretty scary to think of trying to do without my laptop.

We'll see.