Ketchikan, Alaska

We set sail, so to speak (as there are no sails on a cruise ship), from San Francisco on Thursday on our way to Alaska. The first afternoon and last two days have been spent at sea... and basically entailed much eating, sleeping, and more eating. It's nice to see Ashley catch up on some naps that she has missed since Avery came along (Avery is spending time with Auntie Hayley and Family while we are away--- God Bless them this week!). Ashley only cried for twenty minutes when we left, and now only for a minute or so whenever someone asks if we have any children.

The seas were a bit choppy for the first day, and while we weren't sick, there were many long-time cruisers that complained that it was worse than they had experienced before. Wasn't too bad, though. We have gone to a bunch of the shows they have onboard here, and are trying foods that we normally wouldn't order elsewhere ... Ashley had Crawfish the other night (remember Sebastian from The Little Mermaid? mmm... tastes like shrimp.) The only eerie thing was the little eyes looking up at her. I had veal last night, again, something I wouldn't ordinarily order. The food is clearly why folks love this cruise stuff.

This morning we docked in Ketchikan, our first stop, and were greeted by unusually clear skies (they get some 30 feet of rain here annually). So where's Ketchikan, you ask... it's the place that they were going to build the "Bridge to Nowhere." Turns out, it actually would have gone to an airport, but not a very big one. So we wandered off the boat in search of some sightseeing deals (Mr. Wisner advised us to get our tours off-boat... turned out to be a money saver, thanks!). So we jumped on a float plane and flew to the Misty Fjords and saw some of the amazing Creation that the Lord has fashioned. We saw mountain goats on top of a huge peak, and landed on a glassy-smooth lake where we took this shot. Very cool.

So is it a small world? We would say so. Ashley had planned on looking up a past player from Cuesta that was from here (Ketchikan), but didn't remember her last name or know even if she was still around. She went into the first little store to ask for a phone book to look for her, and the first cashier didn't have one. That cashier asked another woman who was standing behind another counter, and needless to say, she didn't need to look for the phonebook since SHE was the gal that used to play at Cuesta. Marissa was her name, and Ashley and her had a short chat. We went outside to wait for our tour and told the guy who sold us our tour about what a small world it was. Well, he asked where we were from, and before you know it, his brother and sister-in-law go to our church in Paso. Huh. Cool.

Some would call it coincidence... not us.

Please pray for us on this vacation, and especially for the Fergusons as they care for our two most prized possessions... Avery and Rudy.

Next stop, Juneau.