A Few Photos

Last Friday, our cruise ship docked in Seward at 4:00 am. We had to be out of our cabins by 8:00, and were off the ship by 9:15 am. Unfortunately, our flight wasn't until 11:45 that night! I knew it would be a tough day, and so our travel agent found a tour guide for us.

Dot picked us up at the dock and showed us around Seward and Anchorage. She was originally from Iowa, drove a school bus in Seattle, and then moved to Alaska about ten years ago. There she met her husband and now they both work for a tour company. She was the perfect person to be with on our last day. She was super informative. Because she was a mom, was also super patient with our two tired teenagers.

As she was talking to us about the wide open spaces of Alaska, and the long days of summer and long nights of winter, it struck me that in a lot of ways, the Alaskans have a lot in common with the Amish! (I know! Who would have thought??)  Both groups rely on nature to guide their life.  They have different activities for the summer and winter months. In addition, both Alaskans and the Amish make due with less. In Alaska, lots of things are very expensive because they have to be shipped in. Therefore, they aren't as eager to go buy a lot of things they don't need.  That sounds a lot like the Amish in my stories!

Below are two pictures that I took with my cell phone. One is from Ketchikan. We went on a hike and watched a master craftsman carve totem poles. The second photo was taken from our balcony outside our cabin at about six in the morning. Our ship had to turn around because the ice and the fog was so thick. The photo doesn't do it justice, but we were surrounded by igloos!  It was really neat and kind of scary, all at the same time!

There's lots of writing things going on with me these days~I'll some good news tomorrow.

Shelley