Minnesota and Iowa Trip

In late April we flew to Minnesota to visit family.
I had been working on Sayre and Horsley genealogy and photos and had hoped to get more info from my Aunt Linda.  But after talking to my cousin, Sarah, I realized that Linda probably couldn't help me.  However I still wanted to visit them anyway.

The weather for the flight was clear so I had a view of the ground the whole way.  I loved seeing the changing geology.  As we flew over Minnesota I was amazed to see all the lakes!  The ground looked like Swiss cheese there were so many.  They are not kidding when they say the Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes!   We landed in Minneapolis, signed up for our sapphire blue rental car and set the GPS to guide us through the tangle of Minneapolis freeway interchanges.  I was SO excited to be in Minnesota.  I had never been this far east before, and really never expected to be there.

It was early spring, so most of the trees did not have their leaves yet, but it was still beautiful.  We finally reached Duluth.  The town was perched at the very tip of Lake Superior and the city rose up steeply, reminding me of the streets of San Franscisco.  The building were all 100 years old.  The main street downtown was made of brick, which oddly was a new construction.

We drove up the hill to my cousin, Allen Sparhawk's house.  I recognized it from seeing in on streetview on Google maps.  This brick house is Allen's.  He is in a band called, "Low," and was at a gig, but his wife Mimi came right out to welcome us.  They had agreed to let us stay in their other house next door.  They had bought the house for Allen's mother to live in.  However she had recently moved to a care facility.

Both houses are over 100 years old, but in great condition.   We had a very comfortable guest room, and it was fun to have the whole house almost to ourselves, and be able to cook in the kitchen.  

Allen loves to garden, and had some seeds started in an upstairs room.  When we looked out the window we saw a wonderful view of Lake Superior.  We could see ice piled high on the shore where the wind pushed it up into 5 foot high piles.







Now that his mother does not live there anymore, Allen uses the downstairs sitting room as a rehearsal room for his band.

Allen told me that his grandfather Horsley had built this cabinet.

We called up Sarah and her husband, John Paul, and made plans to meet.  It was great getting to know her awesome family.  All the kids were so welcoming and friendly.  The girls showed us their Scottish Dance.  We played pictionary, and I showed them how to cut a reindeer into a paper snowflake.

We went downtown to a meat market and Sarah bought some yummy smoked salmon.  She made a wonderful, very healthy dinner with the salmon.  We enjoyed it so much!    It is wonderful to get to know family.  I loved Sarah, and everyone in this sweet family.  I missed meeting her oldest daughter who was on a mission.  She returned just a few weeks after our visit.

Before dinner,  we all got in the car to go down to the lake.  The family had a prayer in the car before leaving. That impressed me.   Sarah took me on a walk along the lake boardwalk.  I was so excited to be walking along the lake!  John and Greg and the kids went on ahead to the Museum.    The museum taught me that this area was very important for iron ore shipping.  Huge ships called, "lakers." haul iron ore through the lakes. 

The harbor is protected by a  very narrow, 6 mile long spit of land. This is important because the weather is so intense in the winter, and the spit of land protects the harbor from wind blown ice damage from the lake.  At the top of this spit of land a very narrow channel has been dug to allow ships passage to the harbor.  A bridge across the canal allows cars to pass.  Then several time a day, as a huge ship approaches, the bridge lifts the road straight up, allowing ships to pass through.

 

We watched as a huge ship approached and sounded its extremely loud horn.  I had to cover my ears!  The traffic stopped and the deck of the bridge began to go straight up.  It took several minutes to go all the way to the top.    Then the ship passed through, and the bridge came slowly down again.

 

On Sunday my cousins brought my Aunt Linda to church.  I saw her sitting on the bench and rushed over to hug her.  It was SO good to see her!  Linda is my mother's youngest sister, and she used to babysit me when I was a baby.   Later we visited her at her home at the care center.  She showed us all around and introduced us to some of her friends.  She showed us a balcony where a pigeon had built a nest.  We talked about her family, and her parents and grandparents.  She said her Horsley grandparents eventually moved to California and had an orange grove.  They also grew boysenberries.  She said he parents visited them almost every weekend.

We went over to Allen's house and visited with him and his family.  His children are very talented and showed us their musical skills.  Mimi made us another wonderful, tasty, healthy meal.    I forgot to get a picture of their children, so the next morning I came over.  They were just getting back from early morning seminary.  They came home for breakfast and family prayer.   What a wonderful family!  It was great to get to know Allen a little and talk to him.  What a nice person he is!  

Sarah came over and we all took a walk through the trees to a small lake.  It was quiet and beautiful.  We spent a little time watching the birds on the lake.  Several large geese were very territorial and chased away other birds who came near.  They must have had a nest nearby.  The little duck on the lake just tried to say out of their way.

 

Later, Allen brought out photos and genealogy for me to see.  There were so many!  But I looked through them  and took pictures with my camera of the ones I didn't have.  We even found a photo of my Grandfather Virgil Sayre in his High School Football uniform!  I didn't know he played football!    

The day we left, Allen was walking though his garden.  I noticed a few early crocuses, the first flowers in the garden.  They were so pretty.  When we got ready to leave, Allen had picked them and placed them on our car for us.  That was so sweet.  I loved him for it . 

We drove to Gooseberry Falls, north along Lake Superior.  There were lots of different waterfalls to see there, and many many stairs to go up and down!  A sign said that the river had two colors, depending on the season:  coffee, and chocolate milk.  Decomposing leaves cause the coffee color, and churned up mud causes the chocolate color. 

We saw a statue honoring Hiawatha and his princess. 

Then we continued north to Split Rock lighthouse.  Years ago, the builders had to haul the building supplies up the cliff from ships below.  Then they built  stairs and hauled the supplies up the stairs.  Eventually they built a rail line with small trolley cars and hauled the supplies up that way.  It must have been very hard work!  I walked all the way down the stairs to touch the lake and bring back one small rock as a souvenir.

Next we drove to Iowa to visit my brother, Mark.   We got confused at first and told our GPS to go to Madison, so we were headed to Madison, Wisconsin for a while.  I wondered why we were going so far east, until I realized the mistake and we turned south again.   Mark met us at the Music Man Museum in Mason City.  The museum contains the entire Music man town inside a large building.  Which is good, because the winters in Iowa are very cold, and the summers are very hot, so being inside is great.  It was raining the day we visited.

 

After enjoying the museum, we drove to Hampton, Iowa where Mark lives.  A couple of years ago he bought a beautiful, but very damaged old house that had been neglected for many years, plus its attached small jail.  He is almost finished with the restoration of the house and has made it very beautiful.  

The jail is fully restored to its 1960 appearance and is now an odd sort of bed and breakfast for those who want to see what jail life is like.  Some people come to gain empathy for incarcerated family members. At least one couple came to get away from the kids for the weekend, but most come for a role play adventure where they can pretend to be inmates.   They put on 1960 jail jumpsuits and are locked into cells.   They eat meals (delicious meals) from a tray and have to clean the jail, just like real inmates would.   When the local sheriff drives by, he just shakes his head.  But Iowa just named Mark's jail as the top tourist destination in the state.  Needless to say, there isn't a lot to do in Iowa.

We spent a nice day with Mark, seeing his house and jail, eating at the local restaurant, and taking a walk though town.  Mark checks the weather often.  Hamilton is in "Tornado Alley," an area with high frequency of tornados.  Storms move in extremely quickly and can be very intense.   We witnessed a strong storm while were were there and saw just how intense the rain, wind and hail can be!

Mark drove us to a pretty reservoir and its small waterfall, (the highest waterfall in the state.)   Since we had just been to the  Music Man Museum, we decided to watch the movie.  We also enjoyed relaxing and playing scrabble.  It was great to see Mark and to see how happy he is now.

Finally, we drove back to Minneapolis and visited the Mall of America. We discovered there was a Rainforest Cafe in the mall.  But we didn't know where it was in the mall and we were very hungry.  We found a place to park and decided to just enter the mall and eat at the first restaurant we came too.  The first one we saw was the rainforest cafe!  We felt very lucky!

Every designer you ever heard of must have a store in the Mall of America.  We walked through the crayola store.  Along the back wall is a display with crayons stacked up the the ceiling in every color they have.  You can fill a little metal box with your choice of colors.   A beautiful little six yr-old girl was just finishing her box.

There was a lego store with displays of every set you could buy.  Some were huge.  There was also a 3 story high lego transformer, plus a lego helicopter with a dangling ninja.

I especially loved looking at all the dolls and accessories in the American Girl doll store.  Greg took a picture of me near the "Julie" display, the little doll from the 1970s.  I also liked the 1950s era doll.   I could remember wearing dresses like her.  There was a future doll, and Hawaiian doll, and so many more fun ones.  I was there a long time, and Greg was very patient.
There is a whole amusement park inside the mall.  We went on the Fly Over the USA ride and loved it.

The next day we flew home.  What an adventure!  We will always treasure this fun trip where we got to see new places and connect with family far away.

What makes us happy.

I want to share why Greg and I are happy.   This is about our beliefs.

I’m not trying to convert you.  I’m not asking you to change anything.  We love you just the way you are.  I’m just sharing the beliefs that make us happy.  Some of these beliefs may even seem familiar to you.  

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We have always existed as intelligence.   God the Father is a glorified human being who progressed in knowledge and power through countless ages to become omnipotent God.   God loves us.   So ages ago, our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother became our parents and we were born to them as spirit children with bodies made of spirit. 

These spirit bodies looked like we do now, but they were not made of matter.  We lived with our loving Heavenly Parents and brothers and sisters.  We had experiences that helped us progress in knowledge.

Eventually we learned all that we could in our limited spiritual state.  Our Father and our eldest brother, Jesus, created an earth for us.  They created the way for us to be born into the physical bodies we have now, similar in appearance to the bodies of our Heavenly Father and Mother.  

God has perfect unconditional love for us.  So he created commandments that are the plan of happiness for his children.  They are the blueprint that guides us though this life with the least pain. 

But God knew that we would not always follow his plan.  We would doubt, and make mistakes.   His eldest son, Jesus, volunteered to atone for our mistakes and pain.  Our older brother, Jesus loved us more than we can imagine. 

He would be the first person to be resurrected.  After he died, his spirit would return to his physical body, but that body would be a glorified, immortal body that would live forever.  This would open the way for all of God’s children to be resurrected.  It would be a free gift to all.

Jesus would have the power to do this, because he would be born to a mortal woman, but Heavenly Father, would be his father.   So he was born with the power of God.   He could do miracles.  

He would also suffer for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane so that he could pay for all our sins, pains, and sicknesses, and so that he would have a perfect understanding of everything we had ever gone through.

Not all of our brothers and sisters accepted this plan.   A third of our brothers and sisters, including our brother, Satan, viciously fought against the plan and were cast out of heaven.  Now they are bitter because they can never have a body and progress.  They are jealous of us.  These spirit demons whisper in our ears, trying to discourage us and tempt us to fight against God.  They lie to us.  They whisper that no one, including God, cares about us.  But it is all lies.  God loves us unconditionally.

So we were born on earth.  We are here to gain experience, and to learn to control our physical bodies.  We are here to learn how to love one another unconditionally.  God, our Father, and Jesus, our savior, are aware of us, they know us, and love us unconditionally.  Their only desire is for our happiness.  They want us to love and help one another. 

We can pray for our Heavenly Father for help.  He and Jesus will send feelings and ideas to us to help us.  They will inspire other people to help us.   They may send angels or cause miracles.

We all make mistakes.  But we have a conscience.  We feel sad when we hurt others or hurt ourselves.  But each time, when we repent of what we have done, we can pray for forgiveness, and if we have faith in Jesus Christ,  he will wipe away our sins.  Then we can feel good about ourselves again, and Heavenly Father will not remember the sin.

When we die, our spirit will leave our physical body.    But our spirit will not die, and our consciousness will continue.  We will be welcomed back by Jesus, our parents and others who died before us. 

Eventually, we will be judged on how far we have progressed in conquering ourselves, and learning to love others on earth.  We will be assigned to a kingdom of glory to live forever.   There will be many kingdoms.  We will be with people we feel comfortable with.  Those who have lived exemplary lives will have more glory.  Those who hurt others and did not repent will be in a kingdom of lesser glory.  Those who put their trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus, and repented of their sins, will return to live with him forever.

Everyone will have the opportunity for eternal progression though gaining more knowledge, and experience.

A very few (probably less than 10) people who are truly monsters will not be in a kingdom of glory, but will exist in “outer darkness” where Satan and his followers will be consigned.  They cannot progress.  The only way a person can qualify for this future is to have a perfect knowledge of God and Jesus Christ and their perfect love, and then willfully and maliciously fight against them. 

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This is a simplified explanation of the God’s Plan of Salvation.   If you have any questions, we would be happy to answer them.  If you don’t want to talk about any of this, that’s fine too.  Mormon.org is another place to ask questions if you want to.

Now you may be a bit curious about the Book of Mormon.  Here is a little bit of it:

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Book of Mormon

Third Nephi Chapter 8….

5 And it came to pass …there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land.

6 And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.….

11 And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward.

12 But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth;

….

14 And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate.…

19 And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold, they did last for about the space of three hours;…behold, there was darkness upon the face of the land.

20 And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness;

21 And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all; …

Chapter 9

1 And it came to pass that there was a voice heard among all the inhabitants of the earth, upon all the face of this land, crying:

2 Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!….

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning.….

21 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.

22 Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved.

Chapter 10

1 And now behold, it came to pass that all the people of the land did hear these sayings, and did witness of it. And after these sayings there was silence in the land for the space of many hours;

2 For so great was the astonishment of the people that they did cease lamenting and howling for the loss of their kindred which had been slain; therefore there was silence in all the land for the space of many hours.

….

9 And it came to pass that thus did the three days pass away. And it was in the morning, and the darkness dispersed from off the face of the land, and the earth did cease to tremble, and the rocks did cease to rend, and the dreadful groanings did cease, and all the tumultuous noises did pass away.….

Chapter 11

1 And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place.

2 And they were also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the sign had been given concerning his death.

3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn

….

6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

…

12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.

13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

….

16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.

….

Chapter 17 ….

6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.

7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.

8 For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you.

9 And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.

10 And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.

11 And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.

12 So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.

13 And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground.

….

17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.

20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.

21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

….

25 And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.

Alaskan Cruise 2016

On August 7, 2016 was our 40th Wedding Anniversary.   A few weeks before that, Alex called and  said he wanted to give us an Anniversary gift of a special vacation.  He mentioned either Hawaii or an Alaskan Cruise.  We were so excited.  We decided on the Alaskan Cruise.  When Greg's parents found out we were going on a cruise, they gifted us with the excursions for each port!

So we booked the cruise and began to get ready.  It's very rainy in Alaska, so we prepared by buying rain resistant pants, raincoats, and rain covers for our hats.  We also had to get our passports, because the cruise included a Canadian port.  Then we chose our excursions and packed our suitcases.

We were planning to visit Eric's family on the way down, and see their new baby.  But some of the kids were sick.  So we decided to see them after our cruise.  So on Friday, we drove to Alex's house to stay the night.  Very early in the morning on Saturday, we left for the airport.  Eric later picked up our car and parked it at his house to save us the parking fees.

Our flight was fun, and we followed our location on the plane on the screen on the seat ahead of us, noticing the Twin Falls bridge, and Shoshone Falls.


When we landed in Seattle, Greg's Uncle Glen picked us up and took us to the top of the Columbia Center.  It had an observation floor at the top where we could see the whole city and the ocean.  Then we went out to eat, then headed for the ship.












We followed a long line of people with our many suitcases into the boarding area.  We went through security, and checked our suitcases.  Then we stood in line to board the ship.  It was exciting to see the huge ship and know that we were going to go in it!



We were given a special room key card which was also our credit card for all purchases on the ship.  Every time we left, or returned to the ship we had to present our card.











We entered the ship and immediately entered the piazza.  We were dazzled by the beauty and elegance of the ship.  All the floors had beautiful tile, or beautifully patterned carpet.  Everything was elegant in a fantasy kind of style.  There were also beautiful fanciful painting everywhere.


















We took the elevator to Emerald Deck.  Just around the corner was our room - E414.  A very handy mid-ship location.

We entered our room - here at last!  We unpacked and put everything away into drawers and the closet then went to tour the ship.







At 3:00 was a mandatory safety drill.  An announcement told us to report for our muster stations.  We knew about it and were back in our cabin before 3:00 so we just picked up our life jackets and followed the signs to our muster station.  There, we received safety instructions (kind of like on a plane but more detailed) and practiced putting on our life jackets.  Then we were free to return to our cabin, and then tour the ship some more.

Here are some pictures from the deck as we left Seattle.  We were on the Crown Princess.  Ahead of us you can see the Star Princess and the Holland Westerdam.  They always stopped at the same ports we did.








We went to dinner in the dining room the first night.  We were seated at a table with other people.  It was fun to talk to everyone and find out where they were from.  Everyone we met, the entire cruise, was so nice.  Everyone seemed to go our of the way to help people who needed a little help.  The dining room was like a restaurant, where you ordered from a menu.  The menu changed a little each night.  All the food was included, so we had two desserts!

Sometimes we ate at the buffet.  The food there also had a few different items each day, along with the standard items.  Everything was really tasty.  There were also other snack areas around the ship where you could get hamburgers, ice-cream, pizza, or desserts. Everything was included!








Sunday we headed out in the open sea for Juneau.  It's s a long way so we were at sea all day.  We explored the ship some more and listened to some of the lectures and entertainment.  As the day went on, the waves got bigger.  The captain came on the loudspeaker and said that because of the adverse weather conditions, with 15 foot waves, were were slowing down a little.  The outside deck areas were closed and the pool (which was sloshing all around) was also closed.   I thought it was kind of exciting.  I was hoping for the experience of  just a little but of rocking.  And that's what it was.  Just a little rocking.

We went downstairs to dinner and the waves looked a lot bigger than they had up in our cabin.  We decided to go dancing, and we found a nice little band in the Wheelhouse Bar.  It was a small lounge with just a few people.

Here is a picture of the dance floor.
 No one else was dancing, but we danced several dances.  It was hilarious trying to dance on the rocking ship.  We laughed and giggled as we sometimes stumbled on a step or two.  After every dance the other people there clapped for us.

That night we set our phones to wake us up at 5:00AM.   The captain had announced that between 5am and 7am we would be passing through an area that usually had humpback whales.  So early in the morning the alarms went off.  I dashed to the window and threw open the curtains and saw three humpbacked whales breech one after another!  I cried out, "The bay is filled with whales!"  But actually, we just got lucky.  We saw about 10 whales surface during the next 2 hours, but those first three where the only ones we saw jump out of the water.

We pulled into Juneau and got ready for our hike.  It was a rainy day, so we dressed in our rain gear.  I had forgotten to bring a waterproof purse, but I wrapped my purse in a plastic bag and hoped that would work.  (It didn't, everything was soaked!)  We boarded a bus for Mendenhall Glacier.  There was a visitor's center there, and a short hike to Nugget Falls.  Everything was so lush, because it rains almost every day.



There were beautiful flowers and lush plants.  The waterfall was huge.  We watched another excursion paddle their boats up closer to the glacier.  Friendly people offered to take our picture everywhere we went.

We then took a tram ride up the mountain.  It was a very steep climb!


There was a restaurant at top where we had lunch, plus a gift store.  There was also a pretty trail.  It would have been an impressive view except for the fog.  Greg stayed dry and I hiked the short loop trail.  I'm embarrassed about my hair in many of these photos.  Wearing a hat in rainy and foggy weather is hard on hairstyles!



The view from the restaurant was of the Alaskan rain forest.  On the tram ride down, we saw two bald eagles in a pine tree.

The next day was our most amazing day in Skagway.  We got up very early and had a early breakfast because our excursion started ab 7:30 AM.  We boarded a bus for a quick ride through town to the train.



The train had huge windows and went at a modest pace so there was time to look at things.  We took many many picture, but will just show you a few of the best ones.  The train roadbed had to be blasted out of the very steep mountain.  So the built a narrow gauge track so they wouldn't have to have as wide a roadbed.  Because it was so narrow, it could also turn corners more easily.  For us, the narrow gauge was wonderful because it was like following a narrow trail, and the mountain side, trees, and flowers were very close to us.  We passed a waterfall so close you could almost reach out and touch it.  We were allowed to go out on the platform at the back of the train car to take pictures.






We went up over the pass to Whitehorse, Canada.  During the Klondik gold rush, thousands of hopeful men hiked this same route to get over the mountain.  They were required to have 1 ton of supplies to get them through the year, your they were not allowed into Canada.  The men had to carry their supplies on their backs for a few milesl then they set them down, went back down and took another load.  In this way doing many many small trips, the moved their one ton of supplies.  Here is a picture of the miners trudging up the snowy slope.

When we got to the top of the pass we were in an alpine tundra environment.  The guide told us that the trees were not baby trees, but were over one hundred years old, stunted by the extreme weather.

At Whitehorse there is a beautiful lake, and a border patrol office.  That's all.   A border patrol officer boarded our train and checked everyone's passports.  Then we got off the train, walked for 30 seconds, directly to the buses and got on.  Then we traveled back down the same way, but on the other side of the canyon.  We were told that the lake at Whitehorse freezes all the way to the bottom, killing all the fish.  But the lake is stocked in the summer so that the border patrol officers have something to do while they wait for the one train that arrives each day.

The bus ride down was equally beautiful, and the fog had lifted a little so we could see more of the mountains.

We arrived at a suspension bridge across a rushing river.  We crossed and walked to the different view points of the surrounding mountains.  The was an example of hoodoos like the Natives would build.  These piles of rocks were a message to those who followed.  Sometimes the rocks formed a window, that showed where a good fishing or hunting spot could be found.  It was very windy up there.














After leaving the bridge, we traveled to Jewel Gardens just north of Skagway.  The tour included lunch there in their charming greenhouse lunchroom.  The floor was painted with pansies, and fancy lady's hats adorned the walls.

Outside were beautiful flower gardens enhanced with glass blown ornaments.  We were able to watch the glass blower at work as he encouraged guests to help him create glass balls.

There was also a miniature railroad track that wove thought a large area of the gardens.





































We finally arrived back in Skagway.  I had read about a waterfall above the Gold Miner Cemetery, so we found a bus that took us within half a mile of the cemetery.  We finally found the right bus, then began to walk to the cemetery.  We hurried because the last bus back was in a short time, and we also had a deadline to get back to our ship.  If we missed the bus, we might miss the ship!








We hurried as fast as Greg could manage, rushed past the cemetery, and hiked up the very short trail to this beautiful waterfall.  Other people were there, and of course, offered to take our picture.  The other people hurried back to catch the bus.  We told them not to leave without us.  We hurried the half mile back, and as we turned the final corner saw, with relief, the that people were still waiting and the bus wasn't there yet.  A few minutes later another couple hurried up.  So we all made it back to the bus, and back to the ship on time.


Here is a photo from our window as we sailed away from Skagway.  What an amazing day!










The next day we sailed into Glacier Bay.  There were many many small iceburgs in the water.  Everyone crowded up on the decks to see the glaciers.  Again, everyone was so nice, and took turns at the rail, then let others take a turn.  After a few minutes I allowed a very short lady to take my place at the rail.  I told her, I can see right over you!    The glacier had scraped rock from the walls of the mountain, which resulting in a landslide onto the glacier last year.  We could see the pile of dirt and rocks on one side.  In the shadowy areas the glacier was blue.  The ice is so compacted that the blue light is reflected.   Even some of the larger icebergs were blue.  It was cold and windy, but we were cozy in our warm hats and coats.













The next day, Thursday, was Ketchikan.  This is the view from our window.   It was another early day, as we met the bus for our excursion at 7:45AM.








The bus took us a short way into town to a Lumberjack Show.  The audience was divided into groups to cheer for either the Canadian team, or the Americans.  We were in the Canadian cheering section.  These men showed impressive strength and skill in contests of sawing, chopping, climbing, and keeping their balance on floating logs.





After the show we took another bus ride through town.  Ketchican has no roads in or out of town.  There is an airport, or you can take a boat.  The town is built on the side of a very steep, pine tree covered mountain.  Most of the town near the water is actually built over the water.  The homes on the steep hill often have no roads to them.  They have stairways going up to them.  If the stairways have over 100 steps, they are considered a "street" and have a street sign!






We also went through a famous tunnel.  You can go over, under, around, and through this tunnel.

The bus took us to another short, lush, pretty trail to see some native totems and a Native American Lodge.  Very interesting.  The totems were burned by the first European settlers as idols.  But they do not have religious significance.  They actually tell stories, or are to honor special people.  If you were on a boat and saw a totem, you would also know which tribe lived there.  (There are MANY islands.)

 The lodge housed a tribe.  Each family had a part of he lodge floor.  The floor planks could be moved to store possessions under the floor.

The logs which formed the walls would shrink in the warmer weather, allowing cooling breezes to enter.  But in the winter the logs would swell, closing the cracks and creating a warm shelter.  After that we hurried back to the ship which left the port just after noon.

That afternoon, there was an "egg drop" for the families.  Kids and their families dropped eggs in protective packaging from the balcony in the piazza to see if they would survive.  One 11-yr girl and her father had rushed to their room, cradled the egg between two pillows packaged in one pillowcase.  Unfortunate, the egg broke, all over their pillows.   The winning team had an umbrella parachute,  plus they all looked like a team in white robes (from the ship) and goggles.  It was fun.

Later, also in the piazza, was a fashion shop featuring passengers from the ship.  They chose outfits from the ship boutique to model.

 Thursday night we attended a musical in the Princess Theater on board the ship.  It was called "Magic to Do," and featured songs by Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the songs for "Wicked."  Two of the songs were "Popular" and "Colors of the Wind."   It was a beautiful, amazing show including some of the classic magic tricks. 

The next day, Friday, we were on the ship all day until we got to Victoria, Canada in the evening.   We decided to walk around the town, but I was worried because Greg's feet was bothering him, and he was very tired.  So at the end of the dock we found a pedicab and took a three hour tour.  It was delightful!  Our strong-legged guide was very interesting as he told us about the Victorian homes we passed, and told stories of their past inhabitants, including ghost stories.

We saw a baby (150 year old) sequoia tree in a beautiful park.  We also passed through China Town, and the Legislative buildings.  The water on the harbor was very still, creating beautiful reflections.








We returned to the ship at about 1030 PM for our last night aboard our cruise.

Here you can see our ship, the Crown Princess, and the Holland American ship, the Westerdam.










The next morning we waiting in our disembarkation room for our turn to leave the ship.  Then we proceeded to a huge luggage warehouse with color coded signs where we easily found our luggage.








Greg's Uncle Glen again picked us up, and we spent a lovely afternoon with him.  We went to lunch at Collections Cafe.  A unique dinner featuring the many collections of the owner. Then we went to view the Chihuly Glass Museum.   It was also amazing.  I including just a taste of the glass we saw there.





We drove to the locks which allow boats to move from Lake Washington to the sea and back, and also the fish ladder.  We listened to a bit of an outdoor concert.

Finally we drove to the airport and flew to Salt Lake City.





Eric picked us up.  We had a wonderful evening with them, saw their new baby, Caleb, and attended church the next day.  Trevor had created a sweet picture to welcome us that said, "Thanks for coming."

Then we visited Glen and his family.  We arrived home late, and prepared for work the next day.

We will always remember this amazing, perfect week!