Ketchikan - First Port in Alaska

ms. Statendam docked in Ketchikan

Our first port in Alaska was Ketchikan. A pretty enough little town, but right at the docks it is very touristy. Almost every store had someone outside trying to get you come in and look at their inventory, and most of them were jewelry stores.  I did great at avoiding most of them, but there was one hawker that got my attention more than others and I went in to look at rings.  After some discussion, and encouragement from my youngest, I purchased an Ammolite ring.  Now every jewelry store I went into in Alaska sold Ammolite, but I fell in love with this setting, and I actually did not see this setting in any of the other stores, so I was very pleased with my purchase.  

Ketchikan port in the morning.

Ketchikan ready for the ships to disembark.

Ammolite ring bought in Ketchikan

Our excursion in Ketchikan the Alaska Rain Forest Sanctuary, Raptor Center and Totems. It started with a  was a hike through the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary, a private reserve in the mountains at Herring Cove. This was a beautiful hike, but my favorite part of this excursion was feeding the reindeer at the Alaska Wildlife Foundation. We also toured the historic Herring Bay Lumber Co. sawmill and were able to walk through a master totem carver's workshop.  He was not available, but we were able to see his wife work on a totem.  The smell of the wood in the workshop was really great.  I asked the carver's wife if I could have a piece of wood that came off the totem she was working on that day.  She said yes and even offered to let me take a larger piece from the work pile, but I only wanted a chip as a souvenir.

Bear's Bread - Yes the bears do eat it.

Sandberry

Skunk Cabbage, bears eat it when they come out of hibernation to get their digestive system working again. 

White Slug

Bald Eagle in Raptor Center

You looking at me?

Totem under construction.  The carver of this totem is the only one known to use the basket weave shown on the torso.

Carving a totem

2009 Review

Summary of my life in 2009:

• Empty Nest
• New Boss
• Finally finished all but one quilt in the pile.
• New medication has really helped.
• A very special woman in my life passed away, but she left me with some wonderful life lessons.
• Lots of special times with friends.
• I was luckier than most financially during these unstable financial times thanks to lessons learned from my mother.
• Read lots of books, but Wally Lamb's "The Hour I First Believed" has really stayed in my mind.
• I have no major regrets in 2009. I still question some of my decisions, but I realize I can only push forward, as there are some things that just cannot be changed.  I will always want to be taller, thinner and  beautiful.  I will never have enough money to live where I want and do as I want, to support all my friends, and give millions to all my charities. I cannot bring Raymond back.  I cannot make my boys only do what I want them to do, no more than I can protect them from every harm.  Fortunately in 2009 I have learned to live with those facts easier than ever before.
• It was a good year.

2010 bring it on.  I am will take whatever you give me, just as I have in the past.  I hope it will be a really good year, and I will do the best I can to make it that way for all my loved ones, but I know (even if I don't act like it) that I cannot control everything, I can only make the very best of what is thrown at me and keep on plugging along.

Enjoying My Boys

I love having the boys home for the holiday.  

The oldest picked the youngest up from Denton for me Wednesday morning while I was at work, then the oldest went to his classes.  When I got home the youngest and I ran an errand and then came home to bake 3 pumpkin pies before having dinner with my BFF and her family.  The oldest got home from his last class around 9:00 P.M. and we watched a Star Trek movie before bedtime.

Yesterday, Thanksgiving, was a very laid back day.  We purchased a new board game for the weekend called 24/7 and we played it over and over again.  I like it because I have to think, but not too hard, and it is does not take very long so we can play it several times over the course of the day.  The oldest wanted meatloaf for Thanksgiving so we made one late in the afternoon and then all had dinner together.  I love it when we go around saying what we are thankful for, the oldest was quite sincere in his blessings, the youngest ... not so much.  We watched "The Big Lebowski" and played more games.  Then late, late night television because we were just napping before getting up at 4:00 A.M. to hit EntertainMart for 50% off boxed sets, etc.

Of course when 4:00 A.M. rolled around  it was hard to get the youngest up.  We got to EntertainMart at 5:00 A.M. when they opened and it was not bad at all. We all found what we were looking for and then some.  Then we went to 1/2 Price Books and sat in the parking lot listening to CCR (Had to have it after watching "The Big Lebowski") until they opened and all the people waiting in line to get their free tote and $5.00 gift card where in. We were in and out of there pretty quick.  We all knew what we were looking for and we did not have to wait in line to check out. 

I came home and napped while they worked on homework and then we had to go out again to return a bad game disk and pick up a hostess gift for the oldest to give his girlfriend's mom tomorrow.  There were so few people out we stopped at Target to get my youngest some everyday items he needed for his dorm room. 

Another Star Trek movie and now they are in bed and I am trying to decide what I want to do.  I will probably watch some of my taped shows before turning in. 

I really am enjoying having the boys home.  It is really terrific. 

What am I thankful for this year? My boys and all my wonderful friends.  I am so blessed.  I wish everyone could have as much love in their life as I do. 

Hunt's Loop Trail, Ouachita National Forest

The View from the Ridge, Hunt's Loop Trail, Ouahita National Forest

On Wednesday, March 18, 2009 we decided to go hiking. The night before we had chosen Hunt's Loop Trail in the Ouachita National Park. Now the brochure I had said this was an easy to moderate hike. We found out later it was an easy to difficult hike.

The trail is a 4.3 mile loop. The nice man at the information center recommended that we start up the mountain as it was easier on the knees going up than down. Up the mountain was correct. I would not have made it without my walking stick. It was steep, rocky, and I thought we would never get to the top.

I started off carrying the bag. I always carry the bag. After I got about 3/4's of the way up the mountain, I decided the youngest should carry the bag. I was struggling to keep my balance. When we got to the top it was marked as 1,372 feet. I never knew if that meant that was how far up we had gone or if that was just the elevation for the ridge we were on. I just knew that I was tired, and we still had a long way to go. While there were some easy paths along the ridge, I would consider this to be a moderate trail from the ridge down, and I really thought it would never end.

I have hiked a lot over the years, but this was a tough one. Of course I am fatter than I was last time we went hiking by about 10 pounds, and I am a year older, but still, it was a hard hike. The boys were hurting too. By the time we got to the car we didn't want to move another step.

We decided to stop at Wendy's for dinner and then head home to watch the youngest's and my favorite show "Life." I have to say it was hard to raise the food to my mouth at Wendy's, and getting up out of the chair was not easy. As the boys were helping me up I told them I was too old for this stuff, and another man in the dining area said he was right there with me. It was all I could do to say "I didn't see your butt up there on that ridge." Exhaustion makes me meaner than usual.

We got back to the house and I decided to jump into the shower before "Life" started. Well, jump wasn't exactly what I did. First of all, it was a jacuzzi tub and the wall of the tub was higher than my knees which made every shower a challenge, but that night, okay, I'm not proud of it but there was screaming involved. Fortunately, the water pressure there was heaven and the water was hot, hot, hot. It was wonderful having all that heat hit my sore muscles.

The rest of the night was just television watching. No quilting, no reading, just television. We didn't even play our nightly game of Quirkle. We didn't think we could lift the tiles.