June 26, 2008

June 26, 2008

It’s really my parents fault I travel so much. Before I was conceived they couldn’t wait to get out of the Great Plains region of America. In the late 1930’s they hitchhiked from Western Nebraska to Seattle, Washington, working in different harvests as they went. When they reached Seattle, it was too wet for them, so they went south. Therefore my sisters and I were born in or around Los Angeles, California. But, we only stayed a short time. In 1942 our family moved to Oregon where we lived in the Willamette Valley most of my life.

My own particular travels began early in my marriage, though we traveled with my parents and sisters, camping, fishing and visiting relatives when I was a child. My wife, children and I have camped in a tent, tent trailer, a small camping trailer, gradually moving up in size, until the present. Now my wife of 50 years and I travel in a 1995 Dodge Dually with a Cummins diesel engine and a 34 foot Alfa 5th wheel trailer tied on behind. We spend winters in southern California or Arizona. As members of Thousand Trails Campgrounds, our options are numerous.

With travels to England, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy in Europe, as well as Canada and Mexico on the North American Continent and Guatemala in Central America, we have seen many wonderful places. Living in Alaska for 14 years privileged us to see much of the north lands.

As we neared our 50th wedding anniversary, our wonderful daughter, Charity and her husband Craig, along with our son Tim and his wife Denise, who live in Madras, Oregon decided they needed to do something special for us. Therefore, they provided a Continental Airlines flight to Anchorage, Alaska where we spent 10 days with our daughter, her husband and two sons, in Wasilla, Alaska. The second part of our journey is a Carnival cruise from Whittier, Alaska to Vancouver, BC where we will be shuttled to Sea-Tac airport, retrieve our pick up, and return to Madras, Oregon where we presently reside.

On the agenda is four days camping at Thousand Trails Bend/Sunriver campground, followed August 4th with a two week working trip to Monjas, Guatemala.

After Christmas of 2008 we will be heading for Baja California to spend a couple of months in the sunshine, warm after all of our years in Alaska.

This morning we have been cruising College Fjord on the 959 foot Spirit, weighing in at approximately 86,000 gross tons with a crew of about 500 and 2000+ clients. Our cruising speed is approximately 22 knots and we are headed to Sitka where we will dock Friday, June 27th.

It is 10:00 a.m. We are in Prince William Sound, and have just completed a boat evacuation drill.