A Lovely Birthday Day

At the top of the landing at the marina we are at today was this wonderful tree with a bald eagle perched at the top just checking out everyone.  We have seen a lot of eagles up close.   We have had much sun today and warmer temps so it's been a lovely day for the "old" man.  Tonight we are having dinner at a little restaurant and pub here at the marina to help the "boy" celebrate.    BJ has enjoyed all his emails of congratulations so it's been a good day.

One Week Closer To Alaska

We are sitting at a marina in the "town" of Ocean Falls...sounds dreamy doesn't it?  The setting is breathtaking, fjord like scenery...really gorgeous.   But it's the town that time forgot...or rather, lost its way economically.  Most of the buildings have been abandoned and it used to be a lumber mill when it was thriving.  Now there is a dam that provides electricity for some of the surrounding towns, thus the falls.   We literally blew in here around noon just as a squall was arriving.  This has been our first consistently wet day since we left home.

We got a couple crab in our crab traps last night in the anchorage we were in so we will enjoy those tonight.  Email connections are not the best up here and I have noticed it takes a long time to upload photos so they will not be in great volume on the blog.

This photo was taken in our first anchorage after crossing Queen Charlotte Strait.   It was called "Fury Cove"...the idea being that fury could be going on all around the anchorage but you would be snug as a bug.

"Hey, Barb, should we take this one home for the garden?"



"Bearly" There

We only left home for Alaska as of last Friday and already we have seen so much.  Yesterday we went 10 hours on the boat cruising from Comox, Vancouver Island to the Broughton Archipelago and to our most favorite tiny gunkhole.  Shortly after getting anchored, I said to BJ, "Is that a dog on the shore?"...then we realized, no, it was a bear..a large brown bear.  Now this is the closest I have ever come to seeing a bear, other than the zoo.  Our boat was about 20 yards from shore so it was really up close and personal.  He did not seen to be bothered by our presence, just a glance our way occasionally as he sauntered along the shore line looking for goodies hidden between the rocks.  It was quite the excitement for the day.  I don't know how often I will be able to blog as we will be anchored much of the time.  We have had good weather thus far but the true test will be heading out into the open ocean tomorrow if the forecast is good.   I'm not looking forward to that but everyone has to do it if they want to go to Alaska.  'Course, there's that debatable word "want" again...:-)  Today we saw a huge cruise ship suddenly come around a corner as we were exiting a channel and we had to wait until it went by and I thought, oh how nice if they could just tow us.



We Are Blessed

Yes, we are literally blessed to be part of a wonderful island church and to have a caring pastor.  This morning, our pastor, Dick, stopped by to read us some poems for traveling mercies and to pray with us before our departure tomorrow as we leave for Alaska.  It was immensely appreciated to be blessed in this way and here are two of the poems he read:

"May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,

wherever He may send you.

May He guide you through the wilderness,

Protect you through the storm.

May He bring you home rejoicing

At the wonders He has shown you.

May He bring you home rejoicing

Once again into our doors.
In the name of the Father

And of the Son

And of the Holy Spirit.  Amen"

(Celtic prayer:  Northumbrian Community)

And another:

"God be in my head and in my understanding

God be in mine eyes in my looking

God be in my mouth and in my speaking

God be in mine heart and in my thinking

God be at my end and in my departing."

(Gaelic prayer)

Points To Ponder

From this week's church bulletin regarding the risen Jesus:  Faith, Love and Hope.

"Faith makes all things possible...love makes all things easy."  Unknown

"Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods."  C.S. Lewis

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."  Lao-Tzu

"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.  I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me.  I love you for the part of me that you bring out."  Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."  Albert Einstein

Finally!

It's so nice to finally be able to say the garage is done.  As of today, the area to the right has been gravelled in as well and it makes for more room to back out.   This project has taken a lot of time to complete and it's nice to have all the workers gone.   May we never think of building another anything!

Another Wonderful Luncheon

Our women's ministries put on another beautiful luncheon yesterday.  120 women turned out for a delicious lunch and treated to another presentation by Diana, my longtime friend and nursing classmate.  She is a wonderful speaker and the ladies love her for her outgoing nature and the ability to make everyone feel so comfortable in her presence.  She came by herself this time and thus we had the opportunity to have her all to ourselves for some fun and very interesting conversations.  She is a joy to have visit.

 Who would think we would ever be this old.  Diana said one of her friends suggested she highlight her hair and she responded that she thought God was taking care of it just fine.   :-)

 Here is one of the 15 tables so lovingly and creatively decorated.   We had the church men, including my husband, serve us and they did a wonderful job of clearing our plates and keeping our coffee cups filled...really quite a treat on this Mother's Day weekend.

How Much?

Yes, that is the question on my mind these days as I begin to stock the boat for our trip to Alaska.  Others tell us not to worry too much since once you get to Alaska there are plenty of opportunities to re-provision.  Still it's hard to estimate and I have made two trips now to Costco.   Priorities are hardtack, Kaviar, chocolate, cereal, soup, cheese...I guess there are a lot of priorities.   I am hoping we can buy fresh fish along the way since neither of us are too interested in casting out a line.  Fishing to us is lowering the crab trap.  Next comes stowing these goods so that their location makes sense and won't require a diagram each day to figure out where the heck DID I put the Raisin Bran.  Oh well, memory games are supposed to be good for the aging, right?   Otherwise, all systems seem to be a go.  Electrical changes/improvements such as a light to read by while sitting at the table and the engine has been gone over with great detail.   Now if the extended weather forcast would just show anything else but rain, that would be nice too.