Doctors and Alaska

It is now the fall of 2017.  We made it back to Longview, TX (our home base) just fine and we begin the seemingly never ending doctor appointments.  That is one thing you can count on as you age, the almost constant contact with doctors.  I really don’t have anything against going to the doctor but it is a hassle to schedule, make the trip and listen to what they have to say (usually the same thing every time) and then wash, rinse and repeat again next year.

This time proved me totally wrong as God wanted to throw me yet another curve ball.  I have been in more hospitals and had more contact with the medical community since turning 55 than I ever dreamed possible.

 

A routine (btw - love that they call it routine) colonoscopy proved to be not so routine.  The doctor comes out and tells me that normally these polyps stand up at 90 degrees to the wall of the colon and he snips them and goes to the next one but I happen to have one parallel to the wall and he could not snip it out.  So he recommends (pretty strongly) that I visit a surgeon to have it removed surgically (along with about a foot or so of the colon).  Oh my!!!!

Long story, short; two weeks later I am recovering in the hospital from this latest encounter with a doctor and surgery.  Good news, all is well and the offending polyp is gone as well as tested benign.  Bad news, strength has to be built back up and my lifting of any kind of weight is temporarily on hold.

Pretty sad looking patient.

Everything has a way of working out for the good.  These weeks of recovery allowed us to reconnect with loved ones, enjoy the holidays and make some plans for the upcoming year with some great friends.

2017 Christmas gathering

As we enter 2018 it is an exciting time.  Our oldest grandson is graduating from high school and during his baseball season pitched a no-hitter which garnered a lot of attention from college baseball recruiters.  Our only granddaughter began playing club volleyball and her team won a qualifying tournament allowing them to compete in the National Finals held in Detroit, MI.

All of our grands make us extremely proud and we are so thankful they are all good kids and seem to enjoy our company.  Our spring and summer was very special in that we were able to spend a lot of time with them and enjoying their participation in activities they love.

We spent part of the spring working with Texas Baptist Men Camp Builders again.  We have made so many new friends and feel so thankful that we have an opportunity to volunteer.  This provides us an extended family/friends group to work, share, worship and pray with as we go about helping these camps with repairs, renovations and building projects to further the ministry of the camps.  It is very gratifying and satisfies a need to feel useful as well as give of our time and service.  This is not to mention the new skills both Bibi and I have learned from the great people we get to share the work alongside.

Earned our green jackets at this camp

Crew we were with when earning our jackets.

During this time off, we planned a special anniversary trip with our good friends, David and Sophie.  They reached the wonderful milestone of 50 years and we celebrate our 25 years together as husband and wife.   Since Alaska is on our bucket list of places to visit, we decided to visit via a cruisetour (both sea and land tour) in July/August.  It is such a long way to travel to and through using a RV; we thought this would be a good alternative.

..and this is how it went.

Having no idea about where and what to do, it seemed the prudent alternative to use a travel agent and rely on their guidance to help make decisions.  Turns out that was the best decision for us since we had a ball, got to see a ton of things, experienced Alaska and its indescribable beauty without any worries or headaches.

In July 2018, we flew to Vancouver, boarded Princess Cruises’ ship Island Princess and headed out to voyage the inside passage the next seven days.  We had stops in Icy Point Strait, Juneau, Skagway, disembarking at Whittier then by train to Talkeetna then by bus to Denali National Park and finally to Fairbanks.  Even though this is just a snapshot view of Alaska, we had a marvelous time and saw some spectacular sights.

All Aboard

You too, David and Sophie

Icy Point Strait was the site of a former Salmon canning factory and now the tourist industry has reinvigorated the local population.  We glimpsed the backside of a bear that had been fishing for salmon in a river as it was leaving.  One of these days we will actually see all of a bear in its entirety in a natural habitat.

Someone was petrified of the bear!!!

We also stopped over in Juneau the state capitol.  Did you know the only way to get to Juneau is by air or water?  There are no highways over land because of a huge glacier.

Mendenhall Glacier at Juneau

Whales in a pod fishing and feeding together, pretty unusual to see, we were lucky!

All humpbacks have unique designs on flukes, like our fingerprints.

Skagway was an interesting stop with a bus ride up and a train ride back through the White Pass.  The trip carried us from Alaska into Canada and back again.  The trip to and from was filled with wonderful breathtaking views of mountains, valleys and forests.

Massive, expansive country

That stripe around the mountain is our rail line.

What a beautiful day to go take a bus and train ride through the country.

Before disembarking at Whittier, we cruised by a lot of glaciers and got up close to several.  Close enough to hear the ice moving, creaking and breaking away into the water.

Long days but pretty sunsets

These are huge walls of ice

Closer even yet, you can hear the movement as it slides against the rocks and ice

Beautiful, what else can I say?

The train ride from Whittier to Talkeetna went through lots of wild areas as well as through many towns including Wasilla (ala former Governor and Vice-Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin’s hometown).  In fact, the lady providing commentary on our train voyage was neighbors with the Palin’s as their children grew up together.

Train ride time to Talkeetna, goodbye trusty ship

Arriving at Talkeetna, we had just a short time before moving on to the Wilderness Lodge.  This is where we were fortunate on our last day in the area to actually see Mt. Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley) the highest point in North America.  We are now part of the fortunate 30% club to actually view the mountain without any clouds obscuring the peak.  According to the locals, only about 30% of visitors to the area get to see the mountain because the elevations in the area are usually wrapped in the clouds and you cannot see the majestic mountain and its peaks.

Cloudy with a chance at not seeing the mountain.

There it is, highest peak in North America.

...and we were there to see it!

Next stop is Denali National Park and a tour down through part of the park.  There was a lot of scenery and wildlife to view including a stop at an old cabin used by the crews that built the first roads into the park.  It even had a place for the sled dogs to shelter from the weather in their own little cabins.

Cabin in the wilderness

Moose or Mooses, what is plural of moose?

Moose cow (female)

Little bunny foo foo, no that's probably not, just a rabbit - name unknown

Alaska's state bird- Willow Ptarmigan

Final stop before leaving was in Fairbanks where we tried our hands at panning gold.  It was fun and educational but not very lucrative.  A trip upriver proved very educational about modern day living in this Alaska northern city and provided a stop to see how the residents lived pre-settlement days.

Notice the authentic native footwear.

Tried our hand at panning for gold.  Not much success here.

After our two week excursion, we now fly back to good ol' Texas and familiar places, only to pack up and leave for Colorado the next day.  It is too hot to stay in Texas during August, time to move on.  More in the next posting.