June 27th was Garrett's last day of work. He was starting his 2nd Sabbatical on July 1st. He was so excited--as we all were! Our first trip of the summer/sabbatical was to fly to Petersburg, Alaska where Garrett and his family lived from 1988 to 1999, I think. His sister Savann and her family live there still, so we were going up to stay with them for 2 weeks.
July 1st
We spent the day packing and then loaded the car and headed to the airport. It was so hot that day--I think the high was 97 degrees! We had our neighbor Dave Carter drive us to the airport and bring our car back, because we were taking the ferry home from Petersburg to Bellingham, Washington. And then riding a train from Bellingham to Portland. Dave was kind enough to pick us up from the train station, too.
At the airport terminal waiting to board our plane to Seattle.
It was only a 30 minute flight, so that was nice.
Lydia took this picture of Portland as we were leaving.
After landing in Seattle, we took a shuttle to our hotel and then walked down the street for dinner.
When we got back, Garrett took the kids swimming for a bit while I got the beds and jammies ready. It was about 10 pm before everyone got to bed. Way too late considering that we had to wake up at 5 am to catch our shuttle to the airport at 6 am because our flight was leaving at 8 am. Ugh!
July 2nd
After getting to the airport on time and grabbing some breakfast, we boarded our flight. We sat on the plane for about 20 minutes before they told us that something was broken on our plane and that we needed to get off and go to another terminal to board a different plane. So, we gathered our belongings and headed over to the new gate. While we were walking through the airport, we ran into Jim and Georgia (who were also flying to Alaska that day on a later flight). They were so surprised to see us because we were supposed to be in the air already. It was quite funny seeing their faces when they saw us. Anyways, we got to our plane and finally took off around 9:15.
A lovely view from our plane.
From Seattle, you have to do a little bit of island hopping because they have to land in Ketchikan and Wrangell before landing in Petersburg. You are only in the air about 20 minutes before you are landing again--so there's lots of up and down. I tend to get pretty queasy on take off and landing, but I do ok. Bella got sick after landing in Wrangell--she threw up a little bit, but then was fine when landing in Petersburg.
In Petersburg, they have a very small airport--it's about the size of a convenience store--like a 7-11. You also have to get off of the plane outside and then walk to the airport to get your luggage inside. When we landed, it was pouring rain. So miserable. Maggie loved it though and was practically dancing in the rain. We got our luggage and Savann came and picked us up and took us to her house. We pretty much hung out and had lunch. She had smoked salmon and cream cheese on bagels for lunch. They are so good!
They have a dog named Shadow that lives in their house. My kids don't have much experience with dogs, but they loved Shadow so much. He was a really patient dog. He put up with a lot from the kids--especially Paige who loved to shake hands with him and tried to do other tricks with him. The younger two were a little weary around him and didn't like to get too close, but they loved to pet him. (Alex--Savann's husband is sitting in the corner)
We just stood out on their driveway and ate crab right from the shells. I had to have Alex or Garrett crack it open and get the meat out for me because I didn't know what I was doing. It was really good though. I'm usually not a big fan of it when my parents have it for New Years Eve, but this was so good. Maggie swore that she was going to go hungry while in Alaska because she doesn't like seafood. And all we had had that day was seafood! She was fine though--of course they had other food that she could eat.
Paige holding a crab
Lydia waiting for Garrett to get her some crab meat.
Afterwards, we went down on the beach that is right in front of their house and Alex was showing the kids all sorts of interesting things. The kids love uncle Alex--he is such a good sport in playing with them too.
Noah throwing a rock into the water.
Bella, Paige and Alex throwing rocks, too.
This is a view from their house looking down the street.
This is the island that is right across the narrows from their house.
Their neighbors own a shaved ice stand and so we had some after all the crab.
Bella obviously had a blue flavored one.
My kids watching their cousin Devon and Shadow playing on the beach.
That night, Savann's daughters, Sydney and Alyssa (the two on the right side) had a YW activity. They were having a Personal Progress night where everyone was supposed to dress up in a value color and whoever had on the most of that color, won. The girl on the left is Garrett's and Savann's cousin Rosa who happens to be 14. She is really close with Sydney and Alyssa. They could be sisters instead of 2nd cousins.
We got our exhausted little kids in bed and then watched Sherlock Holmes. Paige, Bella and Noah slept upstairs in Devon's room. Maggie and Lydia and Alyssa slept on the floor in Sydney's room and Garrett and I were downstairs in their basement apartment where Alex's mom usually lives. She was out of town while we were there, so it worked out great. Noah (because of his lack of sleep) woke up in the middle of the night and was crying and frantic and only wanted me. Maggie tried to calm him down and get him back to sleep, but it wasn't working. So Alex took Noah and brought him down to the basement. In order to get to the basement, you have to go outside and down their front steps and then there are two doors to go through to get into the apartment because there is a storage area in front of the apartment. When we went to bed, we locked the outside door and didn't hear Alex outside knocking. Alex had to go back upstairs and find the key so that he could get Noah to us. Oops. I felt pretty bad. We kept Noah down there with us for the rest of the night. He slept in until 10:30! He was so tired!
July 2nd
After getting to the airport on time and grabbing some breakfast, we boarded our flight. We sat on the plane for about 20 minutes before they told us that something was broken on our plane and that we needed to get off and go to another terminal to board a different plane. So, we gathered our belongings and headed over to the new gate. While we were walking through the airport, we ran into Jim and Georgia (who were also flying to Alaska that day on a later flight). They were so surprised to see us because we were supposed to be in the air already. It was quite funny seeing their faces when they saw us. Anyways, we got to our plane and finally took off around 9:15.
From Seattle, you have to do a little bit of island hopping because they have to land in Ketchikan and Wrangell before landing in Petersburg. You are only in the air about 20 minutes before you are landing again--so there's lots of up and down. I tend to get pretty queasy on take off and landing, but I do ok. Bella got sick after landing in Wrangell--she threw up a little bit, but then was fine when landing in Petersburg.
In Petersburg, they have a very small airport--it's about the size of a convenience store--like a 7-11. You also have to get off of the plane outside and then walk to the airport to get your luggage inside. When we landed, it was pouring rain. So miserable. Maggie loved it though and was practically dancing in the rain. We got our luggage and Savann came and picked us up and took us to her house. We pretty much hung out and had lunch. She had smoked salmon and cream cheese on bagels for lunch. They are so good!
Jim and Georgia landed around 4 and Savann picked them up from the airport. When they got back, Alex had gotten some fresh crab from a friend and was cooking it up for us for dinner.
We got our exhausted little kids in bed and then watched Sherlock Holmes. Paige, Bella and Noah slept upstairs in Devon's room. Maggie and Lydia and Alyssa slept on the floor in Sydney's room and Garrett and I were downstairs in their basement apartment where Alex's mom usually lives. She was out of town while we were there, so it worked out great. Noah (because of his lack of sleep) woke up in the middle of the night and was crying and frantic and only wanted me. Maggie tried to calm him down and get him back to sleep, but it wasn't working. So Alex took Noah and brought him down to the basement. In order to get to the basement, you have to go outside and down their front steps and then there are two doors to go through to get into the apartment because there is a storage area in front of the apartment. When we went to bed, we locked the outside door and didn't hear Alex outside knocking. Alex had to go back upstairs and find the key so that he could get Noah to us. Oops. I felt pretty bad. We kept Noah down there with us for the rest of the night. He slept in until 10:30! He was so tired!
1 comment:
So, I hardly ever look at your blog on the computer, just always on my phone. Well, I love the picture of you guys in Alaska at the top of your blog! So cute! Bummer about Bella getting sick on the plane. Glad it didn't last too long though.
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