OBAMA: The Musical

This is funny!

OBAMA: The Musical:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QANdqjqLE9k

Especially if you get the joke they're playing:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KC9FtLQJoGM

Alaska Journal

I thought I'd post our Alaska Journal Notes on the blog...

Day 1:
After two full days of traveling nonstop,  today we spent the day at sea.  Kind of enjoyed lounging around.  Nice not "having" to do anything for a change. :)   This morning, we enjoyed listening to Carl Kerby, one of Answers in Genesis' speakers, who talked about and demonstrated some really neat animals and how God has designed them.  Ken Ham, who was supposed to speak today, got sea sick last night, so he's recovering right now.  It was neat flying first class.  All those sky miles really came in handy.  We weren't on board quite long enough to be served a meal, but it was nice to have larger seats anyway.

 Evening:  Saw the "Second City" comedian troupe tonight.  They were pretty funny.  For dinner, we had a "seafood extravaganza" with lobster tail, shrimp, etc. and we had some roasted duck with lo mein.   Andrea and I watched the sun set at 10:00 pm tonight!  It was very pretty.  Weird having the sun up that late. But it doesn't "feel" late....  We're three hours back from Central Standard Time.

Day 2:
Today we visited Juneau.  We saw the Mendenhall Glacier (it was really blue!) and a momma bear and two cubs.  She jumped in a stream and caught some red salmon that were swimming upstream and brought them to the babies for lunch.  The babies tried to leave the salmon and wanted to nurse (Andrea said she's now seen a bear nurse!), but momma bear wouldn't have any of it and shooed them back to the fish.  After that, we went into town and had some dinner and did lots of walking.  Andrea had salmon and I had the best king crab legs I've ever eaten.  I sent Derek a text message and told him I was eating them in his honor. :)  We did alot of souvenir shopping today and got something for just about everyone.  Then we came back to the ship and got in the jacuzzi to rest our weary feet and shoulders.   Next, it was off to get some ice cream and back here to write this journal.

We'll be in Skagway tomorrow and get to ride an old miner's railway train, the "White Pass Steam Engine Train."

Day 3:
Andrea and I arrived at Skagway, AK, this morning and took a motor coach tour of Skagway and the Yukon territory.  We were taken aback by the beauty of the jagged peaks, the foreign trees, the snow-capped mountains and the incredible green lakes, which were just amazing (hard to describe the color--I'll have to show you pictures).  We stopped in a few towns, one called Carcross, which was where a golden spike was driven to complete the mining railway. 

We learned alot about the Yukon Gold Rush.  Hearing some of the stories or greed, lust, and violence, it really seemed as though it was driven by "the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life."  Of all the tens of thousands of men and women who risked everything to become rich, only about 100 became wealthy, and only a handful passed the wealth on to the next generation.  Got to admire their gumption though. 

As beautiful as it is in the summer, you can see how treacherous this place would be in the dead of winter.  After a kind of mediocre lunch, we left the bus and got on the 100 year old train and that was just something else. :)  The sights just have to be seen.  I think you'll enjoy seeing the pictures.  I'm glad we did the train part (the bus seats were none too kind to my 6'3" frame).

Wildlife update:  Today we saw a deer, a bear, two prairie dogs and two bald eagles.  Also, while we were eating dinner, before the ship left the harbor, we looked out and saw a whale and a sea lion! :)

Tomorrow morning we're going to Glacier Bay, which has 14 glaciers.  We'll get to see four of them and one is supposed to be calving.  There will be some National Park Rangers who get on board and talk about them.  In the morning, first thing, we'll be taking an Answers in Genesis group photo on the top deck with the glacier in the background.  Should be fun. :)

It's about 11:30 p.m. here, so we're about to turn in.

Day 4:
Today we spent the day at sea visiting Glacier Bay National Park, where we took lots of pictures of the four glaciers we saw.  We saw some pieces fall off of one, but didn't get any pictures of that.  They were small pieces, so it wasn't that interesting. We kept hoping for a giant avalanche of ice! :)  A couple of the glaciers were really pretty. 

We crowded the 500 Answers in Genesis people onto the top deck and all squinted up into the sun to take the group picture.  Kind of fun.  The temperatures have ranged in the 50s and 60s and it's been cloudy or sunny, with no rain.

Yesterday morning, when Andrea and I were getting off the boat, we got off at the same time as Ken and Mallie Ham, and ended up taking a picture with them and two "bears," but the photo shop wanted $16 for the silly picture, so I don't think we're going to get it.  We need to find them again and get someone to take our picture with our camera.  That would be better. :) 

One of the glaciers, the biggest I think, was called the Grand Pacific and was very black from all the silt and rocks in it.  The prettier white and blue one was called the Margerie and is the one we took the most pictures of.  Andrea said that our boat was sitting on the international boundary between the US and Canada.

The views up here all day were spectacular.  It's just beautiful everywhere you look!  Mountains, pretty green water, more mountains, more snow and glaciers.  Wow. :) 

Oh, the park rangers were saying that today was very unusual  because the skies were crystal clear and that it's usually cloudy and overcast.  One ranger said, "You know it's a good day when even the rangers are out taking pictures!"  We overheard the waitresses saying that last week was very rainy and that people were very disappointed!  So we were doubly blessed that God gave us perfect weather to see the glaciers and take lots of pretty pictures. :)

Wildlife update:  We saw a seal this morning at the glaciers and a bunch of sea birds.  On the cruise out of Glacier Bay, we saw quite a few Minke whales.  I tried really hard to get some good photos, but they may have been too far away.  Neat to see them though.  It was VERY windy!

Tonight we're going to have Italian food (probably some tiramisu, too).  Last night we had Louisiana Cuisine: Red Snapper on top of Seafood Gumbo with Andouille Sausage.  Probably the first time alot of these folks have had good food like that. :)

The sun has been rising before 5 a.m. and has been setting at about 10 p.m.  Update: We sat out on the rear deck of the ship and watched the setting sun change the colors of the clouds over the mountains (and took some pictures, of course!)  

Day 5:
This morning, we visited Ketchikan, the "Salmon Capital of the World."  We only had until 1 p.m. to visit here, so we just walked around the downtown area and looked in the shops.  Andrea collected all the free things that were offered from the coupon book we were given on board.  :) She bagged several charms and a charm bracelet, as well as a nice set of pearl earrings and a pearl pendant.  Then we returned to the ship and had a nice lunch.  After that, we went to the final AiG session. 

Ken Ham spoke on the ice age and refuted much of what the National Park lady had said the previous day regarding the formation of glaciers.  He noted that the evolutionists have no mechanism to accurately explain the Ice Age.  Only the Flood model correctly and scientifically explains the phenomena.  It was a neat talk.  After that, he did another talk on "Kinds," and how the impact following the Flood and the Tower of Babel influenced the many variations we see today, including humankind.  Ken diagrammed how genetics and genetic change (with the AA, BB, Aa, Bb chart) explain the varieties of animals and people we all see today.

Afterwards, we went down and took a picture with Ken and Mallie Ham and then watched a short crew "talent" show.  It was... interesting....

Update: We've been at sea now for a few hours and will arrive in Victoria, B.C. tomorrow evening at 6 p.m.   The highlight of tonight will be an 11 p.m. "Chocoholic Dessert Buffet!"  I wonder what they'll have? 

11:41 p.m. update:  We've finished our chocolate run. :)  Probably the best thing was the chocolate covered strawberries.  They had a chocolate pecan pie that was pretty good too.  Also neat:  Chocolate sculptures!  There was a castle, a rooster, a moose, a model of the cruise ship and a model of "Old 73," the White Pass Steam Engine Train.  Pretty nifty. :)  Note from Andrea: the black forest cake was pretty good too. :)

Day 6:
We spent the majority of the day at sea.  So far, we've sailed 2151 miles and have about 91 miles to go before we reach Seattle in the morning.  There was plenty of preparation for tomorrow's debarkation, though to keep us busy today. 

This evening at around 6, we arrived in Victoria, British Columbia.  We got off the boat and joined our shore excursion bus.  The bus was nice this time and had leg room!  The driver, who had a very good "radio voice" (I'm surprised he's doing tours in B.C. instead of doing TV commercial voice overs) took us through the residential areas of Victoria (one part called "Oak Bay," he mentioned, has no residential land available for under a million dollars--in fact, he showed us one that was just placed on the market for $28 million). 

We arrived at Craigdarroch Castle, which was built at the turn of the 20th century by a "rags to riches" multi millionaire, Robert Dunsmuir.  He came to  Victoria as an indentured servant, completed his time, and then "happened upon" what ended up being the largest coal vein ever found in the territory.  Dunsmuir became the wealthiest man in the entire territory and was worth $20 Million around 1890.  Craigdarroch, which means, "rock and oaks" was his testament to his fortune and is built sort of like a Scottish Manor.

We returned to the ship after driving through and seeing a bit of downtown, including the 2nd oldest Chinatown in the world, and then got on board just in time for a big barbecue (ribs and chicken) that was being thrown on the pool deck.  After "second supper," we've come back to the cabin to pack.  We'll get into Seattle tomorrow morning and our flight leaves just before one, Pacific time. 

This trip has been a real blessing.  The weather has been outstanding (wonder if it's the concentration of Christians on the boat who petitioned the Lord for good weather?) Andrea and I have enjoyed celebrating our 10th anniversary and have fulfilled a dream of visiting Alaska.  We're very appreciative of our moms and dads grandchildren sitting.  As we've talked to the children throughout the week, we know that they've been having a wonderful time with their grandparents. 

Well, off to pack now. :)  We have to see where to put these souvenirs!

Love,
Jason and Andrea

Day 7 and 8:
Monday morning:  We traveled all day on Sunday, arriving in Dallas late Sunday night.  Now, we're up and getting ready to hit the road with two happy children, on our way back to Denham Springs. :)  We ended up on the same flight with the Hams and Kirbys.  We were able to visit a bit more in the airport with them and found that the Hams had gotten upgrades to First Class.  When they found out that we were up there, too, they told the Kirbys that we'd all wave at them as they went by to "cattle class."

A great trip full of great memories! :)