Saturday, November 17, 2007

The Long Road Home!

A 6 day trip, 3,800 miles by land, a few hundred by sea, narrowly missed 2 buffalo, a flat tire, a power outage at the Whittier Tunnel and 6 accidents from Palmer to Whittier later we arrived home in Yakutat.
Pictures:
1. The ferry ramp lifting us up to drive onto the dock, finally home! A number of our friends from the church were there to greet us and had a meal waiting for us when we got home, a special bunch of people!
2. Cache Creek, B.C. We got a taste of fall from
Portland to southern B.C. The beautiful colors
and smells were nice after seasonless SoCal.
3. Watson Lake, Yukon, minus 10 F. Yes, an abrupt
entry into winter, plugged in the block heater in
the truck.
4. Allison at night in Beaver Creek, right before
crossing the border. The road from Haines
Junction to Alaska is the worst on the entire
trip, massive frost heaves and cracks in the
road, we talked to a couple on the ferry that
had rolled their car there the month before and
their dog died in the wreck.
5, 6. The drive from Tok to Anchorage, 0 F in
Tok, the locals said it was warm, doesn't get
cold until 15 or 20 below. A beautiful drive
until Palmer and the Glenn Highway with a lot
of wrecks, glare ice conditions with people
driving 75, saw a car pass us and rolled over in
the next couple of miles with the people
trapped inside, glad to get to Anchorage!
7, 8. Auntie Ione and my happy parents with
Baby Quinn. They drove up to Anchorage
Saturday to spend the night with us there
before we got on the ferry.
9. It snowed all that night, an outside shot of
the hotel and my parent's minivan.
10. The Whittier Tunnel, the longest highway
tunnel in N. America. A power outage caused
us to question if we would make it to the ferry
and we ended up waiting in the car for 4 hours
for it to open and another 2 hours before
gettting on the ferry.
11. Sunrise on the Gulf of Alaska.
12. Ryder and Faith playing in the play area on
the ferry, Ryder loves it!
13. Mt. St. Elias and largest coastal mountain
range in the world, almost home!
14. Our little house, the tan and white place
above and to the left of the big white building
in the foreground.
15. The lift on the ferry, getting ready to drive
off!
16. Goodbye ferry! We were on the last ferry
until the end of May.
17. 4 moose quarters, the Holcombs graciously
shared their meat with us so we could stock
our freezer for the winter.
18, 19. The meat grinder and a lot of packets
of ground moose and roast, stayed up until
midnight butchering, grinding and packaging
meat. This time of year the days are short so
everyone stays up late and sleeps in, about 10
p.m. and I was bushed but we are slowly
getting used to the new schedule. Thanks for
reading!






















5 comments:

Laura Springer said...

Glad to see you all made it home, albeit with a few...er...bumps.

You remain in our prayers.

D said...

Thanks Laura,
It is good to be home, a few things to adjust to but thankful for all the prayers, definitely could see the results firsthand on this trip.
D

shawnalyne said...

What awesome pictures! I look forward to reading more of your adventures in Yakutat!
Shawn Strannigan

Anonymous said...

Great pictures. I am so jealous of the snow. Send some to Kentucky. I know God has called me here but I miss the snow. lol
Your family is beautiful.
Jody Stein

Unknown said...

Daniel - my address book can't be accessed, could you email me with yours please.. thanks, also Eric and Donna's so I can send a congratulations their way for their brand new baby boy! Say, now it's time to put pressure on them to come back so Quinn will have a new play mate!!!

So good to have you all back in the community! I check daily for a new update... keep them coming.

The new addition to the house is looking great from the lower road when I walk by on my way to workout. Always lift you guys in prayer on my way by too!

Again, "welcome HOME!"
Blessings, Teen
Yakutat, AK