Monday, June 15, 2009

Wednesday, June 10 Recap – Parting is such sweet sorrow…

I started writing this as we sat in the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport waiting on our flight out to board. Unfortunately I’m not finishing it until now due to work, church, jet lag, lack of sleep, and fixing broken things at home. I apologize for the delay and hope you understand.

Since we were leaving today, most of us packed last night. I decided it would be prudent to do a load of laundry. First of all my suitcase would smell much better when I got home, especially after our 14 hour day Tuesday, plus I figured I'd win points with my wife, Lisa, for returning with clean clothes instead of laundry for her to do. The only con I could think of was that it was 11:00 p.m. when I decided to start. It was 12:30 a.m. when I decided to finish with just a little dampness remaining in some of the heavier items. My wife will be especially glad to know that I separated the clothes to be washed, her disappointment will return when she finds out I only separated into one pile. I am now a clothes folding zombie.

We started our day on Wednesday as we have every other day in Alaska, five of us trekking to the hospital for breakfast, three of us sleeping in. Steve Snodgrass is supposed to pick us up at 8:00 a.m., but is there when we return to the dorm at 7:30 a.m.

We arrange for a late check-out of 3:00 p.m. from our dorm rooms. The plan is to work until 2:00 p.m. and then come back to our rooms, take a quick shower, and hit the road. It’s decision that every person we come in contact with while returning to the Tri-Cities will appreciate… even if they’re unaware of it.

We worked as hard and as fast as we could today. Donna and Dawnena finished all the painting they had planned. Worley and various helpers throughout the day finished the cabinetry and, as an added bonus, started on a couple of extra base cabinets. We continued excavating the hill for the added parking and switched out equipment operators throughout the day. Everyone else who wasn’t otherwise occupied with the above tasks worked on the deck.

We had previously torn out a 4 x 16 deck on Monday and were now constructing a 16 x 16 deck to take its place using composite decking instead of treated lumber. The pictures show our progress, but the important thing is that we did finish before we left.

We also had a great lunch of chicken or pork grilled on the new event grill we had bought for the home. This was our last opportunity to share a meal with the boys.

We went back to the dorms, showered, completed packing, and checked out. Imagine our surprise when, after driving hours around the Anchorage area to view the wildlife we had our closest encounter with a moose, coming within 15 feet of where he stood, just across the road from our rooms. Isn’t that how it always works though?

We had a little time to kill before our flight and drove up to Flattop Mountain in Chugach State Park just east of Anchorage. It is the most hiked mountain in Alaska, though we did not have the time to hike it. We ended up walking around the overlook trail instead and snapping a few pictures. Afterward, Steve dropped us off at the airport.

It’s been a great trip and we have been blessed to spend time with Steve and his mother, Betty. I’m sure God will greatly bless him for the time and work he has put into the boys home though the 6 trips he has personally made here.

We checked in for our flight and checked our luggage. Security was a little more interesting this time as two of our party was stopped for bag screenings. It ended up that one had a razor blade and the other had extra box cutting blades that they had used throughout the week, but had forgotten to remove from their backpacks and put into their checked luggage. The TSA (Transportation Safety Administration) folks were happy to help out and took care of the sharp objects for them.

We had dinner at a Chili’s To Go in the terminal and flew back to Charlotte via Minneapolis.

Sorry for this late recap, but stay tuned for a trip summary later.

Until then God Bless!