Sunday, August 2, 2009

VALDEZ: Sun. 8/2

1. Biking through town
2. One last trip to the ice cream truck.

I stayed up 'til 1am blogging and checking email, it's the only quiet time! I'm meeting so many moms from all over the world who are adopting from haiti and last night I had to start keeping track of who I was talking to and who they are adopting and where they're from. Plus, 2 of them told me to contact 2 other people of FB who have pictures of Charlene, which means without meeting these people and having a face with a name, it's hard to remember. So, I worked on that.
SUNSHINE TODAY! There was actually a point when I didn't see one cloud in the sky, it's a miracle. The sun feels soooo good.

I woke up early (7:15am) and headed to the grocery store to get that out of the way. Pretty peaceful first thing in the morning! Came back, cleaned up the motorhome, then we returned the 4 tanks Nathan had borrowed for his trip. We then came back, hopped on our bikes, headed down to the dock so Nathan could replace a battery for the Captain, then we rode around town...so nice in the sunshine!! We stopped by a place for lunch right by the harbor, biked over to the trail where we picked all of our salmonberries, then biked back home. Jack's little legs were so tired!

We hung out at the motorhome for awhile, preparing for a long journey home, then took the Jeep for a drive. We went out to Mineral Creek Trail. Most of it is driveable, although a few were hiking it and a couple of 4wheelers where out there too. It was still sunny!, so we took the top off the Jeep and enjoyed the warmness of the sun and the enormity of the mountais and waterfalls. We got out a few times, ate salmonberries when we found them, then came back to the RV to eat supper. I tried a new recipe: 7 layer taco pie and used my new deep dish pie plate! It was delicious, but just as we were about to eat, the ice cream truck came around! We let the kids pay one more visit to the ice cream truck, they were thrilled!! Once again, kids didn't get to bed til 10:30pm. I'm hoping that changes as the time changes and the days get shorter. I don't know how much longer I can stay up till midnight (or later) just to relax in the peace and quiet :)
I can't believe this is our last night here. We daydream about how to make it last longer, but we must face the fact that it is time to go. We have allowed almost 2 weeks to return home, so maybe we won't have to have everyday be a l-o-n-g driving day. We noted a couple of spots we wanted to stop at on the way home. It will be a fun trek home.

Jack says he can't remember what his toys at home look like, so he's anxious to get home and see those. Taylor is sad to leave, she really likes it here, although she said she wouldn't want to live here because she wouldn't be able to go swimming. The high school has a very nice pool here, but I have to say, there is a difference between always having to swim indoors and getting to swim at the lake or outdoor pool when it's super hot out.
The only thing we didn't accomplish was a Glacier Cruise to see the Columbia Glacier and possibly whales. I guess we'll just have to wait til next time. We did see/do a lot in a short amount of time, even though it was raining, cloudy and cold (for us) 90% of the time. It was a great stay in Valdez, great campground with fantastic views! I wouldn't change a thing and can't wait to come back again!!
Nathan can't wait to come back and explore more with the Salmon sharks too! He had a great experience and got some great shots of a shark that is hard to photograph!
Not sure if I'll have time/opportunity to write as we drive home as internet gets sketchy. Our tentative goal for tomorrow is Tok...pretty easy day. Maybe the Salmon Bake will be open this time?!
Charlene: The only new news I have on our daughter is that she took another trip to Calico beach recently and loved the pool. That's about it. LaWanna will return to Haiti tomorrow (Mon.), yeah!!
~L

3 comments:

  1. We spent time with Lawanna this past weekend at Haitian camp in Indiana. She talked about your baby and I saw some pictures. She is a definite beauty! We are adopting Bella. I look forward to meeting many more people in the same process as us!

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  2. Hi! We have a missionary here for another few weeks. He is church planting (12 churches so far), has an orphanage, and has started a school in South Haiti. He is Hatian. We have learned so much from him about the needs of the country, his ministry, etc. We also homeschool and we're trying to give him a vision of homeschooling as well. Do you know of any organized homeschooling in Haiti? Even missionaries that were there homeschooling would be a start. Congrats on your baby girl on the way! Tori

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  3. Kate and Tori-
    I don't know how to respond to you via this blog (still so new to me). I'd like to chat with both of you. I'm on Facebook (Lindsay Meadows, my profile pic is of Charlene and I) or my email is 4sharkdivers@att.net.

    Thank you!
    Lindsay

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