McCain's choice for VP

Wow, what a bold move! McCain's choice of Sarah Palin (AK) as his pick for VP is wonderful. A pro-life woman (her fifth child born in April this year has Down Syndrome), a traditional view of marriage, and strong on tapping in on national natural resources is a great choice. While I still think Condoleezza Rice would have been a stronger ticket, Palin is a welcome relief from the same ole - same ole routines of the past!
Glenn Beck has an excellent interview on her taped earlier this year on CNN. He says that she is the real deal.
While many will question her experience, as Beck said today, she is an under-study with McCain as a mentor ... the way it should be. On the other side you have an under-study running for President with the mentor as VP.
It will be interesting to see how things develop over the next few weeks.

Trip completed ... well almost!

Home again, home again, what a relief it is!! To sleep in a bed that does not rock and roll. Oh, that's is reference to the Amtrac Train ride. Actually, it went fairly well. The trip from Seattle to Chicago was a straight and solid 48 hours of travel. Our coach was in the middle of the configuration. Which meant that the coach was fairly controlled since it was connected to out cars. We arrived in Chicago 1 hour late than scheduled, mostly due to 2 EMT stops in the middle of nowhere. Rescue Squads met us along the tracks to take the unfortunate into the hospital. Then a freight train which was ahead of us hit some debri and did some damage to the engine. So we had to wait patiently for him to get repaired and move off the main track. We had extactly 1/2 hour in Chicago to find our next boarding. Speaking of chaois the terminal in Chicago would be a good definiation. This part of our trip was much rougher and difficult. We ended up with our coach being the last car in the configuration. Not a fun ride as you are the whip of the train. Anyway, we made it safely home ... 2 hours late. Now for the fun part of going through pics and all that stuff. It may take days!! Glad to be home.

A new form of travel ...gawking!

Ok, I admit that its not the best idea ... but after travels to Kenya, Colorado, Alaska, Britsh Columbia and Alberta, we almost have it perfected! It takes time, skill and a backseat driver who will 'calmly' sit in the passenger seat. It's called gawking. One good thing about gawking in Canada is that they have rumble strips on both shoulders of the road AND in the middle line. The only problem is that it makes the road really small. Here's how it goes. Both partners need to be seriously looking either at the scenery or looking for wildlife. The camera needs to be carefully placed beside the driver. Each partner has their own set of binoculars. The driver looks intently out his side window while keeping the car between the rumble strips. The backseat driver looks intently out his/her window while practicing an ancient ritual of sudden totally unexpected high pitched screams -- particularly if you happen to be on a road that does not have rumble strips. Sometimes the driver needs to practice the art of driving with his/her knees while looking through binoculars or trying to frame a scene in the viewfinder of his/her camera. It is best to be driving under the speed limit and with your headlights on. You need to be aware that occassionally, you will provoke the wrath of youthful drivers who are jam'in on their radios and have never looked beyond the headlights of their car.
Have fun and happy gawking!

Last Leg of Journey

Good Morning from Lake Louise, Alberta! I am sitting in our hotel room at Lake Louise Inn, a great place to be. Unfortunately, there is no AC in the rooms, so we will need to figure that out by tonight. We are here for two nights. We are on the last leg of our trip before heading home. From here we will make our way back to Seattle Washington by Sunday afternoon for a three day date with the Amtrak Train.
This is a beautiful place. We are almost on image overload. We feel like our computer memory is about to explode. There is so much to see. The Canadian Rockies are awesome. There is nothing you can humanly do to try to even capture one per cent of the God given splendor. We serve an awesome God. Last night we walked the trail around Moraine Lake which is close to Lake Louise. So peaceful. There were only a handful of other people on the trail compared to the thousands at Lake Louise. Today, we will attempt to brave the large tourist crowds and walk the trail partially around Lake Louise.
We are looking forward to getting home. It has been a great trip. God has given us so many special moments to cherish. We worship Him!! I would put some more pics on, but it’s almost an insult to what we have seen.

Time to say good-bye!

Well, it is hard to do. It's time to say good-bye to Alaska. Maybe it would be better to say, "see ya later"! The trip so far has been wonderful. Just about the right amount of time in each place. It is hard to comprehend the vastness and magnitude of this place. It blows your mind to think about it. Snow covered mountain appear and disappear in seconds!! We just left GlennAllen this morning, the home of the North American largest National park; 13 million acres. We were able to see Mt. Drum, Mt. Sanford, Mt. Wrangell and Mt. Blackburn all in one shot, but only for a few minutes. I tried to take pics but the skyline is hard to take and it just does not do it justice. We have met wonderful people. Creationist are easy to spot. They walk around with their hands up in the air singing and saying things under their breath about God. The mountains here are just incredible. Huge. It's time to say bye for now. Yes, I could easily come back to hunt some time. That would be a great experience. In a hour or so, we will be on the plane for Seattle. Off to another spectacular part of God's creation. I can't wait!!