Land of the Midnight Sun

Every employee of Insight for Living, whether they admit it or not, longs to be invited to attend one of the cruise conferences that IFL sponsors every year. Typically, the only person from Listener Ministries to go is Carley, who just happens to be married to Jason, who does the youth programming for the cruise, so I've never held out a lot of hope for being asked to go.

This year, though, was the year I'd been secretly hoping for. Being single finally paid off! One of the girls from Special Events needed a roommate. Since they were also short on bookstore staff, I was asked to go along!

The cruise was an amazing experience. I've always preffered cruises to any other form of vacationing, because it's forced relaxation. But traveling with a large group was an entirely new experience. We had about 50 event and program staff and roughly 900 passengers on the ship. The IFL group commandeered about half the ship. We had our own programming throughout the week, with Chuck teaching each day and a concert each evening by talented performers including Nielsen and Young, David Pendleton, Jenni Till and Greg Buchanan.

Alaska is just breathtaking, too breathtaking for words. So how about pictures?

In Seattle on July 1st, with my roommates, Donna and Angela. We paused on this bridge because you could see Mount Ranier in the background. It didn't show up too well in the picture, though. I'm completely in love with Seattle and really want to go back for a longer visit.

Glacier Bay on July 3rd. We spent about four hours in the bay, watching the glaciers calve. Huge pieces of the glacier will break off and fall into the water. The sight, as well as the rumbling sound that precedes it, is awe-inspiring.

Juneau on July 4th. Juneau was my favorite of the four ports of call and I've got about a hundred pictures to prove it. Several of our group started the day by taking a tram up Mount Roberts. The views were spectacular. I was able to overcome my fear of heights long enough to shoot this picture.

The afternoon of the 4th, Chuck and Cynthia treated the staff to a trip to Taku Glacier Lodge. The trip began with a floatplane trip over several glaciers to the lodge.

There's nothing quite like viewing the glacier fields from the air. You can see the blue reflected in the glaciers...it's just gorgeous.

This spot at the lodge is known as the "Christmas card" spot. Everyone inevitably winds up here, shooting that perfect picture for their Christmas card.

Just about every trip to Taku will yield bear sightings, primarily because of the salmon they serve. Apparently the bears like it just as much as humans! We all stood and watched and photographed this mama and her two cubs for about ten minutes.

Group photo at Taku. This is almost the entire event and program staff. Really a great group!

Working hard at the bookstore - from right, Carley, yours truly, Gage and Sharon. Even this was a lot of fun. Even though our staff in LM gets to speak to IFL listeners daily, it's somehow different to speak to them in person and hear the stories of how the ministry has affected them. It's a great reminder that I'm truly working in ministry, even though I may not see it every day.

Totem pole in Ketchikan on July 6th. (July 5th was Sitka, where I saw "Transformers" with Jason and Carley and the youth. Not too many pictures of Sitka - it just felt like your typical small town.) Ketchikan was a great stop for shopping. If you're ever there, be sure to visit Ketchikandies - their chocolate-covered oreo's are to die for. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.Our final port of call was Victoria, BC on the 7th. Victoria's a beautiful city...full of British influences. Carley, Jason, Gage and I enjoyed dinner in a fun Irish pub, with live music included. We also wandered through the lobby of the Empress Hotel...very impressive.

This week I was asked to record a few of my thoughts about the trip. Listen to the broadcast in October and you may hear clips of me talking about the Alaska cruise. Be forewarned - the moment I sat down in the studio, I lost half the words in my vocabulary. Apparently the only adjective that remained was "amazing". But I guess that's not a bad one...it does sum up the trip quite nicely.