We rose early for our scheduled trolley tour of the city. Interesting tour guide. Best part of the tour - other than his array of Dad jokes - was the explanation about the importance of the earthquake of 1964. He pointed out several places where the quake had actually reinvented the landscape of the city. The info about the use of small planes by the populace was interesting as well. For many people getting a pilot’s license was more important than a drivers’ license. He dropped us off at the downtown visitor’s center after the tour.
That’s where Lauren came to pick us up. We went to their house first and saw the rest of the family, then all of us walked over to Radiant Church just around the corner. She and Kenny gave us the grand tour of the facilities. It was especially fun to see Levi’s Playground that Seasiders helped build with donations. It has already grown. Another group built them a GaGa ball court. There’s that game again. The Praying Pelicans group from the plane were there. Saw Brother Matthew again. He said he always wanted to have a Greek name. I told him to just pick one and tell everyone it was a monk thing. Kenny asked if that was just a pope thing or could anybody do it. Matthew said he had already done that once. Hence ... Matthew.
After lunch with the Humphries Kenny dropped us off at the Ulu factory. That’s a knife making place that Chris wanted to see. We forgot to go see the stream with salmon in it, though. Ah, well. Maybe next time. Besides, it was raining by that time, so we jumped on the free trolley and then walked the final few blocks back to the hotel. After hooking back up with our group (and being joined by our new friends Jim and Jeanne) we went to see a movie about the Aurora Borealis. Some guy had taken pictures over 40+ years and compiled them all. Very pretty pictures and all, but honestly quite boring. Nap time.
Next came photo ops in a park covered with really pretty flowers. Vibrant colors, for sure. Sheri went into full-on professional photographer mode. Cary and Kay Lynn proved her best subjects. She molded them into all sorts of contortions. We even got a passerby to snap one fo all of us. All that work made us hungry, and we were right across the street from Humpy’s (Not HumpTy’s. I wouldn’t describe the place as a dump-ty, either). I went out on a limb and ordered a Crabby Cake burger. King crab leg fried patty with lots of cheese on top on a bun with lettuce and tomato. I traded the garlic sauce for some mayo. Then ketchup. Very good. And the apple crisp for dessert was exceptional.
Such a meal required some physical exertion to follow, so we debate walking for a while or playing cards. Yep. Playing cards won. Hand and foot is our group’s poison of choice. Guys versus girls. We co-opted a thing that was masquerading as a table in the lobby and pulled out the cards. Now this particular round of card games was nothing short of ... a little out of hand. The three game set included more than its fair share of trash talking (not by me, of course). I’m pretty sure I heard Cary refer to his wife as “Wild Thang.” At least that’s what she heard him say. And when the games ended and the guys had won all three - quite handily, I might add - I heard one that I have never heard before. Sheri explained that it was something that was commonly used in the deepest areas of Kennedale. Cary proclaimed, “Hah! That’s three dust piles to your face.” Dust piles? OK. Now the girls did have an impressive array of comments as well, especially for someone losing three games in a row. Three games was about all we could handle. We were all becoming a bit giddy, so we retired to our individual rooms - cold, air conditioned rooms with large ceiling fans as well - with our hotel-provided $70 robe and house shoes.
Oh, I almost forgot. The absolute highlight of the trip so far for me. No, no moose yet. When we were downtown we went to the Alaska Federal Building so Chris could get some stamps in our National Parks book. Being a Federal facility, we had to do the whole airport screening thing, putting everything into a bin and walking through the x-ray machine. And then it happened. The tell-tale beep beep beep. Yep. For the first time in my life ... I set off the security scanner. The agents pulled me aside and had me spread my legs and hold my arms out to the side in the classic Leonardo daVinci pose. He grabbed his hand held scanner and started the process. Yep. There it was again. Beep beep beep. He had me sit down and hold out one leg at a time in front of me. One was all quiet. But the other? Beep beep beep. There was the proof we had all been waiting for. My new knee officially set off the scanner. Boy, did I ever feel special. OK, not that I really wanted it to happen at an airport ...
Finally, the Mouth Report. Another stitch came out. Kind of gross, actually. But now it feels like that stitch was holding together a hole that’s now gaping open. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just swollen in a strange way or something. The soreness/tenderness is still around, but Oragel is working fairly well to calm the storm. So our luggage is packed and ready for pickup. I have had a cup of coffee. And are you ready for this one? Chris is up and dressed and sitting in the chair relaxing. Here in Alaska it is 6:20. That makes it mid-morning in Texas, doesn’t it?
Psalms 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. “
Father, thank you for the chance to see Kenny and Lauren. Walk with them through the decisions they are making and the life they are making for and with you in Alaska. Amen.
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