Celebrating our twentieth anniversary we chose to travel to the West Coast and Alaska during the summer. The trip proved to be a major landmark for the family. The first phase of the trip was to visit Ed’s sons and their wives in Eugene, Oregon. Doug and Jennifer are both busy with their careers. Middle son David has found a combined therapist/mentor in the Lester family and is playing on the local hockey team. Mike and Terrianne have struggled through the first years of marriage but Mike is now working seriously on a Graphic Design degree at the local community college. More importantly, his skill-set will be in demand after completing the technical degree which means he can expect a long career.
Stage two of the trip was directed east of Eugene, first to Sisters and then to Crater Lake. The main attraction of Sisters, Oregon is the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, held on the second weekend of July each year. Now try to imagine a small town (less 2000 pop.), where every storefront and main street building are covered in quilts attracting over 12,000 visitors. The sights are a blend of controlled chaos, artistic display, sunny big-sky vistas and cameras clicking constantly. Over two-thousand quilts of all sizes, colors and themes created kaleidoscopic visual excitement. Next stop: Diamond Lake Lodge and a short drive into Crater Lake National Park. The deepest lake of North America, six miles long and four miles wide, the lake was formed over 12,000 years ago by a major volcanic explosion. It is also the clearest, purest lake water in the country and just breathing the clean air at 5500 ft. elevation was a boost to the immune system. Or maybe it was that delicious, fresh grilled salmon served at Crater Lake Lodge.
We left the Cascade Mountains along the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway - the western water shed dropping water over steep hills and through primordial forests. No less than five major waterfalls within a seventy-mile stretch of weaving highways built, evidently, by expert drivers. With a short stopover back in Eugene, we reconnoitered for the remaining phase of the trip. Ed had long wanted to visit the 50th state and what better reason to cruise on a luxurious Holland-America ship while viewing glaciers and floating ice chunks from the comfort of a stateroom picture window.Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan were our main stops in lower Alaska with a brief visit to the Mendenhall Observation Center and cruising past the enormous Hubbard Glacier. North America's largest glacier, this Ice Age titan measures 5 miles in width and a staggering 40 stories in height where it meets saltwater at Disenchantment Bay. Two exciting moments were captured in our shore excursions. First a whale-watching harbor cruise found a school of fifteen whales in a “bubble-net feeding frenzy” jumping and arching out of the water in a circular formation. The activity creates a vacuum in the center, sucking up small school fish for the whales to feast on. The second was a photographer’s dream: sailing over the misty clouds in a floatplane from Ketchikan to look over mountainous formations of cliffs, valleys and landing in absolute quiet (0 pop.), in the middle of Punchbowl Lake inside Tongass National Forest. These glorious aerial views are why digital cameras were invented! We headed back to North Carolina tired and ready for a long recovery. But not yet.
Bonnie’s Social Security birthday was just ahead - time to enroll in Medicare and start those pension checks coming in. Isn’t S.S. just for old people, or am I still in denial about aging? Bonnie’s year has been spent between two advisors: a nutritionist and a personal trainer. She has a new waistline proving that a lot of discipline and perspiration do make a difference. Now her focus is on buying new clothes and maintaining a “body of work in progress.”
Sister Jan and Rich visited Missouri in October, bringing Mother back to North Carolina with them. Her visit prompted one of Mother’s hot tamale dinners at Jan’s house and time to investigate some serious health needs. Both Ed and Mother have endured hearing loss and each has found the “millions dollar hearing aid.” Siemans Centra digital devices have advanced help for the hearing impaired with major improvements. Now Ed and Mother are back in the mainstream of life listening to music, telephone talk and getting more than the occasional word of a conversation. This is truly technology working to make life better.
The family news contains both joy and sadness. Ed’s two nieces, Tamera and Ilana each had a baby this year; Tamera a boy and Ilana a girl. Brenda and Randy Bledsoe (our Bledsoe cousin) and twin-brother Ronnie Bledsoe suffered the loss of Randy’s son Paul early in January. Their visit in June gave us a Missouri reunion in North Carolina, a sad but needed time for strengthening family ties. Too many have lost close friends and family this year, making for a most subdued holiday season.
The OLLI/New Horizons Band Holiday Concert is just days away and Ed is practicing the saxophone daily. After a quiet, lazy Thanksgiving, we expect to enjoy Christmas dinner with Jan, Rich and the Sterns. Soon as the New Year arrives we sail south from Charleston for the ‘dance at sea’ weeks with five couples. Each year brings something new and reasons to treasure the moments we share together.
Happy Holidays to each and all,
Bonnie & Ed
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