The Gravity of Sitka

We aren't quite sure how it happened, but we blinked and it had already been 10 days we had been in Sitka. That town has some serious gravity for us. Our dear friends Greg and Nicole live there and they have an almost 4 year old daughter, Madeline, who is a delight and a good friend to Lars and Odin. We all had loads of fun together, mostly centered around delicious meals, and their hospitality and generosity was amazing. We also had a visit from Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Ralph that couldn't have been any more fun. We tromped all over the city together, drank terrific, locally brewed beers, went to museums and spent time together at the apartment they rented. Lars and Odin even had a couple of sleepovers with Grandma and Grandpa! Then we had the need to get boat projects done after our long passage to ensure everything was ship shape for the trip through Alaska and home. With chandleries for supplies and with the boat tied to the dock, we were able to do much of what was on
the to do list. All in all 10 days in Sitka disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Today we did finally reach escape velocity and got away from the dock. It was tough to say goodbye, but it also felt really good to be moving again. After taking a good hard look at the distances to cover and the time we have left before getting back to Seattle, we've decided we don't have enough time to do Glacier Bay right, so sadly we will miss it this time. But it just means we will have to come back another time, darn! We are starting home now and will have enough time to take it easy and stop at favorite places for multiple days if we want to, have time to hunker down for bad weather if needed, and have shorter days of travel. Besides all that, there are still tidewater glaciers to see on our way south, and we will have time to do it right.

It's with a strange mix of excitement and sadness that we are making our way home. If I can get my thoughts into any sort of coherent order, I may write more about it later. I certainly have photos to post when we have wifi and aren't using the satellite phone to post. For now we are working our way towards Warm Springs Bay...yes, hot springs!