Last day! day 14

Day 14!

Well it has taken me a bit of time to get hooked up to a computer where I can do this blog and finish it up. Many of you have expressed how disappointed you were in that I left you hanging. It was not my intention but then I was suprised how many people were following us on this journey. I found this little button on the blog page called "stats" and since this is new to me and I am clueless what the button did I of course hit the button.  This blog had over 3100 hits as of today which blows my mind! You all have too much time on your hands! Actually I am honored I had so many hits on the blog. THANKS   :-)

I have to share with you my devastation as I sat down to write this last blog. I was crushed to find I made a horrible error on our last day of travel. We came through some of the most breath-taking beauty of the trip if you can believe that. We went through the Mat-Su valley area where three different glaciers can easily be viewed. There were vast mountain panoramas with deep, fall colored valleys between the road and the mountain ranges. We took many photos. One I recall was of Michelle standing with one of these color-filled valleys and ranges as a back drop. It was like a painting but only real. The chill in the air and the breeze on your face even more so brought home the reality this was no painting but real life.  It brought tears to Michelle's eyes as she looked out over the valley and I took her picture and she said: "this is like a dream, i cannot believe we are here". Another photo was of David with his blue eyes wide open looking at a glacier with its white and deep turquoise blue color of the ice in the background. The problem was that none of the photos we took were recorded on the disk of the camera. It was my fault for each night I removed the disk to download the photos for that day on my laptop. I simply forgot to replace the memory chip that morning. I am sad that the photos taken were not preserved. I know we will one day soon travel back up there since it is not far from Anchorage but it is a moment passed and not to be repeated. 

For the blog there are just a few photos snapped with Michelle's phone and a few I downloaded from the internet but it is not the same. You will have to use your imagination or better yet come and see for yourself.  Sometimes the view seemed to have the heavens touching the earth and it was hard to tell where the two separated. 

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We did arrive safely without further incident. We spent much of our time the last few days getting as much as possible unpacked and the kids ready for school on Tuesday. The photo is from Tuesday as they were getting ready to go through the doors of their new school. School here started about 2 weeks ago (Mid August) and they let out the beginning of May so the kids can enjoy the spring weather. They are going to Anchor Lutheran School which is a school supported by a few of the congregations in the area. We did the school shopping this last weekend  for supplies and gym shoes, and other necessities so they would be ready for their first day. They gave dad "the look" when I wanted to take their photo outside the school. David is growing up and beginning the eye role and quickly asked if when we dropped him off if he could just go right to his classroom instead of being walked in by mom or dad. He is at an awkward age of being a kid and a young man. Grace could hardly sleep the night before her first day of school. She is the planer and the worrier of the family. She packed David's and Faith's school bags for them with all their supplies. Faith, Well she comes off as she could care less and sometimes she does not but she is our shy one and the first day she was mobbed by the kids of her class and a little overwhelmed. 
The important this was the David came home with a smile on his face, Grace came home with a invitation to a birthday party, and Faith came home with a phone number of a new friend. 

I guess and I hope I do not loose the awe of what I see each day. We were traveling to school the first morning and we had some great God light that just lit up an area of the mountains that surround Anchorage. Our journey here was full of up's and down's and I do not mean just the mountain roads! Some have asked if

I would do it again and I have to say yes, I would in a minute! I would do some things differently like no kids (kidding!). We were of course moving things with us and if I did it again I would just like to travel it without loaded down vehicles. Through the Mat-Su valley that enters into Palmer AK, much of that road is the twistiest and narrowest road we traveled. Much if it is suggested at 35mph and for good reason as there are a lot of hairpin curves and steep descending hills. I am sure I either stuck a break caliper or burnt out a break pad on the driver's side front as I tried to keep the boat behind me and not in front of me. Yet with the sickness, the transmission, windshield, duct tapping needs (which I found out is called 100mph tape in Alaska because they use it to hold their planes together!), break issues and other things I would do it again. 

Life is a journey and you never know what you are going to get or what is going to happen and that is not limited to the Ritchie household. It is true of us all even if we have a inclination to stay put in one location and live out our life in one spot. As for the Ritchie's, well I don't think any of us would trade the life we have lived together as a family so far for an easier route. We have had some close calls and near death experiences. Life has had its bumps and rough spots but...well there is the other side of those bumps and rough spots and that is as much as a part of life as the hard times. So how does God want me to live out my life- a glass half empty or half full? Fasten my eyes on my savior and go for the full glass!

So how about a vacation with the Ritchie's? That is how this kind of started was people laughing at our adventures and I hope you have had some laughs with us. We are in Alaska! We are Cheechako's! That is the term for people who have not had their first winter in Alaska. Other terms might be newcomer, tenderfoot, greenhorn, or babe in the woods (that is my wife! she is a babe in the woods- wolf whistle would be placed here now!!!!). After this winter ends which is quickly coming, we will be sourdough's although I will not stuff sourdough mix under my shirt to keep it from freezing as the gold rush miners did from the long ago era! This was a typical vacation for us. I hope if you ever had the desire to come to AK you will come and while here stay with us or at least stop by for a visit. You can only imagine the beauty here and it will blow your mind to see it for real. 

These photos were taken from the internet but do not nearly capture the grandeur of the glaciers. 

So what was our arrival like when we pulled into Anchorage?

It was a beautiful sunny day. We still have light until about 9:30 pm and the morning sky lights up at about 6:30 in the morning. That is quickly changing as we will move to about 4-5 hours of light a day in the middle of the winter. 

We are so grateful to the people of Anchorage Lutheran church at the welcome they have shown us. Someone made sure the kids had pets to replace the pets that they gave up for the move. Faith had a fish tank complete with a "mickey fish" (molly with a black mickey mouse head on its tail) in her room, a bird in Grace's room and David's room set up for a lizard of his choice. There was some food in the fridge, our kitchen was unpacked so we did not have to dig for the necessities, and some German tea (beer) in the beverage fridge in the garage. We had some fresh picked raspberries brought to us along with some salmon and a hot dish meal so we would not have to cook the one night while we were unpacking. 

I will be installed this weekend at 4:00pm Alaskan time. Did you know that the state of Alaska is so big it has its own time zone? Did you know that those Texans who brag about the size of Texas could easily become the third largest state in the United States if Alaska ever decided to cut itself in half and become two states? Now that is BIG!!! I also preach my first sermon this weekend at the 8:30 and 11:00 services here at ALC. 

I guess I don't have much else to say, except I am going salmon fishing on Monday.  

Keep an eye out on the blog. I will be using this to share thoughts from time to time. 

God bless and my His peace rein in your heart and life! 

Andy

 Child of God, husband, father, pastor of Anchorage Lutheran Church.