Day 1 of the Great Alaska Road Trip

Day 1: 115 miles

Fjord near Juneau on the previous cruise

Pretty wimpy beginning. After all the organizing and packing of the car, we drove a measly two hours to our daughter's house in St. Paul. Pretty anti-climactic. But my monthly writers' group met tonight. No point in going home afterwards. (Great group! And I'm not just saying that because they told me to.)

I was in high school when I first heard of the Alaskan Highway. In those days it was a dirt road. You had to be an auto mechanic to attempt it and carry extra gas cans. I am not a mechanic; nor did I marry one. Eventually I gave up the trip as unrealistic, but it remained a dream.

Fast forward fifty years. Driving to Alaska has also been my 89-year-old mother-in-law's dream. A few years ago we cruised the Alaskan coast with her. That simply whet our appetites to see more of the interior. Mom is moving more slowly these days. She wants something to hold onto to steady herself. But her mind is alert. She can sit in the car and look out the windows and be as wowed by the scenery as my husband and I. We have traveled together before, and can be pretty sure we won't be at each other's throats after three and a half weeks of being cooped up in the same vehicle.

So here we go. Mom flew to Seattle last week for a few days with her daughter's family. Tomorrow Steve and I will begin our journey in earnest.

Books in Unexpected Places

Books. The printed kind with bright coloured covers and dog-eared pages. They are becoming rarer and rarer in my life as the convenience of downloading e-books to my phone directly from Amazon or the library takes over. But there is still something about the real thing calling to me from the coffee table or the nightstand, filling my bookcases with memories of favourites.

My grandchildren’s shelves are overflowing. A few months ago the second grader came down the stairs well after bedtime to confess to her parents that she had been reading by flashlight under the covers after the lights were turned off. Her parents looked at one another. How could they punish their kid for reading too much? She is now permitted to read for ten minutes after the lights are out. She still likes it best under the covers with a flashlight, but at least she doesn’t have to worry about getting caught.

On a recent trip to Korea to visit my other daughter, we took a day’s holiday at Nami Island. It is a cultural centre that celebrates books among other things. Besides the books in every room of our rented hut, this little shelter stood outside with a view of the river.

The playground included this collection of children’s books.

There were even books in the public toilet stall!

I’ve seen little libraries in other places. A red English phone box filled with books stands next to a bakery in Hungary where we stopped for coffee.

On her walks a friend makes the rounds of several free libraries (built by Lions Club) including this one in her own front yard. She scans her shelves at home for things someone else might want to read. Take one/leave one is the rule.

So where have you found books in surprising places? Where would you like to see one of these little libraries set up?
(Google Little Free Libraries to see lots more examples.)

[Republished from International Christian Fiction Writers.]

Babysitting--a Grandparent's Delightful "Job"

I set this blog up because I wanted to be able to post for family and friends WHILE I am traveling, and not wait until I get home in case some thief is waiting to rob my house when I'm gone. But it came with a link to my Google Profile. So much for anonymity. Now I am home and finally have time to figure out how to disconnect my Google Profile. Yay! In the future I will try again. Here's my unposted blog on our weekend in Disney. (Brief because I didn't have my own computer either. Next time…) 

We're in Florida! Given the 

cold weather at home, it feels great.

We went to babysit. After all
 that's what grandparents are for!

Mom ran the Dopey at Disney (5k, 10k, half, and
full marathons on successive days).
Trainer Dad ran the marathon along side Mom
and kept her going when she flagged.
Simeon ran his first 100m kid run and loved it.

It was a fun weekend of good food, and hanging out with loved ones. One of the best parts was seeing Simeon so soon after Christmas so that we weren't strangers. He took immediately to Grandpa. (Of course!) It was hard to say goodby.

In the Footsteps of the Martyrs

[Reposted from my website]

One day on our recent visit to Split, Croatia, we took a city bus to the late Roman city of Salona.

Salona, a city of 70,000 people, was the birthplace of the future Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century. You can see the modern city of Silon in the background.

A city of 70,000 people requires a major sewer system.

Diocletian was the last pagan emperor, responsible for a major persecution of Christians. As I walked across the grassy floor of this area where several died, I though how great a cloud of witnesses are there to inspire my faith.

The city was sacked by the Avars and Slavs in the 6th and 7th centuries. Survivors settled inside the ruins of Diocletian's palace in nearby Split, where we stayed on our holiday.

When we passed the fish market, I had to check out what they looked like before the cook got a hold of them--significantly less appetizing.

We ate some new and exciting foods during our month in Croatia. This cuttlefish seasoned with its own ink in a tiny cafe beneath the wall of Diocletian's Palace was my most spectacular.

Split is first and foremost the sort of resort where the locals spend their summer vacation, and the sea is what they go for. It was too chilly for us, although I have no doubt that my grandchildren would have been happy to join the swimmers who braved the waters of the Adriatic even in late October.

Our two and a half days in Split inspired us to want to return and explore more of this fabulous coast. Who knows if we ever will, but we certainly enjoyed the time we had.

A Park for How Many Years?

[Reposted from my website]

Ghosts and ghouls are not my thing so let's see  more pictures instead. The city of Split, Croatia, sits on a peninsula on the Dalmatian Coast of the Adriatic Sea. On a recent visit to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary, my husband and I hiked along the ridge of the Marjam hill, set aside as a park by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century.The hike began with ninety-nice steps to this look out point--and that was only the beginning.

Cruise ships and ferries ready to embark for the islands wait in Split harbor in the early morning.

Medieval hermits were fond of the caves in the cliffs on Marjam Hill, so there are several chapels. (More steps.)

Even I didn't climb to this hermitage.

The views of the islands from the hill were breathtaking.

This cross at the highest point with the islands in the distance (another 100+ steps) made me think of Jesus, the Hope of the Nations, the Hope of Croatia.

The views made us dream of taking one of those cruise ships someday.

When we reached the tip of the peninsula, having met only a handful of joggers and dog-walkers, all locals, we walked back along the shore of the bay through an area that proved to be popular with families and bicyclers.

"The best part of the city," the girl in the information office said, and by the time we returned to our hotel, footsore with aching muscles (did I mention the steps?), we could almost agree with her. No crowds, no tourists. Only the beauty of the amazing world God created on a gorgeous blue-sky day. Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of Silona, a Roman city of 70,000 people in Diocletian's day.

Fairytale Anniversary

[Reposted from my website]

My husband and I completed forty years of marriage in May. Knowing we would be in Croatia, we decided to wait and celebrate in Split on the Adriatic Sea. Well worth it! Fabulous time!

Split was originally the retirement home of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century. The facade of these buildings is the wall of his palace, facing the sea with this well-used modern promenade full of --you guessed it--coffee shops.

The view from our hotel window inside Diocletian's Palace. My first thought was noisy, but I revised that thought to community. The sounds of church bells and people in the cafe below were never far away. It reminded me of a giant family reunion. Even when you retreat to your bedroom to put your feet up as I was doing when I had these thoughts, you are never far from what is going on.

I felt like I was sleeping in the International Showcase at Epcot --people everywhere in this exotic, fairytale setting.

The best preserved part of Diocletian's Palace is the cellars beneath--now a shopping arcade. Weird to think this mall is 1700 years old.

Behind this facade was Diocletian's private quarters over the cellars you just saw.

My husband is not comfortable with heights, so I climbed the medieval bell tower added to Diocletian's mausoleum (now a church) by myself.

Today's first picture was taken from half way up this hill. Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of our hike.

With his fear of heights, my husband
made a wise choice when he decided not to come.

These steps were considerably higher and steeper than normal modern stairs. The rail is definitely needed!

Not Wisconsin

[reposted from my website]

The fun part about staying for five weeks in a place is getting to feel almost like a local. We were well known at the bakery around the corner where we bought fresh bread for our supper each night. (Our main meal we ate at noon with staff and students in the cafeteria.) We were recognized at our favorite pizza place and my husband was a regular at the coffee shop on the corner. Today I will share a few more pictures of life around town.

Beneath this square in the center of town is a modern shopping center where city government functioned during the Serbian bombardment in the 1990s war of independence. (The Cathedral is off to the left.)

A tourist brochure described the "caffeine culture" of Osijek. Coffee shops were everywhere and despite the brisk October weather, many people sat outside in the sunshine. This shop is on the same square as the previous picture.

The Saturday morning that I took off on a photo safari, I stopped for hot chocolate, thickened with cornstarch and topped with whipped cream, at a coffee shop across the street from this musician playing folk music.

Bike paths were everywhere and even old ladies like me used them for transportation. (You can sit up on these bikes instead of leaning on your hands!) One Sunday afternoon Deborah, one of my library colleagues,invited me to bike downtown with her for an evangelistic street meeting. Great exercise, good fellowship and gorgeous day.

Bike paths follow both sides of the Drava River. This graceful bike and pedestrian bridge connects them.

A mile (?) upstream a free ferry provides the crossing. Much cheaper than a bridge because it uses no fuel. It's attached to a cable. When untied and steered toward the center, the current against the keel provides the momentum to glide across.

Another Sunday afternoon one of the faculty invited us to the town of Valpovo
where an eighteenth century palace was built onto a medieval Ottoman castle. Wonderful walk in the grounds.

My husband and I completed forty years of marriage in May. We decided to delay celebration until we were in Croatia. Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of the fabulous Dalmatian Coast and the ancient town of Split--not the best name for a wedding anniversary, so be sure you pronounce it "Spleet" as the Croatians do. :-)