Filled With Joy

Home! I need a vacation from my vacation. Collin and I spent some time on a drive this evening. It was beautiful. Of all the amazing places I saw this past week, I still find the greatest joy in our beautiful mountains that surround where I live.

Seattle is a city full of people. It was crowded with people. I had a hard time trying to keep everyone moving and enjoying a place that I had never been and knew nothing about while at the same time playing tour guide. This is a job I didn't want and wasn't prepared to take on. However, everyone was looking to me to do it. I admit I didn't find a lot of joy there, because I was so stressed.  But, once we were on the airplane I took some breaths and calmed down. I focused on the day, hoping to find something good. Then I looked out the window. What I saw was breathtaking. It was my joyful moment. I watched as long as I could. Mt. Rainier will always remind me of the peace I felt when I needed it so much.

At sea for the day. There is joy in a sea day. Today I found a happy place. I will return to this place, mentally, when I need to relax.

Ketchikan is a busy place when the ships come in. There is so much noise and commotion. There are too many trinket stores and very small sidewalks to accomodate everyone. We did see a very fun lumberjack show that was better than expected. I find great joy when I was full belly laughing. We saw salmon getting ready to run upstream and bald eagles perched to eat them. We weren't able to tour as much as we would like due to tour difficulties. We will have to return.

Today we went to Sitka. Sitka is very quaint and quiet. I found great joy in this peaceful place. We did a lot of walking through the trees, along the coast, and through the town. We are tired but happy.

Glacier National Park is SPECTACULAR JOY and there are no words to describe it. This picture is only cropped. The water is literally this blue. We saw otters, bears, mountain goats, harbor seals, and several giant glaciers. I will go back there someday.

Today we went to Juneau. It is so beautiful here. I was not prepared for the enormity of the mountains, the blue of the water, and the green of the land. We had a lovely time. Trent and I hurriedly ran took an excursion to Mendenhall Glacier. It was worth the walk/jog to see it and return before the ship left. Joy in Juneau. I love exploring new places. Bonus Post: We took a class on the ship to learn to take pictures with our phones. It was so informative! My pictures will be better here on out. This is one of my very favorites from the day.