This afternoon we went driving looking for another trail to hike.  Our ferry is still delayed, and no one has answers.  Were *trying* to make the best of it, and thankfully, no more coffee has been thrown.  Anyways, we found this lake, and it was SO clear, I took two pictures.  The first one was just a regular shot:

Then I turned the camera upside down and got this:

For those of you (like me) who dont quite understand what just happened…The above picture?  The sky is right there ^^ The picture is still upside down.  See it now?  Yea, I didnt believe myself at first either.  Go ahead, stare a little…

This one was also taken, with the camera upside down.  It almost looks as though he is walking on the sky. 

I thought they were pretty cool.

 

So were still on the road.  Being stuck in Canada and all.  But I have been stalking this “You Capture” @ You should be folding laundry, since last week, and have been looking for the opportunities to actually get pictures of “Kisses.”  A rare thing!  But it wasnt all that hard, and was actually kind of fun.  Take a look:

Amanda found theses horses, and it inspired a walk up the hill behind our house in Oregon.  After a few minutes of wondering if we were going to get in trouble for taking the horses pictures (were always in trouble for doing something with horses it seems) Amanda got a little closer.  She fed the horse, then leaned in for a kiss.  The horse, apparently, from what I hear….”Kissed” her back.  Which is why the funny look she has in the first picture.

 

 

This next one isnt the actual kiss, it was more the look they had before/after they were through.  I thought it was pretty cute.

 

And a trip through Canada wouldnt be complete without a picture of the A&W bear. 

 

 

So yesterday was a hard HARD day. Everything that could go wrong, did. The ferry was canceled, the money was gone, everything was wrong and everyone was mad. I never have doubted God, or His existence. But yesterday I was wondering what He was up to. We were ready to go home, ready for this trip to be over. And then this. Why. Was the only thing we could ask. Knowing it would be ok, but knowing that we had three extra days, with little money and no idea what to do.

We went back to the ferry terminal to check to make sure, to try and find some direction out of this mess. As we pulled in, there was a rainbow right over the terminal. Of course, there was also the smell of rotting fish which was either from the attitude of the workers, or the low tide. At the time, we snapped a few pictures, gagged at the smell, and jumped back in the van – while mom checked for details. We spent the rest of the day wondering what to do.

This morning we got up to a brand new day. The previous day was a mere dream, or nightmare rather. But the sun was shining, he weather was right and our attitudes were adjusted as well. It got me to thinking, about yesterday. About the difference between yesterday and today. I also started thinking about the rainbow and pictures. I flipped open my Bible to the passage of the rainbow

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” – Genesis 9:12-16

…and while I know there isn’t really a comparison, I couldnt help but think…

All those years ago, there was something the same…A boat was stuck (for different reasons) but God was there then, and He was there with us yesterday. He is still there with us today and even though things seem so uncertain, one thing is: God is there. He never leaves. He knows whats going on, even when we don’t.

I think I might tend to think that if I don’t know, God certainly doesn’t. That if were not in our country, then God isn’t with us. But, thankfully, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Now…to get out of here and back to where things are a little more familiar…

 

What originally started out as a “Fun” trip, has turned into something a little more “Fun” than we were all expecting.

As some know, we left on a road trip two weeks ago. We escaped in the early hours of the morning (as we so often do) and headed for the Canadian border, for what we thought, would be another routine trip. We even had the added bonus of Marschel accompanying us for the adventure.

That is, until we found ourselves with problems we didn’t plan for.

Car troubles, money troubles, and to top all of this off: Another delayed ferry.
Yep. You read that right. After the van breaking down in Washington, (twice!!) and spending Valentine’s day in the repair shop, we managed to make it to the border.

This morning though, tragedy came upon our adventure, and a “slight” cramp was place in our schedule.

We sped anxiously to the ferry, ran into the terminal, and received the crushing news: Our ferry was stuck. In Sitka Alaska.

“Is this a joke?” Amanda asked the man standing behind the counter.

The man smiled, smugly, and informed us, rather harshly, that it was no joke.
“Ferry’s stuck. Go away. Come back another day.”

Amanda’s response to this news, was nothing less than we would expect from our dear captain. The man, however, was expecting none of it.

After a mild incident involving flying coffee, angry strings of words, and finally breaking down into sobs and hysterics, we decided that there was nothing more to do, than to reschedule our ferry for Friday.

So here we sit, in a library, logged into Marschel’s laptop, staring out the window into the cold rain. “So close” we think, and yet so, so far.
We realize that this is so little, compared the rest of the world’s problems, and even tragic events that have played out before us. We don’t even want to compare things. But something about being stranded, in a foreign country, locked out, again, and having not enough money to afford such a thing, was enough to send some of us over edge.

The trip itself, hasn’t been that bad.

The ride down to Oregon was great, we had no problems, and the time spent in Oregon was peaceful, relaxing, and very, very enjoyable. Now, I miss Oregon, I miss Alaska too…I even find myself missing places far away where I have never been!! But here? Not here. I don’t miss here at all. In fact I am looking forward to the day when I will be able to miss it…because by that time we will be out of here. Hopefully. There is something stressful and unnerving about being “held hostage” in a foreign country.

Maybe this is just a preparation for returning home where we have been told we have some very large messes to attend to once we get back. I’m not sure. Either way, being stuck in Canada, is NOT a good feeling. Nor is it a good idea (I don’t recommend it to anyone).

Hello from Oregon, or is it Washington? I dont know anymore. We live like 15 minutes out of Washington, so its hard to remember where we are at any given time!!

Right now, we are at a Library, on the internet (duh) watching the time tick away. So I only have a few minutes to update…

Its been an adventure. Thats for sure. So many things have happened, that I dont even have time to SUMMARIZE everything!!!

I got some really cool pictures at the park this morning, and cant wait to show those! However, those parks are dangerous! I went up the slide, and always seem to get in a fight with those, at the top I caught me head on the bar – which is something I ALWAYS seem to do. Then coming down the stairs (no I didnt slide down – it was wet!) I fell down the stairs…the moral of the story is parks are dangerous, but the shots were so worth the bump on my head!!

The trip down here was “fairly” uneventful. The roads were “mostly” clear, so that is and was good.

So hello from Oregon, Washington, Canada, and Alaska!

Until next time!