THE HEALY Coast Guard Cutter - May 08

Our trip on board the HEALY was Mark & my first "real" break TOGETHER since the adoption - almost 6 yrs ago. We were invited by Mike (Mark's best friend since they met as freshmen at BYU) who has been the medical officer on board the Healy for the last few years. Mike was a GREAT "tour guide" and it was a very relaxing time for us - but with Mike along as the 3rd wheel, and separate sleeping berths, it was hardly our "romantic cruise" we were planning on for our 10th Anniversary!

The Healy is the US's newest and most technologically advanced polar icebreaker. It helps to keep shipping passages open, can break through 4 1/2 feet of ice and is designed to conduct a wide range of research activities. It has more than 4,200 square feet of scientific lab space, numerous electronic sensor systems, oceanographic winches, and accommodations for up to 50 scientists. (The scientists left the ship in Dutch Harbor, and we took their spots in Juneau, Alaska.)

This 2nd picture gives you *some* idea how HUGE the Healy is.

The doors going in to the living quarters of the ship are all water tight ... the 8 "dogs" around the door cinch it down, and it is VORBOTEN to leave one of these doors open. There are eight levels in the interior of the ship, with mighty steep stairs which we climbed MANY times every day.

Standing in front of Mendenall Glacier in Juneau, AK. (Apparenntly it is the only glacier within city limits).
Most times it was extremely windy and cold on deck, so Mike loaned me his big, pouffy polar coat. It was VERY comfortable and toasty in there!

See my hair to tell how windy it was....

Inside....

I had the bottom bunk. I did like the curtains which helped block out the light from my roommate who kept much different hours! The second pic shows Mark in my "padded cell". The facilities are very functional but basic - nothing fancy, as evidenced by our shower - shared by 6 of us.



One of the 3 "straight up" ladders we had to climb to get to the Aloft Conn (which is in the mast). The ship can be steered from up here.

Bridge, etc.

That's the Aloft Conn you see up on top. The second pic was taken in the bridge - a very large, busy station when the ship is docking or leaving port. You can get a small sense of the "functionality rather than beauty" issue here too - see the way all of the wires are showing in the ceiling area. It was like this in ALL areas of the shp, including bedrooms.
We were not allowed to sit in the Captain's chair on the right, but the XO's chair on the left was up for grabs (there's no other seating on the bridge). Mike says he's positive I am the only person ever to crochet on the bridge! I go crazy just sitting or standing around for hours on end, so I took extracurricular materials :). There are windows around the whole bridge, so many times we hung around up there and visited and watched the views. We were hoping for some great views of wildlife, but were disappointed. Mark saw a school of porpoises one time, but they were gone by the time I got out there.

Mike was promoted to Lieutenant while we were on board. He asked us to be a part of his little ceremony, so we got to pin some of his bars on.

Thursday we had a big roasted pig party on the flight deck (this is where the helo's land and are housed). We had great weather (not much wind and no rain) so it was perfect!

Tracey's Arm...

A misty, windy, rainy "inside passage" .... Turned beautifully clear & we got blue skies down "Tracey's Arm"








You can see the glacier down in the distance... and then an up-close view thanks to our zoom camera. We were anticipating that this great ice breaker, Healy, would be able to get us all the way up to the glacier, but apparently the cruise ships get upset because that causes big chunks of ice to float downstream and the cruise ships get upset about that. So we had to keep our distance.

We had sunny clear skies coming into Seattle - in fact it was exceptionally bright, which didn't lend itself to great pictures. After we docked and disembarked (it takes about 2 hours to tie up, etc.), Mike took us up the Space Needle.





















We had fantastic clear weather and could even see Mr. Rainier to the south.

James & Tanya - Oakland Temple Pageant July 07

I finally found out how to post big videos... These are from James & Tanya's performance at the Oakland Temple Pageant last summer. The first clip is "arriving in the SL Valley". Tanya is the first person on stage (upper right corner) and she's in a dark green shirt and dark brownish-floral skirt. James comes on later - he has a brown vest and pants and a white shirt, and his partner is all in white.

In the Hoedown (2nd video), James is the fiddler at the beginning of the clip.

Arriving in the Salt Lake Valley

Hoedown