Day 2 - What a whirlwind after the breakdown was taken care of. We finally got to the Quality Inn Airport at 10:45pm. We met for a few moments to talk about the game plan for the morning then we prayed and headed off to sleep.
4:30am came early! We got up, cleaned up, packed up, ate breakfast and caught the 5:30am shuttle to the airport. Beth, Allison, Brooke and Jacob met us there. After getting checked in we had an hour before boarding so people got something to eat or chilled out at the gate.
The flight to Portland was 5 1/2 hours. We all slept some and read some. Once in Portland the excitement began (once again). We got to our gate and found that the flight was delayed. We ate lunch close to the gate and then heard that our flight was canceled. I took all our boarding tickets to the agent and he booked us on another flight to Seattle.
While this was going on Ben and Allison were on a different flight straight to Seattle. Allison was to fly with us to Ketchikan and Ben was to follow us a bit later. When our flight was canceled I realized we would probably miss our flight in Seattle so I called Ben and had him get Allison booked on his flight so they would stay together. He called me back and said it was taken care of.
The flight to Seattle was quick but awesome. Awesome because I sat next to Sean who is a Christian and working on a degree in Christian Counseling. He is schooling in Phoenix but originally from Vancouver. I told him how much Celeste loved it up that way and we intended to visit there next summer. He also was involved in inner city ministry with a friend. It was a great time of sharing but too short. I gave him my card so I hope to hear from him.
Once in Seattle we checked the Departure board and our flight wasn't listed so we guessed it was gone. It was. No problem though, we were now booked on the same flight with Ben and Allison. We were finally all together! We went to D-1 and found them chilling out. We had some time before the flight so people took advantage of the food court and shops. Then it was time to go to Alaska!
The flight there was amazing. Snow covered mountain peaks everywhere! Then, there is the city of Ketchikan with Cruise Ships at the docks. We got off the plane and headed to baggage claim. There we saw Steve, Leslie and Karen who was on the Titusville, FL team last year. Karen has worked in Ketchikan all summer. We all got our luggage except Jacob and Sarai. The Alaska Airline reps told them what flight their bags were coming in on and when they would be delivered to the church. Jacob's would show up at 9:30pm and Sarai's the next morning.
We loaded our luggage in Steve's truck and walked to the Ferry. We had to wait a bit so we took time to take a group photo. Finally the Ferry arrived and we all loaded up. The ride over to Ketchikan is quick. All this time we were adjusting to the much cooler weather. It must have been in the upper 50's!
We got over to Ketchikan where Earl and his sister Mattie met us. It's always great to see them! We loaded up and went to First Baptist Church to unload. They are hosting us while in Ketchikan. When we got there we were greeted by Mike Rigas. How awesome to see Mike once again! We settled in then walked down the hill to Ocean View to eat pizza.
There I got to meet Angel from LA. We had a great time of talking. He and his family are from Mexico and come up to Ketchikan to work during tourist season. They are active in the Catholic church. He gave me his card so I will be dropping him a note. Dinner was great! By this time we were getting tired so we went back up to church to talk about the night to come and the days to come. We also took time to thank God for delivering us and most of our luggage to Ketchikan.
After talking about the game plan for the night and days to come some of us made a Wal*Mart run for personal and trip supplies. After that it was time for bed! It had been a super long day but God really did some cool stuff. We are looking forward to what he is going to do.
More later. Blessings! Keep the prayers coming,
bob g
& our UFCCH Alaska Mission Team
Ben Anderson
Dixie Cline
Abby Crowe
Jacob Frye
Alisha Hagan
Aaron Mayo
Beth Phillips
Brooke Powell
Allison Sudik
Crystal Swartzfager
Sarai Young
& Mike Rigas (our UFCCH Alum) joined us !
