After posting the rest of the family’s point of view on our recent trip to Sitka and Barrow. I knew I needed to jump in and add my point of view. It amazes me how we can all have the same experience, but yet walk away with completely different point of view on the trip. It has given me a whole new meaning when I read the Gospels and why they each have such a different points of view of the same experience!
 Sitka! What do I want to remember about Sitka! For me the highlight was the kayaking trip. Watching the sea lions thrash their fish up close was quite an experience! Jadon and I were on the same kayak. As I wanted to get closer to the sea lions, he wanted to move further away. We were both startled when one popped up about 15 feet away from us! I even gave a little scream of surprise! After the shock we both thought that was pretty amazing! Watching Jadon persevere paddling through the complete 4 and half miles, made me one proud momma! I loved watching and listening him explore the ocean. His awe of the starfish and the excitement of the Alaska jet taking off in front of us. Pure joy of exploring with my family a new city for me and the kids!  

 Now Barrow, that was a completely different trip. As we were waiting on the ground in Prudhoe Bay for the weather to clear so we can land in Barrow. The thought of getting ‘stuck’ in Barrow crossed my mind. What would we do in Barrow overnight?! I was praying “God if you take us in you have to keep the weather good enough for the next flight to take us home.” God is good! He provided seats for this amazing day trip to Barrow and the weather stayed clear enough to the next flight to get take us out!  

 What intrigued me the most in Barrow was the influence God had made on the Inupiat people. It was evident! His Word will reach all nations. We toured Inupiat Heritage Center. Reading their history about whaling was amazing. They used to have strict rules about what they could and could not do to find ‘favor’ in catching a whale. Now they pray! Relying on the Lord to provide the whales not ‘favor.’ They still have the way to run a whaling camp, in order to catch a whale. For example, they must wear white to be camouflaged and no cooking at the site. Whales have an incredible sense of smell. I would love to be apart of that whole process. The feast they have every spring to celebrate and thank God for the whale sounds amazing. Truly thankful to learn more about whaling.  

 We even got to catch a glimpse of the dancing they do at these feasts. Rahab came home trying to imitate what she saw. Very precious.  

 Touching the fridge Arctic Ocean and standing under the Whale Arch was an amazing once in a lifetime thing to experience! It’s hard to image that people live there year round. The sun never sets in the summer months…no really it doesn’t! The contrast is in the winter there is no sun light for months! I’m still trying to wrap my head around those facts. I’m thankful I got to check Barrow of my list to see and experience. Even if it was for only 8 hours!

Chris Ireland

Sitka Visit August 6-7, 2017

We went to Sitka. The runway was its own island. There was a big suspension bridge to the town. We spent the night in Sitka. The next day we went to totem pole park. After that we went ocean ? kayaking. We stopped at an island where there was an old army fort. We saw 5 sea lions. After that we went to the Bishop’s House ?. Then we found Castle Hill there were 2 cannons on top of the hill. Last stop was the airport. I really liked Sitka!

Polar Bears August 8, 2017

We went to Barrow. When we got there we went to a little boardwalk that led us to the beach ?. Then we went to a park and we found whale ? bones. Then we had pizza ?. I really liked Barrow. There are lots of polar bears in Barrow. We did not see any polar bears. The end.  

Jadon Ireland

Sitka was really cool. We got to Sitka late that night.  We spent that night at a hotel. The next day we walked around totem trail in Sitka that was really cool because we saw a bunch of totem poles. Then we went ocean kayaking. That was really fun I went with Daddy in the same kayak, Mommy and Jadon in the same kayak, Rahab and the tour guide. We saw sea lions and a sea otter, we got to hold star fish.  One was a rare star fish called the leather star it was smooth and slimy the other star fish was hard and bumpy. We all so kayaked to a old world war two fort we kayaked about four and a half miles round trip. After we were done kayaking we went and saw the old Russian church in the middle of the road that was really pretty. Then we went to the old bishop’s house because Sitka is on a island the bishop had some sailers from Finland build his house for him so the house was built uniquely. Then we went to castle hill there was two canons with the American flag and a really pretty view of Sitka. I really like Sitka.

August 6-7, 2017

The Top of the World

I went to the top of the world! I touched the Arctic Ocean it was really cold and the sand was really soft. We got a really nice day in Barrow, AK although it was only 45 degrees Fahrenheit (really cold.) But we had lots of fun. We saw the whale bones they were really big. Before I thought whales were much smaller but they were twice as big as I thought they would be. It was really hard to believe how big they are. I saw a big sign with lots of arrows pointing to lots of different country’s showing how far away they are. There was not one paved road in Barrow, AK. We went to the Heritage center and learned all about the natives history which I thought was really cool. We did not see any polar bears. So I have been to the top of the world touched the Arctic Ocean been in the arctic circle and been to the most northern most point in the United States.

August 8, 2017

Esther Ireland

“I just love my trips. We went to Sitka. We started in Anchorage. And then we went to Barrow and then we went to the places we wanted to go to. We went to a pizza place in Barrow. I loved Barrow… So much that I wanted to stay there forever! We went to a park in Barrow and I just thought it was great. We went to the beach but we didn’t go swimming because it was super cold! We saw whale bones. It was cool. One time when I was by the whale bones and Daddy told me to take a picture I wanted to be in the middle but Jadon didn’t let me. I loved being on the Top of the World. The airport was so small. My Daddy was awesome. He was the leader for our trips.”

Barrow, AK 8-8-2017

 
“We went ocean kayaking in Sitka. It was so great. We saw one otter and five sea lions. I ride with Dayton in his kayak. I didn’t have to paddle at all. My sister and brother did. That was sad for them. We walked in a house through a gate and we had to stay on the rug and we could only touch the railing. We had a tour guide that made us Junior Rangers with a book. I really liked it. We saw like 15 totem poles. We almost saw 40. There was a church in the middle of the road. I don’t know why. We climbed up a hill and then went back to the airport.”

Sitka, AK 8-7-2017

Love,

 Rahab

August 9th, 2017
Today we are having a slow morning as we recover from our last couple of travel days. I’m on my third cup of coffee and it is really nice to listen to my children playing contentedly downstairs. We are back in Anchorage after spending the last two and a half days on the road around Alaska. Our travel this week was unexpected and spontaneous because we were expecting a visit from Tim and Kaley. Tim called on Saturday evening however and cancelled on us so we had some unexpected freedom in our schedule. One of my favorite things about being married to Chris is her willingness to be spontaneous with me and so we quickly planned a trip to Sitka in Southeast Alaska and a trip to Barrow in Arctic Alaska. 
We attended church on Sunday at Eagle River Covenant Church and enjoyed it very much. It was Jadon’s first chance to participate in Communion in a regular church type setting and he was very excited. Afterwards we returned home and planned out some details for our trip. We caught the evening flight down to JNU and on to Sitka, arriving at around 11:30 pm in Sitka. I had found a last minute room at the crew hotel at a pretty good discount. Everyone was quick to sleep on Sunday night.
When we woke up on Sunday we had a breakfast of bagels and bananas in the hotel room and then headed out to the local grocery for donuts and coffee. We took our donuts and coffee down to Sitka National Historical Park and walked around the totem pole loop. We had to walk semi-quickly in order to make it back to our kayak appointment at 10:15 with Sitka Ocean Adventures. The kayaking was the highlight of the trip. Our guide was wonderful with the children and we got to see all kinds of wonderful ocean things: Sea-Lions having breakfast, Sea Otters, Star fish, and an old WWII fort complete with some old bunkers. I love watching the wonder on the children’s faces when they came face to face with a 1,000 lb sea lion just feet from their kayak! Another highlight for us all was watching flight 62 roll down runway 11 from the vantage point of the water right next to the runway. It’s not often the kids can be that close to the jet when it is moving that fast! After the kayak and a quick lunch at Subway we toured the Russian Bishop’s house, walked the downtown, and climbed up Castle Hill. All together it was a fantastic day. 
After making it back to Anchorage we had a short night at our condo here and then were back at it the next morning early, to catch the 7:40 am departure up to Deadhorse and Barrow. We caught the last four seats on the airplane and with me in the cockpit jumpseat we all just squeaked on! After waiting for Barrow weather to get better in Deadhorse we finally arrived in Barrow around 11:30 am to 45 degrees and misty clouds. It didn’t take long for everyone to get pretty chilly. We walked the town and found the beach and the Arctic Ocean, had our lunch in a playground next to the beach, and then found the famous Top of the World Whale Bone Arch to take a picture under. The kids really enjoyed the native heritage center and learning all about native whaling and life in the arctic. After stopping by the Post Office to send a couple of post cards we walked back to the local pizza joint “Arctic Pizza” (which was surprisingly good) and then walked back over the airport just in time to catch the 7 pm jet back to Anchorage. Pretty amazing to think that Sitka and Barrow are almost 1,000 miles apart and we did them both in two days! I’m thankful for my family that loves to adventure with me and for all of the things they are learning along the way. Now I’m off to find my fourth cup of coffee 😉 

Greg Ireland

July 22-26, 2017

We went to pick up Uncle Mike at the airport. Then we spent the night at our house in Anchorage. The next day we went to Seward. We met Guy at the harbor. We went to Guy’s campsite. We hiked to Exit Glacier. The hike was really easy. The glacier was really big. Uncle Mike stayed in Seward to go fishing ?. He caught a really big fish ?.  We also went to Thunderbird Falls and Eklutna Lake. It was a hard hike for Thunderbird Falls and an easy hike for Eklutna Lake.  
Jadon Ireland

His special trip with the Ireland’s.  
When we picked up Uncle Mike, he was on the drop off and we were at the pick up spot. Momma called him and told him we are in the drop off. He came down to find us. We took him to our house in Anchorage. Then we rollerbladed to the best milk shakes in Anchorage. Guess what happened next, we went home.  
The next day we went to Seward and dropped off Uncle Mike. He caught a big fish!  
The next day we went to Thunderbird Falls. It was pretty. We went up on the higher cliff and the lower cliff. It was a great time. I liked it so much. Esther and Jadon were so good. Uncle Mike was so good. I really like him.  
Then we bought cough drops and fish boxes. I am completely right. 
Rahab Ireland

Thunder Bird Falls

       

                   Misty, Loud, Spraying, Beautiful, 

                       Describes Thunder Bird Falls,

                   25 Feet High,

                       Pouring Down

                   Misting, Spraying,

                       As Water Tumbles 

                   Making Loud Beautiful Sounds,

                       Make you want to close your eyes,

                   I Love Water

                               Falls.

                                              -Esther Ireland
I had a really fun time in Alaska with Uncle Mike.

Esther Ireland

The first 3 miles were really easy. The next 4 miles were really hard. We hiked up to Flapjack Lake in WA. We camped at Flapjack lakes. There is two lakes and three streams. The next day we ate an oatmeal breakfast ?. Then we hiked 4 miles to Big Log. There was lots of big logs there. There was also a river. We spent the night at Big Log. The next morning we had an oatmeal breakfast. We hiked back to the trail head for 4 miles. When we got back we drove to have burgers and ice cream?. Then we went home.  My favorite part of the trip was burgers and ice cream. I hiked 19 miles. I also carried my backpack the whole way.   
Jadon Ireland