Alaska, Part One

This May, my folks treated me to an Alaskan cruise.  Woo-hoo.  My sister, who lives in Washington (state), works part time in Debbie MacComber's yarn shop (yes, that's the author, Debbie MacComber), and they hosted a "Stitch -n- Sail" cruise, so my mom and I went along.  I am no longer a knitter (although seeing all the lovely yarns in the shop, I am tempted to dig out my needles again), so I was going along strictly for the opportunity to see Alaska.

I spent two and a half months in Alaska nearly 25 years ago (it was 24 years and 8 months) - I was in Ketchikan and lived on Prince of Wales Island in the booming metropolis of Craig.  Hard to believe it was so long ago.  Anywho...I wanted to see more of the state, and hopefully some great wildlife. 

We arrived in Washington two days early:  here are some highlights of our brief stay in Port Orchard.

First we went down to the bay to take in the Farmer's market.  They have a number of really cool woodcarvings by some of the shops (and one shop is an amazing candy store - GREAT fudge).

Niece, Gordon Fisherman, Sister, Mom

 Pelagic Cormorant - watched a pair catching (and eating) fish.

Skull of a wee dragon?

Bird (raven) on a bird (statue).

This just amused me.

 Apparently it was Pirate Weekend.

Next we visited Debbie MacComber's shops.

 Debbie MacComber's Tea Shop (above) and Yarn Shop (below)

Isn't this great?  It's a squash my sister made for the shop's mammogram promotion!

 From there, we headed over to Theler Wetlands, so I could take in some of the local nature.

B-i-L with a big leaf maple.  New species for me!

Great gate!

Squirrel Corn

Devil's Club

Thimbleberry

A buttercup (never did get a plant ID book)

 A raspberry past blooming and getting ready to set fruit.

Banana Slug!!!

Apparently a young grey whale washed up on the beach a few 

years ago.  The skeleton is at their visitor center.

They have some really cool art around, too.

The tide was out, so water was low in the wetland proper.

No idea what tree this is.  Interesting fruits, though.

Savanna Sparrow. 

A lesson in the language of the local native people.

Great photo of Mom.

 

Horsetails...very large and beautiful!

 

Another mystery plant/tree.  

Loved this little bumblebee with a yellow stripe on either end.

Some plants were familiar - like miterwort,

 and this bedstraw.

It was well into evening (but still light out), when we returned to my sister's home and had dinner.  The next morning we would head for the Seattle and the cruise ship.

Famous Family Members

My family has been "into" geneology for years. It's always nice to know where one comes from.

Lately, my uncle has been sending my dad information on their aunt (my great-aunt), Josephine Rathbone Karpovich. Aunie Jo, as we called her, was this wonderful, rather eccentric woman when I knew her. Not wildly eccentric, but she didn't fit the "norm" for a woman of her years.

I knew Auntie Jo as this beautiful woman who travelled the world. I knew she spent a lot of time in India, where she learned relaxation techniques, which she taught here. I remember her taking a cousin on a trip to Peru when I was, oh, ten or twelve years old maybe. This was the inspiration for my trip to Peru in 2000.

I know she loved brussel sprouts - would eat them raw from the garden - but she allowed as how they didn't love her.

I remember visiting her and Uncle Peter at their home in Massachusettes, feeding the ducks that dabbled in the stream behind their house, and inheriting all their "Sing Along with Mitch" albums.

She wrote an autobiography and gave copies to my sister and me. I read it with fascination (I was maybe in 9th or 10th grade at this time). Couldn't tell you now where it is.

Today my Dad sent me the following YouTube piece about our Auntie Jo - who it seems was a lot more famous than we thought. I thought I'd share a little of this wonderful woman's history with you here, even if it isn't Women's History Month.