Culture Shock

Day 4 of our trip. We left our romantic notions of what we expected Alaska to be like and traded it in for the reality of what Alaska really is. Amidst the amazing beauty and grandeur of the mountains lies a "third world" mentality in the homes and towns. Not at all what we were expecting to see. I think my minds eye pictured something more along the lines of Switzerland, with quaint villages and homes tucked in among the mountains and forests, all neat and tidy. This feels more "Appalachian" but on a much grander scale. However, aside from the culture shock, we are beginning to acclimate to our surroundings. We are acclimating to both the surroundings, as well as to the light and time difference, although I think it's been harder (at least for me, Amy) to adjust to the light and time. Sherri on the other hand is sleeping like a baby...

Yesterday, we drove from Anchorage to Talkeetna, and about halfway to Talkeetna we saw the most amazing mountain pop out of the trees on the road in front of us. After studying the map, we realized that it was the big one, Mt. McKinley. We had read on the internet that the mountain is most often veiled in clouds, and that it is a rare thing to actually see the mountain. I had asked God to let us see the mountain cloud-free, and sure enough our first sighting of it was indeed. Further down the road, right before we arrived in Talkeetna, we saw an amazing vista of Mt. McKinley again, with Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter right beside it. Right now, they are fully snow covered, but we learned that the snow will melt off up to about the top 500' of the mountain in the next few weeks.

We drove on in to Talkeetna, where the culture shock really set in for us. It is literally one street, and the only paved street after leaving the "highway"...and really, I am at a loss for words on how to describe that one street. For now, I'll just let that speak for itself. We drove out of "town," crossed the railroad tracks, and entered into the "suburbs," a few dirt roads where we found our hostel. Although clean and eclectic on the inside, when we pulled up to the little shack with the "hostel" sign in front of it, we hesitated to actually get out of our car and find out what we were getting ourselves into. We were relieved when we entered and found it to be clean and not a haven for chain-saw massacres.

Yesterday evening, we got on a ten-seater bush plane and took an AMAZING flight around Mt. McKinley and over thousands of jagged, snow streaked peaks. It was incredible. We flew over glaciers that curved around peaks, glaciers that we learned are around 3,000' deep and move about 3' in a day. The pilot landed us on one, Ruth Glacier, and we walked around for about a half hour. Just yards away were little tents huddled into the snow, base camp for some crazy Mt. McKinley climbers ready to embark on their ascent. Now, Sherri and I like to tent camp, and we aren't afraid of being a little cold, but even we thought that was a little insane.

Today we are going to venture into nature for a hike around a lake nearby. It looks like another wonderfully sunny, clear day out there, which is not what we were expecting from the weather reports...but God has a way of blessing our socks off when it comes to these things!

Bye for now. We'll catch up with you again soon.

Love, Amy and Sherri

Amy and Sherri's Alaskan Adventure

Hi Everyone,

Well, here we are in Anchorage! It is 10:30 at night for us and hopefully you are sleeping soundly as it is 2:30am for you! We got in yesterday and were amazed to see incredible, breathtaking mountain ranges right there at the airport! And we thought - and it is going to get better from here!!! We took a taxi to our Hostel and we found out quickly and sadly that Hosteling in the USA is not like Hosteling in Europe. Our room is sparse, which was true in Europe, but here in good ole Alaska our room was not so clean! Not so clean enough that we walked into town to a JCPenney's and bought a blanket and two pillow - tell you anything!!! The mattress is plastic covered with rips in it and it is much smaller than the so called box spring underneath it. But we were exhausted and we did manage to sleep and sleep in until 7:30 Alaska time, meaning 11:30 am your time! We really needed it. Thankful to say that the showers were clean and hot - ahhhhhh!!!!

Today we walked downtown, a couple of times! The first to go to a outdoor market selling art and food and Alaskan souveniers. I (Sherri) bought two amazing photos! Can't wait to hang them! We also bought sove very yummy over-priced fruit - strawberries the size of Alaska! Then we just roamed and shopped the tourist trap area! Cindy Helton, if you read this, the slogan around here is "Alaska, pissing off Texas since 1959". Hilarious!

It never rained even though it said everywhere that it was going to! We have thanked God for that over and over. It is chlly here, but really not bad. When the sun is out it is quite pleasant!

Tomorrow we are picking up our rental car and driving to Talkeetna and going for our Flightseeing Tour. Fun!

So, I dragged Amy down here and she is fading fast, so we are going to sign off for now! One final cool thing - it is nearly 11pm now and it is still light outside!

Love and miss you all!!!

Sherri and Amy, Alaskan Adventurers Extraordinaire! :-)

Italy - Our day today!

Hi All,
It has been a beautiful blue sky, cloudless day here in Cinque Terra, Italy. We had a phenomenal breakfast of bread, fruit and omeletts!!! Yum!!! Typically we get bread only!!!! And juice, tea and coffee of course - Jen, Erika and Liz need their coffee!!! I (Sherri) was excited to have hot chocolate with my breakfast - mmmmmmmm!!!! Then it was off to a boat - we were planning to explore the 5 cities that make up the Italian Riviera or Cinque Terre! Plans change, as usual - but this was a great day. When we got to the one city, to our pleasant surprise we could rent kayaks! So Amy and I set out in a double kayak and Erika and Jennifer each had their own kayak. (We never did make it to any of the other cities!) We so enjoyed the teal, teal water with the blue blue sky reflecting on the surface of the water. And then there was the rock face that jutted out into the water at different intervals, with the buildings of the towns clinging to the edges of the cliff faces and other beautiful views all about us. We paddled to a beach about 45 minutes away where there was a natural fresh water waterfall right at the beach. We swam over to it and climbed the rocks - very fun - and stood under the VERY COLD waterfall. (Peggy, Amy says it wasn't near as cold as in Puerto Rico! ) We even filled our water bottles in the waterfall - YUM!!!!
On returning we switched kayaks and Amy and I each had an individual and Erika and Jennifer had the double. We switched because you could enjoy a swim from the single kayaks from the middle of the sea, but the double, you could only get out on shore. It was very enjoyable to be in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, swimming like a fish!
In the meantime, Liz shopped and enjoyed one of the small towns called Vernazza - known as the "Jewel of Cinque Terre".
So that is about it! It is off to dessert now - we have gotten really good at dessert!

Love you all very much and miss you too!
Sherri and Amy!

PS We are having memory card issues and it won't let us upload the images - sorry! Maybe next time!

Adventures in Germany, the sequel!

Hi everyone...

We're back! The girls aren't as travel weary as Sherri and I are, so they've been cracking the sight-seeing whip on us....waking us at early hours and keeping us up past our bedtimes...and certainly keeping us too busy to find a spare moment to say "Hi" to you all!

So, since the last time we said hi, we've explored a little more of Germany. As Sherri said last time, Mom got to revisit some childhood places. What a great experience that was. She was so blessed by God the way that each memory and each place unfolded. She didn't stop smiling for days and Erika and I really got some unique glimpses into her life before us.

The evening after visiting her old apartment, we tackled another exciting adventure on my "life list," something that none of us other than Sherri had ever done before....a hot-air balloon ride! We took off from the country-side near Munich after helping to prepare the balloon, and floated over fields, small towns, forests and lakes. Aside from Munich and the Alps in the distance, the scenery below looked a lot like home... It was so beautiful and picturesque...What a great time. We landed in a field that appeared to be growing nothing but mosquitos, and had to help deflate the balloon and pack it and the basket back up again. By the end, the mosquitos were quite fat and happy!!! But, the balloon folks drove us back to the biergarten (beer-garden) where they had champagne waiting for us. After that and a great dinner, we were just as fat and happy as the mosquitos!!!

While in Germany, we also visited Fussen where two great castles, Neuschwanstein and Hohenshaungau (I really have no idea how to spell these!!) are located in the forested hills where they have beautiful valley and lake views. Neuschwanstein is the famous castle that the Disneyworld castle is modeled after. We took a tour of Hohenshaungau, which was pretty interesting and a new experience. The four of us girls also rented bikes while mom had fun shopping in town, and we biked the georgeous paths along one of the many lakes in the region. That is, until a torrential thunderstorm caught up with us and sent us racing back into the town in a downpour. We were soaked!!! Sherri and I were riding with our rain ponchos on, which did little more than catch the wind and make us look like blown-up jelly fish! Ah, fun times!!!

We left Fussen after two days and headed for Italy on the night train. Don't let any romantic images of train travel delude you...night trains are certainly the exception to any sort of romantic notion. They are cramped...imagine 6 people, in 6 small cots stacked 3 high on two walls, in a room the size of your bathroom...and that is a pretty good picture of our room in the sleeping car. Add to that, the sway of the train, the abrupt stops and starts (no wonder they put crash rails on the bunks to keep you from rolling out...it is a distinct possibility), and random people in the same room as you...some of whom snore. Loudly! This is why ear plugs were invented!

We landed in Florence and spent 3 great days there. Florence is a beautiful city overflowing with history and ambiance and interesting things to see and do. It certainly redeemed Italy in our eyes after our Varenna experience. Some of the highlights included seeing Michelangelo's David in person, climbing inside the dome of Florence's Cathedral and seeing the view from the top after climbing 463 steep stairs, the beautiful candlelit restaurants that we dined in, and shopping in the local outdoor market place where you could find inexpensive but beautiful and authentic Italian goods. It brought out the shop-aholic in all of us!! Especially Mom Liz!

Ok, the internet cafe that we landed in tonight here in Cinque Terre, our second to last town on our European adventure, is almost closed. Time to sign off so we can get some pictures on here for you!

Hopefully we'll write again soon!

Our final stop after this is Venice...

And then back home again on the 21st!

See you all soon!!!

Love, Amy and Sherri

Have Map - Have Moto - Will explore!!!!

Hi All,

Wow, so much to say!!!!!

Where do we start?!?!?! Well, we landed in Milos on Thursday night at 8pm with no place to stay - no worries, God had us all covered. In two phone calls we had the cutest little room! They were a really nice couple who came and picked us up at the bus station - they spoke no English but we managed ok!! The next day they took us to rent a moto bike and off we went!! We chose our destinations by the post cards we saw in a local shop when we got off the ferry!! First to Pollonia, a small fishing village where we had lunch on the coast at this quaint little restaurant not 4 feet from the water - ahhhhhhhh!!! Then off to Papafragas - talk about amazing. We hiked down this precarious stairway built into the rock and there at the bottom is an inlet of water with a white sand beach and a cliff on each side - the width was probably 30 feet! We of course couldn't just splash on the edge - we swam all the way out into the open water and around the adjacent cliffs just to see what we could see!!! We also explored an undiscovered cove and swam through a hole in the cliff about 10 ft high 6 ft wide and 25 ft in distance! It was so cool! It landed in another part of the ocean where we looked around a bit, swallowed some waves and swam back! The water was crystal clear and you could see the rocks on the bottom so clearly you would think you could touch but you couldn't. We hiked to this other area where there were no people, only rocks and water and lo and behold, there in the middle of nowhere there were two beautiful, very comfy beach chairs sitting on a rock surrounded by water - they had no earthly business being there. So, of course, we couldn't resist. Jennifer, you would be so proud, we sat still and enjoyed the view - for AWHILE!!!

Then it was off to Sarakiniko - it is like being transported to the moon. It is white volcanic rock - can you even imagine! You could see the swirls in the surface from the flow of the lava. It was surreal - the pictures don't do it justice! Then we explored some caves, which Amy loves, but is not my favorite - never know what might be hiding in the darkness!!! We had chicken gyros for dinner for only 2 euros!!! Mind you, we have been here for over a week - and lamb gyros do not exist - at least we couldn't find any!

Today we are hopping another ferry to Athens - we get in late and it should be an adventure to find our hostel, although - at least we have one booked! We spend one day in Athens and then off to Barcelona. I want to see a bull fight! From there - we haven't a clue - we are adventurers, after all!

Questions to answer - yes, Peggy, we see the big dipper every night! Which is faster the motobike or the high speed ferry - with me(Sherri) driving, definitely the motobike - just ask Amy about nearly flying off the back!!!! Thank God for the handle - and no I was not trying to lose her! Oh, Pam, I forgot to tell you I tried a local Santorini wine in your honor - you would have liked it! Mom, Amy says we pull "Grand Canyon's" every day, but there is no one to notice we are gone! Sorry about disappearing from the internet - we didn't have time or access. Peggy, in reference to Greek driving - think Wayne!!!!! And see the next post...we'll try to upload some video from the scooter!

Love you all and believe it or not - we do miss you! :-)
All our hearts - Sherri and Amy

PS Uploading pics takes FOREVER!

More Santorini Adventures...

Hi everyone,

Well, day 3 in Santorini has been another perfect, albeit windy, day. That might be an understatement!!

To begin, after posting yesterday Sherri and I watched a beautiful sunset over the caldera (the bay that formed where the center of the volcano dropped out) from a village called Megalochori. It was georgeous. Also an understatement!!

Afterwards, we drove the fun little motobike back to our room and took a walk down to the beach, just a half block away, and watched an amazing display of stars over the ocean. Absolutely incredible!! We saw a galaxy glowing, possibly a planet (or at least a very bright star), and Sherri saw a shooting star. Again, like yesterday, quite surreal!!

Today we did not get up for a sunrise, Mom, but we did get up and get some great exercise in!! We took a 6 km hike up to the highest point on Santorini. It took us 4.5 hours and was exhausting, but exhilarating. The views were outstandingly unbelievable. The remains of Ancient Thira were at the top of one of the peaks, and the top of another (which was the higher of the two and the one that we took, not surprisingly) was home to a monastery. The mountain was all marble, so it was a beautiful view out as well as underfoot.

After we recovered from that (and showered!!) we took a drive to watch the sunset from the lighthouse at the furthest point south of the island. Again, breathtaking.

We've decided to stay on Santorini an additional day and then are taking another highspeed ferry to the nearby island of Milos on Thursday. Having some trouble finding a place to stay there though.... Milos is supposedly another beautiful island, with bright white beaches to contrast the black beaches here on Santorini...still the same awesome architecture, though.

We'll make it back to Athens for just one evening so that we can see the famous sites of Athens before heading to Barcelona on the 19th.

Tomorrow, we have planned to spend the day exploring the main town of Fira and Oia, which is at the northern tip of the island and famed for its sunsets. We'll be saving the best sunset for last!!! Not planning to catch any sunrises though!!! One thing we've noticed here is that at least on the islands, there is a different time frame that everyone functions under. Everything starts late and ends late.

For now, time to go....only 4 minutes left on the internet... hopefully more soon!!

Love, Amy and Sherri :)

Surreal...

So..... I am so sorry for you all who are working right now! We look out and see the bluest of blue skies bumped against the bluest of blue water!! We keep looking at each other and saying - are we really here! Or are we just dreaming - if we are, don't pinch me!!!!

Yesterday we took a hydrofoil here (Santorini!) - really big - really fast boat! Then we took the public busses the rest of the way! That was interesting as they had so many people on the bus we had to stand in the aisle and the aisle was so full you couldn't fall over even if you tried - you won't see that in the states!!!!

Our "hotel" that is really a hostel is one very white room with one window and one picture on the wall and two twin beds!!! It is small and nothing to write home about but it is clean and comfy and... cheap!!! And it has a fridge, and AC - you can't beat that for about $30!!! Our landlord came in last night about 11pm and scared the beegeebies out of Amy after we had been asleep for over an hour- I had my ear plugs in!!!! He came to fix our toilet and we guess he assumed we would be out partying like the rest of the tourists here!!! Guess we are not that exciting! :-)

Today we had double adventures!! First - we went scuba diving off of the coast here!!! Beautiful and something Amy had not done before! We got to hold sea urchins and hermit crabs and we petted some sort of coral that felt like silicone - it was strange!!! We saw fishes and coral in very CLEAR blue water!!!

Now, Mom, hold on for this next one! Well, maybe you better sit down!!! We have rented a motor bike!!!! It feels like it goes really fast although we can't tell because the speedometer is broken!!!! I am getting better at right turns but they are little rugged!!!! Pastor Carol - you would be so proud - but no, I haven't taken the safety course!!!! Our instructions were as follows - bring it back without any damage - here is the gas, here is the brake - go for it! When we finish here we are going to take a drive through the southern part of the island and see some coastal villages and a lighthouse and some churches! There is a town called Megalochori that is known for its georgeous sunsets - we plan to see one tonight!


Tomorrow we will ride the motobike up the coast to the main town of Fira in the center of the island that is famous for its white buildings that jut out of the rocks and silhouette against the bluest sky you have ever seen! It is what you see in the post cards! Then to Oia, which is "THE" spot to see sunsets and yes Jen, we plan to take a dip in the swimming hole! We will leave here on Wednesday to go to a different island not yet determined.

We are having the time of our lives and it has only been a few days! God is very good to us! We've even gotten some good deals and seen the favor of God as usual!

Love you all!!! :-) Sherri and Amy

Destination Day!

Good Morning All!

Well, today we leave for Europe. Our bags are packed (to the gills!) and we are all set! Neither Amy or I are sure we really realize what is happening!!! Maybe finally getting on the plane will cure that! But we are certainly ready for our adventure of a lifetime!!!

We leave Pittsburgh at 11:26am today for Philly, 6 hour layover in Philly, Leave Philly at 6pm and get to Frankfurt, Germany at 8:10am (a 13 hour flight!!) leave Germany at 9:15am and arrive in Athens, Greece at 1pm on Saturday! Woo Hoo!!!!! First stop - Santorini Greece! Swimming holes, caves and ancient ruins to explore, black sand beaches, bluest of blue waters, cities jutting out of cliff sides - Ooooooooooo, I can't wait!

Gotta go now - Europe awaits us!!! :-)