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| under the heated solarium |
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| this is where the passengers with sleeping bags stay- it's cheaper than purchasing a cabin! |
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| just back of the bow |
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| the wake of the Columbia |
Showing posts with label Echo Ranch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Echo Ranch. Show all posts
Thursday, August 30, 2012
From 4/21: Our First Full Day on the Ferry
Monday, August 27, 2012
Alaska Marine Highway- Columbia
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| Bellingham Ferry Terminal - AMHS Columbia in dock |
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| driving on to the Columbia |
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| our excited passengers gazing out the window as we prepare to follow the Canadian coast north to Alaska |
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| assistant safety demonstrators- they earned our family some ice cream treats from the crew member giving the safety talk |
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Pictures From Our Trip
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| farewell to the house, neighbors, and family |
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| actually- yes, traveling can make you tired |
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| really tired! |
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| windfarm in northern Washington state |
Friday, June 1, 2012
Where in the World are the Baxters?
Short Version: We're at serving at Echo Ranch Bible Camp near Juneau, Alaska. David has been busy in the mechanic's shop as the camp's primary mechanic, and Aimee has been the camp's nurse. The kids have been enjoying a unique summer in Southeast Alaska as staff kids.
Longer Version: In January one of us tossed out the thought, "What if we went to Echo Ranch for the summer?" You see, we used to live in Ketchikan, where we were at church on Sundays at Calvary Bible Church with a couple named Rick and Pat Shaner, who have been serving the Lord at Echo Ranch for more than a decade. They had encouraged us to think about serving at Echo Ranch, however, we felt God was leading our family back to Colorado. We lived in Colorado, enjoying close proximity to family for three years. Then, Spring 2012, God nudged our hearts back toward Echo Ranch again. We contacted the camp, and began to pray about our decision. Ironically enough (or not, since we know God is over all things), the full time staff at Echo Ranch had been praying for provision of a mechanic for the camp as well as a nurse. The way was clear for us to go, and so we proceeded. That decision led to what has been one of the most challenging roads for us as a family. David resigned from his full-time job, as did Aimee who had been working part-time from home. Aimee had to get her Alaska nursing license reinstated, which involved obtaining 30 hours of Continuing Education as well as plenty of paperwork and fees. We packed up all of our belongings, which was definitely a bigger challenge with three kids and a baby, than it had been with two kids with our move from Alaska! Our parents were a huge help, which was a blessing. Afterwards, we were discussing the packing process, and both of us felt like there was some sort of spiritual oppression as we were going through the process. That served as a good reminder about how much we need to be in prayer (pray constantly!) and immersing ourselves in God's Word, the Bible. The battles we fight here on earth are not of flesh and blood, but spiritual. After much hard work, 95% of our belongings were in storage, and the other 5% were packed into our van. We said goodbye to our families and neighbors, and left April 17.
Our trip took a bit longer than anticipated, as we first tried driving a bit on the slow side to accomodate some issues we were having with the luggage carrier. We were still getting some strange looks from other folks on the interstate, and could hear strange noises coming from the roof of the car, so David tried adding straps to the carrier to keep it from being affected by the wind flow. That effort resulted in a very loud vibration on the roof of the car; not even duct tape could help that problem (yes, we tried it!). David finally came up with a good solution when he found some sturdy foam pipe insulation at a hardware store. A few modifications to the foam tubing and we were finally on our way at regular highway speeds!
So, several loooong days (with our stops being ridiculously long and revolving around pottying and feeding, of course!) and a couple of late motel stops later (let's hear it for the continental breakfast!), we made it to the Alaska Marine Highway ferry terminal in Bellingham, Washington with one hour to spare before the required time to get in line with our vehicle. It was a relief to realize that the driving portion of our trip was over and that we were going to get to move around a bit. After closer examination of our receipt from the online purchase of our ferry tickets, Aimee realized that the AMHS webswite had dropped our cabin reservation prior to the payment page. Aaah! That's like one of those moments in a scary movie where the music goes "Ree-ree-ree-ree." (That's the best I can come up with for written sound effects, sorry!) Suddenly, we were picturing ourselves trying to do a 2-1/2 day/3-night trip on the ferry with four children, ages 9 months to 6 years, in a common area on the boat!!! Okay- don't panic. Pray and proceed to the purser's counter to find out if there are any four-berth cabins left on the boat. Praise the Lord for His provision- the purser sent Aimee to the terminal desk to pay for a cabin that was available! We settled into our first cabin, but soon realized that we were going to be breathing cigarette smoke the whole way, as it was located at the very back of the ship, next to the door leading out to the designated smoking area for ship crew members. Bleah. The purser graciously moved us to another cabin on a different floor, farther forward. Whew!
The sense of "freedom" we experienced when first boarding the boat soon turned into a cramped feeling. There is absolutely no running allowed on any of the decks of the ship. Being the responsible parents that we are, we allowed the kids to run on some opend space on a back deck (beyond the people riding along in sleeping bags on lounge chairs), our dazed and tired brains forgetting the rule. The ship crew is VERY attentive (surveillance cameras?). Our relief and the kids' joy at getting to run was quickly squelched by a prompt, polite announcement, "And we'd just like to remind our ship passengers that there is to be NO RUNNING ANYWHERE on the ship. Thank you!" Sigh! During the trip we had the opportunity to view the International Space Station (it made a quick voyage across the night sky), and we very much enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way. By God's grace, we survived the rest of the trip without being the cause for any additional safety announcements or noise complaints (the cabins are small). We were, to say the least, greatly relieved to pull into the Auke Bay terminal (just north of Juneua) on April 23. Granted, we were two hours late (5am instead of 3am), but what are two more hours when all of the kids are sleeping? We had arrived, and thus begun our time at Echo Ranch Bible Camp!
Longer Version: In January one of us tossed out the thought, "What if we went to Echo Ranch for the summer?" You see, we used to live in Ketchikan, where we were at church on Sundays at Calvary Bible Church with a couple named Rick and Pat Shaner, who have been serving the Lord at Echo Ranch for more than a decade. They had encouraged us to think about serving at Echo Ranch, however, we felt God was leading our family back to Colorado. We lived in Colorado, enjoying close proximity to family for three years. Then, Spring 2012, God nudged our hearts back toward Echo Ranch again. We contacted the camp, and began to pray about our decision. Ironically enough (or not, since we know God is over all things), the full time staff at Echo Ranch had been praying for provision of a mechanic for the camp as well as a nurse. The way was clear for us to go, and so we proceeded. That decision led to what has been one of the most challenging roads for us as a family. David resigned from his full-time job, as did Aimee who had been working part-time from home. Aimee had to get her Alaska nursing license reinstated, which involved obtaining 30 hours of Continuing Education as well as plenty of paperwork and fees. We packed up all of our belongings, which was definitely a bigger challenge with three kids and a baby, than it had been with two kids with our move from Alaska! Our parents were a huge help, which was a blessing. Afterwards, we were discussing the packing process, and both of us felt like there was some sort of spiritual oppression as we were going through the process. That served as a good reminder about how much we need to be in prayer (pray constantly!) and immersing ourselves in God's Word, the Bible. The battles we fight here on earth are not of flesh and blood, but spiritual. After much hard work, 95% of our belongings were in storage, and the other 5% were packed into our van. We said goodbye to our families and neighbors, and left April 17.
Our trip took a bit longer than anticipated, as we first tried driving a bit on the slow side to accomodate some issues we were having with the luggage carrier. We were still getting some strange looks from other folks on the interstate, and could hear strange noises coming from the roof of the car, so David tried adding straps to the carrier to keep it from being affected by the wind flow. That effort resulted in a very loud vibration on the roof of the car; not even duct tape could help that problem (yes, we tried it!). David finally came up with a good solution when he found some sturdy foam pipe insulation at a hardware store. A few modifications to the foam tubing and we were finally on our way at regular highway speeds!
So, several loooong days (with our stops being ridiculously long and revolving around pottying and feeding, of course!) and a couple of late motel stops later (let's hear it for the continental breakfast!), we made it to the Alaska Marine Highway ferry terminal in Bellingham, Washington with one hour to spare before the required time to get in line with our vehicle. It was a relief to realize that the driving portion of our trip was over and that we were going to get to move around a bit. After closer examination of our receipt from the online purchase of our ferry tickets, Aimee realized that the AMHS webswite had dropped our cabin reservation prior to the payment page. Aaah! That's like one of those moments in a scary movie where the music goes "Ree-ree-ree-ree." (That's the best I can come up with for written sound effects, sorry!) Suddenly, we were picturing ourselves trying to do a 2-1/2 day/3-night trip on the ferry with four children, ages 9 months to 6 years, in a common area on the boat!!! Okay- don't panic. Pray and proceed to the purser's counter to find out if there are any four-berth cabins left on the boat. Praise the Lord for His provision- the purser sent Aimee to the terminal desk to pay for a cabin that was available! We settled into our first cabin, but soon realized that we were going to be breathing cigarette smoke the whole way, as it was located at the very back of the ship, next to the door leading out to the designated smoking area for ship crew members. Bleah. The purser graciously moved us to another cabin on a different floor, farther forward. Whew!
The sense of "freedom" we experienced when first boarding the boat soon turned into a cramped feeling. There is absolutely no running allowed on any of the decks of the ship. Being the responsible parents that we are, we allowed the kids to run on some opend space on a back deck (beyond the people riding along in sleeping bags on lounge chairs), our dazed and tired brains forgetting the rule. The ship crew is VERY attentive (surveillance cameras?). Our relief and the kids' joy at getting to run was quickly squelched by a prompt, polite announcement, "And we'd just like to remind our ship passengers that there is to be NO RUNNING ANYWHERE on the ship. Thank you!" Sigh! During the trip we had the opportunity to view the International Space Station (it made a quick voyage across the night sky), and we very much enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way. By God's grace, we survived the rest of the trip without being the cause for any additional safety announcements or noise complaints (the cabins are small). We were, to say the least, greatly relieved to pull into the Auke Bay terminal (just north of Juneua) on April 23. Granted, we were two hours late (5am instead of 3am), but what are two more hours when all of the kids are sleeping? We had arrived, and thus begun our time at Echo Ranch Bible Camp!
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