We’ve got internet at the lake now. So, I’ve been able to enjoy working on my computer projects without ever going home. Other than one very quick run back to the house to pick up something I forgot, we’ve spent the holiday hanging out by and on the water. Saturday morning, I did my usual […]

So does by my brother-in-law. View Album Thanks to his own hard work, the family had a beautiful venue in which to celebrate Paul’s birthday. He built a privacy fence around the backyard, landscaped, and added a spa. Sarah set the table outside. The setting reminded me of those old Ernest & Julio Gallo advertisements […]

“Hey good lookin’.  What you got cookin’?”  Yesterday, our church community group got together for an afternoon dedicated to one of my greatest interests – FOOD.  Chef Kyle came into the Deakles home and showed us how to prepare three entrées. In turn we showed him how to eat three entrées. It was an awesome […]

Flowers-Aperture Lesson Enjoying playing with my camera’s settings.  The gardenia picture was composed to allow space on the left for icons on my desktop when I use it as a background.

Click for Album Even at 14 years of age, Rhapsody of the Seas is a good looking vessel. She was clean and well-maintained. On our Alaskan cruise, we opted for the stateroom we had envied on previous cruises. This was our first time in a junior suite – and it was sweet. Our center aft […]

Click for Album There wasn’t much rain falling when the ship reached port. Given that Ketchikan averages about 14.5 ft (4.4 m) of rain per year, that was something for which to be thankful. While the portion of Ketchikan at the higher elevation in town looked much like a working class Pittsburgh neighborhood, the lower […]

Click for Album A ship from Princess Cruises had recently attempted passage to Sawyer Glacier on Tracy Arm Fjord, but had informed the captains of other ships that there had been too much ice in the fjord to make it. The master of Rhapsody of the Seas announced that we might expect a similar fate, […]

Click Here to See Full Album Joy favored Ketchikan, but I found Skagway to be the most charming of our ports. With less than 900 year round residents, this little hamlet hosts approximately 900,000 visitors each summer. Why do they come? Maybe it is the quaint, clean, streets and shops of the village. Perhaps the […]

Click for Album Vancouver dazzled with its big city energy. Juneau was more like really good comfort food. Although spread over an area larger than Rhode Island, Juneau’s population is only about 30,000 people. This is very close in size to the small town in which I was raised. After a day of wilderness views, […]

click for more pictures Although, a Canadian told me that the scenery coming out of Vancouver would have been beautiful, it was dark when we left Vancouver. The next day, however, as we entered the “Inside Passage” to southeastern Alaska, the waterway was all that we had hoped it would be. Little islands, wooded shorelines, […]