Alaskan Adventures: Day 15

Arrival in Juneau, AK

"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Isaiah 25:4-5

We arrived in Juneau at 4:15am.

[ We finally don't have to leave our pup scout overnight in a parking garage! ]

First things first. The original "first" was to call parents. But Verizon is not a service provider here, so emailing them will have to do until Anchorage.

So, second things first. Coffee. Wifi. Lauren's Blog posts. Andrew's SEC Sports Scores. We waited in front of this coffee shop until it opened at 6am.

I checked in with a visitor's center while Hubs took Jess to stretch those little legs. Two little retired women just lit up when I walked in. They excitedly helped me plan these two days in Juneau, complete with hiking and camping recommendations.

We found a hotel for the night and ate breakfast at The Sandpiper.

The Driftwood Lodge

Double for Us. Twin for Jessie. Just kidding.

The View from our Room

Jessie's New Favorite Toy

We took a long break in the room. Mostly, because we had another break down in communication. (For those who are under the misassumption that we don't fight, we do. Totally normal.) The farther we are from familiar, the longer we are on the road, the more tired and timid we become. Hubs and I cope with this entirely differently, and it is taking us longer to talk through expectations and preferences. We are having a blast, and we are so glad we are here, but- hello- we are married and working to learn new things in the same direction. As usual.

This trip is not an exemption from life and loving each other when we don't agree. It is, conversely, a crash course. Another one. All these little lessons this military life offers is one of our biggest blessings and our hardest realities. We can't quite get comfortable but are in a constant state of growth. It's messy and maladaptive and totally worth it. Even when we wish we could read minds or want the exact same thing or make it stop for just a second fortheloveofallthingsgood.

So, we choose again (Every. Day.) to make each other more important because we said we would. And then we see later that these are the times that allow us to know each other in the ways that we know no other, that it's worth the effort-- to disagree well, to accept differences, to raise the white flag, to understand beyond our own self-- because it brings something else, something intimate and unspoken, resulting from the rift.

So, we went on a walk-off. (An award of kind words goes to the One Who Gets This Movie Reference.)
More commonly known as a hike. It worked!

We made this face with a moss toupée.

This trail is adjacent to the Last Chance Mining Museum and Historic Park commemorating the good ole mining days. Apparently, there is a Gold Panning cruise excursion on the river as well.