Aside – Page 2 – rakeeter.com

Juneau

Our ship sailed in the early evening Saturday and Sunday was spent at sea headed for Juneau. This was a National Review cruise so much of our time when we weren’t in port was taken up with NR activities. There was a reception Sunday evening and then dinner. While we ate in the main dining room the NR cruisers were grouped together. Each night we were assigned a different table so we met different people each evening. I gotta tell ya, Joyce and I enjoyed being around like-minded people (conservatives). Everyone enjoyed roundly cussing the libs. Naturally people talked about who they hoped would be the Republican nominee. Joyce and I are backing Ted Cruz and he was well-regarded in the conversations we had, as were Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina and Scott Walker. Several dinners included one of the NR writers. We drew Pat Cadell (not an NR writer but a recognizable figure), James Lielaks, Ramesh Panuru and Jillian Milchoir. At one of the receptions I introduced myself to Kevin D. Williamson. I admire his writing and had read that he was born in Amarillo and grew up in Lubbock. We had a brief but pleasant chat. Nice fellow. Continue reading “Juneau” →

Seattle

by rakeeter

We arrived in Seattle two days before our cruise ship embarked. We wanted a little time to see the town and, since we didn’t go through the cruise authority, we were on our own as far as being in Seattle to board the ship on time. We spent the day prowling the water front. It was within walking distance from our hotel downtown. A seatmate on the plane recommended a ferry ride so we rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island and poked around a little there. After lunch on the island, we rode the ferry back to the mainland where we intended to visit Pike Place Market, also recommended by the man on the plane. Unfortunately we petered out and just went back to our hotel to crash until dinnertime. The evening before we ate at Zeek’s Pizza, which we stumbled on after arriving at the hotel and went out looking for a place to eat. The pizza and craft beer was so good we thought, “Well, shoot. We’ll just go back there,” so we did. Continue reading “Seattle” →

Ketchikan

by rakeeter

Southeast Alaska’s typical weather finally caught up with us in Kechikan. A light rain fell while we were in port, dampening our enthusiasm for visiting the town. I finally decided to wander around a little but got pretty damp for my trouble. It would probably be a nice place to poke around in if it weren’t raining but judging from the covered golf carts which pass for public transportation there, I think, and from the locals in their color-coordinated rain gear, that doesn’t happen often. Continue reading “Ketchikan” →

Nathaly

by rakeeter

Nathaly Alejandra Sermeño Zepeda. She’s the short one in the picture. El Salvador is about the size of Massachusetts, or so the Internet says so it must be true. Even still Nathaly, Anna her Compassion center tutor (left side) and her mother Carla (second from left) had to get up in the wee hours to get to the waterpark in San Salvador where we met for the first time and spent a “fun day.” The young lady to Nathaly’s right is Gabi, the CI interpreter. When we walked into the park, all the children were lined up to greet us. I didn’t spot Nathaly right off. In the picture we had of her she wasn’t over six years old and was probably younger than that. As young children do, she had changed a lot. Continue reading “Nathaly” →

Our group

by rakeeter

Hillside Christian Church supports Compassion International and through the church’s sponsor signup drive about a year and a half ago, we became a sponsor. Our group was composed of Hillside people and, other than the vague look of villainy we all have, seemed like decent people. Brenda (front, right) called me baby most of the time but I didn’t mind. Her husband Jim (bald head) is a stewardship pastor at the church. To Jim’s right is Carmen, who lives in Colorado Springs. She represents CI on some of these trips. She’s fluent in Spanish which is handy in a Spanish-speaking country. To Jim’s left wearing a red shirt is Mark. Mark manages all of these sponsor trips and has been on a number of them himself. Instead of flying home with the rest of us he flew on to Belize to rendezvous with another group. Wally (to Mark’s left, hat and beard) and Richelle (white chick in front of Wally) attend the Lubbock campus. Wally has a droll sense of humor I enjoyed. Behind Brenda is Kimberly who works for the church in child Sunday school area.