After another beautiful evening in Homer we fell asleep listening to the waves beat against the shore just below our window. The Tustumena, or "Rusty Tusty" as she is also lovingly referred to, would be waiting on us bright and early in the morning.
I have to admit she wasn't quite what I was expecting. S had described her as a small cruise ship and she really was not!! She was much smaller and there were no endless free buffets. I was a little surprised at how small she really was however their is much underwater that is unseen.
This is one side of the holding bay. This side held the few large heavy vehicles while the other side held about 15 passenger vehicles. The weight and balance is figured out before everyone arrives so that they know who is going on which side and in what order. When we made the reservations they took the height, length and weight of both vehicles in order to determine how and when they would be loaded. Each vehicle enters the boat by way of a very large elevator. It holds two passenger vehicles or 1 large vehicle, such as the uhual we drove down. The elevator is lowered down to the holding bay then turns for the vehicles to drive off into the bay to be parked for the duration of the trip. It was very interesting to watch this huge elevator go up and down turn and go back up again. Due the loading process we had to be at the terminal 2 hours ahead of time, so we arrived at 7:30 in the morning. The girls actually woke up at 5:30 and 6, we should have known then what a long day it was going to be. Its amazing to me how even such small kids can sense when things are going to change!! Due to the early wake up we had a very light breakfast thinking we would grab something at the galley after we got on board however the galley closed before we had a chance. S was able to get some coffee which was desperately needed, we had messed up and stayed up way too late packing the night before. S wasn't the only one that enjoyed the coffee however.
When daddy wasn't looking A helped herself to his coffee. We thought she would spit it out or make a face however she seemed to actually enjoy it. For the rest of the day she would ask him for more "cautchie" aka coffee.
When they weren't enjoying their coffee together they had a blast on deck looking for whales. In case any of you are wandering why she has a jacket on in some pictures and not others it is because some of the outdoor viewing areas were heated or she would play so hard she would come back to me exclaiming "HOT" and taking her jacket off.
We had a perfect day for sailing. It was clear skies, and I mean clear, there was not a cloud anywhere!! This made the views of the mountains and volcano's even more breathtaking. Just after lunch the waves did pick up a little however it was time for nap so no one got sick. While the girls and I napped in the room S continued to look for whales and he finally found them!
If you look very closely in the center at the horizon their is a white dot (you may have to click on the picture to make it big enough to see). It is a whale blowing. That was the only time they were seen until we were getting ready to come into Kodiak. Then one of the galley staff told us that there was a humpback some where but we never did see him.
Our first sights of Kodiak were of Monashka bay. This is a community that sits right on the water and has some of the most beautiful houses
Shortly after we caught sight of Pillar mountain with the windmills on top of it.
Then came Kodiak, situated just under the bridge. It was a perfect welcome. I had been told how much it rains here however when we arrived it was still blue skies and even a little warm, standing in the sun you didn't really need a jacket. While we were unloading and talking to the sponsor some clouds moved in. The weather changed so fast that by the time we got to our room and unloaded it had already started sleeting and gotten very grey outside. However, the initial welcome was wonderful, and S was excited that I got to see the best and worse all within a matter of hours after arriving.
I also noticed the beaches were a little different than Florida's. While they have their own unique charm about them I don't think I will be sunbathing or swimming much this summer in them.
Coming in to dock we got a chance to meet another CG family that had been roomed next to us. The husband will also be working on the C-130 with S and they have a son that is between A and B in age. Hopefully, we will have a chance to get them together and make some new friends. The sponsor was also waiting for us to disembark he was very nice and also has a little girl between ours in age. So far we have met some very nice people and lots of kids for the girls to play with. I think however that my body is sensing we are finally done and has decided to shut down. I started to get a headache on the boat last night and have felt like a Mack-truck has run over me today. I don't really feel sick, its more a lack of energy. If I could just lay on the floor and do nothing but let the girls crawl over me (which I think they would be perfectly happy with) it would be a great day!! However, things must get done so I have to keep moving. I think the girls are also sensing we are finally here. Yesterday was one of the worst days we have had with them. At one point I had to leave the room because neither one was happy unless they were in my lap, and I'm not talking about a little fussy, I mean all out crying heart broken alligator tears. However, holding both had its own challenges as they didn't want to share me with the other one. So I walked in and within a minute A was on my back trying to push B down and B was reaching around from my lap pulling A's hair and both were screaming in my ear, I was literally in the middle of a cat fight. So I left them with their dad and went to get fresh air. Amazingly the crying stopped when I walked out and S said they both got down and started playing very happily together!! Today has been much better!! They were almost back to their old selves, sharing and playing together. Hopefully, as things calm down more they will return to their old sweet selves. B even decided to try to walk again tonight which she hasn't really been interested in since leaving Vegas. While she would think about it if we put her on her feet she didn't initiate it. Tonight however she crawled over to me then crawled about a foot away and stood up grinning, like "I'm ready! how do I do this??". It was GREAT we got one step out of her before she fell but she got right back up again and again and again. One step was about all we really got but at least she's showing interest again and not just wanting to be carried. Hopefully by the end of the next week or two she'll be a pro at it.
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