Mother's Last trip to Alaska

I remembered that I had this picture when Vicky made her comment about her Grandma Bingham, so I am posting it here. It pictures four generations: Me, Mother, Abi, and Vicky taken on Mother's last visit to Alaska--October to December 2000.

As you all know, Grandma Bingham wrote a book about their travels, FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA ON A SHOESTRING. This picture of her on her last trip to Alaska reminded me of the chapter she wrote about that trip. I decided to share it with you here.

Chapter 72 - Another Explanatory Interlude

I wanted to spend time with the Bloughs in Alaska before settling down at an assisted living home in Greenville. My plan was to have Dick accompany me on the flight up and have Marlene come back with me.

But those plans were changed. Marlene wrote that they would come down after me in a pop-up trailer and encouraged me to get moved out of the apartment, thus saving rent, electricity, etc. I had less than a month to break up housekeeping for good! Marlene had come down and helped me move out of our house in November 1998; now she came and helped me move out of our apartment almost two years later. I gave everything away to family and friends, and what no one wanted, I gave to Miracle Hill. When the time for leaving came, there were still boxes left and other stuff. Muriel and Dick took care of all that, and on September 22, I walked out of the apartment.


Chapter 73 - The Trip to Alaska

We left from Paton and Melinda’s home on Saturday morning, September 23, where we had spent the night. Our destination was Ron’s mother’s and sister’s homes in Holsopple, Pennsylvania. It was a beautiful drive, for the fall colors were just beginning to show off. We arrived after dark and found Grandma Blough not as sick as we had been led to believe. We stayed at Ron’s sister’s house, for they were gone. Their daughter Cindy lived very close by, so we saw a lot of that family.

Every day Ron took us on trips through the beautiful countryside. He preached at two different churches while we were there. On the last Sunday we were there, October 1, we celebrated Grandma Blough’s birthday (September 30) and mine, which was that day. She was 85 and I was 86.

On October 2 we left Pennsylvania and headed for Alaska, our destination. Becky and Adam had arrived from Arizona with their two little boys, so they traveled with us the first day and a half. The countryside was beautiful! We stopped the first night in Schenectady, New York, where Adam and Becky had reservations. We parked our van and camper in the parking lot where we spent the night in the camper. It was a new experience for me, but I slept very comfortably. We were able to use the Roland’s facilities to bathe and dress.

The next day we traveled with the Rolands for half of the time, visiting an old church in Bennington, Vermont. Bob and I had been there on one of our trips. Then we said good bye to them and went our separate ways.

On to Alaska for us. I’ve never enjoyed a trip more but only wished Bob could be enjoying it with me. It was unbelievably beautiful and interesting. I enjoyed every day to the fullest. The fall colors were on display. The sunsets over the Great Lakes were fantastic. The mountains were breathtaking. I just don’t have the vocabulary to describe the wonder and beauty of that trip.

We spent about half the nights in the camper and half in motels.

We stopped in Bemidji, Minnesota, where we used to live and went into the store we used to have, now a photo shop. We drove to Solway where we also used to live. Ron was so kind as to take me to places he knew I’d be interested in. We were in Canada for their Thanksgiving Day. I think it was October 5.

We started our trip to Alaska on Monday morning, October 2, and arrived at the Blough’s home in Ninilchik on October 12 having traveled 6,096 miles. Five of those nights we slept in the camper, four in a motel, and one at Judson’s in Anchorage. Our usual routine was thus: we would get up, dress, and start out. After driving for a couple of hours, we would stop and have a good breakfast at a restaurant. Then on we would go until about suppertime when we would stop for our evening meal. We had snacks with us to keep our tummies from growling between meals. After supper, we would travel on, often driving after dark. Then we would find a gas station where we would park in the back with the trucks, or we’d get a motel. One of the highlights of that trip was a stop at a beautiful log lodge that Marlene had picked out on their way down. It was made of very, very large logs.

It snowed on our last night on the road, but Ron had stopped along the way and had snow tires put on our vehicle. So, we arrived safe and sound in Anchorage where we met Judson at a restaurant and ate there. We spent the night with him in his apartment. That was on October 11, 2000.

Before I go any farther, I must write about the not-so-good part of our trip. The heater in the camper didn’t work right. It kept going off. I about froze to death even though Marlene piled covers on me. Poor Ron would get up and work with it. He would get it going and then it would stop again. Finally, we stopped at a place along the way and got it fixed. Another not-so-pleasant event was that I fell while getting up to go to the “bathroom”--a potty-chair near my bed. I knocked my glasses off the table on which I had laid them. I was not hurt, but my glasses were. They were all bent out of shape, but Marlene got them fixed well enough for me to wear and see with them.

In Anchorage we had breakfast at Judson’s, then shopped at Wal-Mart. They put me in a mechanized wheelchair, and away I went. I was making a U-turn between some displays and bumped into one. Down it came! Marlene to the rescue. She got the display put back together, and no damage was done. I haven’t been in one of those wheelchairs since!

We, of course, were duly welcomed as we drove up to Ron and Marlene’s home in Ninilchik. Joanna, Caleb, and Abi were on hand to make us feel welcomed and to make me feel at home. Joanna helped me unpack and put things into drawers they had emptied for me. This would be my home for the next two months. I was glad to be there.
I praise the Lord for that wonderful trip. It was the best of them all.



“Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.”⎯Leigh Hunt

Sweet Memories of Mother

Mother And Daddy and their four kids at Hudson's wedding, May 23, 1988

Dear Kids,

I am thinking a lot about my mother today because of the sixth anniversary of her going to be with the Lord. And, of course, along with thinking of her, memories of Daddy are there, too. They cannot be separated. Three years sooner than Mother, on February 10, he met his Savior face to face.

I have been blessed indeed with the most loving, caring, sacrificing, giving parents I could have had. And what a heritage they left us children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren! Can we ever be grateful enough?

Though the majority of my years were lived miles apart from them, yet they were always near. They made it so with their letters and visits--and always their love. There was never reason to doubt that they always wanted the best for each one of their children and grandchildren. Our lives were the center of their lives. They lived for us. I understand that now that you children are out of the nest and most of you many miles away. Your joys are our joys; your burdens and sorrows are ours also. Mother and Daddy wanted each one of us to love and serve the Lord they loved—the same desire we have for each of you and your children.

I have been recalling the last days with Mother. What a joy it was to see her looking forward to seeing her Savior! What a privilege it was being in the inner sanctum! How sacred! How special! And how privileged that all four of her children could be there with her! How precious it was to hear her express concern for each of you, my children, in those last lucid moments.

Mother, though gone, is still my guiding light. Throughout my life I have strived for her virtues. I’m still reaching. And I’ll be reaching until the day I die.

Now, it is our place to strive to be the parents and grandparents that will inspire each of you to love and glorify the Lord. What a responsibility! May we carry on the torch by His enabling grace and mercy.

Lovingly, Mom


Taken November 2000 at our church in Ninilchik

Mother’s Prayer

Family picture taken December 1983

Dear Kids,

The following prayer with tears I prayed for you children and your children the last two days since I found it in The Baptist Vision, Volume 14, Issue 1, page 16. It is by Mrs. Charles Hill Love, 19th Century Pastor’s Wife.

The sentiments expressed in this prayer go along with the message Dad brought to our little group last evening and also in his last Bible blog to you.

"Oh, Thou who hast been my God, my father’s God, my father’s father’s God, my mother’s God, my mother’s mother’s God; I come before Thee now to entreat Thee solemnly to be my children’s God. Thou, all-great Jehovah, and Thou canst save them. Oh, let Thine arms of mercy and love be constantly about them to preserve them from the follies of childhood, the dangers of youth, and the sins of maturer years.

"Thou knowest the anxieties of a parent’s heart, and Thou hast more than a parent’s love for all whom Thou takest into Thy care and protection. Oh, let my beloved children be some of those blessed ones whom Thou carriest in Thine arms, whom Thou leadest gently, whom Thou wilt watch over every moment of their pilgrimage below, and of whom at last Thou wilt pronounce, ‘of such is the kingdom of heaven.’

"Let Thy restraining grace be exercised toward them to protect them from evil dispositions, un-amiable tempers, disobedience, and all outward immoralities. May they love each other and their parents, and learn to take pleasure in denying themselves for each other and for the sake of all who may come within their reach. Preserve them from carelessness, laziness, wandering habits, and improper companions. And oh, great God, above all things, let Thy converting grace enlarge their hearts that their parents may have the unspeakable happiness of seeing them all follow the dear Savior; or, if their mother should not be allowed the blessedness of seeing this great change wrought upon them while on earth, may I be called to rejoice over it in the bright regions of eternal glory.

"Oh, my Savior, take my children into Thy care and keeping. I confess that I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies, much less am I worthy to ask Thee for so great favors, yet I would not be discouraged, for Thou hast said, ‘Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it,’ and I do trust that through the merits of the Savior alone Thy sovereign mercy may lay hold of my dear children, and that they may every one, spend their lives in Thy service. And oh, enable me to labor incessantly for their conversion, to pray without ceasing for them, and to endeavor by all the means in my power, to impress the truth of the gospel on their minds and to seek with all ‘earnestness that the Holy Spirit may impress those truths on their minds while they are young.’"

May God answer my sincere heartfelt prayer. Mom/Grandma

Whiter than snow

Dear Kids,

May I remind you of the poem that I would post on our bulletin board each year? It was to remind us the importance of each step we take and that there is forgiveness for the bad tracks we had left behind the past year. Oh, the blessedness of sins forgiven and the challenge of living a life pleasing to the Lord! Here’s the poem:

The New Year lies before you as a blanket of fresh snow.
Be careful how you tread it for every step will show.



In the places we have lived, we have had no want of beautiful snow to remind us that through the blood of Jesus, “though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow…“ Isaiah 1:18. 23, and “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” Psalm 51:7.

We wish for you in this New Year of 2009 a constant awareness of these two things: the precious price paid for forgiveness of sin and the importance of a godly walk.

Love,

Mom





The first photo at the top of this post is the view from our home under construction here in Hoonah. The next photo was taken in Ninilchik, Alaska, viewing Mt. Redoubt across Cook Inlet. The next photo was taken on a hike to a glacier near our Haines, Alaska-home near U.S./Canada border. The third photo pictures our home in Littleton, New Hampshire. And can we ever forget our beloved home in Reuke, Japan, pictured in these last two photos?--No lack of snow in any of these places!