We have ridden on a few ferrys none as big as this one though. We were supposed to be there at 12:00Am Saturday morning. Ruth and Matthew accompanied us to the ferry terminal and the kids begged (and Ruth) that they ride with them there. Eve especially decided that she was not going to Kodiak, but instead if they could just hide her she could stay in Homer with the Mitchels. What can I say to that, definitely two days was not enough time to be together. I wish I could say that we have a whole lot more time on our way out to spend together, but I know what the time like looks like. We will try to work it out for as much time as we can, but sorry Eve you have to come with us. We were parked in our lane to load the car before 12:00AM in time to wait wait and wait some more. Matthew and Ruth stayed and visited with us until nearly 2:00 AM. Which gave us that much more time to visit. The kids (and me) were to sleep almost instantly after we said our goodbyes (actually I think the kids might have all been asleep before). We had stayed up until midnight the day before and now it was 0200 and we could not keep our eyes open. I woke up briefly when Chad pulled the car into the elevator at the back of the ferry. It was a cool ride to be let down into the car deck of the ship. It is a big boat and gods lots of uhaul trucks and fifthwheels, semi trailers and more. Kind of unbelievable. We made it up to our floor and checked out the keys to our room unsure of what it would look like or have in it, we were hoping for a bathroom and linens since there was a sign that you could rent linens for three dollars. We were assured that the room we were in came with linens. Few. We do have our sleepingbags but that would require going back down to the car and getting them. We were all wiped and Eve was crying unless she was held.
The room was perfect, besides being a little cold to start with. One side had a bunk bed and the other a Murphy bed and couch that turned into a bed. We quickly assigned beds to each kid and filed them through the bathroom. We thought the accommodations were great as we did have our own shower and bathroom and large window view. The couch made it comfortable to hang out in the day and it didn not fee crowded with five people in it for the 12 hours we were on the ferry.
TThe cafe was like a hospital cafeteria with a grill making hot breakfast options as well as a selection of packaged breakfast options and oatmeal, tea, coffee, juice and milk. Caleb chose oatmeal, Hannah chose cold cereal and Eve wanted only yogurt and water. Chad and I ordered from the grill and can say the food was very good. We enjoyed the view during breakfast as we were driving though a channel and were close enough to land to see the details of the shoreline. Eve didn’t eat much of her breakfast and then said something about her stomache hurting I had her come over by me and Chad grabbed a barf bag out of the windowsill. We were just in time to catch the bit of yogurt she did manage to eat. She seemed fine after that. Chad purchased some Dramamine chewable tabs for kids two years and up and a few more bags from the window. I grabbed a few napkins and we continued on to the play room. She found a little four year old boy to play trains with and the were busy about their play for quite a while. There was another mom in the play room whose three year old erupted short after we got in there. I handed her a bag and the pile of napkins to clean off the seat and carpet. I offered a packet of the Dramamine and she wasn’t to sure about that, but soon she erupted again. Then she did take me up on the Dramamine and a second bag. Poor thing. You definitely could feel the rocking of the boat. It was pretty pronounced. We decide to go outside and check out the observation deck. The front covered observation deck was filled with people sleeping who had not had a room. So we went out the side door and around the from where the wind was strong and we had to hold on to eachother. We took a few pictures and just as we did a big spray splashed up and got us (we were two or three stories up from the main deck). After that dousing we decided to walk around to the other side that was luckily sheltered more from the wind. We climbed a few stairs and checked out the emergency boats before ducking back inside and heading to our room for a nap. Eve seemed fine except that she was a little sleepy. We all crashed out for another two hours before the call came to turn in our room key and go to our cars on the car deck.
We loaded in the car and even though we were toward the front of the unloading zone it still took a while to get off. The kids fell asleep again.
On our way to our new apartment we drove right past the hospital so we did our traditional drive around to check it out. My father-in-law says it looks like a prison from the side but agreed that it doesn’t look too bad from the main entrance. 
Our housing seems to be great. It is the first time we have had a three bedroom and it is furnished, yay! We very rarely get furniture, because of the added expense, so when we do have it we are so very greatful. Our travel nurse company got this place for us after the hospital provided housing fell through due, I think, to the number of people we travel with. We are so thankful that they did as the housing market over here is steep with very few availabilities. Below is a going away/housewarming gift from Ruth and Matthew. Three jars of canned salmon and one jar of fireweed jelly.
Eve woke up and slowly bobbed her way into the house. She made it to the kitchen before erping just enough to give me time to grab her and run her to the bathroom for a two pointer slam dunk of throw up in the toilet. Few. We rummaged through the cupboards and found a bowl for her to carry around. She found her bed and pulled off her shoes rolling into it. It wasn’t much longer when she, carrying her pillow and bucket made her way out to the couch to watch the kids cooking show Chad had turned on for her. We decided (we were all feeling rough/exhausted) that Chad run out to get only what we needed for tonight we would save exploring and big shopping for tomorrow. We all just needed to rest.
The bags made it inside that is as far as they got. We had the canned salmon for late lunch/dinner. The next think I knew we were all sleeping again. I woke up just after seven to discover that the kids had all disappeared to bed and then fell back asleep. Chad woke me up around 8:00PM to go to bed. I can not believe how tired I still feel. Good grief. I’m so thankful for today, for getting here and for time to rest. My thankful list could go on and on. Thank you everyone for your prayers and hospitality as we have journeyed they mean so much to us.
Owens Endeavors 