Heading Home Tomorrow Morning

Hi everyone,

Well, it's been one heck of an intense week and I haven't had a chance to blog or post photos. There's been lots of great learning and interaction with a group of fabulous human beings here--I will write more about the whole experience when I get home. My computer power cord has bitten the dust so I have been borrowing cords from others to charge up the computer but it doesn't hold a charge for much more than an hour. Right now it is almost 11 PM and we just finished our last night of work! We are leaving for the airport at 6:30 AM and will overnight in Anchorage tomorrow, then home on Wednesday. Talk with you soon!

Sunny San Diego!

We were up at 5:15 and on the hotel shuttle at 6 AM for our 3 hour flight from Anchorage to Seattle. Very pleasant and no passenger issues. :) Had a short layover in Seattle and then off to San Diego, another pleasant flight which took about 2 1/2 hours. It was a beautiful sunny day. Here's our approach.

Just happened to catch the Aerospace Museum as we flew over.

Gettin' kinda low here. Thank goodness the airport was just ahead!

Char and Donna waiting for our shuttle. Char was smart and wore a light dress but Donna and I were still in our heavy Alaska clothes. It was 80 degrees when we landed! I was so happy!

We checked in for our training at the Bahia Resort Hotel and then went for a little walk around the area. We are right near a marina and Mission Beach is a couple of blocks away.

Char and I are sharing a room, which is more like a mini-apartment with a living room and kitchen. We have a little patio with deck chairs on it and a view of the water. Sweet!

After our walk and a taco dinner at Roberto's down the block, we came back for the first night and opening circle of the Healthy Native Communities Fellowship. Since I did not make it to the first retreat in January, I didn't know anyone besides Donna and Char, but everyone was very welcoming and friendly. We did several activities to get to know one another better and renew relationships for those who had met before. Soon we were all laughing and talking away. We have lots of work to do for the next week but it seems like it will be great fun as well.

Fireworks were lighting up the sky when we came back to our room! I'm up way too late after not getting much sleep last night. We have breakfast between 6:30 and 8:00 AM tomorrow. I doubt I will be there at 6:30!