Bar-B-Que

We had a show today and it went quite well :)  People seemed to enjoy themselves and the food was great! :)  We are tired and hungry now, but glad the show went well.  We have had some pretty neat experiences so far in Alaska.  We have seen wild Moose, Caribou, and Bald Eagles.  Nature here is up close and personal.  Natalie practically touched a Moose outside her car window a couple days ago, and a Bald Eagle nearly flew into us on one of the ranch roads.  We are still getting settled, but are really loving it here.  Thanks for your prayers!

DITR

Facebook

Diamonds in the Rough now has a facebook fan page.  Just go to facebook and search Diamonds in the Rough and it should pop right up. :)  Please push the "like" button.  You can also just press the link below or the link under "Official Sites" to your left.  Thanks for your support! 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diamonds-in-the-Rough/171106736281067

DITR

Hitting the Iceberg

Well, something that we forgot to tell you happened to us on the cruise.

We were leaving the body of water that Hubbard Glacier was located in, and everyone was back inside the boat, when all the sudden it started shaking.   We heard a really really loud noise like metal grinding against metal, and could feel the ship jerk and stop and jerk and stop.  It was hard to even walk.  This went on for about 10 mins.  The noise was really bad and the motion of the boat was weird.  No one really knew what was going on.  Well, not to soon after the noise stopped and the boat got smooth again word started floating around the ship that we had hit a good sized iceberg.  Sure enough when we docked the next day, our ship the Westerdam had made the front page of the Ketchikan newspaper.  The iceberg had scraped the whole underside of our ship and dented the left side of it.  Some of our friends who saw it come out the backside said there was red paint from the bottom of our ship all over it. 

At the time it was not scary because we did not know what was happening, but looking back we are thankful we did not have a Titanic The Sequel. :)  It is certain to say that when you are in a boat out on the ocean anything and everything is going to happen.  So, if your going on a cruise anytime soon be prepared to have many wonderful adventures, and some maybe slightly scary ones. :)

Happy sailing!

DITR

Cattle Driving

Well, today after sleeping in and touching base with people back home, I decided to explore the ranch some.  I went up to the main office which is where I ran into Dan.  He is a hired hand that lives on the ranch.  Dan then showed me around the grounds and introduced me to some other people.  As we were walking around we ran into Blair who is the owners son.  Blair said the cowboys were only 40 mins out so we needed to move.  I look at Dan and he asked me if i was up for going on a cattle drive. :)  I promptly said yes.  So we jumped on the four wheeler and followed Blair to meet the cowboys.  We took about four or so hours driving the cattle from the ranch to the Rodeo grounds where they will be ridden tomorrow in a rodeo.  :)  It was a fun experience to say the least.  Because I was so late in jumping in I did not get to ride a horse, but I did get to drive a four wheeler so I was still happy.  The weather here is not to bad.  It was rainy and cloudy today so it was chilly but it was not much different from home.  :)  I am not sure what tomorrow will entail, but I am sure it will be exciting. 

Nat

Settling In

Well, we have now reached Diamond M Ranch.  Unfortunately Vicka got really sick once we landed in Anchorage so your prayers would be appreciated.  She was in the hospital with severe dehydration.  After they gave her some medicine and a bag of fluids she was feeling better.  We didn't get to the ranch till around 4am though because of that. Needless to say we were both exhausted and slept in.  Vicka is now feeling better, but is still not up and around so please pray for her quick recovery.  Look for more pictures and updates here in the next few days.  :) 

Nat

Sitka, Alaska

Well we are now in Sitka, AK.  It is beautiful here.  There were about six bald eagles that just flew over our heads to the mountains in front of us.  It is really neat.  We will post more when we get off the boat Sunday, but for now hop over to our "picture" tab to see a few pics of our boat and the Alaska scenery.  Thanks for your prayers! :) We miss you all!

DITR

On our Way!

Well we are now in Chicago.  We are killing some time sight seeing and such and then hopefully getting a good nights rest.  Tomorrow will be a busy day.  We will fly out at 8am and get to Seattle tomorrow afternoon where we will board the Westerdam on our cruise. Thanks for the continued prayers for safe travel.  We are hoping to have internet access on the boat so we can keep you posted , but if we don't we will be back online May 15th when we reach Alaska.  Keep an eye out for new pics soon and for new videos on youtube.com/diamondsitr from our travels! :)

DITR