Embarking in Sitka

 

Luckily once you get to the pier in Sitka, the town is all within walking distance.


This was the first sight we saw on dry land.










































When we crossed ourselves upon entering the Cathedral,







































the lady who receives $3 a tourist, said we could get in for free since we were Orthodox. While we were venerating the icons, a Reader named Philip approached us, asked us if we were Orthodox and then asked if he could give us a tour! He took us behind the cordoned area so that we could venerate the Our Lady of Sitka icon. It was more beautiful than I remembered from when it was at St. Seraphim's Cathedral in Dallas on tour a couple of years ago.












































He also brought out from behind the altar St. Innocent's Blessing Cross! He had hand carved it out of ivory, and we were told it has a piece of the actual cross inside it. We are very blessed to have been able to venerate it.

Just as it was closing, we arrived at the Bishop's House where St. Innocent lived. The Ranger allowed us to tour the ground floor anyway, which is full of artifacts from the historic and lovingly successful Orthodox mission effort to Alaska. I'll post some more pictures in my photo's. I also have a Collection, accessible at the bottom of the sidebar on the right, called Way Out West Vacation, both of which have a slideshow type option again in the right sidebar if you click on a picture. It's chronological if you click on the last photo first.

The rest of Day 4 and Day 5 - San Francisco, Sunday. After all the day starts the previous sunset

We didn't have time to go to Yosemite as we had hoped. Instead we decided to take our time in Sequoia as it would have been too stressful to rush through both parks in one day. So we headed down the beloved mountains into California's fertile valley Saturday afternoon and with the aid of gps guidance found a chinese buffet in hot, dry Fresno. Just before sunset, we stopped at a fruit stand on our westerly route on hwy 152 and ate deliciously fresh cherries, grapes and nectarines for dessert. This road became dramatically gorgeous around Gilroy where the golden hills rose again to divide the valley from the ocean. Then the coastal redwoods guarded the best twisty turney, up and down road I've ever driven on. The difference was that the curves were banked so that you didn't feel like you were going to fall over the edges. It was like a nice smooth roller coaster. I strongly recommend this route to California coastal hwy 1. But it would be funner in a low profile sports car. Sadly it was almost dark when we got to the coast, but I could see and hear enough of the moonlit white-tipped waves crashing into the rocky coast, and smell and feel the salty, moist wind on that hilly highway to feel exaltation. The Texas coast is marshy or sandy, but flat. This was quite different.

We made our way to our hotel in southern San Francisco which we
approached along it's southern peninsula. Sunday morning we drove into the beautiful
but crowded city. It was a little nerve-racking navigating on the
one-way, steep, crowded streets and finding a place to park to attend
Liturgy.

Holy Virgin Cathedral was finished by St. John the Wonder-worker, who died a few days before I was born. We missed the English service, but the Church Slavonic was beautiful, and the choir heavenly (click here to another tab to get more of the Russian choral atmosphere). Understanding "Ghospodi pomilui"- "Lord have mercy" and "Slava"- "Glory" helped a lot. Also the Russian attendants were wonderful examples of humble, loving, devoted veneration of the Saints through their icons. Americans are much more timid and self-conscious about it. Some of the parishoners remember St. John in person and their love for him was very evident as they venerated his relics on the right side of the church and in the generous manner of the couple who gave us a tour of his original resting place below the Church. They had both been students in the Russian school surrounding the Church while he was serving there. Not that he still isn't.