Back on Land!

I am back and am in Gresham, OR for the weekend with Bro and Sis Graves. I must say, I am glad to be back on land and have a chance to write a few goings on that happened during the Homecoming cruise to Alaska. I wish I could have written more while I was on there, but I just couldn't bring myself really to pay almost $1.00 per minute to use their service....outrageous! I started out 1 week ago and drove to Seattle, WA and left sailing about 4:00 that afternoon. The room I was in was pretty nice and they come about 2 times per day to tidy it up for you and to vacuum it. I was like....cool! That night was the first concert and everybody was packed into the stage area and auditorium. It lasted for about 2 hours each and every night of the week. There is just something about Gaither music that is really great. I know I know if somebody visits my blog and reads this, they will be like .....Gaithers? Aren't they old? The truth is, the comedy and choice of songs sang are very new but still have a southern gospel feel to them. To truly appreciate them and what they do, you have to go to one of their concerts. The concert lineup was (I think these are all of them) Gaither Vocal Band, Ernie Haas and Signature Sound, The Hoppers, Jeff and Sheri Easter, Janet Paschal, Ben Speer, Gene McDonald, Lynda Randle, Booth Brothers, Bill and Gloria Gaither, Buddy Greene, Gordan Mote, Joy Gardner, Reggie and Lady-Love Smith, and Jesse Dixon. Awesome stuff! Tuesday was kind of a rough night because it was terrible weather and the ship was tossing and turning all night long. I felt like I would never eat again. Of course that changed the next morning. Favorite parts of the cruise.....hmmm... There are many. Favorite was going into town, eating lunch and hanging out with Lynda Randle and her daughter Patience. What a blast. Lynda is such a real person and so is her family. Her Husband Michael is a youth pastor back home in Missouri and really cool to talk to. Great people and great friends! Second...I was sitting by Wayne Haun during one of the concerts and we both ordered drinks. Wayne is a Dove Award winning songwriter and producer for the Gospel music field. We got too talking about some stuff, and when the soft drinks got there Wayne went backstage got two glasses and right in front of 600 people brought me a glass of ice for my soda. I was like......cool, this guy is pretty nice. He now plays piano for Signature Sound and is their producer and arranger for their songs. Really neat to talk to. Third....talking to Bill Gaither. Bill is quiet. Not what you would expect. He doesn't say much but is a professional in everything he does. Him and Gloria are such sweet people and what an example to younger writers and artists who are coming up in the field. Nobody has done for gospel music what Bill Gaither has in my opinion. Fourth...Talking to Wes and Andrea Hampton. Wes is the tenor for the Gaither Vocal Band and such an incredible singer. Him and his wife have two boys and the third one is on the way! Such sweet people and really cool to talk to. You know how your really nervous talking to people sometimes and don't know what to say, so you nod your head and make up things like "uh uh" and "ooohhhh ya" and "sweeeett" but you didn't have to do that with them. Michael Randle (Lynda's Husband) introduced me to them and they just sat right down and started talking. I remember thinking ......wow this is so cool. There are so many other things that went on that I wish I could tell you about but for the sake of this post I think I will stop for awhile. The food was incredible on the ship. All night long there was a buffet going on. You basically got up, ate, went back to bed, got up, ate lunch, went back to bed, got up ate a snack, then ate dinner then ate your second dinner. If you have ever been on a cruise you know what I am talking about. The last dinner we had lobster tail and filet mignon. Here are some more pics.