I never learned the history, but Region 1 of the ELCA (AK, MT, OR, SW WA, NW WA, NWIM) has a long history of bishops and spouses retreats. We rotate around the region and this year we were hosted by Bp Shelley Wickstrom in Seward, AK, home of her internship site. Bishop Wickstrom will finish twelve years as bishop and many more years as an active pastor in our region June 30.

I flew into Anchorage through Seattle early last Sunday and made my way to the hotel, chosen for its proximity to the railroad station. I walked up to downtown Anchorage and found the weekend market, where I enjoyed a breakfast burrito with reindeer sausage. Then I found the Anchorage Museum with many excellent temporary exhibits, including ones about mapping Alaska, creativity fueled by climate change, and more. The heart of the museum, in my humble opinion, is the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center: Living our Cultures, Sharing our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska. I went back to the motel to nap and got a message from a family/camp friend who lives in Anchorage. Judy Engh and I ended up having dinner.

Bp Laurie Jungling from Montana flew in later that night and we took the Alaska Railroad to Seward Monday. The scenery was fabulous.

We arrived in Seward long before our three colleagues showed up by car, fine since we couldn’t check into our VRBO until later. So we walked all around Seward and even visited the Alaska SeaLife Center. Then we enjoyed a very rich seafood chowder at a local restaurant.

Bishop Rick Jaech from SW WA couldn’t join us for the retreat and he’s the only current bishop in our region who is married, so we were five single women; quite a contrast from the last time Wickstrom hosted a group of 11 and she was only single person. So, some things have changed. As conversations unfolded, it was fun to learn how each of us had been shaped in some way by time in the Montana Synod–growing up there, first call as pastor, middle of career calls as pastor, working at the Lutheran camps, serving as bishop. Montana was a meaningful thread.

Our time together consisted of a hike to Exit Glacier, an incredible six-hour boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park, an amazing dinner in Seward, cooking together at the house, games, laughter, long conversations, creating a book list, and finally having an actual meeting about all things Region 1 in which we zoomed in Jaech for about 90 minutes Thursday morning.

My flight was not until Friday morning so I spent Thursday night at Wickstrom’s home in Anchorage. It was such a gift to have this time and get to know her better. She is from the NWIM Synod, worked at Camp Lutherhaven, and preached at my Installation last fall–many connections even beyond those.

I accidentally left my laptop in my house in Nampa before heading out last weekend. I went to print off just one last thing and never returned the laptop to my carry-on. Maybe it was my subconscious telling me to unplug in Alaska. I had my phone and was able to handle a few things that came up. Yes, I’ll be doing catch-up this next week. I bought an extra novel at the Anchorage Airport but I never got to it because we were together and doing so much I simply had little time to read. I think I actually retreated and feel rejuvenated. What a gift!