Day one of our 13th annual Legacy Genealogy Cruise has come to a close. I'm now in my 22nd hour of being awake, and my wife says I've done some of my best writing when I'm half asleep, and I promised you a daily report. Tonight's will be brief.
Cruisers flew into Anchorage, Alaska from around the globe. We met at the Alaska Railroad Depot where we boarded the train for the 4.5 hour scenic journey to Seward. Not having studied my itinerary very closely, this additional excursion was a surprise to me, but a very welcome one. We saw mountains, glaciers, lakes, and even some traveling salmon. I kept a careful eye out for moose, bears, and whales, but didn't see any yet.
It was wonderful seeing so many old friends we've cruised with previously, and it was fun meeting many of our Webinar Wednesday viewers in person.
Arriving at the ship, it was just as majestic as expected, although I wish I would not have packed my winter coat in my suitcase. Going from the 90s in Idaho to the windy 50s in Alaska was a big change, but the warmth of the dining room with its unlimited buffet and, of course, ice cream and hot chocolate, warmed us up.
Early tomorrow morning we begin our first day of classes where I will first teach "Using Legacy as a Research Tool". I'm looking forward to this brand new class where I will introduce my recent experiences with genetic genealogy and then show how to best use Legacy to keep track of the findings and link the DNA tests to the Media Galleries. Next, I will teach "Digital Pictures and Legacy" where we'll explore all of Legacy's multimedia capabilities including reports, charts, and locating missing files. I'll also get to show how I utilize the brand new Google Photos to backup and share my digital images via the cloud. For our last morning class, Ken will be teaching "Locations, Mapping, and Legacy". He always has some great insights and I'm looking forward to learning from his perspective as one of Legacy's developers.
As much as I'm looking forward to teaching, eating, exploring, and eating some more, I am honestly even more excited about the divorce case papers of one of my Brown ancestors I received the day before I left. They had so much more than I hoped for – I'm finally going to be able to find Marsden Brown's children and their families. I'm already planning for a new Watch Geoff Live episode for when we return.
That's all for tonight. I hear the northern lights are visible tonight, so I might sneak up to the top deck before retiring to bed. And to my mother and father-in-law who are home with our children – thanks so much and give them kisses for us!
Gayle – it’s been fun getting to know the McCoys. They are at our dinner table each night.