Admiralty Island

Lo and behold, my mom was in active labor.

In case you've forgotten by now, my dad was miles and miles away, asleep on a fishing boat near Admiralty Island, which was two islands away from Juneau.

Now, they had contacted the Coast Guard, who started calling over the radio that goes out to fishing boats.

And they were saying, Ricky, Ricky, coming in for Ricky.

In his mind, he knew immediately that Coast Guard boat was there for him because his wife was in labor.

Before the Coast Guard boat even got within yelling distance, my dad ran out onto the bow of the boat, waving his arms, saying, I'm Ricky! I'm Ricky! And when the Coast Guard boat got close enough, they asked, are you Ricky? My dad said, yes, I am.

And he ran onto the Coast Guard boat where they drove him to a mine that was on Admiralty Island.

He called my mom, who was, in fact, in labor.

There was more of a sense of prestige tour as well on this second venture, with Peter buying up artworks and other cultural items to take back to Russia to decorate his new palaces in St. Petersburg, while also carrying out diplomatic negotiations like a Russian ruler determined to indicate to the Dutch, French, and others that Russia had arrived on the European stage.

Still, he was always on the lookout for lessons to be learned in terms of science and technology, bringing back Dutch reclamation methods to Russia, which allowed for the creation of New Holland Island, or Admiralty Island, in central St. Petersburg in 1719.

Part of the reasoning behind Peter's travel westwards in 1716 and 1717 had been to carry out diplomatic discussions with several of the European powers as England, Prussia, and others had been drawn into the Great Northern War in various ways in the course of the 1710s.

The conflict had also acquired a southern front when the Ottomans became involved in 1710, seeking to promote Swedish interests in order to offset Russian gains at a time when Russia was emerging as the primary foe of the Turks in the Black Sea region and the Caucasus.