Ack.... it's been a month!

Can't believe it's been a month since I blogged and we are on our eighth month in Alaska!  We've been doing so much it seems so much longer.

Still alive, busy, and happy!

We are both on our second jobs.  We bought Stevie.  We had our first visitor last month and my Mom will be visiting in August.  We survived a winter and are gearing up for another winter.  Joe was told by someone at a store "winter is coming"!  We have actively been downsizing to get ready for future endeavors.   In August we will keep up the downsizing and in September we will be in full PURGE mode.  

We signed a lease for a studio place we found on AirB&B. We are going from a two bedroom apartment condo to one big living area with bathroom!  Oh, and there is NO T.V. in the studio. Are we crazy?!  Nah....our goal is to be living out of a van or truck camper and this will be a good transition step for us. Oh... the AirB&B is furnished so by 1 Oct all of our furniture will be sold/donated/or trashed!  We were able to meet are AirB&B "landlord" and see the property, or as he said do a "site visit".  The place is on his property and the studio is an addition to his house which is also small.  Nice yard and a fire pit that will come in handy in the winter months.  It's in an established neighborhood so it seemed quiet and chill.  We will be walking distance to some decent trails and closer to all the things to do and see in downtown.  No more visitors though LOL  If we get guest they are on their own for accommodations! 

Joe and I are still narrowing down are rig for traveling but we have a good direction. All the blogs/pics/and groups that are out there of people doing what we are planning on doing are awesome to learn from. 

Like I mentioned we had a visitor this last month.  My friend from Utah came up for a week long visit the beginning of July.  We were busy but not too busy :)  We checked out the Highland Games, I took her to Alyeska, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where we saw some bears, took in Seward, and relaxed!

Amanda and I

Highland games.... Love the shag!

Alaska!

Silly in Seward!

Unfortunately since my last post we have not taken Stevie out.  We hope to change that in August and take a little vacation out and show my Mom as much of Alaska while she is here.

Trusty Stevie

Rando: Stevie, death hike, glaciers, and research.

I've had a collection of photos on my desk top thinking that I have been meaning to use in a blog post...so here we are.
Since going to Homer with Stevie we haven't taken her back out, but we have a plan to in away a week for a Mermaid Festival in Seward AK :)
During our first outing, our shake down, with Stevie there are some things that we figured out:
Although a spot looks level, it probably isn't!

Joe's awesome make shift leveling job!

If it's going to fall over in transit and spill everywhere, it will. On the way home our bottle of olive oil spilled.  There are worse things to spill, so we are grateful for the nice smell in Stevie.  We did manage to get it all cleaned up, just kicked ourselves for wasting the expensive stuff :(
We did a pretty decent job at keeping our packing down to a minimum with not a whole lot of extra stuff, but we did realize that some other things would have been useful.

1 for food, 1 for kitchen stuff... this was just for 2 nights/3 days

We are traveling with a notebook so we can write everything down for our next travels!  It is helpful to plan meals for the weekend and think about making the meal and pack along those lines :). 
Another thing we found out traveling early in the season is that a lot of dump stations were not open and we had to figure out where to get potable water.  

Thanks Sanidumps.com!!!

Sanidumps.com is a great website/tool that will let you know where the dumps/water is at in your area, what they provide, when they are open, and if there is a cost!
Overall... a good first outing with Stevie!  We need to get a new mattress which is a pain but will probably throw a topper on for now and hope for the best :)

As was noted in the previous post, both Joe and I are "in-between jobs".  He's working on his last two classes for he bachelor's degree and as for me, I'm trying not to spend money on things I don't need just because I'm bored.  One thing about Alaska is there is always a hike to do near by!  There is no excuse not to get out and enjoy the beauty of this state!  I have a book of local hikes and the app AllTrails, which is awesome!  
One day we decided to hike Bird Ridge.  We've past it numerous times and I've noticed the sign for it.  It's right across from Turnagin Arm in the Chugach State park.  It's an out and back hike, 4.6 miles, with 3218 ft of elevation gain!  We've done other "hard" trails so we didn't think about this one too much.  We just packed up our packs, grabbed our hiking sticks (life savers), and headed out!

pay the $ people!

I've noticed that a majority of "locals" don't pay the $5 that most of the hiking tails ask for.  It's FIVE DOLLARS and it keeps the trails nice and the trail heads clean.  Please give or pay for an annual ticket!  

The views were amazing! It's always a tad easier going up!

We took a decent amount of breath breaks going up and to appreciate the scenery.  We see a lot of folks just flying up trails but we like to stop and look around.  It's so quiet at times and we saw a good amount of bald eagles doing their thing!  So much amazing beauty in our back yard!

We might have been half way up!

tide is going out...

Getting above the tree line we came across this bench.  We thought about taking our snack and a rest here but it was windy.  Plus we wanted to get to the top and then rest so we took a breather and moved on.  What is so amazing is that someone carried that big slab up there?!  I was worn out with just a small pack of essentials!

Be awesome!

One thing about this hike is that there is multiple false ridges and it does kill one's motivation after walking straight up!  We found a place to hunker down to avoid the wind, enjoyed the scenery while having a snack and water, then went back down.

our break spot before going back down

hiking sticks, don't leave home without them

I took no pictures going down due my knees were screaming at me!  My body is not use to that type of extended movement, straight up and straight down.  Whenever I found a some what level path my knees were praising the lord!  We both need to strengthen our legs for this type of hike before doing it again.  We were both proud of ourselves for doing it and getting as far as we did but we were exhausted!

After the Bird Ridge hike we took a small time out from hiking.  Yesterday we drove to Whittier.  I remember going there with my guard unit back in 2010 but it was Joe's first time and it's just about an hour drive.  We stopped at the Portage Glacier.  In 2010 you could see it from the road but now you have to take a boat :(

Glacier is back there...

One thing that is fun about going to Whittier is the tunnel.  It's a one late train tunnel that you drive through.  It's about 2.5 miles long.  Whittier itself is a small port town and in my view could make for a great setting for a suspense slasher film!  We drove around, took some pictures, and headed home.  

a lot of wooded wet areas for a killer to hang out in 

only two, maybe three, ways in...the one way train tunnel, boats, and a small prop plane or helicopter

The Buckner Building!

waiting to go through the tunnel to leave Whittier

We've been keeping busy but not too busy :P. This is my last free week before starting a new job which is always a wee bit nerve wracking.  
Joe and I are amazed daily of the beauty and how much nature we see around here.  Just driving around we see moose and bald eagles regularly.  The bears are waking up so from the stories I hear, we will be seeing them on hikes.  We have bear spray and we are trying to be smart about what we are doing and where we are at.

So here we are... I'll be back being an "adult" before I know it but we will keep on getting out and enjoying what this state has to offer!

...down by the river

Life is an interesting ride and Joe and I have been kicking around what our future looks like.  A couple of years ago we've began talking about what we want to do and we both have gypsy souls which are pulling us towards traveling.  Not the traveling of tourist but of living and immersing ourselves where ever we are.  We understood that those travels would start here in Alaska.  We have some goals... pay off our credit cards, which is our only real debt at this point, and then hit the road.  We had a rough time line of how this would pan out but it has become more and more obvious that our time line will be moving forward more quickly.

Joe and I have been looking at what type of vehicle we will need to be comfortable and will suit our nomadic lifestyle.  We've looked at truck campers and camper vans mostly.  We want small, compact, and sturdy.  We are not looking to do a lot of glamping that requires a pull behind trailer or RV that has t.v.'s, pull outs, and pretty much a small apartment on wheels.  The goal of traveling, to us, is to experience life outside of 4 walls whatever those walls look like.  Additionally, we are not going to confine our traveling to the United States so that is also a factor.

We have a couple up here that have been amazing for us.  Joe connected with them while he was up here for work while we were still living in Florida.  Both are former military, the wife will be retiring any month now, and they are moving forward with their nomadic life with a truck camper.  They have been a great resource for us, they have just walked the path we are currently on, but more importantly they are keeping us in check for us to not get caught up in all the prep/what ifs etc. that most people get caught up in.  They are pushing us to make the leap.

This leap of faith, selling pretty much everything and just hitting the road, is exciting and a tad scary all in one.  Most leaps of faith are I suppose.  I have realized that when I have taken an absolute leap of faith, followed my gut/passion, things have worked out beautifully.  

We are not yet at the cliff edge but we are definitely seeing it on the horizon and the view is clear.

Things that are making it more "clear" to us are growing by the day.  We have unpacked here in Alaska but unlike when we unpacked in Florida we have barely hung things on the wall.  The motivation and drive to make this place feel like home is not there.  We both have decent paying jobs (thus the credit card debt will go down fast) but we question the "why" almost daily.  Maybe more so me :P 

I love helping Veterans but the lack of structure,  oversight, accountability, support, guidance, etc at my work is impacting my ability to serve the Veterans that I work with and that is not good.  There are "policies" that are not in writing thus are not clear and not everyone is on the same page resulting it a lot of "winging" it.  That has and will continue to have a negative impact on patient care and management/leaders don't appear to be bothered by it to make it better.  I've played this game in the military and I don't feel that I need to continue with it, I've paid a majority of my dues to the man already.  Especially going from a place of authority and being able to make changes to not having any of that.

Joe and I are taking a hard look at our finances and what that will look like once our debts are paid.  We are surprised at what we will be "living on" and that has been some more fuel to the fire to move forward and just LIVE our life that we want to live!

Bit by bit, or box by box

It's been a busy week for us.  We are mostly unpacked but have yet to start putting things on the wall, baby steps.  We have a least two boxes of donation/give away items.  I survived that crazy workout session and can now walk normally again.  Tomorrow I will be at the gym but I will ease into my workout!  We have Alaskan driver's licenses and Alaska license plates on our vehicles!  

We are enjoying Alaska!  It's cool, it's been around 50 degrees  give or take a few degrees up or down and now we have a good dusting of snow on our mountains.  Yep I'm claiming our mountains because if I'm sitting at our table or on the couch I can see them :)

We are truly blessed.  We have another couple that we hang out with and they have been here for some years so they know what to do and how to adapt to living here.  

I picture above is driving to their place and it was amazing how the sunlight was highlighting that snow capped mountain!  Beautiful!  Also, a few minutes later during that same drive I saw my first moose walking down a side street!  NOW it is official, I saw a moose so now I live here in Alaska!

Alaskan residents

So we survived the Alaska DMV.  Actually there wasn't much to survive.  It's a well run machine and I didn't even have a chance to sit in an uncomfortable plastic chair!  We both got our AK drivers license.  I will go back and do the license plate later when I have my military documents (discounts for veterans).  
After that pleasant experience and a light lunch we checked out the gym close to our home and became members!  It's big!  It has an indoor pool, Joe wants to do laps, different workout classes...everything you'd want in a gym and more!  They have a lounge for relaxing and getting snacks :P. 
I checked in with my work and hopefully will hear something in about a week!  Fingers crossed.  Joe mentioned there is a reason for everything and since we don't have our household goods yet, maybe that is what is lining up.  We get our household stuff, get somewhat settled, and I start my job!  We will see.  Joe has applied for a few jobs and as of right now, no bites.
I went out on my own a little bit.  Got a massage, which was so needed... after a long road trip and sleeping on an air mattress.  Ugh I hate that thing already but I guess it's better than sleeping on the floor.  
I am a little surprised that with all of our downtime we are good.  My relationship with Joe routinely surprises me.  We can share space without being intrusive.  We give each other space when needed and support each other's individual needs.  I have had moments where I was in a sit and wait, similar to now, and it was torturous and seemed to last forever.  I was worried about things and irritable.  Not now, there are things that irritate me (air mattress) but that is it.  The days go by with a normal rhythm and we handle things and continue to find joy and happiness every day!

Canada, day 4

I’m started off today as a passenger as we drive through the Canadian Rockies.  Yesterday’s drive was full of rain off and all but British Columbia is beautiful! 

We made a lot of little stops for pictures but you really can’t capture the beauty of the area, especially on a camera phone.  Joe pulled out his good camera so it will be good to see those pictures once we get to our new home.

Update: finally saw a herd of caribou!!!!  We had stopped for the night at Toad River Lodge, and were doing a walk about.  Across the lake I noticed an animal in an open field and pointed it out to Joe.  He ran back to the car for the binoculars!  It was a decent herd of caribou, about 9 of them!  We were so happy to finally see something!  Other than that,…. Saw some horses but they don’t count.  Also noticed some beaver damns, they are interesting animals, but no beaver.

One of our photo stops was at mile 0 of the ALCAN HWY.  It was rainy and chilly but it was a have to stop for a photo.

When we were leaving our hotel yesterday morning we wanted to stop and get some coffee. The prior morning, I pulled into a Starbucks although Joe had mapped us to a Timmy Hortons, aka Tims, for coffee.  So Tims are everywhere here, more than any other coffee place (Canada’s Starbucks?).  Joe has had them before and mentioned they are known for their coffee but when he knew them it was a basic coffee joint.  Now they have expanded their menu with breakfast and lunch fast food.  Anyhoo…. So that morning, no Tims.  The next morning, in the industrial area, we attempted to get a Tims.  The lines for the drive through were INSANE!  We parked and walked into one, inside there was a crazy line too, Joe checked his phone and found other Tims in the area and off we went.  But again, lines were crazy so I found a no name coffee shop with no drive through.  We got there, no line, actually no one in the shop so we were stoked.  A Philipino guy was working and we had a nice chat while we ordered our coffees.  I’ve started to order my coffee with almond milk.  I know I’m behind the times with this but it is delicious! When I asked about having mine with almond milk the guy stated, “I can do this for you” which is typical and it makes it sound as if I’m getting a special hook up but I’m not.  We passed through some other towns with Tims and the lines were still long.  Eventually that afternoon we passed one with no line.  We needed to stretch our legs so we decided it was time for a small coffee.  Joe ordered and it’s similar to DD, order a regular with its 1 cream and sugar but I ordered a double double.  First off the stuff was hot!  Some dumb American would have already sued them for a burn if they were stateside!  Mine was decent but nothing crazy line worthy. Even Joe stated we are not going to go out of our way for a Tims coffee!  Sorry Canadians, not sold on that one BUT I am sold on gravy with French fries!  That stuff is awesome!

We rented a small cabin at Toad River Lodge. It’s been a place for travelers since the 1940s before the ALCAN was built.  One of its touristy things is they have hats stapled to the ceiling and wall.  It’s similar to the dollar bill thing in some bars.  To me, as a public health person, it’s gross.  You can’t dust that stuff, you can see the dust on these things and they are serving food and drinks.  But like all these places, the food and coffee is good. The special that night was chili and it hit the spot and was fitting for a stay in a cabin by a lake in the mountains. 

One thing we’ve both noticed is how nice and friendly the Canadians are, along with a fun sense of humor.  This morning while we were having breakfast Yukon Jack came in, no joke that was his name, and was informing the owner there was an accident 5 kilometers up the road.  The guy was o.k. but was pulling a big camper trailer and was “impaired” instead of saying the guy was drunk off his ass.  They called it in and hopefully the guy got pulled out, it will take a doing.  We drove past and it was pretty serious and there was no way that guy was going to drive out, which he apparently wanted to do. 

Today we got a long drive ahead of us, 10 hours.  We usually try to keep it to an 8-hour drive day but at that stop point there were no hotels, everything was booked plus traveling with a pet puts more restrictions on us.  I keep telling Tux he needs to start pulling his weight but so far nothing. 

We will stop tonight and then one more night on the road before making it to Anchorage.  I am ready to be settled but am totally appreciating all the beauty we are driving through!

Animal sittings:

Buffalo: a big herd…. while typing of this entry!

Caribou: 9 alive and 1 carcass
Deer: 5

Mid point to Alaska

We are staying a week in Salt Lake City, UT to relax a little bit before heading onward to Alaska which is about another 6 days.
We scored an awesome AirBnB in South Salt Lake for a couple of nights.  It was a two bedroom townhouse with a garage.  We could walk to a local brewery, which we walked to twice :P

Our first day there we met up with my friend and went to the 42nd Greek Festival.  I've gone to the festival a few times before when I lived in Utah and always enjoyed it!  Amazing food!  After getting our bellies full we walked over to the gateway and just sat and chatted for a while.

The next day was shopping!  We planned on doing some winter clothing shopping while in Utah before heading north and we did some good shopping!  We didn't get crazy but got some stuff and Joe started his winter clothing collection (he had nothing).  When we got home from that we both felt lethargic and took a quick cat nap before going for a walk.  We were just going to take a nice little walk in the residential area we were in but we ended up all the way at the U!  I mapped our walk when we got home and it was a little over 6 miles!  Good for us!

The following day we moved in with Marcia and David.  Our first night was full of good food and about 3 bottles of wine!  We had some heated conversations but it was healthy and the air was cleared of some misunderstandings.  We will be here for a few more nights before heading north.  
That brings us to the current day (I'm going to try and do this in a more current fashion).  We had a low key morning, we were not moving fast due to the late night and adult beverages.  We did a little shopping and sight seeing before making it back home for laziness and later....kick ass nachos!