Time for a reset

Tux is not amused!

We've had a couple of good visitors but now it's time to get down to business.  As you can see, Tux isn't a big fan of being productive but it's what we have to do... damn adulthood!  But before I get into that stuff, our summer in Alaska is coming to a close :(

Mom's visit...she brought in some good HI sunshine!

Mom came for a month long visit and we had some decent weather while she was here!  We did some tourist stuff but I couldn't take a lot of time off so Mom was left to her own devices and she got familiar with our bus system.  She got out and about and saw Anchorage on her own.

We did the Kenai Fjords Tour which was amazing!  We saw whales, otters, puffins, otters, seals, glaciers, and amazing scenery!

Although this glacier was BIG it has shrunk dramatically over the years :(

We visited an old abandoned mine which is a quick drive from our house.  The park was closed, but we could walk around and it was beautiful.  Alaska amazes me on a regular basis!

We have been busy with Mom's visit but now she is back home in Hawaii and now we are in purge mode!

Like I mentioned in a previous post we are moving from our 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment to a studio apartment AirB&B.  We have a month to purge all of our stuff!  It's a mental process just as much as physical one.

We've been slowly downsizing and I've been keeping my buying down to a minimum.  Whenever I'm out and about, shopping or window shopping, I always ask myself now "do I need this? how will this fit into my traveling future? what will it replace?".  Knowing my goals and what I truly value has allowed me to stay focused in my day to day life.  I am able to ask myself how does this thing or this action fit into my value.  If I can't answer that question, I move on from it.  

For the past few weeks I've been thinking about my bathroom.  As a female we have tons of stuff in our bathrooms.... make up, hair products, face products, and just random stuff.  Today I purged my bathroom and my jewelry.  It is already feeling "more simple" and I'm just getting started!

In addition to this physical purge of all of our stuff we are doing a reset on our bodies.  With our visitors our eating habits have gotten out of whack and we both feel like our mental and physical selves need a reset, just like our purge of stuff.  

24 day reset!

We've done this once before and what we like about it is that we don't have to totally change our diet.  We eat healthy and as clean as possible.  So...for us that means less eating out and no alcohol LOL. So starting on Tuesday, after the holiday of course, it's game on!

one step at a time

Life is crazy and we never know what is next.  Being able to know your true self and your values allows you to keep moving forward in a way that fills one's soul.  

Kicking tires to find a good fit

In a few years we plan on being part of the Overlanding community, making our way down to the most southern part of S.America!  We are in the planning/research phase.  It's amazing how many people are doing it.
Things we are focusing on right now:
-downsizing...actually get rid of everything
-narrowing down the vehicle we want to move forward with
-do little camping trips here and there with Stevie
-save money
-get rid of debt
-find a travel handle :)

us doing research in Florida!

We have some friends that are well on their way and they have been inspirational for us. They are getting their rig together as I type this and should be on their way later this year.

Things and rigs we have talked about:

-truck campers: pop up

-pop up roof tents

-vans

-what are have to have items are

We've done lots and lots of reading online, Joe more than me :P. Yesterday we looked at some truck campers to get a feel for the size and to just stand in a few.  We tend to be "feel" people.  We can justify a lot just looking at pictures or floor plans but we have to see it!

not too bad...not a love connection

One of these had a slide out... not on our radar what so ever!

We are good at seeing the pros and cons with everything and with all the information out there it's easy to get caught up in research.  We've decided...bottom line, whatever we choose to go with we will be fine because of how we are.  

Initially in our discussions, Joe was set on the truck camper idea (we really want to have a 4 wheel drive).  I am and was good with that.  My "requirements" are a toilet and the capability of showering inside.  I'm fine with the outdoor shower but when it's cold outside, not a fan.  Everything else is under discussion.  Whenever we do look at something I focus on the storage and layout.  In my Internet viewing I came across the Revel and was hooked on THAT idea.  I came across that when we were in Florida last year.  Since then I have been looking at the Van Life community and following so many people on Instagram that are living out of transit vans etc.  

With this new possibility, Joe and I are looking at van conversions.  Things I like about the van idea...well, the main thing is  we don't have to get out of the vehicle to get in the camper.  We seem to base weather discussions on Medellin in Colombia, don't ask me why it just happened that way.  Joe has the weather for Medellin on his phone and every time he checks it, it's raining!  The last thing I want to be doing in the rain and/or cold is get out of the vehicle to get in or set up our living quarters!  With a van, you park and walk to the back... get settled, make dinner, go to bed :)  One of the reasons we got Stevie to play around in up here in Alaska, was that walk through Class C design!  Plus the safety of it also.  If we are in an area and need to leave quickly, we don't have to worry about getting out to get in to drive off!  We have not ruled out truck campers as of today, but it's quickly loosing in the pro/con list fight with the van!

It's going to be an interesting ride for us emotionally / mentally / and physically.

Baby steps, enjoy where you are at

It's a lazy Sunday here in Alaska but we are going to be checking out a used Class C around lunch time...sssh don't tell anyone :). 

Joe is more excited than I am, I'm always a wait and see before getting excited.  Too many times of getting ramped up just to be let down I suppose.  We are going with an open mind due to we both know this will not be our "forever" vehicle.  It's our starter vehicle! The one that we try on for size, gets our feet wet with in regards to living in a vehicle so we can narrow down our needs, must haves, and it would be nice to have.  We have a pretty good idea of what we "must have" but it's amazing how things begin to change once you're in it.  So we will see how this progresses.

We are getting exposed to spring weather in Alaska.  Like most areas we will have a bout of "warm weather" where things begin to melt.  Like right now we may reach 40 degrees today but within a couple of days it's snow snow snow!  It's not really called "spring here" but "breakup".  Which is a fun way of looking at the weather... I see that I'm breaking up with the cold dark weather but it really describes the TERRIBLE road conditions.  In Alaska they don't use salt on the roads, they use gravel of some sort.  So during the winter you are pretty much driving, in some areas, over packed down snow and ice.  No big deal you get use to it.  But now with the weather warming up that snow and ice is breaking up and you are driving on like the worst back country road imaginable.  Plus with this thaw and freeze craziness, once you get to the road, there are potholes that will blow out your tire if you are not careful in addition to all the gravel that was laid down...wind shield cracks are the norm.  So although the Alaska mountains are and will be forever beautiful in the background of my day to day driving, the roads are surround by black dirty snow and booby trapped roads.

Well my coffee is done and it's time to get moving and see what our future may look like!

...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!

Made it to Alaska!

We made it to our hotel in Haines Junction and settled in.  It is a small village and the hotel was suspect.  It was old, as most things are on the Alcan, but it was comfortable and had hot water for a decent shower so I"m good :P. We walked over to a restaurant for some grub and a beer.  While there a local lady started to chat us up, she "works for the Chief".  I was curious to ask what work she did but for some reason didn't, she was a chatter anyway.  I told Joe about wanting to ask her that and he was like he wondered too but didn't ask because she was already somewhat full of herself.  Liked to talk and had limited listening capabilities.  

People like to give us advice about this move, which is appreciated, but they hardly listen to what we already know and how we feel about things.  Once this becomes apparent we let them talk and then we go about our day.  

Our hotel did face a beautiful snow capped mountain range!  Amazing beauty in this area!

We got up and the coffee shop across the street actually served espresso drinks! Praise be! this is the first morning that Tux is making it apparent he's over this traveling business and hid under the bed when we were getting ready and packing up the car.  Poor guy but he's a trooper and it wasn't a big production to get him in his carrier so that's a blessing.

It was a very short drive to Tok, Alaska but it was good because it gave us a lot of down time.  We are both getting worn out and tired with the driving and packing.  Crossing the border was easy and they asked about any guns.... seriously people we have no guns!

We had a big lunch and lazed around a little bit before having a light dinner and going to bed.

The next morning, Tux hid again, poor guy.  But it was off to our new home.

Joe has been keeping in touch with the lady that owns the condo we are interested in and we gave her a heads up that we'd be there later that day and that we'd like to see the condo later that afternoon.

We have rented an AirBnB close to downtown Anchorage, 2 bedrooms and a kitchen for us to relax a bit.  We got settled in the AirBnB and then went to find some lunch and found the Gumbo House which worked well for us.  This whole weekend is overcast and rainy so it was nice to have some jambalaya to warm us up!  We were getting worried about not hearing back from Kelli, landlady, but decided to drive and check out the area.  

It's about 20 minutes from down town.  We were hoping for something closer but it's hard to find garages near downtown and that is one of 'would really like" to have.  It's just a little bit smaller than our apartment in Florida so we will have to do some wrangling with our stuff, more downsizing which we are cool with!  The area is quiet and it's on a lake.  No threw driving, which Joe likes.  We are on the top floor so no one walking above us and we think the one below us is an AirBnb.  We liked the drive by and still hadn't  heard from Kelli so we were getting bummed and then she got back to us with some times, late that night (after 8pm) and tomorrow! Ugh... Joe mentioned tomorrow due to wanting to see it during the daylight and she asked if we could see it "now" and we were like 10 minutes out so off we went.  She was suppose to meet us there but after 20 minutes of waiting we got a call.  She had someone walk into her office with no appointment but told us how to get in to the condo and let us look on our own (which I like to do).  

Walking around the place, the only "con" was figuring out where to put Tux's litter box! LOL. Like I said it hit on the things we were looking for: garage, space, price range, and close to my work.  With it being a condo we work directly with the landlady to get things fixed etc.  We don't have to worry about snow removal, that's covered already!  Oh and the place has a gas fireplace :). 

We are going to meet with her at noon today to do the paperwork so we can move in on Monday when we are due out of the AirBnB.  We haven't heard about our shipment from TMO, it is due to be here 25 September (Monday) but we'll buy some sleeping bags that we will need to get anyway :P

We really didn't want the stressor of trying to find a place while living in hotels etc.  We've been looking online for months and this one has been the best fit for all of our "wants".  I didn't find one closer to downtown but less square footage :( 

Animal sittings:

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

Caribou: 9 alive and 1 carcass
Deer: 5

Dall Sheep: 1 mob

Rabbit: 1

Prairie Dog: 1

Tundra Swan: 6

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

Day 3 in Canada, 19 September 2017

It’s my passenger day :P  
Joe and I are taking turns driving, he drives a day and I drive a day.  Makes for delayed post but it’s working for our traveling so one person isn’t getting slammed with all the driving.  Driving all day is tiring!
After our glamping experience we drove up through Montana, which is a beautiful state!  We had some traffic problems but we made it to the border without too many delays!

So, we were both nervous about the border crossing because we’ve never done it before.  Of course, we’ve heard a lot of random stories.  We had all our required documents: passports and Tux’s rabies paperwork.  We pulled in and went into a building on the U.S. side.  We walked in and were met with some confused looks.  We explained what was going on and that we were not sure what we needed to do, apparently, we just need to drive up to the Canadian window…. 
Anyway the U.S. guy asked, “why are you crossing here?”, I blurted out “why not?”  which probably wasn’t the best response but oh well, I thought his question was kind of dumb.   He asked if we had an inventory of all of our stuff in the back of our car?!  Nope, and that got us a little nervous but whatever we pressed on.  Drove up to the window and a cute Canadian helped us out, he seemed a little put out by us, or he was just really bored with his job in the middle of nowhere.  He asked us “what did you do with your guns?” It is assumed that all Americans have firearms and when we say we don’t people are confused and at times don’t believe us (this happened in a pub in England also).  Tux was interested in this transaction so poked his head up.  Officer Canada told us to pull forward while he held onto our passports.  We had a concern that they would have us unload our car and do a search so I was not looking forward to that.  We sat for about 10 minutes before another cute Canadian officer came back with our passports, asked Joe for his last four and sent us on our way because we didn’t have any criminal stuff show up. We were all good!

Just like that we are in Canada!

We wanted to take a detour and check out Prince of Wales hotel.  We attempted to go through the Montana way, it’s part of Glacier National Park in Canada but the pass was closed.  We didn’t think much of it and just figured we’d go to it via Canada.  It was our first “bump” of the trip and the road was closed down that would take us to the hotel.  With a quick google search it was clear that the fires that have been impacting the U.S. don’t mind a border and they had evacuated the area.  We heard that the hotel was saved but that area and the visitor center was lost to the fire.  As of the other day it was not listed as contained :(

Lower Alberta seemed like Kansas, flat and a lot of hay bales with cattle grazing. We found a place to stop for the night and walked over to a nearby sports bar for dinner and a drink.  It being Sunday and all it wasn’t overly busy.  Joe got a Canadian beer and I had a Strongbow!  No accents at this place and I noted to Joe that I hadn’t heard the noted “eh” but then the waitress used it and I started to feel that I was truly in Canada!  As of right now… no moose sightings.  We’ve seen deer, wild turkey, cows, horses, and a few llamas.  
Our full day in Canada I was behind the wheel and it was pretty boring, still very Kansas like.  As we started to get further north, we got more trees and right now there is more leaves that are changing so even though it’s raining right now it is pretty.  Yesterday it was pretty hazy with the fires so that can put a damper on any drive!  We drove through Calgary and Edmonton but visibility was poor.
Joe found our place for the night and when we pulled in he stated, “the pictures look a lot better online”.  It was a very simple building, the rain and haze didn’t help, there was a liquor store and lounge attached to it.  I sat in the car while Joe checked in, he comes out and says it’s nice inside!  We load up the cart and head in and it was pretty nice inside.  They were even having a guest appreciation that night, free pasta bar, and free food is always good!  Before going down and being appreciated we hung out in the room and settled for a bit.  Joe had found a nice condo for rent while I was driving so he made some phone calls.  It would be AWESOME to have a place set up prior or right when we get there and we can avoid the apartment hunting!
We heading down to the lodge and Sara, waitress, was awesome.  We got a drink and ordered some apps because we couldn’t decide what we wanted to do, free pasta or order from the menu.  We decided on the pasta.  
One thing I have noticed since being in Canada is the lack of women!  Maybe it’s just in the hotels and sports bars we’ve been frequenting due to seeing them driving around.  When I walked into the sports bar at our first stop, other than the workers there was maybe 2 other women.  Last night at our hotel in the lounge even less women and even more men!  We talked to Sara a little and we found out we were in an area that is going through an oil boom so a lot of transient workers, oil and a railroad.  We wanted to stop in Dawson Creek last night but we couldn’t find a place to stay and Sara said it was because of the workers!  So that makes sense…I did notice that a lot of the towns we were going through were very industrial which would also support a lack of women.  Although I acutely notice that there is not a lot of women, everyone has been very nice and open with us.  I know we stick out a little with our Florida license plate…. I’ve only seen a random Alaska plate!
Today we start on the Alaska Highway, aka ALCAN!