North To Alaska

Well, I’ve finally got a chance to breath a bit and thought I would write and update a little. The weather here is staying nice to everyone’s amazement. They say it is not normally like this. The temperature is expected to drop in the next week pretty drastically though. My car is now “weatherized” now so if the temps dip down too low I can plug my car in and have it start for me in the morning. Our landlord’s brother is a mechanic and it was nice to get a referral when you don’t know where to start. I told Anthony we were getting the car fixed and he said, “Oh, our car will have a tongue.” Many of the cars up here have the plug sticking out of the grill of the car and it looks like a tongue hanging out. Our plug tucks nicely into a ledge on one side of the license plate though so it is more sophisticated. 
Anyway, I’ve been hard at work trying to learn my new job. Last week I spent time training with the girl whose place I took. Today was my first day without her but I had lots of help from my boss and others so it went ok. I have a lot to learn but I REALLY like my boss and the people who work there and the office is beautiful and it always smells like coffee.  I take coffee orders from our clients which are mostly the coffee huts and businesses in Fairbanks and North Pole. (There are coffee huts everywhere here! I guess because people want to drive though when it’s cold and not get out of their cars.) We roast and flavor coffees shipped in from all over. (We also supply bulk and retail coffee to the Superstores up here like Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer.) I handle the accounts receivable right now and as soon as that is organized and running smoothly I’ll be adding the other pieces (A/P, payroll, and the rest of the bookkeeping responsibilities.) The business is small consisting of a service technician who’s been trained to work on the espresso machines and other things and a delivery guy and a couple of part-time roasters and packaging people. Today, Tom, my boss said we were going to have an office meeting Wednesday morning and he’s asked his dad to come in and make us waffles (apparently his dad really likes to cook and bake.) And, Janet, Tom’s wife brought lunch in for all of us today. Steve says he wants to quit his job and come work with me. 

I guess some of you may already know my last bit of news but, if not, it is my delight to inform you that I’m going to be a grandma again! Jessie and Mark are expecting another baby and I couldn’t help myself; I just had to announce it.  We are so excited!

Well, better leave it there for now. Thanks for checking in on us. We love and miss you! Denise

It’s Monday night and we just finished dinner. (I actually unpacked some of the dishes and found the ones I needed to make a lasagna.) It rained here last night but the sun came out and warmed us up again today. I’m told that even though the trees have turned BEAUTIFUL shades of orange and yellow it is not fall, it’s an Indian Summer. They don’t have fall here apparently. They have summer and winter, period.

I registered Anthony for school today and was told he needed his second Chicken Pox vaccine before he could start. Not a problem, we just headed over to the Health Department and they gave him a shot and a TB test. I guess this is the first year they require all the students to have both vaccines and since he is new to this district he needed the TB test. So. . . he’s ready to start tomorrow. The name of the school is a mouthful: Emily Ticasuk Ivanoff Brown Elementary School. They call it Ticasuk Brown for short. (Named after a Native educational leader. “Ticasuk” in Eskimo means “Where the four winds gather their treasures from all parts of the world. The greatest of which is knowledge.”) It’s about 20 years old and the campus is really pretty. Interestingly enough they have a complete list of winter wear necessary in their handbook and apparently they have recess every day up to 20 below zero. Oh yes and the coolest thing; they have an ice skating and sledding area on the playground and the kids are told to bring their skates with blade guards and their helmets-talk about your life style changes. Another cool plus: the bus stop is at the end of the street; I can see it from the front windows.

Speaking of front windows, we have them all the way around the house. We live in the bottom like a basement only we have huge windows near almost ground level but big and beautiful so we can see all around the house. I wonder what will happen when the snow stars collecting though?? I guess we’ll see. It is a roomy, warm and inviting place with really nice appliances, floors and natural wood trim (it has been really well kept). The front door leads to two entrances; one upstairs and one downstairs. Our landlords are a nice couple with a four year old boy and another baby due in December.

As I’m writing I just heard a small plane take off literally in the back yard. Seriously, the back yard is open. You can see the neighbors’ houses across the runway and there are cones set up to make a safe distance from the runway so kids won’t get run over by the planes. It is very cool for sure. Our landlords own their own plane and have it parked just outside and the convenience of the runway is so cool. Brian, our landlord just got back yesterday from a nine day moose hunt. They shot two moose this season and his parents were in the garage all day cutting up the meat. (I guess Brian had to go back to work today.) Brian said he expects his picture to be in the paper because the second moose had a measured spread of 61″ and he says he believes it’s the biggest in the region this year.

We went to church yesterday and Steve was asked to introduce me and Anthony. It was a little different than we are used to but it was good.

I got a call from the Ford dealership on the day we were driving into Fairbanks. The lady I talked to said she would be back from vacation in two weeks and would like to interview me for a position. So. . .we’ll see. I will probably go test at the job placement agency next week just to begin that process too and I’m checking on any jobs available at the airport and hospital. The principle at the school today offered me a part time job tutoring but I don’t think that is going to happen right now. It was nice she asked though.

Missing you all, especially my Sugar Pie, Caleb.

Well, after 3400 plus miles, 5 days, 4 nights, and approximately 60 hours in the saddle we have made it home.

We got here about 7:15 and after saying hi to the landlady, started unloading. We have the beds set up, the truck is empty and the trailer is about 1/4 empty. The rest will be unloaded first thing in the morning. First thing after sleeping in and then taking time to enjoy my first cup of coffee in Santa’s town.

The drive was good today. The roads were the worst that we have seen due to the harsh winters and short summers for repairs. In the line of animals, we saw a dead bear on the side of the road early this morning – i’m guessing about 400 lbs. He left a mark in someone’s grill work. We also saw a couple of bull moose, a fox, and a bald eagle. The only thing we got a picture of (that I remember) was the eagle. Pictures (and links) will be posted tomorrow sometime if everything goes as planned.

One of the highlights of the day was hearing the US Customs agent tell us “Welcome to Alaska.”

Plan for tomorrow is to unload the rest of the trailer, go wash it and return it. Then a little sight seeing for Denise and Anthony. Then over to pic up my car, and possibly say hi to the great folks that allowed me to stay in their office for almost 2 months. (I felt a little like Steve Martin in “the jerk” – I kept looking for the new phone book.) Then we will be getting groceries and heading back to the place. The goal is for church on Sunday morning and then going comatose in the afternoon.

Well, I’m beat, and I’m probably forgetting something, so stay tuned over the next couple of days while Denise and Anthony add their .02 worth – you’ll probably get the whole picture that way.

Thanks for all the prayers, well wishes, emails, texts, and phone calls. To our family and friends – we love you and miss you very much.

I couldn’t remember where the Northern Rockies were in the trip, but today we went through them. It was amazing. We started the day off a little late. We gassed up, handled oil/tires, and got a nice cup of coffee – then hit the road at 7am. We were in thick fog for the first couple of hours – Sacramento Tule fog has nothing on this stuff. Visibility maxed out at 100’, with the norm being more like 25’. The road was pretty empty, though while taking a wilderness bio-brake Denise had an encounter with one of the few rigs on the road.

We saw amazing stuff today… Pics are up, or will be shortly, but here is the list:
Caribou (a small herd of what appeared to be some yearlings, and then a bit later a mom and calf).
Mountain goat w/ kid
LOTS of Bison ; we saw a small herd of about 5 or 6 first, then we saw several singles, then a herd of about 50 head, and then a few more singles, all this over 10 miles or so. The large herd was hilarious. The big bulls would come right up to the truck. Denise was about 1’ short of being able to pet them from the window. They are HUGE – the one that came up closest to the truck stood even with the top of the cab at his hump.
About 1:30 pm we got back into rain. At about 2 we made it into Watson Lake and the Signpost Forest. It was raining pretty good, so we just drove by and clicked a couple of pics.

For your reading pleasure, here is an excerpt from Anthony’s journal of yesterday:

Day 3:
Today I saw lots of elk**, buffalo**, and I saw a couple of deer and one coyote. Today I had my favorite food – McDonalds. Ya! I had a waffle for breakfast. Almost all day it rained today. Today we got our windshield cracked by a rock. When I was sleeping my mom and dad saw a moose. Mom and dad wonder why I am so tired because all I do is sit there. I saw something exciting – a bear! When we were driving dad saw him and pulled over and tried to take a picture, but it was too dark. We are still in Canada and today was our longest day.”

** The elk and buffalo he mentioned were on ranches, we didn’t see the wild buffalo until day 4.

We’re in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, tonight. Took a walk and found a sushi place.

Tomorrow, we get home.

Picture link:

http://www.the1buba.com/photo/alaska-with-the-family-day-4/

A short update, as I’m about to fall asleep.

Great day today… Drove 14 hours, almost 800 miles, total time on the road was 15.25 hours. We went from just outside Calgary, Alberta to Fort Nelson, British Columbia. We were in Canada about half the day yesterday, all day today, all day tomorrow and will be a little over half the day on Friday.

Saw several more elk ranches today, a cow moose and some coyotes. Highlight was a 325 # black bear eating on the side of the road about 30 miles south of Fort Nelson, BC. There was no one around so we pulled over into the southbound lane and got to within 15′ of him. He started to turn and walk away, but i called him back. He was BEAUTIFUL. Big and round, and the fur was just amazingly thick and unblemished. It was too dark to get any good pictures, but we did try a few…

Weather was rainy most of the day and a bit windy at times. Temp says it is 50 out, but there is a bit of a bite in the air and you can see your breath.

Tomorrow will be a much easier drive. We had a lot of tough grades to pull today – definitely the worse day for mileage.

Picture page:

http://www.the1buba.com/photo/alaska-with-the-family-day-3/

Watching the sunrise in Idaho this morning thanking the Lord for a beautiful day. We have a shorter drive today and expect to cross into Canada early this afternoon. We have seen lots of farm country and now heading into the hills again. Saw a herd of antelope in a hay field yesterday and cows along the way. Anthony’s counting the golden arches when he’s not napping and Steve’s doing most of the driving. We love you all and keeping you close in our hearts.

Picture page:

http://www.the1buba.com/photo/alaska-with-the-family-day-2/

At 4:30 this morning, we were up and getting around to head north. The goodbyes are never fun, but goodbyes to family who have carried you through the darkest times in your life are the roughest. We survived the goodbyes, barely.

After a slow start, we finally started making decent time about Sparks/Reno. A day that should have finished around 7:00 tonight, is finally done at 8:45.

We’re in a Red Lion in Idaho Falls. A quick nights sleep and we will be back on the road at 6am.

This part of the journey was beyond what I could dream about just a couple of weeks back. Now Denise, Anthony and I are on THE adventure together.

We’ll hit the border at Coutts, AB tomorrow after approximately 7.25 hours and 479.47 miles.

If Denise wasn’t so intent on sleeping, she would be typing now, too.

I just accepted an offer from IT here at the hospital. Starting date looks to be 09/14.

Rented a place last night and bought the ticket home. I’m flying out at 1am tonight. In the meantime, today I have to fill out paperwork, do a drug test, pick up a check, deliver a check, sign rental agreement, do laundry, make up the bed fresh, clean the room I’ve been staying in and get a taxi to take me to the airport. It would be nice to think that I would get some rest tonight, but I kind of doubt that.

Thanks for all the prayers, and concern, and thanks to all of you that have helped us out in one way or another. Words seem a little thin at this point.

Been gone 6 weeks and 3 days. Last couple of weeks weren’t the easiest. Last week was gout. This week got sick and stayed home from work on Wednesday. Spent the day sleeping. Weekends suck – they move like molasses in winter.

Weather has been a few days of rain followed by a couple of beautiful days, repeat. It’s been great to get the smoke out of the air and contain the fires. Mornings have been brisk, a few have been in the upper 20s.

Have apps in for 5 jobs at the hospital, four are currently being reviewed, one hasn’t been looked at yet. Three are IT spots, but the Desktop Support spot would probably be the best of them. Hoping for an interview next week, but things move SLOW here. They didn’t start reviewing the apps on the Desktop spot for 17+ days.

That’s about it for now.

Site went down for a bit, then by the time it was up and stable I was prepping for a new job.

Got a call from the agency on Wednesday with a possible job. They asked if I would allow them to submit my name. Well DUH. Got the call back Thursday morning that the job was mine. Went in to fill out the paperwork and get details… What they knew; Fairbanks Memorial,

in the emergency/disaster preparedness group and it would have to do with access/excel conversion. No job description, so no further info. So, I went back Thursday evening and crammed some for MS Access as I haven’t really touched it since the late 90’s.

Showed up Friday morning to find that the job is basically data entry. I’m WAY overpaid for this, but I’m not going to complain. The hardest part is that I’m creating a db of checklists for preventative maintenance of the hospital equipment. For instance, I did one (using the mfg’s manual) for an electric scalpel. It WILL be interesting, and I enjoy the biomed folks that I’m working with. They seem to be great folks and that will make the job more enjoyable for me.

To fill the job, they have to hire an RN, so I don’t have a chance at the spot permanently, but one of the guys I’m working with is already looking for me a spot at the hospital.