North To Alaska

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.