A return to "normal"

What a whirlwind year we've had.  One year ago today, the kids and I were moved out of our Homer house and living in temporary quarters while waiting for the HICKORY to return home from an extended trip to the Bering Sea.  Less than two weeks later, we drove out of town on our way to California.  Today we are waiting on a ship to return again, this time from a dry dock period that has had it away from homeport for over three months.  And somewhere in the middle, we lived in California for 7 months, and moved back to Alaska.  We still can't quite wrap our minds around how this all came about.  Our time in California seems sort of like a dream at this point--did we really live there, or was it just a vacation?

My unpacking "help"

 We've had people question our choice to pull the kids out of school mid-year, especially since we knew ahead of time that the ship would be going to dry dock pretty much right after we arrived, leaving us essentially as a single-parent household while trying to settle into a new town.  It seemed even crazier to some since we first were told that the dry dock would be occurring in Alameda, the very same town we were moving away from.  But we would do it all again, in exactly the same way.    Yes, Mike left after we were only in Sitka for two weeks, before we even had our furniture in our house.  The poor guy hasn't slept in his own bed on a regular basis since January.  But since it hadn't been that long since we lived the ship life, we were able to slide right back into routine.  It helped immensely that we had school and other activities to keep us busy and help us meet people.  We all made more friends here in two months than we made in seven months in CA.  We even have a nice older neighbor across the street who brings us cookies and dog treats.  The kids excelled in school, thanks to their new teachers jumping right in to assess their abilities and taking the time to challenge them.

A fish out of water

Mike was able to come back to visit for two separate weeks over the 3-month period, but his time here was anything but normal.  The first week was consumed by probably the first ever honey-do list I've given him, full of moving-in chores that I ran out of steam to complete on my own.  The second week was all about our boat.  Yes, our boat. We're doing Alaska the right way this time, which to us means having the ability to fully take advantage of the amazing natural resources around us.  So the time in Seattle afforded Mike the opportunity to find us just the right boat for fishing, camping, and exploring.  We had to put the boat on a barge to get it here, and it conveniently came during a time that Mike was here to help get it fully outfitted and in the water.

Our new money pit

Somehow, we managed to be together for Mothers Day

In the past four months, Emerson turned 6 and Midas turned 11.  Charlie grew into a full-sized dog.  Ava had a fabulous ballet recital, Emerson played on his first t-ball team, and both kids have been participating in regular swim lessons.  Mike and I celebrated 11 crazy years of marriage, with many crazier years to come.  It snowed and melted, spring sprung, and our garden grew.  Summer has come, and I now have a first grader and a third grader.  How is that possible??

Only in Alaska do you spend the last day of kindergarten digging pits for crabs with your classmates at the beach.

Ava loved her teacher so much that she wanted her again for third grade.

Rough life these guys have.

When we are all finally reunited and the ship is back where it belongs, we will get back to "normal."  We are all looking forward to our first regular weekend of regular things, like coffee and pancakes, and a morning trip together to the beach.  Just to have a week with work during the day and coming home in the evening will be fabulous.  Even some normal time with the ship deployed, doing real work, will be a welcome routine for its new captain.  We have quite a bit of fun planned for what I see as our "bonus year" of Alaskan summertime, and I can't wait to get started!

Tips for travel on the Alaska Marine Highway

Now that we have taken the Alaska Marine Highway through the Southeast going both north and south, in both summer and winter, all within an 8-month time period, we have accumulated quite a few tips and tricks. Since I am finding myself sharing them many times with others who will be making the same journey, I thought it best to round them all up here. Have more to add? Please comment below!

Booking your travel:

• Book as far in advance as possible. Summer trips fill up very early, and so does space in staterooms and the car deck.
• If your travel will be longer than 12 hours (or an overnight trip), book a stateroom! This is especially important if you are traveling with children. There are not enough bunks for every passenger on board, and you will find people camping in tents on the outside deck (yes, really!) and sleeping in reclining chairs in the lounges. If you are on military orders, your stateroom cost will be covered by the military. 
• About staterooms: "with facilities" means that the cabin has a restroom with toilet, sink, and shower. "Without facilities" means that you will share community restrooms and showers onboard. A stateroom with a "sitting room" is fabulous if you can get one. There are only a handful on each ship. They include bunks, restroom, and an extra area with a table and chairs to give you room to spread out. Your military orders will cover any type of cabin you reserve.

Before you board:

• Stock up on microwaveable, non-perishable meals. There is a community microwave onboard, located in the cafeteria. Also bring bread, PB&J, and plenty of snacks. We even brought hot dogs. If you have a cooler, you can purchase ice onboard for a quarter. Meals purchased from the cafeteria or dining room can get pricey, depending on your family size and length of travel. We learned on our summer trip south that it is unrealistic to try to eat a can of soup for every meal. On our trip back north, we found a nice balance: bagels, instant oatmeal, toast, and cereal for breakfast, microwave something or make a sandwich for lunch, and purchase dinner onboard. If the kids didn't like what was served, they had a sandwich and a huge $4 fresh fruit bowl from the cafeteria. Some people will even bring a slow cooker and make their dinners that way. I am not one of those people. 
• Bring your favorite instant coffee, tea, cocoa, etc.  The cafeteria isn't always open when you want something warm to drink, but you can access hot water or the microwave all the time. 
• You can also bring alcoholic beverages, if you consume them in yr stateroom. Don't forget a wine bottle opener and something to close an unfinished bottle with! 
• Keep in mind that everything you haul onboard, you must also haul back off.  If you are bringing your vehicle, unpacking stuff, bringing it up at least one deck and to your stateroom, and then doing the reverse when your journey is done, it can be quite cumbersome if you try to bring too much. 

Traveling with a vehicle

• When you check in at the ferry terminal, you will be given a lane number based on your destination. You are asked to get into your lane 2 or 3 hours in advance of departure time, but it can take an hour or two of waiting in your vehicle before you are directed to drive onto the ship. If you have bored kids, one parent can walk onboard with them and get settled in, but you need to ask to do so when you check in. Your tickets will need to be printed separately so that the driver also has a ticket. 
• The car deck can be a crazy place! Follow directions exactly, as it is very close quarters. Don't forget to set your parking break. 
• Pay attention to announcements onboard when arriving into every port. Sometimes vehicle owners are asked to rearrange their vehicles. 

Traveling with pets

• Make sure you make a reservation for your pets. Dogs are $25 each, and military orders do not pay this fee. 
• Arrive with a valid health certificate. This is especially important when traveling to Alaska, as you will be asked for the certificate before you are allowed to board. 
• Pets remain in vehicles, on the car deck. Yes, they have to do their business on the deck. And you have to clean it up. The ferry only provides paper towels for cleaning, so bring your own plastic bags. Some pets just won't go on the ferry. They will be okay! There is only one stretch, between Bellingham and Ketchikan, that is extra long. It takes over a day. 
• There will be car deck calls 3-4 times per day when you can go down to feed and walk your pet. You will be surprised at how many dogs are onboard the ferry! 
• When you pull into a port, you can get off  and walk your dog. Get off every chance you get! 
• If your pet may wander around or destroy the inside of your vehicle, put it in a kennel.  On our last trip, a couple of dogs climbed into the driver's seat of a vehicle and turned on the flashers. Four times. In the middle of the night. Don't be that guy!

While onboard

• After settling in, explore the ship.  Each vessel is different.  Learn where the purser is located, find the movie theater, the cafeteria (and dining room if there is one), and the kids play area.
• Don't spend all of your time in your room!  The forward observation lounge is a great place to spend time.  Bring the kids, books, board games, electronic gadgets (with headphones), and binoculars.  People spend thousands of dollars to cruise these waterways on vacation, with good reason!  
• There are power outlets onboard.  There is no wifi.  Bring a laptop or DVD player and some new movies.
• Turn off your cell phone until you are in Alaskan ports or Bellingham to avoid connecting to Canadian towers.  That can be costly.
• If you have forgotten something, the only port with businesses nearby the ferry terminal is Ketchikan.  There is a grocery store, hotel with restaurant, and coffee stand right across the street.  Ketchikan is typically a long port call, so you have time to walk a bit.
• DO NOT miss seeing the passage through the Wrangell Narrows.  It's a narrow waterway between Petersburg and Wrangell.  Even if it's the middle of the night, get up! We missed it over the summer since it was 3am and we were tired.  This last time, I stayed up late to watch, and I got a whole new appreciation for buoys and channel markers.  In the dark, it's like Christmas with endless flashing red and green lights.  When we were going through, it was dark, snowing, and windy.  Two crew members were on the bow, making sure we didn't hit anything.  Every so often, a spotlight shone down from the bridge onto a channel marker.  We came so close that I felt like I could reach out and touch the markers at times.
• In our opinion, the passage from Juneau to Sitka is the most beautiful.  It includes Chatham Strait and Peril Strait.  
• Talk to fellow passengers!  On the ferry, people are likely to be Alaskans or military members.  Everyone loves to give tips on favorite spots to eat, fish, shop, drive, etc.  Chances are, at least one other person is going the same place as you.
• The day before you are set to arrive at your destination, start taking extras from your stateroom back to your vehicle during car deck calls or port calls.  When you finally arrive and take your vehicle off the ferry, you don't have much time at all to load up and go.  You don't want to hold up everyone behind you waiting to get off.

I'm sure there is more.  I'll add as I think of things!

CA to AK: The Ferry Journey, part 1

After nearly 48 hours, we are halfway through our ferry journey to Sitka. We have survived the long stretch from Bellingham to Ketchikan, which is 36 hours straight at sea. 

We really lucked out with our stateroom on board the m/v Malaspina. We reserved a 4-berth room with sitting area, but they don't assign a specific room until checking in on the ship. There are only a handful of rooms with sitting areas. The rest have only bunks and a restroom, or maybe only bunks. The purser saw our  party of people and stuff and changed our assignment to the best room in the house, with two big windows and a double-size sitting area. Score! Having the extra space to be able to sit at the window while the kids are spread out watching movies has saved our sanity. If you're ever traveling on the Malaspina, request room 106 if you can. 

As we are traveling up the Pacific coast in winter, we expected a bit of a bumpy ride. We had two open ocean stretches during the day on Saturday with the waves rolling in on the port side, big enough to send our collection of water and wine bottles rolling around. At about 2am, we awoke to the bow of the ship (where our stateroom is located) rising and crashing on what had to be some pretty large waves. It continued on and off for two hours while the kids pretty muh slept through it. Ava woke once to laugh at the creaking sounds the walls of our cabin were making. We were very happy that our car full of dogs was tucked safely in the stern of the ship where it would take less of a beating. 

This morning we pulled into Ketchikan and got to go ashore several times over the course of the 7 hours we were there. There was an inch or three of fresh snow on the ground, and the kids were extatic to dig out their snow boots and kick it around. We walked the dogs three times, bought a few groceries, and ran off some energy. I even got to sneak away on my own to appreciate being back on Alaskan soil and find a good latte. 

Now that the long stretch is over, the rest of our voyage will go by much more quickly. We will be stopping in Wrangell (where this is probably posting from via my phone) and Petersburg tonight, and Juneau in the morning. The dogs will get to take their walks on land rather than the car deck. We are going through the Wrangell Narrows late this evening. Even though it will be dark, we are hoping to see some of the passage. It is said to be so narrow that you can toss a coin from the ship onto the shore. Hopefully we will sleep better tonight--we are finished with the open ocean crossings and will be in the Inside Passage for the rest of the trip. We are also in some snowy, windy weather...winter in Alaska!

The sitting area of our stateroom

Lighthouse in Bella Bella, Canada

Inspecting the shoreline 

Somewhere in Canada

Ketchikan

Another Florida native loving his first time in the snow!

CA to AK, Day 2

Yesterday we completed the driving portion of our trip. We are in Bellingham, WA, where we will board our ferry this afternoon. Yesterday's drive was much easier, with mostly dry skies and beautiful  scenery.

We loved driving through Northern Oregon, with green fields full of grazing sheep in front of rolling hills. Since we definitely qualified as a high occupancy vehicle, we were able to take the express lanes through Seattle. While we missed most of the city skyline, we zipped through the city in less than 10 minutes. 

Our ferry journey will last 4 days. We were supposed to travel to Juneau, where we would have to lug everything out of our stateroom back down at least two levels to the car deck (this is definitely not like a cruise ship with baggage service!). Then we were to drive off the ship at 8am Monday, visit with friends, check into a hotel, and head back to the very same ship at 2am. After loading and unloading people and bags several times over the past few days, not to mention the very real possibility of having to drive around a snowy Juneau without snow tires, I called the ferry service last night to see if it was possible for us to just stay put and take the ride to Skagway, Haines, and back before heading to Sitka. To my surprise, not only did they allow us to do just that, but it is only going to cost the extra night for our stateroom! So for my Coast Guard friends who end up in a similar situation, just choose the "military on orders" option when calling the AK Marine Highway and ask if they can set you up with a "thru fare" to avoid a layover.  Juneau friends, we are sorry to miss connecting with some of you!! We will be at the ferry terminal Monday morning from 8:15-10:15. But there will be a next time once we get settled in!

Today we are going to do a little last-minute shopping to stock up on snacks and new movies before we head to the ferry terminal. Saturday will be spent at sea. Our next update will come from Alaska!! We will be in Ketchikan on Sunday from 7am-2pm AK time. 

Oregon scenery

Old snow right over the Washington state line. 

First day at the new job

Yesterday was the big day.  While I was really disappointed to have to miss it, I just couldn't get us moved from California quickly enough. Six weeks is not enough time to complete an overseas screening, arrange the move of household goods, and find a good point to pull the kids out of school mid-year, not to mention the week it takes to actually travel from Alameda to Sitka via car and ferry.  Luckily, the local media did a nice job making me feel almost like I was there.

Here are a few links:

Coast Guard press release
Sitka Sentinel

And my favorite, because it's the one with the most complete and accurate story (and some great photos).

Raven Radio

Photo from kcaw.org

Meanwhile, we managed to get the movers to finish up late on the third day of packing rather than adding on a fourth.  Thank goodness.  Supervising a house full of strangers packing my stuff is my least favorite part, although we are very lucky to not have to pack and move everything ourselves! Today's agenda included a trip to the store for new air mattresses, as both kids woke up on deflated beds this morning.  They have done so well through all of this craziness, I felt terrible when I saw the half-inflated heaps of well-used air mattress.

So, we continue to camp out here in CA for another 7 school days (yes, we are counting down!) while our household goods get a head start to AK.  Thanks to FaceTime and iPhones (how did people manage these crazy moves without all this technology?!), we have "walked" through our new home and yard. Our unaccompanied baggage was delivered today (we have chairs and a table at the house now), the kids are signed up at school, and utilities and internet are turned on.  Are we there yet??

I {heart} AK

I opened my window this morning to the sight of no less than 20 boats shooting across the bay, like it's the Memorial Day weekend tourist influx. Only it's the second half of March and 25 degrees outside with snow clouds rolling in.  People have asked me countless times just what it is that we like so much about living in Alaska.  It's hard to put into words, but I think I have finally figured it out.  Seeing all of those people freezing out on the bay at 8:30 on a late winter Saturday morning, participating in the Winter King Salmon Tournament, perfectly depicts the Alaskan spirit that we have come to love so much.

Alaskans aren't afraid of a little weather.  If they were, they'd be one miserable house-bound lot.  Style here revolves around being protected from the elements.  Instead of DKNY and Coach and Calvin Klein, it's Patagonia and Bogs and Xtra-Tuf.  If Alaskans want to add a little flair to their everyday, they do it with the color of their down jacket or embellished back pockets of their Silver jeans.  No one is afraid of getting a little dirty.  In fact, it's pretty impossible to get in and out of your car without transferring some of the road filth from it to your clothing.  It's the same out on the water.  If there's a fishing season going on, you can bet that there are boats out there working in all but the very, very worst kind of weather.  If you've ever watched Deadliest Catch, you've seen it yourself.  That is probably the most realistic of the Alaskan reality shows out there.

Just another day on the USCGC HICKORY

Alaskans drive in pretty much any weather, too.  Here in Homer, we spent the better part of the winter driving around on sheets of ice.  I felt like I was auditioning for an episode of Ice Road Truckers at times.  Since we can't use chemicals on our roads to melt the ice and snow (for the safety of the wildlife), road maintenance in the winter can be pretty sketchy.  But we still take the 220-mile drive from Homer to Anchorage, keeping in the back of our minds that we can always turn around and head home if it gets too difficult.

The appreciation that Alaskans have for their natural resources is just amazing.  Animals are still hunted more for food than for the trophy to hang on the wall (although a new caribou rack for the den is always a nice bonus).  All kinds of plants are consumed and preserved in the summertime.  Did you know that you can, in fact, make pesto from stinging nettles, when they first they sprout in the spring?  Catching big fish is nice, but filling your freezer with salmon and halibut is more important than how much each one weighs.  The farmers' market parking lot runs out of space in the summer, full of people buying locally-grown produce and handmade items.  Protecting natural resources is also very important here.  With the drilling that Shell is hoping to start in the Arctic, and the presence of a jack-up rig right here on the Homer Spit, Alaskans are very vocal about protecting their shorelines and ocean-dwelling creatures from the potential dangers of oil drilling.

People here aren't afraid of a little hard work, and the fact that you have a job at all far outweighs the prestige of your position.  No one really cares whether you are a coffee barista or deckhand, or bank manager or real estate agent.  Own your own business?  Fantastic.  And thanks for creating jobs for more Alaskans.  Females are viewed for the most part capable of doing any job that men can do.  I know several female fishing boat captains, North Slope workers, and bush pilots.  Alaskan women are tough, and Alaskan men seem to appreciate that.

Perhaps the best thing about Alaskans is their sense of community and helping each other out all the time.  I can't tell you how many times just in the past two years we have lived in Homer that a family has had a house fire or medical emergency, and the community has stepped up to organize fundraisers and household goods drives to help out their neighbors.  There is always an auction or yard sale going on to benefit one local organization or another, and opportunities abound for volunteers looking to help out.  Local businesses consistently support all of these efforts with donations of goods and services.

While I could live here my whole life and never tire of the view of the mountains and the bay, the eagles soaring overhead and moose wandering the neighborhood, it's the Alaskan community that I will miss most when we leave.  And that's what will, hopefully, one day bring us back.

Fall? Already?

I feel like we're on an episode of Frozen Planet.  "The summer months are short in the far north.  Humans and animals alike scurry around in the fleeting sun, making the most of the time to travel and harvest before winter sets in yet again."

School starts in less than three weeks.  The fireweed is blooming, with the flowers already halfway up the stalk.  They say that when it reaches the top, there are 6 more weeks until winter.  Our streetlights came on last night around 10:15, the first time I have seen them on in months. Nowhere else we have lived have I paid such close attention to the weather, hours of daylight, and changing of seasons.  In Alaska, we truly live by the patterns of nature.

June went by in a flurry of outdoor activity.  Not long after we returned from our Great Alaskan Road Trip, word spread that the first salmon were running in the Kenai River.  Who were we kidding- we are more the Kodiak-style of salmon fishers, where you drive to a river, drop in your line, and reel in fish with ease.  We definitely are not the Kenai Peninsula style of combat salmon fishermen, who line the banks of the Russian and Kenai Rivers, hollering at each other to keep their flies in their own shoulder-width allotment of the riverbank.  But that didn't stop us from packing up our camping gear and heading out of town on an hour's notice for a Father's Day weekend initiation into family tent camping. We went with some good friends and had just about every piece of gear we needed between us all.  We snagged the last public campsite in a 40-mile radius and had a blast.  We also tried fishing...for about 15 minutes.  There was no room for amateurs.

Washing dishes in the Kenai River

Combat Fishing Zone

We had so much fun the first time, that the next sunny stretch of days (about 2 weeks later!) we headed out again.  This time it was to Captain Cook State Recreation Area, past Nikiski.

Boulder Scrambling

Alaska's natural playground

Serious discussions at a beach campfire

We did learn a few Alaskan camping tips:
-Darkness comes late (or not at all).  We used a black-backed quilt thrown over the top of our tent to help everyone get to sleep.
-All food belongs in vehicles or bear lockers at night to avoid unwelcome visitors.
-Keep bear spray within easy reach of all adults at camp--and don't spray it around the perimeter of camp as a deterrent (that was actually stated in the instructions that came with the spray- ha!).
-Starbucks Via packets make perfect camp coffee.
-Bring a propane stove if you intend to have coffee in a timely manner in the morning, as most of the firewood around is damp.

The end of June brought the departure of the LT, who has been floating around somewhere off the western coast of Alaska ever since.   He has managed to visit with several native Alaskans along the way and promises to bring home a bounty of unique souvenirs of his journey.  Shell was supposed to begin drilling in the Arctic Ocean this summer but has (fortunately??) run into several delays. You can read more about that here, as I'm not at liberty to say much else about the subject.

July brought us lots of rainy days, as well as some visitors.  We gave them the full Alaskan experience, including clamming (but no clams!), halibut fishing, glacier cruising, and dog mushing.

A side trip offshore for ling cod while halibut fishing

The most beautiful day on Resurrection Bay

Surprise Glacier

Floating on bergy bits (no, really, that's the technical name)

Another visit to Seavey's Ididaride

Even though it's now August, we have a couple more adventures coming up before settling in for the fall.  First, it's to Denali National Park again, this time on the Alaska Railroad.  We will also be spending Labor Day weekend at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, about an hour north of Anchorage.  We are lucky to have a school that sees the value in family travel and doesn't mind a missed day here and there!  Until then, we will be savoring our last couple of weeks of swim lessons and beach time before having a first-grader and pre-k-er while looking forward to the LT's return.  We have crossed quite a bit off our Alaska bucket list this summer, with mostly winter activities remaining.  We are also already (!!) working on our list of locales to be stationed next tour.  That's right, we have to move again next summer.  So let's just focus on the now for now.

Great Alaskan Road Trip: Day 4

Day 4? Really? That's it? Seems like we have been on the road much longer, with all we have seen already this week!

Today we drove just over 2 hours to Fairbanks. The drive was peaceful and beautiful, with a two-lane highway and nearly no other traffic. My favorite was the Skyline Drive portion of the Parks Hwy. right outside of the city, with enormous views of rolling green hills and snowy mountains in the background. No photos, since I kept missing the viewpoint turnoffs. Being driver and navigator at the same time is not my normal road-trip method.

We fit in a lot today, starting with a visit to Pioneer Park, complete with playground time, carousel ride, and train trip around the park grounds. We left because we were HOT. It is in the mid-70s here, the warmest day of the year.

Then it was off to run around on the trails at Creamer's Field, which was the perfect place to expend some extra energy. The field was full of sand hill cranes (and the forest was full of mosquitoes). The helpful woman in the Visitor's building set me up with a map and directions to cooler activities for the kids, should we need more indoor ideas.

We then checked into our most luxurious lodgings of the trip, Pike's Waterfront. My Alaska TourSaver book coupon got us a deluxe riverfront room, two nights for the price of one. Cushy beds, PBS on the flat screen for a little kid downtime, and a tiny balcony overlooking the Chena.

We drove around downtown Fairbanks after dinner and came back to Pike's to trade in our wooden coins (for Alaskans only!) for free ice cream cones in the lobby.

Tomorrow we're using another TourSaver deal to ride the Riverboat Discovery, three hours on the Chena River with a stop at Susan Butcher's sled dog kennel and a tour of an old native village. After that, naps are in order, followed by a visit to North Pole (a real town, 15 miles away) to visit the reindeer and the Pagoda Chinese restaurant for dinner takeout on the recommendation of a few locals today.

As for the 600 miles from "the end of the road" to Fairbanks, travel has been very easy. We must be just a bit earlier than the RV invasion, because we haven't had much company headed north since leaving the Wasilla area (and we did not see Russia from there). The highway is mostly one lane each way, with plenty of stopping places, both scenic and for gas and food. I wish I had a copilot so I could enjoy the scenery a bit more, but we are taking the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Denali in August (another TourSaver buy one get one; getting much more than out money's worth from that book!), so I'll get to enjoy more mountain views and wildlife then.

Photos: Pioneer Park (formerly Alaskaland), swings you would only find in Alaska, Creamer's Field, free ice cream meets overtired boy

On the road again...

Wow.  A year ago right now, we were in the middle of our journey from Connecticut to Alaska.  The past year has flown by, and we feel completely at home in Homer.  So much so that I do believe we will be back for good once our Coast Guard ride is over.  Sorry, Mom(s).  But I think you knew this already.  

The past month has been a whirlwind, with the end-of-school activities, playground build, and lots of crazy ship logistics.  Today was our first regular weekend day in longer than we can remember.  The highlight of the past few months for me has definitely been the playground build.  Now we not only have a fantastic new place for the kids to play and spend time with their friends, but we also have lots of new friends of our own, met alongside table saws and paint brushes.  

It started as a forest of posts, 18 of which I helped set myself!

Last day of work

Complete, huge, and awesome.

We are finally greening up around town, with new baby moose wandering around and dandelions everywhere.  Two sets of moose twins were born in our neighborhood.  And after spending a winter's day at minus 26 degrees, 55 is t-shirt weather for sure.

Monday the kids and I are headed north for what we are calling our Great Alaskan Road Trip.  The LT (soon-to-be LTCDR-select!) can't get away from work, so we are going it alone.  We will be spending time in Denali National Park, Fairbanks, and Talkeetna along the way.  We haven't been further north than Anchorage, other than our drive in from Tok, so we are really excited to explore new-to-us parts of the state.  I downloaded the Blogger mobile app, so I should be able to give daily trip highlights along the way, just like we did last year with our drive from CT to here.  If you have been through or to any of the places we are headed, please leave us suggestions of your favorite pit-stops and attractions!

Happy (belated) 221st Birthday to the US Coast Guard

August 4th is Coast Guard Day, and this year we celebrated in style by getting underway for the day on the USCGC HICKORY.  What a great opportunity for all of the families to experience what it's like onboard a hard-working 225-foot buoy tender.  We toured, we fished, we saw some killer whales.  Fun was had by all.

The mighty HICKORY, which is too large to fit in my camera's lens while in the harbor

View off the stern at the pier, with the buoy yard in the background

The last time we saw The LT in action on the bridge of an Alaskan buoy tender, he was a new Ensign.  Eight years later, we have come full-circle.

The XO with his proud kiddos

Did you know that Alaska Governor Sean Parnell recently declared August to be United States Coast Guard Appreciation Month?

Alaska vs. Connecticut

...or most of the rest of the Lower 48, for that matter.

We have now lived in Alaska for going on six weeks, which is plenty of time to have formed some observations on the sometimes vast differences in the way things are done here.  Here are a few thoughts.

-It's dirty in Alaska.  And I don't mean gross, run-down dirty.  Just good-old-dirt dirty.  Many roads aren't paved, and the unpaved roads are gray and rocky.  The sand at the beach is black.  Our own unpaved driveway can be a dust bowl on a dry, windy day.  We now understand the Alaskan custom to remove your shoes before entering a home.  Two pair of shoes- one for inside and one for outside- are on the school supplies list for kindergarten.  Some businesses even have signs on the door requesting muddy footwear to be left outside.  Even with keeping all of our shoes in the garage, I could vacuum every day.  Another contributing factor to that, though, may also be the fact that we have a very dark wood floor and a very light-haired dog...plus kids who spill crumbs at every meal.  I don't mind the dirt, but I sure am glad I splurged on the Dyson with this year's tax return.

-Alaskan time is similar to island time.  When someone says a gathering starts at 6, chances are that if you arrive at 6:30 you could be the first one there.  We learned this one the hard way a few weeks ago when going to a function held by someone from the ship.  We arrived on time and thought we were in the wrong place.  When the host didn't answer their phone to help us confirm the location, we started home.  The LT dropped us off and headed back after checking the directions in his email and was still the first person there.

-Alaska gives a whole new meaning to having a 4-wheel drive vehicle.  We bought an SUV with 4-wheel-drive while in Connecticut for driving in winter but never really needed it since everything shut down in snow storms.  In Alaska, we have already had occasion to use the 4-wheel-drive lock feature twice...to drive on the beach!  Many beaches here allow vehicle traffic.  The place we go clamming in Ninilchik is one of them, but you are on your own to know the tides and capability of your vehicle.  If you go too close to high tide, you may very well get your truck flooded.  The sand can be very soft and the rocky beach deep, so 4-wheel-drive is a must if you have any hope to getting back out the way you came.  The last time we went clamming we toted a few extra guys in the back of the Pilot whose cars would not make it on the beach...and nearly succeeded in burying the back wheels with all the extra weight.  I got a chance to bring the car back while the men walked with the clams, and it was actually almost fun...like driving in deep, fluffy snow without the fear of sliding on ice.  Hopefully there won't be much of that kind of driving this winter!

-Hitchhiking is a valid means of transportation.  There are hitchhikers everywhere.  Our neighbor, who has a perfectly good vehicle, even does it for fun sometimes.  Coming from a place with "It is illegal to pick up hitchhikers" signs on the side of the road, I am used to avoiding eye contact with the hitchhikers while I pass by.  Now I feel a little guilty passing them by in my half-empty SUV, but you still won't ever find this mama of two ever stopping to pick one up.

-If you buy something used, it doesn't necessarily mean you couldn't afford to buy it new.  In a small town with limited shopping options, people are constantly playing the buy/sell/trade game to get what they want or need without driving 80-250 miles to a store where they could buy new.  In addition to classified ads in the local newspaper, the internet has opened up a whole new market for used things.  There is a Facebook group for buying or selling "stuff" (which is actually how we found the house we are renting), as well as separate groups for clothing, vehicles and tools, and even one for trading gardening supplies and advice.  Current listings include everything from horses to snowblowers.

-I was spoiled by trash pickup and mail delivery.  It's the little things...There is no curbside trash pickup in Homer.  We have to take our trash and recycling to the dump.  Loading up trash into the back of the new car makes me cringe, especially when it includes the remnants of cleaned clams.  Visiting the landfill has made us even more conscious than we already were of what we can recycle, because it's a shame to see a landfill with burning trash piles on a bluff overlooking the bay.  As for mail delivery, we now have a Post Office Box.  Apparently we could purchase a mailbox for our house and put it out at the main road with a line of other boxes for our neighborhood, but for somewhere that we are living temporarily we will just make do without one.

-Homemade is better than store-bought.  When groceries are arriving by ship, they just aren't fresh.  Milk typically has about a week left until the expiration date, as do yogurt and eggs.  The bread is a little flat and on its way to stale.  I now bake my own bread (and homemade bread is always better than store-bought anyway).  We are also growing lettuce in our garden, along with tomatoes and zucchini.  Doesn't get fresher than that!  We plan our meals better and actually use our leftovers instead of letting them linger for a week in the fridge.  That also has a little to do with the expense of groceries, but now that we are getting the hang of what good sale prices are and stocking up when we can, it's not so bad.

-Hibernation doesn't sound like such a bad idea.  We are, after all, in the land of the midnight sun.  And that is no joke.  The sun currently sets sometime after 11 pm, but it just barely dips below the horizon.  There is about an hour or so of mostly-darkness around 2am (which I know from the past few nights of getting up with kids who may be missing their dad).  It is really hard to go to bed before midnight.  The sunset colors and the rise of the moon over over the mountains make it tough to close the blinds at night.  The kids wake up before 7 most days because it has been daylight since 4am.  I think I will be catching up on sleep this winter when there are only 6 hours of daylight.

Taken from my bedroom window after 11pm

Day Two: CT to AK

States Traveled: PA, OH (stopped in Perrysburg, outside of Toledo)
Weather: High Temp: 76       Low Temp: 61         Sun and clouds, but no rain

Today was a pretty uneventful day.  We took our time getting the car re-packed and had breakfast at our hotel before hitting the road.  Even moving a leisurely pace, we still left at 7:30 since Little Man wakes up so early (6am!).  Trying not to thing about the time zone changes coming up, meaning that he will be waking even earlier!

We had a picnic at a rest stop in PA for lunch and arrived at our hotel in Perrysburg around 4:15.  The kids watched DVDs most of the day, and everyone is doing well so far.  I didn't expect a chorus of, "Are we there yet" this early on, but the little guy is definitely not old enough to understand how long 16 days actually is.

Tomorrow we only have a 4-hour drive to Chicago, where we plan to wander around for the afternoon and evening (and eat some pizza!).


Editing in to add: After dinner at Cracker Barrel tonight, The Nana and The LT decided to run in to a liquor store for a bottle of wine and emerged with a full box of assorted bottles.  Guess that even though the past two days have been relatively smooth, they are preparing for the chance that it could get worse.  Much worse.  Let's just say that a certain 3-year-old boy definitely has the potential to make some of us a little crazy.  Now we have to shove all of the bottles into the already overflowing car...and make sure they are all emptied before we cross into Canada next week!

A few photos...

We have been going back and forth on whether to post photos of the family on this blog since it is public.  We realize that when we begin our cross-country journey we will probably be posting pics of us all anyway, so here are a few recent shots for our non-Facebook friends who haven't seen us in awhile.  We will just refrain from using our first names, so please do the same in your comments if you know us in real life!

In other news, our Overseas Screening paperwork was finally submitted this week.  We had to visit all of our doctors and dentists to be cleared.  It was a little bit of a surprise to see in writing that The Princess's asthma "could escalate to a life-threatening situation under extreme circumstances" but I guess that's the same with anyone with asthma.  The pediatrician was sure to note that, also, and indicated that it is now well-controlled (NO wheezing episodes this winter, yay!) so it shouldn't be an issue.  Other than that, we are one healthy family!

The LT has been working on Move.mil to get our actual move process going.  This is the first time we have moved since they started the self-service military moving process online.  So far, so good.  Our only hiccup is that, due to the ship schedule in Homer, the family whose house we will be renting may not have moved by the time we are scheduled to arrive.  That means the possibility of a few extra nights in a hotel at the end of the trip that we hadn't planned on, but we are so thankful to have already found a great place to live that it will be worth it.

On The Run

Over the past year, I have become a runner. At first it was mainly to get in better shape, but over the months of training I have actually grown to like it. I ran my first half-marathon in October, and said I wouldn't do another one. Over this long, snowy winter I changed my mind. Needing a new goal to force me to get to the gym regularly, I signed up for the More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Women's Half-Marathon in April. That the course is entirely in Central Park sealed the deal for me! I even signed up on a team with my local running store, soundRUNNER, to keep me from backing out of it.

Every Saturday I get up early and drive the 40 minutes to the store to do my 8am long training run with the store's group--on the schedule for this week is 10-12 miles. I have never run outside (on purpose, anyway) when the temperature dips below 60 degrees until this winter. The day of the first group run in January, it was 10 degrees. I told myself that it couldn't possibly be colder than that, so if I could run in 10-degree weather it could only get better from there. The next weekend it was 8. I have actually grown to LOVE running in the cold air. Good thing, considering the climate of our new home. I also love training with a group. It pushes me to go further and faster than I ever would on my own. I completed my first half-marathon in 2 hours and 18 minutes. My only goal this time around is to beat that time.

Hartford Half-Marathon, October 9, 2010

With all of the rain, snow, and ice we have had lately, I have had to do much of my training on the treadmill, which gets really boring. The conditions are slowly improving outside, but I still managed to roll my ankle last week by slipping on gravel left behind by plows and melted snow. After several days off to let the swelling go down, it was back to the treadmill this week. I recently put this sticker on the back of my car, mostly to remind myself to keep going. With all of the moving stuff we have going on, it would be really easy to give up in the next month or two.

Luckily, all of the schools The LT needs to complete before the big move (nearly 6 weeks worth) have been scheduled and none of them conflict with April's race. I am reminding myself that this is the last time for the next two years that I can count on him being around so I can fit in my training runs and plan ahead for races. I'm hoping to complete a half-marathon in each state that we live. Surprisingly, there are several options in Alaska! The Mayor's Midnight Sun in June, the Skinny Raven Half-Marathon in August, and the Kenai River in September. Maybe I'll have some company on at least one of these races while we're stationed in Homer! Any takers?