Wow, thank you Lord for looking out for us. Today we secured a temporary rental. It's a really nice 2 bed 2 bath condo in Sandy UT. It's actually ours till mid December if we need it that long but the owner is willing to go month to month with a two month commitment. Includes all utilities including cable. c'mon are you kidding me?? We are absolutely thrilled.
Thursday we begin the house hunt with the realtor. We are pre approved not just pre qualified for a mortgage here. Houses are well available and even if we found "the" house tomorrow the rental will be nice to have while we close and all. The rental is completely furnished even. I truly think we died and landed in Heaven! There is even a Lutheran church a block away.
So, the kitties will have to ride in the car tomorrow. Sandy is in South Salt Lake City about 40 minutes north of us. We won't be changing our address from the Springville address cause we will change once we buy a house.
Packing up the hotel will take about 30 seconds. In fact I am half way packed already! Sure feels good to no longer be homeless, even if it's temporary! We'll be gathering up our computers and hooking up on line again soon! Promised pictures will follow!
Yea!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
A new plus week in a new location
Ok, so we are still in the Super 8. It's not bad, but.........
This marks our first full week in Provo. House hunting will begin in earnest as temp. month to month places are almost impossible to find that will take pets. I'm not sure what the deal is but apparently pets are a no no here. at least for renting. That and God forbid you smoke or drink.
We did get to see how to go to the airport in Salt Lake City and we picked up Terry's company car that has been parked out there in long term parking. The airport is about 40 miles north of where we are. There are two ways to get there. Well, two main ways. The I-15 hiway, or the Bangerter Hiway. The cool thing about the hiway here is that it works! The signs are great, there are LOTS of lanes and it's busy but it's just the highway. It doesn't go back and forth to surface roads like the highway in Calgary. THAT SUCKED! So now if any of you decide to fly in to SLC I can easily pick you up and drop you off!
Today we talk to the bank about pre approval on a mortgage. We'll see how that goes. plus we'll need to speak to the folks at the storage place holding on to our furniture. Good ol Denali moving got our stuff here about 2 weeks ahead of when they said they would. Now we'll have additional storage. NICE. I'm hoping we can see the condition of the crates before we pay off Denali. Somewhere in here we'll have the truck arrive and we've got no place to park it.
Oh yea, and we need to speak to car ins folks, and the homeowners ins folks and square away that side of life.
Tomorrow is the day for the realtor.
Not sure how else this would have worked, but I think it is as good as we can do at the moment. We didn't have the time to come down early and secure anything before we moved. Kind of sucks when timing is not your own. But heck, we are here, and it's really been good since we got here.
ME no so much on the road as parked in a hotel!
This marks our first full week in Provo. House hunting will begin in earnest as temp. month to month places are almost impossible to find that will take pets. I'm not sure what the deal is but apparently pets are a no no here. at least for renting. That and God forbid you smoke or drink.
We did get to see how to go to the airport in Salt Lake City and we picked up Terry's company car that has been parked out there in long term parking. The airport is about 40 miles north of where we are. There are two ways to get there. Well, two main ways. The I-15 hiway, or the Bangerter Hiway. The cool thing about the hiway here is that it works! The signs are great, there are LOTS of lanes and it's busy but it's just the highway. It doesn't go back and forth to surface roads like the highway in Calgary. THAT SUCKED! So now if any of you decide to fly in to SLC I can easily pick you up and drop you off!
Today we talk to the bank about pre approval on a mortgage. We'll see how that goes. plus we'll need to speak to the folks at the storage place holding on to our furniture. Good ol Denali moving got our stuff here about 2 weeks ahead of when they said they would. Now we'll have additional storage. NICE. I'm hoping we can see the condition of the crates before we pay off Denali. Somewhere in here we'll have the truck arrive and we've got no place to park it.
Oh yea, and we need to speak to car ins folks, and the homeowners ins folks and square away that side of life.
Tomorrow is the day for the realtor.
Not sure how else this would have worked, but I think it is as good as we can do at the moment. We didn't have the time to come down early and secure anything before we moved. Kind of sucks when timing is not your own. But heck, we are here, and it's really been good since we got here.
ME no so much on the road as parked in a hotel!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Provo, Utah
We have arrived. Our first home in Utah is the Super 8 near BYU. Provo is very nice! Once I figure out the mountains more I'll have a better understanding of where I am as in North South East or West. Mostly the mountains are east. period. unless you are on a street that is going north and you look up and there are the mountains. they appear to curve around with the city and Terry assures me that they are always east.
The drive through the I-15 corridor down through Salt Lake City was a real education. Anchorage is really not a city. AK really does not have highways. And this is a big place with a lot of stuff going on. While it was pretty uneventful, it was harried just the same. After all, I was riding! We went from 2 lanes to 5 lanes and pretty much settled on three lanes. There are places where you have a commuter lane and you can't cross the double white line. And of course in all that movement you have the IDIOTS that are truly texting while driving. I wish I had a paint ball gun to shoot at them. Who thinks you can do anything but DRIVE at 70 mph with multiple lanes of traffic?
Today we attempt to figure out some sort of temporary rental situation. This may prove more difficult than we thought but having no idea at all, we just weren't sure what to expect. Eventually we'll figure something out. We have an appointment with a Realtor on Tuesday next week.
That's also our last day at this hotel. Man, I am not looking forward to living under the stadium at BYU.
We also promised the kitties that we would NOT take them for a ride in the car today.
I am so looking forward to getting squared away in something other than the hotel. I am really hoping this is not what we get till we get a place to live.
ME
PS Reana and Alex you are our heros!! You ROCK!
The drive through the I-15 corridor down through Salt Lake City was a real education. Anchorage is really not a city. AK really does not have highways. And this is a big place with a lot of stuff going on. While it was pretty uneventful, it was harried just the same. After all, I was riding! We went from 2 lanes to 5 lanes and pretty much settled on three lanes. There are places where you have a commuter lane and you can't cross the double white line. And of course in all that movement you have the IDIOTS that are truly texting while driving. I wish I had a paint ball gun to shoot at them. Who thinks you can do anything but DRIVE at 70 mph with multiple lanes of traffic?
Today we attempt to figure out some sort of temporary rental situation. This may prove more difficult than we thought but having no idea at all, we just weren't sure what to expect. Eventually we'll figure something out. We have an appointment with a Realtor on Tuesday next week.
That's also our last day at this hotel. Man, I am not looking forward to living under the stadium at BYU.
We also promised the kitties that we would NOT take them for a ride in the car today.
I am so looking forward to getting squared away in something other than the hotel. I am really hoping this is not what we get till we get a place to live.
ME
PS Reana and Alex you are our heros!! You ROCK!
Friday, September 26, 2008
We have crossed the Utah border
At approximately 6 pm last night we crossed over to Utah! We left Billings at about 9:30 in the morning Thursday and were able to drive all the way to Logan Utah by last night. It too has been an absolute gorgeous drive. We came down the Gallitain (sp?)river drainage and skirted Yellowstone park. I think it's the only place you can skirt the park and not pay for entrance fees. But it is down to 55 miles per hour and we got a warning by a passing patrol. He just flashed his lights ( much to the chagrin to the person in front of him I bet!) and pointed for us to slow down. Man, it's a big downhill stretch out of the mountains, I am not sure how you can do that without riding your brake. I don't tend to ride my brake!
We then got into Idaho and found there were geological evidence of lava flows in this part of Idaho that we crossed over. It looks like parts of Hawaii except the prairie grasses, sage brush, and bushes have grown back in. Really some strange territory.
It's going to be an easy drive to the Provo area as we are down to our last 118 miles. WOW that seems almost unreal. We left AK on September 6th. Spent 5 days to get to Billings MT. Terry flew off to his obligation in Vernal UT and got home early on Thursday last week. We headed up to Sidney early and spend several days there with the family and some friends. Grabbed one more night in Billings on Wednesday and off we went.
The kitties seem glad to see us, not so glad to be in the car AGAIN but I think it's better than kitty jail. They were all over the place last night in the hotel room. Then Susie proceeded to puke her guts out (IN THE TUB THANK YOU VERY MUCH)this morning. Darn hairballs. Other than that they are fairly calm this morning and should be good for a short drive.
Terry has a conference call to take this am so we'll be scuttling out of Logan after that!
We have reservations at a Super 8 in Provo. They take cats, so we have a place to land so we can find an apartment. Then the real fun begins.
It's been sunshine, and about 70 degrees. Lots of wind through Idaho, but not so bad here in Logan. Today high clouds and more sunshine!
ME
We then got into Idaho and found there were geological evidence of lava flows in this part of Idaho that we crossed over. It looks like parts of Hawaii except the prairie grasses, sage brush, and bushes have grown back in. Really some strange territory.
It's going to be an easy drive to the Provo area as we are down to our last 118 miles. WOW that seems almost unreal. We left AK on September 6th. Spent 5 days to get to Billings MT. Terry flew off to his obligation in Vernal UT and got home early on Thursday last week. We headed up to Sidney early and spend several days there with the family and some friends. Grabbed one more night in Billings on Wednesday and off we went.
The kitties seem glad to see us, not so glad to be in the car AGAIN but I think it's better than kitty jail. They were all over the place last night in the hotel room. Then Susie proceeded to puke her guts out (IN THE TUB THANK YOU VERY MUCH)this morning. Darn hairballs. Other than that they are fairly calm this morning and should be good for a short drive.
Terry has a conference call to take this am so we'll be scuttling out of Logan after that!
We have reservations at a Super 8 in Provo. They take cats, so we have a place to land so we can find an apartment. Then the real fun begins.
It's been sunshine, and about 70 degrees. Lots of wind through Idaho, but not so bad here in Logan. Today high clouds and more sunshine!
ME
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday September 23rd
Well we are heading to dinner with the folks shortly. I have the laundry going for our little load of clothes so we will not be hauling a load of dirty laundry to Utah. That makes sense.
Our furniture is now in Utah ahead of us. I got a call from a gal who barely identified herself and wanted us to call her. Only problem is she didn't leave an area code. Must be an "America" thing but no one leaves you the area code that they are calling from. Plus, she is calling a long distance cell number to speak to me. How the heck am I supposed to know how to call her back. Plus her number did not register on the phone. Just adds to the confusion.
AND she didn't know our furniture was supposed to go directly to storage. OK this is the deal we made with the movers from Alaska. So we were none to pleased. Plus I am going to have to call the AK folks to see who dropped the ball on that one.
The good news is we expect to leave the Sidney MT area tomorrow after Terry takes a conference call for work, and we'll spend the night in a motel in Billings, and head to Utah Thursday morning. Travel time if we drive like bandits from the law would be like 10 hours, so we will probably pick a half way spot and call it good and finish our way on Friday the 25th. That should bring us into the Provo area at a good time of day.
In the meantime, dinner with the folks tonight should be fun, and tomorrow we'll be back to Billings to repack the car and the contents of the cargo gate thing. It was good to have a bit of a break, see family in Billings and Sidney and now get along with this moving to Utah business.
Our computers should be there by now, we'll be able to hook up and get some pictures out on the picasa web thing so you all can see just how beautiful it has been.
ME
Our furniture is now in Utah ahead of us. I got a call from a gal who barely identified herself and wanted us to call her. Only problem is she didn't leave an area code. Must be an "America" thing but no one leaves you the area code that they are calling from. Plus, she is calling a long distance cell number to speak to me. How the heck am I supposed to know how to call her back. Plus her number did not register on the phone. Just adds to the confusion.
AND she didn't know our furniture was supposed to go directly to storage. OK this is the deal we made with the movers from Alaska. So we were none to pleased. Plus I am going to have to call the AK folks to see who dropped the ball on that one.
The good news is we expect to leave the Sidney MT area tomorrow after Terry takes a conference call for work, and we'll spend the night in a motel in Billings, and head to Utah Thursday morning. Travel time if we drive like bandits from the law would be like 10 hours, so we will probably pick a half way spot and call it good and finish our way on Friday the 25th. That should bring us into the Provo area at a good time of day.
In the meantime, dinner with the folks tonight should be fun, and tomorrow we'll be back to Billings to repack the car and the contents of the cargo gate thing. It was good to have a bit of a break, see family in Billings and Sidney and now get along with this moving to Utah business.
Our computers should be there by now, we'll be able to hook up and get some pictures out on the picasa web thing so you all can see just how beautiful it has been.
ME
Friday, September 19, 2008
Susie's (the cat) perspective
So, as you may know, a cat's home is it's jungle. Well, I've been fortunate enough to have a pretty darn good jungle. Even though my people felt it necessary to fuss with it on occasion. Sometimes they changed rooms, sometimes they changed everything but all in all it was the same jungle since I was just a kitten.
Then one day in August 2008 some strange men came in and took the jungle away. Everything. Gone. All the smells, all the scratching and rubbing places and all the comfort zones that I had were gone. Fast too. In a matter of two days my entire jungle no longer existed.
Trouble with that is, I had no where to hide anymore. No safe places. My people were still there but they weren't the same either. What on earth was happening.
WOW I had no idea that the next thing would be a little bit of new jungle in a big noisy place. My people called it a hotel in Anchorage. I could stand on a chair and look out the window and see things that were never in my old jungle. No more trees or bunnies or birds to watch, now there was stinky people who smoked, and lots and lots of loud bright cars, trucks, trains, planes and every thing else that moves way too fast. No more nice little houses either. It was a confusing time.
That only got worse. Next thing I know me and my buddie Hobbes are tossed in the car forever. It's scary being in the car. The only other time we went in the car we got shots or something icky. This was dreadful. We travelled for a long ways and my people slept with us in the car the first night but after that we started staying in the little jungles they called hotel rooms. But we never stayed long enough to get comfortable and the hiding places were hard to find.
Now my buddie and I are in the strangest place of all. We are in a place being boarded. It's a little closer to jail compared to a jungle. The folks there are nice enough, and we get our food and water and litter box. But it's so not our jungle. My people come and visit every day and brush us and pet us which is very nice but they told me today that they will be gone for a few days and when they do get back, it's going to be back in the car. They promised that one day soon we'll settle back into our own jungle again, and have our own smells and comfort things back.
It's hard to adjust after 13 + years but as long as we are together we'll make it through OK!
Susie
Then one day in August 2008 some strange men came in and took the jungle away. Everything. Gone. All the smells, all the scratching and rubbing places and all the comfort zones that I had were gone. Fast too. In a matter of two days my entire jungle no longer existed.
Trouble with that is, I had no where to hide anymore. No safe places. My people were still there but they weren't the same either. What on earth was happening.
WOW I had no idea that the next thing would be a little bit of new jungle in a big noisy place. My people called it a hotel in Anchorage. I could stand on a chair and look out the window and see things that were never in my old jungle. No more trees or bunnies or birds to watch, now there was stinky people who smoked, and lots and lots of loud bright cars, trucks, trains, planes and every thing else that moves way too fast. No more nice little houses either. It was a confusing time.
That only got worse. Next thing I know me and my buddie Hobbes are tossed in the car forever. It's scary being in the car. The only other time we went in the car we got shots or something icky. This was dreadful. We travelled for a long ways and my people slept with us in the car the first night but after that we started staying in the little jungles they called hotel rooms. But we never stayed long enough to get comfortable and the hiding places were hard to find.
Now my buddie and I are in the strangest place of all. We are in a place being boarded. It's a little closer to jail compared to a jungle. The folks there are nice enough, and we get our food and water and litter box. But it's so not our jungle. My people come and visit every day and brush us and pet us which is very nice but they told me today that they will be gone for a few days and when they do get back, it's going to be back in the car. They promised that one day soon we'll settle back into our own jungle again, and have our own smells and comfort things back.
It's hard to adjust after 13 + years but as long as we are together we'll make it through OK!
Susie
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Cell service . . . or lack there of!
Man, So once upon a day we decided to drop the home phone and just stay with cell service. The service I had been on did not offer service out of AK and we had a sneaking suspicion that I may need service out of state so I switched once I could to AT&T. WHAT A BIG EFFING MISTAKE. It has been a nightmare while we are enroute on our move.
Here I sit in Billings MT. I have the same signal strength I had at Chugiak, and the same indicator that I am on the extended service as even good old Chugiak was NOT in the home area. So fine, one would expect to have at least the same service we had since the signal is the same and should be used to in Chugiak. WRONGO BUCKO. I have zero zilch NADA service. My phone says I have service but won't connect a call. In fact I can't even collect voice mail without trying SEVERAL times. What's up with that? I got a text message from Terry that he sent at 8:41pm from Vernal UT, at 4:38 AM. We are on the same time zone here. WHY should it take 8 hours to send a text message to me. What really sucks is it woke me up as well. NICE.
For this I could pitch the darn thing in the Yellowstone river but I would probably get arrested for polluting the river.
so sucks to be dependent on such LOUSY service.
ME
Here I sit in Billings MT. I have the same signal strength I had at Chugiak, and the same indicator that I am on the extended service as even good old Chugiak was NOT in the home area. So fine, one would expect to have at least the same service we had since the signal is the same and should be used to in Chugiak. WRONGO BUCKO. I have zero zilch NADA service. My phone says I have service but won't connect a call. In fact I can't even collect voice mail without trying SEVERAL times. What's up with that? I got a text message from Terry that he sent at 8:41pm from Vernal UT, at 4:38 AM. We are on the same time zone here. WHY should it take 8 hours to send a text message to me. What really sucks is it woke me up as well. NICE.
For this I could pitch the darn thing in the Yellowstone river but I would probably get arrested for polluting the river.
so sucks to be dependent on such LOUSY service.
ME
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Saturday Morning
Good morning from Billings Montana. We got in here the afternoon of the 11th and pretty much been catching up with ourselves since. We got the kitties to the boarding place, slept, showered, slept some more, ran around yesterday and visited the cats who are admittedly stressed but were glad to see us and then took my sister and brother in law out to dinner.
Still hanging on with this cold a bit but it's certainly on the mend.
The visit to the high school to see Pat was just a blast. My sister, Pat, wanted us in for her 10 am class. These are the 12 year old kids and just fun! She asked them if anyone had been to AK and if they knew how far we had driven and how long it had taken. The pencils were flying as they tried to do the math on that! So then we had some minutes to do question and answers. I think we could have stayed all day and had fun with the kids but alas that does not move our cause forward. Plus the class moves on in like 45 minutes or so.
Our drive down to Billings was through the heart of Montana. We dropped south on 66 at the Fort Belknap Indian reservation and picked up 191 till it made the junction of 19. That took us to Grass Range where we stopped quick for lunch to go cause it was like 68 degrees and hot for the cats in the car. And by far the best patty melt I have ever had! Believe you me, you can spit across Grass Range It's a small little place. From there we continued south on 87 through Round Up and on into the northern part of Billings. On this drive you cross the Missouri River breaks. This is some of the most beautiful country to see. They have had a lot of rain this year in Montana so the stock dams are full, the lakes are boasting wild life, and the prairie is still green in September. The antelope population is not hurting either! It is amazing to drive across this part of the state. Pretty much ignored cause there is really nothing fancy there, but it is more quintessential Montana than every thing else. It is the prairie, it is the mountains, the river bottoms, the big sky and everything in between.
So yesterday in Billings it was clear blue skies with highs in the mid 70's. The breeze was cool and it was just warm and nice! Finally getting some summer. The trees here are just changing. Terry said, at this rate by the time we get to Utah it will be spring. LOL nice.
We'll visit the some more today and hope they are not so very stressed. Poor kitties. Hobbes is reaching under the door of the play area to try and get what ever he can and if they aren't careful, it will be someones poor unsuspecting toes. But they are eating and using the litter box so they should calm down and settle in. They will be there for quite a while as that's the way it goes on a trip like this.
Terry is all set to head for Vernal and will be there Sunday to Sunday. We'll probably leave Billings and head for Sidney on Monday. So next week for me will be pretty easy. I may not have access to a computer since I'm sure he'll be taking the laptop but will keep up as I can.
So for now the on the road again is taking a rest stop in Billings.
Still hanging on with this cold a bit but it's certainly on the mend.
The visit to the high school to see Pat was just a blast. My sister, Pat, wanted us in for her 10 am class. These are the 12 year old kids and just fun! She asked them if anyone had been to AK and if they knew how far we had driven and how long it had taken. The pencils were flying as they tried to do the math on that! So then we had some minutes to do question and answers. I think we could have stayed all day and had fun with the kids but alas that does not move our cause forward. Plus the class moves on in like 45 minutes or so.
Our drive down to Billings was through the heart of Montana. We dropped south on 66 at the Fort Belknap Indian reservation and picked up 191 till it made the junction of 19. That took us to Grass Range where we stopped quick for lunch to go cause it was like 68 degrees and hot for the cats in the car. And by far the best patty melt I have ever had! Believe you me, you can spit across Grass Range It's a small little place. From there we continued south on 87 through Round Up and on into the northern part of Billings. On this drive you cross the Missouri River breaks. This is some of the most beautiful country to see. They have had a lot of rain this year in Montana so the stock dams are full, the lakes are boasting wild life, and the prairie is still green in September. The antelope population is not hurting either! It is amazing to drive across this part of the state. Pretty much ignored cause there is really nothing fancy there, but it is more quintessential Montana than every thing else. It is the prairie, it is the mountains, the river bottoms, the big sky and everything in between.
So yesterday in Billings it was clear blue skies with highs in the mid 70's. The breeze was cool and it was just warm and nice! Finally getting some summer. The trees here are just changing. Terry said, at this rate by the time we get to Utah it will be spring. LOL nice.
We'll visit the some more today and hope they are not so very stressed. Poor kitties. Hobbes is reaching under the door of the play area to try and get what ever he can and if they aren't careful, it will be someones poor unsuspecting toes. But they are eating and using the litter box so they should calm down and settle in. They will be there for quite a while as that's the way it goes on a trip like this.
Terry is all set to head for Vernal and will be there Sunday to Sunday. We'll probably leave Billings and head for Sidney on Monday. So next week for me will be pretty easy. I may not have access to a computer since I'm sure he'll be taking the laptop but will keep up as I can.
So for now the on the road again is taking a rest stop in Billings.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
YEA America!
We are back on American soil. Gee but it's great to be back home! Well, in all honesty, the drive through Canada this time was completely different from the one we took 18 years ago. Then we felt like we were in a foriegn land. This trip we were met with very friendly people, very nice accomodations, great food and the like. We had stopped to ck the load at one point, and immediately we had a passerby slow to stop and ask to make sure everything was OK. Great!
Our drive through the border went without any fuss. We had been anxious about this, (ok I have been anxious about this) because of the horror stories we had heard. Especially crossing back to America. The Crossing officer didn't even want to see the paperwork on the cats, and in fact asked quickly to please leave them in the car. * : - ) * funny. Asked about anything we needed to declare and well we did buy lunchmeat along the way, so he jokes and asks what brand? And we didn't know and he laughed and said, Just kidding. What a silly man. We moved on through.
Once on this side of the border, we have seen an increase in Antelope, some mule deer, and some white tail deer. Not to mention the cattle, and horses that roam the fields.
Today we'll visit my sister, Pat, who teaches in Chinook. Works out pretty well as when we got to Havre ALL the hotels were full and this was the only one with openings. We are 20 miles east of Havre. That's the best we could come up with. So by the time we found some hot food at the gas station cause all the other places were closed we agreed to meet at the school to visit a moment before we head south to Billings. It had gotten to be a late night here.
So Terry is jumping in and i'm next in the shower. We'll grab breakfast and pack up and head to the high school. We have to check in at the principals office. haven't done that for a while!
ME
Our drive through the border went without any fuss. We had been anxious about this, (ok I have been anxious about this) because of the horror stories we had heard. Especially crossing back to America. The Crossing officer didn't even want to see the paperwork on the cats, and in fact asked quickly to please leave them in the car. * : - ) * funny. Asked about anything we needed to declare and well we did buy lunchmeat along the way, so he jokes and asks what brand? And we didn't know and he laughed and said, Just kidding. What a silly man. We moved on through.
Once on this side of the border, we have seen an increase in Antelope, some mule deer, and some white tail deer. Not to mention the cattle, and horses that roam the fields.
Today we'll visit my sister, Pat, who teaches in Chinook. Works out pretty well as when we got to Havre ALL the hotels were full and this was the only one with openings. We are 20 miles east of Havre. That's the best we could come up with. So by the time we found some hot food at the gas station cause all the other places were closed we agreed to meet at the school to visit a moment before we head south to Billings. It had gotten to be a late night here.
So Terry is jumping in and i'm next in the shower. We'll grab breakfast and pack up and head to the high school. We have to check in at the principals office. haven't done that for a while!
ME
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
what will likely be our last day in Canada
We are presently in a small town between Banff and Calgary. Called Canmore or something like that. What counts is they have a hotel, shower, will take cats and we got in without a hitch.
Yesterday's drive took us from Prince George to here. We came through the Jasper and Banff national parks. Originally we were to scoot through the Kootenay park as well but decided to come this way and through the Sweet Grass border crossing rather than Eureka. We'll be through Canada in the fastest time either way, and this puts us into N Central Montana better for hitting Havre instead. We'll be spending the night in Havre and visiting my sister, before heading to Billings.
Once in Billings the Cats get to be boarded at a facility. I think we will all benefit from that. Yesterday while driving along, Hobbes, the ambitious one managed to break on through to the other side. All of a sudden we have CAT in the driving compartment and he wanted to see every square inch of that part of the car. We made a hurried stop and tossed him in the kennel for the rest of the drive. Today we'll see if we can modify the separation device to contain them in the back area as I don't think it's in the best interest to have them in the kennel all day long.
Our wild animal count went up yesterday with a black bear sighting, two white tale deer, and a grizzly. The grizzly in Denali park in AK, that we saw had long blond fur on them. This one was very dark and didn't really have any other marks. We also finally are seeing some of the local speed control officers. What really sucks about that is the max speed here is like 55. WAY TO EFFIN SLOW especially with the low volume of traffic and wide open spaces. They didn't catch us and we really figured a speeding ticket would not be a high point of the move so we've been dutifully careful.
The parks area we have travelled through is so remarkable beautiful. I know we have mountains in AK and it's hard to believe there is anywhere just as wonderful, but the way the mountains are shaped here is completely different than any I have ever seen. Yes, pictures will come but access to stuff is pretty limited via computer and all for now. Just hold your breath. Ok, don't hold your breath.
We have come so far south that fall has just started to tickle the senses. Fireweed is not fully bloomed out, some of the lower bushes are turning colors and of course the occasional tree that feels it must color before the rest of the trees do. Much of what we drove past was managed forest in BC. When they go in an log, they replace the trees with a variety of other trees. It's quite beautiful and certainly takes care of things like the pine beetle wiping out total areas of same species of trees. In the managed areas, only a few of the pines are dead while the other trees thrive! What a novel thought.
We also got ourselves into the first driving in snow this year. Coming over Bow Pass into Banff we were well above the snow line. Not much for snow on the road, but the ground and trees were sure covered.
Everyone up in AK knows the beautiful color of the Kenai river? Here in the park, the lakes are all that color with more intensity. Like huge natural jewels the teal green of turquoise in large lakes. So pretty!
So onward through the fog as they say, Time to see about breakfast and packing up, and fixing the compartment of the car so the cats can be loose in 'their' area etc.
Until then . . . .
Yesterday's drive took us from Prince George to here. We came through the Jasper and Banff national parks. Originally we were to scoot through the Kootenay park as well but decided to come this way and through the Sweet Grass border crossing rather than Eureka. We'll be through Canada in the fastest time either way, and this puts us into N Central Montana better for hitting Havre instead. We'll be spending the night in Havre and visiting my sister, before heading to Billings.
Once in Billings the Cats get to be boarded at a facility. I think we will all benefit from that. Yesterday while driving along, Hobbes, the ambitious one managed to break on through to the other side. All of a sudden we have CAT in the driving compartment and he wanted to see every square inch of that part of the car. We made a hurried stop and tossed him in the kennel for the rest of the drive. Today we'll see if we can modify the separation device to contain them in the back area as I don't think it's in the best interest to have them in the kennel all day long.
Our wild animal count went up yesterday with a black bear sighting, two white tale deer, and a grizzly. The grizzly in Denali park in AK, that we saw had long blond fur on them. This one was very dark and didn't really have any other marks. We also finally are seeing some of the local speed control officers. What really sucks about that is the max speed here is like 55. WAY TO EFFIN SLOW especially with the low volume of traffic and wide open spaces. They didn't catch us and we really figured a speeding ticket would not be a high point of the move so we've been dutifully careful.
The parks area we have travelled through is so remarkable beautiful. I know we have mountains in AK and it's hard to believe there is anywhere just as wonderful, but the way the mountains are shaped here is completely different than any I have ever seen. Yes, pictures will come but access to stuff is pretty limited via computer and all for now. Just hold your breath. Ok, don't hold your breath.
We have come so far south that fall has just started to tickle the senses. Fireweed is not fully bloomed out, some of the lower bushes are turning colors and of course the occasional tree that feels it must color before the rest of the trees do. Much of what we drove past was managed forest in BC. When they go in an log, they replace the trees with a variety of other trees. It's quite beautiful and certainly takes care of things like the pine beetle wiping out total areas of same species of trees. In the managed areas, only a few of the pines are dead while the other trees thrive! What a novel thought.
We also got ourselves into the first driving in snow this year. Coming over Bow Pass into Banff we were well above the snow line. Not much for snow on the road, but the ground and trees were sure covered.
Everyone up in AK knows the beautiful color of the Kenai river? Here in the park, the lakes are all that color with more intensity. Like huge natural jewels the teal green of turquoise in large lakes. So pretty!
So onward through the fog as they say, Time to see about breakfast and packing up, and fixing the compartment of the car so the cats can be loose in 'their' area etc.
Until then . . . .
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Good Tuesday Morning
Today finds us in Prince George. One thing we have learned is you sure can't count on your miles / kilometers of travel per day. The drive to Prince George should have been a pretty straight shot till you realize you have to slow down for all the little bergs you travel through.
We have been travelling as fast as we can based on road conditions and local requirements. Our stops for construction have really been minimal. First day travel started out about 9 am with some farewell good by stops and the day ended after midnight. so like 15 hours. Day two started at 4 am and went till 5:30 for a 13 hour day. Yesterday after a good nights sleep started at 9 ish and ended at 10 pm here in Prince George. Another 13 hour day. Today we are hoping to get past Banff before stopping. We'll be travelling through some of the National Parks so we are hoping it's more than gorgeous. Our drive yesterday so far has been one of the prettiest ever!
The cats did MUCH better in the car yesterday. I think our rearranging helped and they enjoyed a good night of romping in a hotel room. Mostly, Susie slept on my head, and Hobbes slept between the two of us back and forth. LOL
Today's weather should be sunny and nice, we are far enough south now to really get into some agricultural areas, we saw probably 5 - 6 palomino horses running through a field yesterday. The field was lush and green, there was a lake behind them, and mountains behind that. Talk about picturesque.
We'll see how today goes, on the road again . . .
We have been travelling as fast as we can based on road conditions and local requirements. Our stops for construction have really been minimal. First day travel started out about 9 am with some farewell good by stops and the day ended after midnight. so like 15 hours. Day two started at 4 am and went till 5:30 for a 13 hour day. Yesterday after a good nights sleep started at 9 ish and ended at 10 pm here in Prince George. Another 13 hour day. Today we are hoping to get past Banff before stopping. We'll be travelling through some of the National Parks so we are hoping it's more than gorgeous. Our drive yesterday so far has been one of the prettiest ever!
The cats did MUCH better in the car yesterday. I think our rearranging helped and they enjoyed a good night of romping in a hotel room. Mostly, Susie slept on my head, and Hobbes slept between the two of us back and forth. LOL
Today's weather should be sunny and nice, we are far enough south now to really get into some agricultural areas, we saw probably 5 - 6 palomino horses running through a field yesterday. The field was lush and green, there was a lake behind them, and mountains behind that. Talk about picturesque.
We'll see how today goes, on the road again . . .
Monday, September 8, 2008
What on the road really means!
Good Morning to all! Especially, Kris, Happy Birthday Yesterday! We did not forget and you were on our minds but when we finally landed where we could do any communication it was 11:30 your time. Hope your Day was GRAND!
We had high and noble hopes of hitting the road early Saturday morning. What really happened was get up, pack the car, pack the car again and organize ourselves. With all the stuff we had our purchase of the cargo gate was a smart decision. We headed north to say our good byes to friends and family cause we have to pass them anyway on the way and could NOT miss the last farewell. We even got to drive by the Tina st House one last time! By the time we regrouped north of Anchorage in Palmer, and stopped at the grocery store for cold meds (yea, fun huh?) it was pushing 12:30.
Our goal was to at least get out of the state on our first day. Our dream was to get to a place called Haines Junction. We managed to call it a night after midnight in a place called Destruction Bay. We did our best to sleep in the car. It was bloody cold however at 37 degrees out. However, it was a clear night and the stars were like we have never seen. You could almost reach out and touch them.
Coming into Canada was a piece of cake. Just a few questions, didn't want to see ID or health certificates on the cats or anything. Makes you wonder how getting out will be.
So the 425 (roughly) miles to the border with an additional 225K to Destruction Bay was then met with all of 2 - 3 hours of trying to sleep in the car with the freaked out cats and me sick with a cold. Finally caved and got back on the road about 4 am. Up until then the roads were really good. What we found when we left Destruction bay was some major road construction. Course at 4 am on Sunday there were no flaggers or stopped traffic so it looks like it was the best thing in getting around some major mess. They apparently do not believe in directional cones or markers here.
We traveled on through the day until about 5:30 PM Landing in Deese Lake British Columbia along the Cassier Highway. This is such a beautiful spot. Nice room, friendly people etc. Plus a good hot shower, and man did we ever need that. We had taken turns driving and napping usually in the correct order and place in the car and really had that auto butt thing going, you know when you have been way too long on your behind in the car! It felt so good to find a hotel last night!
Our lofty dream of getting to Haines Junction would have been a bitter end as once we got there yesterday morning we found ALL the rooms were taken. We would have spent the night in the parking lot in the car anyway.
The Cassier highway is certainly not the main road leaving that distinction to the ALCAN highway. It was a little two lane ( being generous here) trail for a bit and we wondered if this is what we were getting for the rest of the drive. Once past that though it worked out to a nice road with nice shoulders on it. The colors of the trees has been breathtaking. I never knew you could have the full panoramic of greens in one setting. We have from the deep forest pine greens that are almost black, to the bright blue grey greens of leaves not yet turned but are going to, and then the bright yellow greens of newly turned leaves. Spectacular! Add to that you have the yellows, goldens reds and purple of the various fauna as they turn towards the winter of life. We have gone from late summer to early fall to late fall to middle fall and back and forth depending on our elevation and longitude. The list of wildlife sightings include, Sandhill cranes, swans, an almost hit porcupine, as well as an almost hit large moose, about 100 elk (I was sleeping so I missed that!) a beaver, bunny, eagles, and various others.
Today we hope to get to Prince George. If we feel like travelling on we will but that's a pretty good mark. The farther south we get the more available we have for places to stay. What we don't have is any cell service at all.
The cats are travelling pretty well. It's been a learning experience for them as well as us. Mornings are pretty stressful and hopefully today they will settle down sooner. We'll make some adjustments to their compartment today and hopefully they will fine it more suitable to long journeys in the car. Today Susie has a hard time in the hotel. Very nervous. There is a large mirror on the nightstand and I know she thinks it's a window out and it kind of freaks her out. poor thing. she finally curled up under the bed this morning. She slept well last night but once up again, the scary mirror occupies her.
Hobbes could not care less about the room. His stress is mornings in the car. then he paces and pants and seems dreadfully uncomfortable. This doesn't last long and he eventually calms down and basically lets us know life is generally unfair and he wants this part to end.
Terry marshalls through it all, the cats, his sick wife and the long drives. Today we are hoping if I do not take the 12 hour time release meds maybe I'll be more awake to drive and my cold may be getting better. The ankle I sprained on the day we closed on the house is still swollen and tender but seems to be something that will not give lasting worry! (this is from someone who worked in orthopedics for years, it's NEVER just a sprain!)
Hopefully pictures will come soon, we have had fun trying as we drive along but you never know what you will get. It's high time I troddled down to the lobby for some complimentary coffee and we'll get ourselves organized for todays journey!
Till we meet again!
We had high and noble hopes of hitting the road early Saturday morning. What really happened was get up, pack the car, pack the car again and organize ourselves. With all the stuff we had our purchase of the cargo gate was a smart decision. We headed north to say our good byes to friends and family cause we have to pass them anyway on the way and could NOT miss the last farewell. We even got to drive by the Tina st House one last time! By the time we regrouped north of Anchorage in Palmer, and stopped at the grocery store for cold meds (yea, fun huh?) it was pushing 12:30.
Our goal was to at least get out of the state on our first day. Our dream was to get to a place called Haines Junction. We managed to call it a night after midnight in a place called Destruction Bay. We did our best to sleep in the car. It was bloody cold however at 37 degrees out. However, it was a clear night and the stars were like we have never seen. You could almost reach out and touch them.
Coming into Canada was a piece of cake. Just a few questions, didn't want to see ID or health certificates on the cats or anything. Makes you wonder how getting out will be.
So the 425 (roughly) miles to the border with an additional 225K to Destruction Bay was then met with all of 2 - 3 hours of trying to sleep in the car with the freaked out cats and me sick with a cold. Finally caved and got back on the road about 4 am. Up until then the roads were really good. What we found when we left Destruction bay was some major road construction. Course at 4 am on Sunday there were no flaggers or stopped traffic so it looks like it was the best thing in getting around some major mess. They apparently do not believe in directional cones or markers here.
We traveled on through the day until about 5:30 PM Landing in Deese Lake British Columbia along the Cassier Highway. This is such a beautiful spot. Nice room, friendly people etc. Plus a good hot shower, and man did we ever need that. We had taken turns driving and napping usually in the correct order and place in the car and really had that auto butt thing going, you know when you have been way too long on your behind in the car! It felt so good to find a hotel last night!
Our lofty dream of getting to Haines Junction would have been a bitter end as once we got there yesterday morning we found ALL the rooms were taken. We would have spent the night in the parking lot in the car anyway.
The Cassier highway is certainly not the main road leaving that distinction to the ALCAN highway. It was a little two lane ( being generous here) trail for a bit and we wondered if this is what we were getting for the rest of the drive. Once past that though it worked out to a nice road with nice shoulders on it. The colors of the trees has been breathtaking. I never knew you could have the full panoramic of greens in one setting. We have from the deep forest pine greens that are almost black, to the bright blue grey greens of leaves not yet turned but are going to, and then the bright yellow greens of newly turned leaves. Spectacular! Add to that you have the yellows, goldens reds and purple of the various fauna as they turn towards the winter of life. We have gone from late summer to early fall to late fall to middle fall and back and forth depending on our elevation and longitude. The list of wildlife sightings include, Sandhill cranes, swans, an almost hit porcupine, as well as an almost hit large moose, about 100 elk (I was sleeping so I missed that!) a beaver, bunny, eagles, and various others.
Today we hope to get to Prince George. If we feel like travelling on we will but that's a pretty good mark. The farther south we get the more available we have for places to stay. What we don't have is any cell service at all.
The cats are travelling pretty well. It's been a learning experience for them as well as us. Mornings are pretty stressful and hopefully today they will settle down sooner. We'll make some adjustments to their compartment today and hopefully they will fine it more suitable to long journeys in the car. Today Susie has a hard time in the hotel. Very nervous. There is a large mirror on the nightstand and I know she thinks it's a window out and it kind of freaks her out. poor thing. she finally curled up under the bed this morning. She slept well last night but once up again, the scary mirror occupies her.
Hobbes could not care less about the room. His stress is mornings in the car. then he paces and pants and seems dreadfully uncomfortable. This doesn't last long and he eventually calms down and basically lets us know life is generally unfair and he wants this part to end.
Terry marshalls through it all, the cats, his sick wife and the long drives. Today we are hoping if I do not take the 12 hour time release meds maybe I'll be more awake to drive and my cold may be getting better. The ankle I sprained on the day we closed on the house is still swollen and tender but seems to be something that will not give lasting worry! (this is from someone who worked in orthopedics for years, it's NEVER just a sprain!)
Hopefully pictures will come soon, we have had fun trying as we drive along but you never know what you will get. It's high time I troddled down to the lobby for some complimentary coffee and we'll get ourselves organized for todays journey!
Till we meet again!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Friday Sept 5, 2008
Ok, so we decided to stay in Anchorage one more day. Our new target date to drive out is tomorrow morning. This decision was made really late at night after cleaning and organizing our way out of the house. Trying to see the logistics of busting our butts with everything that needed done just was too much. Well, too much for me. We actually probably could have left this morning but this gives us a chance to decompress a bit and not scramble.
Closing went without a hitch and as of today when the sale is recorded we are officially homeless. *grin* While we didn't sell as fast as I would have liked, being on the market for 25 days and closing within a month of that is pretty darn great considering the market these days.
We did arraign for a mail box etc address in Springville Utah. So for those concerned, 224 S Main St #404; Springville Utah 84663. This sure made tying up loose ends up here much better.
Then we discovered that we have still WAY TOO MUCH STUFF to pack in the car. It doesn't matter that the cats have the best space and a pretty good chunk of it. We can't really change that, but we are at a loss of what to do with everything we need to yet have. It's not like we are just on vacation. We are moving. There are some things you need to have (albeit in excess) when you move. One thing I didn't want to do is totally empty the middle compartment of car to get to the cats. That's where we are at right now. So our solution was to obtain a cargo gate thing that hooks on the hitch you would put your bike rack on. It's one of the flat baskets that will hold a big old Costco cooler and we can put about 150 lbs of stuff in that to ease the inside compartment of the car.
Still working out some of the details on that, and we'll have to be very careful driving with the darn thing attached to the car but this looks to be like a very workable solution. My car doesn't have a luggage rack on top so that option was not available.
Other than that, we've been happily staying in a great apartment at the Super 8 in Anchorage. This has been really a nice little home away from home and we are so very thankful to have gotten it. The cats are doing very well with all the changes and by this afternoon we'll have the packing of the car ready to go. We plan on going through everything one more time to just make sure what we have, what we need, and what we can still toss for heavens sake. LOL
Till tomorrow!
Closing went without a hitch and as of today when the sale is recorded we are officially homeless. *grin* While we didn't sell as fast as I would have liked, being on the market for 25 days and closing within a month of that is pretty darn great considering the market these days.
We did arraign for a mail box etc address in Springville Utah. So for those concerned, 224 S Main St #404; Springville Utah 84663. This sure made tying up loose ends up here much better.
Then we discovered that we have still WAY TOO MUCH STUFF to pack in the car. It doesn't matter that the cats have the best space and a pretty good chunk of it. We can't really change that, but we are at a loss of what to do with everything we need to yet have. It's not like we are just on vacation. We are moving. There are some things you need to have (albeit in excess) when you move. One thing I didn't want to do is totally empty the middle compartment of car to get to the cats. That's where we are at right now. So our solution was to obtain a cargo gate thing that hooks on the hitch you would put your bike rack on. It's one of the flat baskets that will hold a big old Costco cooler and we can put about 150 lbs of stuff in that to ease the inside compartment of the car.
Still working out some of the details on that, and we'll have to be very careful driving with the darn thing attached to the car but this looks to be like a very workable solution. My car doesn't have a luggage rack on top so that option was not available.
Other than that, we've been happily staying in a great apartment at the Super 8 in Anchorage. This has been really a nice little home away from home and we are so very thankful to have gotten it. The cats are doing very well with all the changes and by this afternoon we'll have the packing of the car ready to go. We plan on going through everything one more time to just make sure what we have, what we need, and what we can still toss for heavens sake. LOL
Till tomorrow!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Final Inspection
Today was the final inspection for the laundry list. Talk about anti climatic. After all the crap last minute concerns the VA inspector threw at us (after all our tools were packed) the home inspector was over and took care of every item without question. And you might ask what about the offending deck? Not a single mention. So why all the last minute dramatics? I was a tad bit lets see, shall we say TICKED OFF. But lucky for all of us I got to take the cats to the vet today and get the health certificate and shots needed for intra country travel by motor vehicle. This gave way for much clearer thinking Terry to be here, instead of me. In fact, I made sure I took my sweet old time, got the oil changed, stopped at the grocery store and generally dragged my feet!
Terry did get to meet the Mrs. side of the buyers. They are just tickled pink to get the house and he showed her the property lines and the back deck, and talked about the closet organizer that we never got to install but did buy and made sure the movers didn't take. She walked around with her cell phone taking pictures all along. She even apologized about the home inspectors. They felt the list was a bit much and most of it was of no consequence. We knew that it wasn't them as much as the inspector making sure he looked good. She told Terry that she came in and took one look at the kitchen and was convinced. Her husband took one look at the garage and basically never even saw the rest of the house. He was convinced. Everything about the house, the lot, the fenced yard for their dog was just great! Her husband also thought the flowers planted in the old bar b que and wagon were pretty cute.
So lots of prayers of thanksgiving today cause ever since May when we got word of our pending move, the dear Lord has been watching out for us and really has taken us into his loving arms. Sometimes we are just too human to feel that and let our earthly emotions get the worst of us. (I'd be talking about me here)!
I've got a last load of clothes in the wash now and tomorrow morning we'll strip the bed and get that washed up. We are going to be mailing our computers and a box or two of stuff we don't need in the car. We'll pack up and head to town to find a place to stay for a couple of nights and we are absolutely out of here on Friday.
Way too much fun!
Terry did get to meet the Mrs. side of the buyers. They are just tickled pink to get the house and he showed her the property lines and the back deck, and talked about the closet organizer that we never got to install but did buy and made sure the movers didn't take. She walked around with her cell phone taking pictures all along. She even apologized about the home inspectors. They felt the list was a bit much and most of it was of no consequence. We knew that it wasn't them as much as the inspector making sure he looked good. She told Terry that she came in and took one look at the kitchen and was convinced. Her husband took one look at the garage and basically never even saw the rest of the house. He was convinced. Everything about the house, the lot, the fenced yard for their dog was just great! Her husband also thought the flowers planted in the old bar b que and wagon were pretty cute.
So lots of prayers of thanksgiving today cause ever since May when we got word of our pending move, the dear Lord has been watching out for us and really has taken us into his loving arms. Sometimes we are just too human to feel that and let our earthly emotions get the worst of us. (I'd be talking about me here)!
I've got a last load of clothes in the wash now and tomorrow morning we'll strip the bed and get that washed up. We are going to be mailing our computers and a box or two of stuff we don't need in the car. We'll pack up and head to town to find a place to stay for a couple of nights and we are absolutely out of here on Friday.
Way too much fun!
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