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
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