And away we go!

Anchorage was a beautiful and nice small city with all the amenities we have become so dependent on.   We enjoyed our visit here but it was time to repack our life into six large suitcases and finish the next leg of our journey.  We arrived at the Anchorage airport nice and early only to find that our flight was delayed almost four hours due to maintenance.  We spent our time reading, watching people, walking around and waiting anxiously for our boarding call.  The plane we flew in comfortably sat thirty passengers, had the smallest lavatory I have ever seen, and offered beverage service.   Our flight would take us from Anchorage to Unalakleet then on to Aniak, about a two and a half hour trip.  We flew over amazing landscape. We saw the Alaska Mountains, Russian Mountains,  Kuskokwim Mountains, and the Yukon River.                                                                                                                                                               The further west, the more rugged the terrain, and I noticed that I did not see any villages, towns,
roads, buildings, or any sign of human life.



 Unlike flying over the midwest where you see blocks, patchwork fields, roads, lights, and constant evidence of  "us"; all I could see was vast wilderness which left me thinking if any of this beneath me has ever felt the weight of our footprints.  It truly is untamed. I felt so small. 

In Unalakleet we landed at an airport about the size of a Super America and got off the plane for twenty minutes or so.  I wandered into the parking lot and found myself standing on the edge of a frozen Norton Sound, a bay of the Bering Sea.

We reboarded the plane and shortly thereafter we landed in our temporary new village, Aniak. It was cold and snowy and it was now home.






Beth

Anchorage Day 3

We had a very busy and exciting day.  First we officially reported to work for the first time, went through orientation, signed lots of papers, met all the biggies at the office, and spent a long time at the DMV becoming licensed Alaska drivers. 

After our day of work related things we decided to take a little adventure and explore the beautiful mountains that are right near Anchorage.  The Chugach Mountains are not as large as other mountain ranges in Alaska but are beautiful in their own right.  We visited the Turnagain arm of the Cook Inlet, drove down to the Kenai Peninsula, saw the Portage glacier, drove through a 2.5 mile tunnel through a mountain (underneath a big glacier) and came out on the other side to see a small bit of the Prince William Sound. 

Tonight we will spend the rest of our time here preparing for our trek to Aniak tomorrow.  Laundry, repacking, charging all of our electronics, and still trying to adjust to the time change. 

It was a good day.  I saw beautiful things.  I felt the cold wind coming off the mountain glaciers. Yes, it was a good day.


You can see all of our mountain pictures :


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3470098082141.154258.1561776055&type=1&l=1439aa240b




Beth 



View of southeast Alaska while over the gulf of Alaska

Even had Disney music playing!

After a very full day of travel and barely making all our connecting flights we arrived safely in Anchorage, Alaska yesterday. Our Alaska Airlines plane was actually Disney themed...how exciting!

 Beth and I have an incredible view of the mountains from our hotel.  Temperatures are running in the 30's and 40's and there is still plenty of snow on the ground. 

Moose eating bark off the tree

Today we explored the greater Anchorage area and even drove by a moose right off the road when we were just north of the airport while visiting the Earthquake Park.  The moose sighting simply made our day.  Later, we visited the Alaska Zoo, and seeing the moose in the zoo just did not seem all that exciting.  We did, however, learn some facts about bears that may come in handy in the near future.

Self explanatory

Speaking of bears, and this being the beginning of "spring bear" season, I purchased a new rifle, bear spray and a bear bell.

Tomorrow we have orientation at the home office and then Tuesday we board another plane to head out to Aniak.  Please stay tuned!

4 days to go....time to start saying goodbye

My favorite picture of Miranda

Miranda and the Atlantic

Leaving Miranda behind to begin her life as an adult on her own is one of my biggest challenges and brings about the empty nest sadness.  She is our baby.  Our beautiful child.  Our dynamic young woman.  I know she has a safety net here with family and good friends.  She has a home to make her own.  She has a job and the knowledge to do well.  I do not know if it is more difficult to watch them go or to be the one leaving.  It is hard to tell. 





Red and I checking out the yard in Ayden.

I worked with the most amazing people here in North Carolina.  I made a great friend, Red, and have had many others touch my heart with their lives.  I do not do well in making close friends but I can say that I do have many that I will stay in touch with.  Thank you to them for being a part of my daily life. I will miss you.

Our boys.  Cowboy and Sparky.





 Cowboy followed us down from Minnesota and we have had him a long time.  Interestingly enough this week Cowboy has been suffering some medical issues and at his age, 9, he now needs help to get on the bed, limps when he walks, is in  a lot of pain, and is covered in fatty tumors.  I think his body decided to give out.  I am so sad to see him like that and tomorrow we will be ending his sorrow.  He needs to rest, and rest will come.  He has been my bed warmer, my cuddler, and my best friend.  He has rested his head on my lap when I have cried, licked my face when we are all happy, and followed and watched me where ever I go.  I love that boy.

Sparky is my other baby.  No one would love that dog besides me.  He is a biter and barker.  He tiptoes to  me for love yet protects me voraciously.  He is playful and loving but he is a nightmare when it comes to stubbornness.  He is 3 years old and is a handful.  A handful that I have loved for every minute.  He is fast and beautiful.  He is a wonderful dog.  I wish we could have found the right home for him.  He would not do well in the pound, he would bite.  For his best interest we have decided to put him down for his and others safety. 

All these things together foreshadow my heart with sadness in a time that should be filled with expectation and joy.  I am still joyful for my new opportunity; but sometimes a price needs to be paid for moving forward.  Change is hard. Saying goodbye  is painful.  God is good and has a plan for all this to work together for His Glory.  Mark and I were given an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than the both of us; to impact a community in ways we cannot even yet imagine. 

The next couple of days will be big for Mark and I.  We say goodbye to the boys tomorrow, we bring Miranda to her new home on Thursday and  help her get set up.  We will lock the door to our last home in North Carolina and with that we will be unlocking a new life.



Beth

Six days to go.  Yesterday, Beth and I were standing out in the back yard around 3:15 pm EDT and Beth commented that one week from that moment we would already be wheels down in Anchorage.  Whew!  Wow!

Still so much to do.  We have Miranda set up with a place of her own that she will move into on Thursday the 29th.  We have a storage unit rented and have already moved a few items.  We are almost all packed up and ready for the move. 



Snow covered yard in Williston, NC

BRRRR!!!!  Just wait!

We read that is beginning to warm up in Aniak.  In other words...not so many days below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.   We have been enjoying days in the 70's and even low 80's here in North Carolina.  All the winter clothes we have been stocking up on seems silly here near the coast...but we know will make so much more sense in a week!

11 Days and counting.....

It is 79 degrees in Eastern North Carolina today.  We are wearing shorts and tanktops; our feet are bare.  In eleven days we will be flying to Alaska to begin our next life adventure.  We have accepted a job with an Alaskan company and will be living in western remote Alaska for an indefinite time.  I, Beth,  am from Minnesota. He, Mark,  is from California.  We have been together for 15 years and in that time we have lived in Minnesota, North Dakota, and currently North Carolina. 

It is warm here. The Atlantic is beautiful and in the summer as warm as bath water.  I have spent hours wandering the beach in search of a new shell or an elusive shark tooth.  My heart has soared with the pelicans as they drift in and out of the swells and I have lost myself in watching for the tell tale fins of the dolphins swimming.  I am going to miss that about North Carolina.  After growing up in the cold I have come to appreciate the warmth of the sand under my feet.  I have enjoyed no shoes and the taste of salt on my lips. 

Alaska brings to us a new promise of seeing the wild up close, of viewing the northern lights in all their glory.  It is a challenge in going from a life of convenience to a more simple existence.  Where we now live in a town with traffic, sirens, and stoplights; we are going to no paved roads, no lights, no way to get to the next town by car, only by boat or plane. 


We have bought our boots, we have shipped our belongings, we have settled our things here in the lower 48, now we just wait. Wait for 6am, March 31st to fly off to the north and begin......