Monday:
First day of work
Ate dinner
Moved a teacher in
Pulled a boat out of the mud
Moved a desk to our house
Tuesday:
Work
Picked up LOTS of boxes of food from the post office (9 of them)
Dinner
Spinners till midnight!
Wednesday:
Work
Fix a flat tire
Eat dinner
Gut some fish
Go to the smoke house
Eat dried fish
BS till midnight
Thursday:
Work
Take the bus around town
Take the boat upriver
Eat some salmon straight from the fishwheel (after it was roasted on the campfire)
Come back to Mary's for a get together of about 15 people
Take people home
Talk till 1am about not really all that much
Yep. Just another day in Fort Yukon!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
And the traveling continues...
Thursday - Sunday:
We get up, get ready, pack up the car, check out of the hotel, and head to the airport. This was where our day started to go south. We arrive at the airport and Andrew checks our car while I wait outside with the boys for them to have time out of their crates before flying. Now we head in to check Amo and our bags. When we got there, we were told that Rupert could not be carried onto the plane cause the type of plane we were flying does not allow room for carry-ons (despite having talked to 4 different people to confirm that he would be able to go as carry-on). Also he is not allowed to fly in a soft-sided carrier. So after just checking our car, Andrew has to go get a taxi and go back into town and buy another crate for Rupert. He gets back and we wait until right when we have to board to check Rupert. After doing this then we are told that there will be a delay and they don’t know how long it will be. I am told I have to wait until they are done loading a plane until someone can let me in to retrieve Rupert (which they are supposed to do as soon as I request it because of a delay). While we are waiting for the other plane to be loaded, we meet the guy from the School District that hired me (Tim)and talk to him some about the district and what to expect when we get to Fort Yukon. Finally we are able to get Rupert and I take him outside to let him relax before I have to put him in his crate again. As I am coming in the plane arrives at the gate and off Rupert goes to be put in the crate again. They load the plane with all the cargo that is being sent to Fort Yukon on this flight as well as our bags and dogs. They we are allowed on the plane. I sit back next to where Rupert is in hopes that I can keep him a little calmer. Rupert is a mess for about the first 25 minutes of the flight and then finally calms down enough to not kill our eardrums anymore.
We arrive in Fort Yukon and are taken to the school district office by Tim. He introduces me to several of the employees in the district office and then works to find us a ride to what is supposed to be our new home. We arrive at this house only to find out that the owner still is not out of the house herself and that there are more repairs to the home that need to be done than originally thought. Needless to say we decided to not take the house. So we begin the housing search all over. In the meantime, we were able to stay at the Vocational Education Center in the “apartment.” The only catch is that we were not to use the kitchen. New friends that we made during this time came to our rescue both Thursday and Friday by feeding us dinner.
Then Saturday came and life turned upside-down again. We finally found a house (we lucked out and found a very nice house that we are both really pleased with). The only problem was that we are not able to move in until the 20th. No problem, we still had a place to stay until then, but then we were told that we were no longer able to stay at the Voc Ed cause there is a district policy that no pets are allowed into district housing. Luckily another staff member came to our rescue this time and is allowing us to stay with her (dogs and all) until we are able to move into our house.
We are sooooo grateful for the wonderful friends that we have made that have made a bad situation better and more tolerable! The staff in the district is already turning out to be a tight knit group despite the fact that many of us just met.
We get up, get ready, pack up the car, check out of the hotel, and head to the airport. This was where our day started to go south. We arrive at the airport and Andrew checks our car while I wait outside with the boys for them to have time out of their crates before flying. Now we head in to check Amo and our bags. When we got there, we were told that Rupert could not be carried onto the plane cause the type of plane we were flying does not allow room for carry-ons (despite having talked to 4 different people to confirm that he would be able to go as carry-on). Also he is not allowed to fly in a soft-sided carrier. So after just checking our car, Andrew has to go get a taxi and go back into town and buy another crate for Rupert. He gets back and we wait until right when we have to board to check Rupert. After doing this then we are told that there will be a delay and they don’t know how long it will be. I am told I have to wait until they are done loading a plane until someone can let me in to retrieve Rupert (which they are supposed to do as soon as I request it because of a delay). While we are waiting for the other plane to be loaded, we meet the guy from the School District that hired me (Tim)and talk to him some about the district and what to expect when we get to Fort Yukon. Finally we are able to get Rupert and I take him outside to let him relax before I have to put him in his crate again. As I am coming in the plane arrives at the gate and off Rupert goes to be put in the crate again. They load the plane with all the cargo that is being sent to Fort Yukon on this flight as well as our bags and dogs. They we are allowed on the plane. I sit back next to where Rupert is in hopes that I can keep him a little calmer. Rupert is a mess for about the first 25 minutes of the flight and then finally calms down enough to not kill our eardrums anymore.
We arrive in Fort Yukon and are taken to the school district office by Tim. He introduces me to several of the employees in the district office and then works to find us a ride to what is supposed to be our new home. We arrive at this house only to find out that the owner still is not out of the house herself and that there are more repairs to the home that need to be done than originally thought. Needless to say we decided to not take the house. So we begin the housing search all over. In the meantime, we were able to stay at the Vocational Education Center in the “apartment.” The only catch is that we were not to use the kitchen. New friends that we made during this time came to our rescue both Thursday and Friday by feeding us dinner.
Then Saturday came and life turned upside-down again. We finally found a house (we lucked out and found a very nice house that we are both really pleased with). The only problem was that we are not able to move in until the 20th. No problem, we still had a place to stay until then, but then we were told that we were no longer able to stay at the Voc Ed cause there is a district policy that no pets are allowed into district housing. Luckily another staff member came to our rescue this time and is allowing us to stay with her (dogs and all) until we are able to move into our house.
We are sooooo grateful for the wonderful friends that we have made that have made a bad situation better and more tolerable! The staff in the district is already turning out to be a tight knit group despite the fact that many of us just met.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
more travels
And now we continue on our journey...
Wednesday:
We slept in till 7 am. Then while I got ready, Andrew went to get the rental car. Once he came back we loaded the boys into the car and headed to breakfast (an incredibly yummy breakfast at a place called The Cookie Jar).
Then to get a communication device (aka Cell Phone).
Next stop Fred Meyers to find out about Bush Delivery for food only to find out that it is the other Fred Meyers that we want to go to about this (there are 2 in Fairbanks). So while we were there we bought coats to get us through until inservice in September when we can get all our cold weather gear.
On our way to the other Fred Meyers we got sidetracked by a Farmer’s Market. It was an amazing Farmer’s Market with absolutely HUGE vegetables! (as well as some really yummy other foods). I even found mustards that I like (amazing feat on my husband’s part to find this)
Next adventure was taking the dogs to the dog park. We weren’t able to take them in the area where you can let them off leash cause there were too many other dogs there, so instead we took them on the trail by the dog park that goes along the Chena River. The boys were in their glory with all the smells and trotting along the trail.
Now it was time to go buy food for the next couple of months. It’s amazing how much food you think it will take to get you through at least two months and even scarier to realize that it probably wasn’t enough. After purchasing all the food then we take it back to Bush Delivery area and set up our account to do the deliveries.
Back to the hotel for a bit to relax and make some phone calls to the parents. Then off to dinner.
We head to a little town outside Fairbanks call Fox to go to an amazing place called The Turtle Club. It was an absolutely delicious dinner of Prime Rib and Alaskan King Crab and there was sooooo much food that even the boys got to enjoy some of the Prime Rib (yes I know they are spoiled!).
On our way home we decide to take a drive around the surrounding areas of Fairbanks. We stopped several places along the way to take photos (which I will put up very soon). It was odd to realize that it was after 10 pm and it was still daylight out, not just dusk type daylight but full daylight! You would think that there would still be a pseudo night since all the stores close around 10 but there were still TONS of people out and about! I guess that’s what you do when the sun is out for 20 hours a day.
Finally we made it back to the hotel (still with plenty of daylight left). We packed up most of our stuff and got ready to fly in the morning again, this time to our new home.
Wednesday:
We slept in till 7 am. Then while I got ready, Andrew went to get the rental car. Once he came back we loaded the boys into the car and headed to breakfast (an incredibly yummy breakfast at a place called The Cookie Jar).
Then to get a communication device (aka Cell Phone).
Next stop Fred Meyers to find out about Bush Delivery for food only to find out that it is the other Fred Meyers that we want to go to about this (there are 2 in Fairbanks). So while we were there we bought coats to get us through until inservice in September when we can get all our cold weather gear.
On our way to the other Fred Meyers we got sidetracked by a Farmer’s Market. It was an amazing Farmer’s Market with absolutely HUGE vegetables! (as well as some really yummy other foods). I even found mustards that I like (amazing feat on my husband’s part to find this)
Next adventure was taking the dogs to the dog park. We weren’t able to take them in the area where you can let them off leash cause there were too many other dogs there, so instead we took them on the trail by the dog park that goes along the Chena River. The boys were in their glory with all the smells and trotting along the trail.
Now it was time to go buy food for the next couple of months. It’s amazing how much food you think it will take to get you through at least two months and even scarier to realize that it probably wasn’t enough. After purchasing all the food then we take it back to Bush Delivery area and set up our account to do the deliveries.
Back to the hotel for a bit to relax and make some phone calls to the parents. Then off to dinner.
We head to a little town outside Fairbanks call Fox to go to an amazing place called The Turtle Club. It was an absolutely delicious dinner of Prime Rib and Alaskan King Crab and there was sooooo much food that even the boys got to enjoy some of the Prime Rib (yes I know they are spoiled!).
On our way home we decide to take a drive around the surrounding areas of Fairbanks. We stopped several places along the way to take photos (which I will put up very soon). It was odd to realize that it was after 10 pm and it was still daylight out, not just dusk type daylight but full daylight! You would think that there would still be a pseudo night since all the stores close around 10 but there were still TONS of people out and about! I guess that’s what you do when the sun is out for 20 hours a day.
Finally we made it back to the hotel (still with plenty of daylight left). We packed up most of our stuff and got ready to fly in the morning again, this time to our new home.
Adventures in traveling
Our adventures in traveling to Alaska were quite interesting and many things that we weren't expecting. For the next couple of days I will regail you with these adventures.
Tuesday:
Get up, get ready, head to airport.
Check Amos (the guy at the ticket counter really had no idea about how to handle a dog flying). Go through security (this is cumbersome as I have to take Rupert out of his carrier, hold him and go through the metal detectors while his carrier goes through x-ray then put him back in his carrier, all without assistance) then head to the gate to wait.
We watch and see Amos boarded on the plane then wait to be called to board ourselves.
Fly to Milwaukee and watch to see Amos get off the plane then go to the next gate to make sure he gets on the next plane only to find out our flight is delayed. It’s super hot here so we have to have the airline attendant make sure that Amos is in air conditioning. The plane finally gets to the gate and we play the watch and board game again. Because there was a delay, the pilot was angry (because he was blaming the delay on the flight attendant who was told to stay home for an extra hour by the airline itself cause of the delay). Needless to say, this was the WORST flight I have ever been on. Poor Rupert was a mess with all the jerkiness of the plane (not to mention the entire planeful of passengers being thrown forward by how hard the pilot stomped on the brakes).
Fly to Minneapolis and rush to the baggage claim to retrieve our wonderful puppy and then take the boys out for a bit to let them decompress and eat some too. They did not want to go back in their carriers but did none-the-less. Then we had to recheck Amos and go back through security ourselves (this time we got held up in security for something we had never been stopped for before – we didn’t take our liquids out of the bags (they were in clear plastic bags in our luggage) and they decided they needed to rummage through our entire bag and rescan it… GRRRR). After this we had just enough time to grab some dinner to take with us and board the plane (Andrew watched for Amos to be boarded while I got food).
Fly to Seattle, watch for Amos again but this time he was taken off and set aside while they reloaded the plane cause we were on the same plane to Fairbanks. This was amusing to watch cause the guys on the tarmac kept coming over to Amo and giving him love and then when they would go back to doing their jobs he would bark at them… That’s our spoiled puppy. Finally he was boarded onto the plane and then we were called ourselves to board.
Fly to Fairbanks – Arrive ON TIME!!!! (how often does that happen). Claim the overly excited Amos and take both boys outside while we wait for the hotel shuttle to pick us up. Get to hotel, check in and CRASH! What a very long and exhausting day!
Writing about what all we did that day is exhausting me again all over.
Tuesday:
Get up, get ready, head to airport.
Check Amos (the guy at the ticket counter really had no idea about how to handle a dog flying). Go through security (this is cumbersome as I have to take Rupert out of his carrier, hold him and go through the metal detectors while his carrier goes through x-ray then put him back in his carrier, all without assistance) then head to the gate to wait.
We watch and see Amos boarded on the plane then wait to be called to board ourselves.
Fly to Milwaukee and watch to see Amos get off the plane then go to the next gate to make sure he gets on the next plane only to find out our flight is delayed. It’s super hot here so we have to have the airline attendant make sure that Amos is in air conditioning. The plane finally gets to the gate and we play the watch and board game again. Because there was a delay, the pilot was angry (because he was blaming the delay on the flight attendant who was told to stay home for an extra hour by the airline itself cause of the delay). Needless to say, this was the WORST flight I have ever been on. Poor Rupert was a mess with all the jerkiness of the plane (not to mention the entire planeful of passengers being thrown forward by how hard the pilot stomped on the brakes).
Fly to Minneapolis and rush to the baggage claim to retrieve our wonderful puppy and then take the boys out for a bit to let them decompress and eat some too. They did not want to go back in their carriers but did none-the-less. Then we had to recheck Amos and go back through security ourselves (this time we got held up in security for something we had never been stopped for before – we didn’t take our liquids out of the bags (they were in clear plastic bags in our luggage) and they decided they needed to rummage through our entire bag and rescan it… GRRRR). After this we had just enough time to grab some dinner to take with us and board the plane (Andrew watched for Amos to be boarded while I got food).
Fly to Seattle, watch for Amos again but this time he was taken off and set aside while they reloaded the plane cause we were on the same plane to Fairbanks. This was amusing to watch cause the guys on the tarmac kept coming over to Amo and giving him love and then when they would go back to doing their jobs he would bark at them… That’s our spoiled puppy. Finally he was boarded onto the plane and then we were called ourselves to board.
Fly to Fairbanks – Arrive ON TIME!!!! (how often does that happen). Claim the overly excited Amos and take both boys outside while we wait for the hotel shuttle to pick us up. Get to hotel, check in and CRASH! What a very long and exhausting day!
Writing about what all we did that day is exhausting me again all over.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Hard to say goodbye...
Today was the day we left Indiana. We have spent the last few days saying our goodbyes to friends and family. It has been a very difficult process but the adventure to follow will hopefully worth it. Leaving has made me rethink the decision I made. While I know that it was the right choice, I can't help but regret that I have to give up certain things (mostly people I have come to know and love). It's rather surreal to leave the town that you have called home for the last 27 years. It didn't really hit me that this was part of it until we left town today. It definitely caught me when we got about 20 outside town. I didnt really break until we arrived at my inlaws' house. Then i finally realized that this is actually happening and that in a day we will be on our way 3500miles away from the place we have called home to this point in our lives. This was an almost overwhelming set of emotîons and led to many tears until I got passed the flood of emotions and thoughts. I know this won't be the last moment of being overwhelmed by the realizations of what this move actually means but hopefully a little more sleep will help me cope a little better next time. Tomorrow will be another day of goodbyes, this time including saying goodbye to Pennsylvania in general. It's still hard to believe that this is for real. Here's to hoping that this gets a bit easier.
~ Jocelyn
~ Jocelyn
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