week #2. settling in

 




The luggage sans the dogs and carry-on

   



Jake at O'Hare. It was so crowded there were no seats available to sit on.  The plane needed to be de-iced causing us to leave Chicago late and barely making the connection in Seattle.



A view from the parking structure downtown.  Right around the corner from JC Penny's and Nordstroms!

Another shot from downtown





Random pretty shot



I don't know where we are, just driving around town trying to find things.  These are the Chugiak Mountains



Dad missed his dogs




We were on a drive around town.  It was finally pointed out to me that the mountains are almost always to the east.  This is still the view just from driving around in town



With these photos I was trying to show the mountains turning pink due to the reflection of the sunset on the snow.  It was 4 PM.  Yep, it had just gotten light at 10 AM.

We got a couple of inches of snow the night before.  Here we had driven to the outskirts of town and were headed back in. Anchorage pretty much sits at the base of these mountains.  Maybe next week we will check out Turnagin Arm, the water side of town.



This second week has really just been about getting settled into some sort of routine.  Jake has figured out what time he has to leave the house, and knows just how long he can toast his poptarts before he has to leave to catch the bus.  Steve has about a 15 minute commute to work, and so do I.  Turns out we work 2 blocks from each other.  When one of my co-workers discovered I was carless she offered me one of hers. Honestly, I knew this woman for less then 10 hours and she pressed a set of car keys in my hand.  It is an old Toyota camry.  About 21 years old.  Goes by the name of Penelope. The car that is, not my co-worker.  So as we still struggle with how to ship the Suburban from Juneau, (really, I said to the guy on the phone, it has to go back down to Seattle before you can send it to Anchorage? Yes he said.  That's the way it works) I at least have a way to get to and from work.  The car is small, which wouldn't really be a problem except for the fact that almost every other vehicle here is a truck or an SUV.  Between the big cars and the snowbanks pulling out into traffic is something of a challenge. And there is quite a bit of traffic here.  An amazing amount of traffic for what appears to be a small area.  It dawned on me the other day that Anchorage appears to be one big suburb.  There is a small downtown area (with a Nordstroms and JC Penney!) and then lots of outlying areas with multiple multiple strip malls and small office complexes. I mentioned this to a couple of co-workers and they immediately agreed, so I guess my impression isn't to far off.

My job seems to be good.  There are two other RN Liaisons that I work with.  We share an office with another woman who is our office support, although she does so much more.  The two Liaisons have been great taking me around.  We go to the different hospitals and they introduce me to the case managers and social workers, the people who make the referrals to our hospital. They are also my informal tour guides as they tell me about town when we drive around.  Most of our drives are short because the hospitals are so close to each other.  Providence is like Aurora.  They are the strong presence in town with outlying satelite clinics in the surrounding areas.  Then there is Alaska Regional, smaller and maybe not as acute, and then there is Alaska Native.  Native is a beautiful hospital - it looks like a museum with all sorts of native displays.  Because they serve the native people from all over the state they have taxis lined up in front of the exit to take folks to and from.  There is another hospital about 45 minutes away called Mat-Su.  They have a HUGE fireplace in their lobby.  The facility is new, about the size of Burlington, and looks gorgeous.  However, I was told that after they built the hospital, which serves the community outside of Anchorage, Providence came along and bought up all the land that surrounds the hospital and built a satelite facility across the street.  Sound like any medical group that we know of???

I continue to be astounded at the prices of groceries.  Yesterday we went to a Safeway that is probably the closest grocery store to our house, just a few blocks away. I had been forewarned that the prices were high.  Hmmmm.... I don't think that is quite the adjective.  How is it that a 24 pack of pepsi can cost $9?  At Wally world - $4.  I don't think I will be shopping at Carr's anytime soon.  There is a Costco in town and I think one of our next purchases will be a membership there.

And I have to save money because I need to buy more winter clothes.  My co-workers are both European.  One is originally from Germany and the other from Belgium.  They are lovely ladies.  And they have lovely clothes.  In the week that I have worked with them I do not think I have seen them wear the same winter coat twice. I never would have thought of changing my winter coats like I change my shoes.  Oh... and I need more boots.  Lots of boots.  Boots for every day of the week to match my coats!  And I have seen three people wearing what appears to be down skirts.  They look wonderful.  And warm, a very important consideration since the temperatures have been hovering in the single digits all day with no prediction of a warm-up. Everyone tells me that it has been exceptionally cold this December, that this is more January weather.  The cold doesn't bother me.  And it will bother me less once I get a down skirt and some more boots - but it is still the darkness into the mid-morning that I find so odd.

The dogs appear to be settling in as well with no adverse reaction from the trip.  Riley uses the doggie door with gleeful abandon.  He gets out into the snow and plops his face down, running through the yard snowplowing with his face.  Rosey would rather we open and close the flap on the doggie door for her.  I think she can use it, but chooses not to.  Maybe this week I will get the chance to walk around the neighborhood and explore a little.  That is, if it warms up past 9 degrees.

Until next week!