Moving

is never done without some difficulty.  And I should know as I have done it frequently.  However, this move is more convoluted and has more unusual complications than normal. In a "normal" move, professional movers would come and pack your things and drive them to your new home.  Or, if you are a do-it-yourselfer, you may do your own the packing.  That didn't happen for us.  When Steve moved from WI to AK in the fall of 2009, he loaded the Suburban from stem to stern with his belongings and promptly moved into a two bedroom apt.  The apt. was furnished and had lots of storage space.  He was easily able to store his belongings and those items that weren't supplied, he went out and replenished.  A year later when he got ready to move from Juneau to Anchorage, he again packed the Suburban, noticing that along the way the space left in the truck had somehow diminished.  He somehow managed to fill every possible space, even the passenger side, from roof to floorboard.  And considering the size of this truck, that's no easy feat.

When Jake and I moved, we filled our suitcases with necessary items, and boxed and shipped some other things.  We moved into a very small three bedroom house with hardly any storage.  The house has minimal furnishings, and we had just about settled into it and gotten everything into it's place when Steve brought home the fully loaded Suburban.  Hmmmmmm........ where to put everything? 

The drive from Haines, AK thru Canada and back to Anchorage took about 2 full days.  Steve said the road was horrible, not much more than a snow and ice covered mule path.  The road had horrific frost- heave causing so much bouncing and banging that he fully expected to see truck parts littering the road behind him when he looked in the rear view mirror.  One thing he had thought of beforehand was that he wouldn't be able to drive through Canada with all the guns in the car, so with every business trip Steve brought back a few more guns on the plane. He did still have ammo in the car, and maybe that confused the Canadian customs guys because they unpacked the entire truck, took some clips with them and than packed the car back up.  I don't know how long this took, and really haven't asked many questions because I don't think it was the best of memories. Anyway, the rest of the trip was (thankfully) uneventful.  Steve did get me some pictures, so here are some of the views, although I can't tell you where they are along the trip.

To me it looks beautiful, but desolate.

When Steve arrived home, it was like moving day all over again with boxes piled everywhere.  Our little house with even littler storage space is swamped with items.  And boxes.  Boxes are piled everywhere.  Finding storage for all of these items makes us face an issue we have been dancing around; what kind of furniture do we buy, and what do we need most?  Neither Steve nor I want to put a lot of money into furniture.  We don't know how long we will be here, and neither of us really want to move furniture if and when the time comes for us to leave Alaska.  We also don't want really really cheap items.  So we have been browsing Craigs list and looking around, and in general ignoring the situation.  At least until this weekend when we were forced to do something.  A trip to Target provided us with the beginnings of some storage and organization.  It's amazing what a few shelves can do.  In addition, it also gives us more time to keep looking for something else.  

One thing we realized we will need is curtains.  Half the windows in the house don't have curtains (not uncommon judging by the neighbors empty windows) and some of the others just have sheers.  This will soon become problematic, because we are all ready at 10+ hours of daylight.  It is dark by 7 PM, but in a few more months I think sleep will become problematic if we don't cover the windows.  I will admit that it is very nice in the morning to see the light breaking over the mountains on my way into work.  It isn't daylight yet, but the mountains are a deep purple color and the night sky above them is giving way to lighter and lighter shades of blue.  On clear days, there is a fabulous pink in the sky that gets reflected in the snow at sunrise, much the same way it does at sunset.  One clear evening on my drive home I could have sworn I saw a very faint patch of rainbow in the sky, but when I got out of the car and looked, I could no longer see it.  Steve said it is the ice fog in the atmosphere that reflects the colors.  It sounds plausible to me... all I know is that it was very pretty to see.

One of the drives I make once a week is to a small hospital about 40 miles outside of Anchorage.  They have a different weather pattern, and I love the drive because it is so beautiful.  If you were a patient in this hospital, this would be your view...

Ok, these aren't mountains. This is where you can plug in your car at the hospital parking lot.

I know I gave a hint that Fur Rondy was going on.  Well, it is.  I was hoping to be there, but since we had to do something with all of Steve's possessions, coupled with the fact that although it is bright and sunny, the temp with the wind chill is maybe in the teens, I did not make it this weekend.  But never fear - Fur Rondy (an Anchorage outdoor festival) continues this week and into next weekend.  And the event I really want to see takes place next Saturday - so keep your fingers crossed for slightly warmer temperatures!

Until next week!