first couple weeks back in Anchorage

When we first arrived, we needed some quick food, so we called ahead to New Sagaya for a Greek pizza. Can you imagine our excitement? Possibly not, but try. Think of being geographically removed for over a year from the source of a beloved food item and then having the chance, after a long journey, to get it! Now, imagine walking in and not recognizing a single dingle soul. Look around and realize sinkingly that while you’ve been gone, those darned proverbial things have changed. And now digest this: the pizza’s made alright, but they happened to be out of the proper Greek meat, sauce, and olives. Ummm, those are the three best parts to a Greek pizza.

[moment of mourning]

But then, within the hour, we were over it, because we were on our way to the homes of beloved friends! As far as accommodations, we had the most wonderful place to land, house-sitting for my cousins for two weeks. They have a small hobby farm with 2 regular horses, 5 miniatures horses, 20 chickens [Scratch that – 19. What happened to the 20th? If only we knew. If only we knew. I think we can safely assume that it merely lost its little chicken way in this cold, dark world and some loving family found and took it in as one of their own.], 14 peafowl, a dog, a cat, and a bunny. This hen was getting pecked too much, so Mary (her owner) tailored one of Peppy The Dog's camo jackets. And seriously, she's a new chicken with all the confidence a gal could want.


Finding eggs that you can take into the house and eat is like Easter morning x 100.



We’ve made up for lost time by visiting friends every day but two! Boy did we miss these people. There has been much explaining to our smallest friends, Chloe and Lillian, that there’s no need to spend the night at their house since we are right here in Anchorage for awhile. We and Chloe went to some Fur Rendezvous activities our first week here. When I saw this picture of myself (taken by Jason), I laughed until my stomach was hard as a rock. Since you can’t see Chloe in there too, it appears that I, a full-grown adult, am alone in a children’s hot air balloon ride, smiling gleefully at some man.



Other highlights of our time here thus far include going to an Ocean Film Festival evening (and discovering that any of us could have submitted better vacation videos, but making up for our disappointment by eating a huge turtle ice cream dish), eating tacos with people – always an event worth mentioning. I love tacos. – meeting my cousin’s beau, playing pinochle a lot, talking our heads off about the things we’ve been seeing and reading and thinking over the last year, and renewing our connection to favorite establishments. Last Saturday was the start of the Iditarod dogsled race, so we hiked back to a spot away from the crowds and enjoyed the procession of mushers.

The place we thought we were staying up here seemed to not work out, so we got in touch with some church folks we had housesat for a couple years back, knowing they had a basement room that'd work for our needs. Turns out they were just thinking of renting it out! It is in a prime location, mostly in that we can walk to the homes of friends. We were truly expecting a single room to throw our sleeping bags into - we're here for less than 3 months -so the owners, J&G, got a real kick out of my honest "Wow!" exclaimation over the fact that there's a bed. Our first evening here, they greeted us at the door with "Well, we baked too much salmon; come eat with us!" Then they proceeded to outfit their basement room into an actual apartment with real appliances, dishes, and the like. Sometimes things are way too good. Humblingly good.

I got two part-time jobs for this couple of months. I work two days a week doing officey stuff at a psychology office, which for the purposes of this blog shall hereby be deemed, “the psychology office” and three days at a Montessori school, which shall hereby be deemed, “Biddle Dee Dee Montessori.” I have been curious about the Montessori education method, so this is a chance to get up close and personal. My favorite child quote so far is this one from today. I was trying to soothe a little boy who’d had his stuffed wolf taken away because of it shamelessly biting the other children. He was unable to nap without the wolf, so I tied one of his blankets into a big knot. “Look!” said I, “You’ve got a knot animal instead!” He shook his head no slowly while I continued, “But it’s soft and bulky like an animal. See? A knot animal!” He frowned disapprovingly and said, “We don’t make knot animals at Biddle Dee Dee.”

road trip to Alaska

What a drive! Winter on the Alcan Highway is something to be treasured. You mightn't hear this much in casual conversation, but Canada is sitting on the world’s best stash of trees and some of the grandest scenery too.

The route to Alaska is through rural country, so you’ve got to have the tools to survive for a few days in case of snow burial or something equally interesting. Fortunately, we made it without so much as a flat tire, which is a first. The critters we saw were bison, caribou, moose, coyotes, and a wolf (dead, but hey). Liard River Hot Springs is our favorite spot. Is this out of control, or what?:

At a grocery store in Grand Prairie, British Columbia, we found the largest row of bulk goods we’d ever seen. If we stood at opposite ends and talked in normal inside voices, we couldn’t hear each other. With mouths agape, we filled baggies with gummy snakes, dried mangos, trail mix concoctions, mints, and so forth. Sure, we had to write all the codes on those little white tabs, but life ain’t free. The thing that almost messed everything up was the checker lady. As she weighed each baggie, she leaned forward to key in the codes, and her voluptuous bosom threatened to add ounces, nay, pounds, to each item. I’m always a little leery of those scales anyway, but this was positively nerve-racking.

Perhaps the quintessential Alcan experiences were at Watson Lake, a few days into the drive. We met a young couple and their baby and cat, moving from Northern California to Anchorage. It’s quite something to meet people moving to Alaska for the first time, especially in the dead of winter, because they are filled with anticipation and an abandon that is truly unique in the moving world. You can’t be slight of heart for that! We chatted with them until the restaurant closed and then kept track of each other the rest of the way home. The next morning, we were to leave Watson Lake early and get in a big day’s drive. Instead we faced one of the curses of small, isolated towns but at once the blessing too. Somehow there was a miscommunication between dear husband and I, and traipsing back and forth to load the pickup, we locked ourselves out of the motel cabin, our computer still inside. No one at the office/house heeded our knocks, so we left for a breakfast joint to wait for the cabin owners to awaken. The lady at the restaurant said, “Nobody answered, huh? Jerry would be gone working, but Shirley should be there. She doesn’t work. Did you knock real loud? Did you lay on the horn? Let me call ‘em.” So, call ‘em she did, at home and on the cell with the same results as us: none. “Well,” she said, “Go down to the such-and-such motel, because Jerry has coffee down there at 10:00 sharp with the guys.” So we did. But the waitress at that motel said Jerry had only been in one day that week. We thought of going to the high school to find the teenage kid who’d checked us in the night before, but Jason remembered he was going on a skiing field trip. As we waited for Jerry, a third lady drove up in a suburban and said, “I’m here to help. Heard you’re locked out of one of Jerry and Shirley’s cabins. Well, they’re on a trip, but I’ve got an extra key.”

leaving Montana

My parents’ place in Montana is very difficult to leave. You just go into the office for a stapler, where Dad ropes you into a half day conversation. On the hour he asks whoever happens to be there, “Anybody wanna go for a ride [on the horses]?” Mom cooks your favorite 3-bean casserole, and while you’re busily eating it, she makes coffee and displays tins of candies attractively ‘round the kitchen. She has friends’ and family’s Christmas pictures taped to the fridge to keep you entertained. They keep and babysit dogs of various sizes and temperaments. It is a serious Hansel and Gretel operation. Travelers beware.

Finally we escaped on Tuesday, February 12th, hoping to arrive in Anchorage sometime the following weekend.