Starting to Work

Well, this weekend was spent trying to get things out of the 5th wheel and find a place for them in the house. This is somewhat difficult since we don't have any furniture yet - so, we don't have anyplace to put things. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday cleaning just so we could stay in the house. Dan and I cleaned the refrigerator before we could go over and get the stuff out of the refrigerator in the unit and then I cleaned the master bathroom so we can use it. Then I vacuumed, sprayed for little spiders and vacuumed all of the dead ones up (remember the house has been empty for over two years). Did a little mopping, but I didn't do any deep cleaning because we had already arranged for a housekeeper to come in today and clean. She got all the kitchen cabinets cleaned and ready for me to put the dishes away - I had already run the dishwasher with all the dishes in it - now, I have to do all the pots and pans. Things are coming along.

Today, I went to the county office and filled out all the paperwork that I needed to - had my fingerprints done, and my drug test done. I thought I would start on Wednesday - September 1st - that was when they said in the county office, but the school called late this afternoon and I start in the morning! YIKES!!! Not sure I'm ready, but I guess I just do what needs to be done. It's all good.

We thought the tree man was coming today to start working on taking down all the palm trees in the front yard, but he won't be here until Wednesday. We also called and the Direct TV will be installed on Wednesday morning also. YAHOO! We will have TV in time for weekend football - and before you ask - yes, we have a TV. Thanks to our friend Neil - he drove down today and brought us some of the stuff that we had left with him in Dowling Park when we sold our house there and one of the things he brought was a small TV. Hey, it might be small, but it's a TV!

Dan and I went back up to Sebring today and bought a few things for the house - like a new garbage disposer and a new door lock for the front door. We also picked up a few things at Wal Mart and I also got an office chair so I'm not sitting on my knees trying to type on the computer! Things are looking up!

Well, I need to run and go finish fixing dinner. I'll try and post more frequently, but until things get settled I can't guarantee anything. In the meantime - I hope your week is going well, and---


I'll talk to you soon!!!

New Home Owners

Well, after a little delay and a few little problems we closed on our house this afternoon. We are now the proud owners of an "ugly" house, but it won't always be ugly. If anyone knows Dan they know that he will redo it and in a few months (well, okay, maybe a year) the house will not even look like the same house! I think I'm going to have to change the name of the blog (or start a new one) with the title "Are we DONE yet?" I'll be sure to let you know if I decide to do that.



This morning I had an appointment to have my hair cut and boy did I even get it cut - it is SUPER short - the shortest Dan has EVER seen my hair. But with a pool and all I didn't want to have to worry about blow drying my hair every time I went swimming.



Also, in case you are interested - I got the job! Yep - I will be teaching 6th grade Science/Social Studies and Math. I'm really excited - can't believe I'm so excited about going back to work! Oh well, guess that tells you what kind of person I am!

I started this last night - and didn't get a chance to post it - so after our first full day in the new house I think I am going to head off to bed. I'll try and do better about posting - but right now, with us trying to get the 5th wheel cleaned out and stuff out of the storage room and put things away - plus clean the house as we are going - I'm just a little tired at the end of the day. We did go swimming a couple of times today - once with Melissa and Justin and then tonight. It sure did feel good!

Well, I hope your weekend in going well, I'll let you know when I start to work and how things are going in the house. Take care and ------------------------

I'll talk to you soon!

Another Day in Lake Placid

Well, we did the final walk through on the house today and everything looks fine for closing tomorrow afternoon at 3. I just hope and pray that the closing goes smoothly.

I had the job interview this afternoon, but I'm not sure how it went. I don't know if I did well on the interview or not - I guess that I can't worry about it, but it sure is hard not to worry. Anyway, I just have to think that IF this is what the good Lord wants me to do it will work out - just put my faith in the Lord and all will work out. (Sometimes it's just hard to let go!) I'll let you know what happens - good or bad.

My mom also put in an offer on a house today, but I don't think that is going to work out either - doesn't seem like the bank wants to negotiate. We'll just have to wait and see how that plays out too. Seems like all we are doing right now is waiting on other people to tell us how our life is going to play out. Our closing, my job, and the house for mom. Sometimes I get a little impatient and want things to go exactly the way I want when I want it. I know that is not the way it works and I'm really trying to be more patient - but it is really hard.

Well, I'll close for now - I talked enough yesterday. Just pray a little prayer that all goes the way it is suppose to go and that I have the fortitude to let go of my ambitions and let the Lord lead the way. (I mean, He has taken care of us so far - I'm sure he will continue to do so.)

Take care everyone and I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!

Made it to Lake Placid!

Well, Dan and I got into Lake Placid last night about 8 o'clock - which means that we made the trip from Juneau, Alaska to Lake Placid, Florida in one week - we left Juneau at 3:30 local time last Tuesday (7:30 Eastern time) and arrived in Lake Placid one week and 30 minutes later - not too bad! Dan and I spent all our nights but two in rest areas (we stayed at a campground once in Canada - Ft. Nelson, Yukon, and outside of Macon, GA on our last night). We were up and on the road no later than 7 every morning (in fact, most mornings we were on the road by 6) and we drove until at least 9 every night (most nights till 10 and one night we actually drove to 1am - but more on that night later!). Dan was determined to get here as quickly as humanly possible, but even he was surprised that we made it in a week.

For the most part, our trip across country was very uneventful; however, there were a few times that made us hold our breath. Let's start on day one - our last morning in the campground was very uneventful - we did our morning rounds, had everything packed in the unit, and had all our paperwork turned in to the Ranger Station. We left for the ferry terminal at about 12:45 and was at the terminal before our 1 o'clock time frame. The ferry came in and was unloaded - then we just stood (or sat) around and waited, and waited, and WAITED! Finally, a girl that worked for the ferry system came over and told us that they were having a problem with an area on the ferry and the Coast Guard would not allow them to load until it was fixed. They thought they had found the problem and had gone to get the part. However, if that didn't work they would have to cancel the sailing and we would have to reschedule. Well, I was getting ready to panic - I mean I was worried that we wouldn't make it in 10 days and they were talking about canceling and the next few ferries sailing did not have room for a 55 foot unit! Well, I sat and fretted for about 30 minutes when all of a sudden they came over and put us on the ferry first! Yahoo! The first hurdle was past and within 45 minutes we were underway. We arrive in Skagway about 10 Tuesday night and we decide we would just sleep at the terminal instead of trying to find a campground that late (plus, we had heard that the campgrounds in Skagway were really expensive!). Dan woke me up at about 5:30 Wednesday morning and off we went.

We didn't have any issues passing through customs to get back into Canada and we headed across the country. Our goal was to make it to Watson Lake (the place where we spent my birthday night back in May), but we were there by 4 in the afternoon and Dan didn't want to stop - so, we kept going. At about 8 Wednesday night we had made it to Ft. Nelson and decided to stop for the night - finally found a campground - got hooked up and turned the water on when the toilet starting leaking! So, Dan tried to fix it and just couldn't figure out what was the issue, so we just turned the water off and went over to the bath house for a quick shower. We were up and on the road Thursday morning by 6:30.

Thursday was uneventful for the most of the day - we made good time and Dan was feeling good about the progress we were making. We ran into some rain, but it wasn't bad. Then the trouble started. We are coming into Edmondton - I'm looking at the Milepost and having to read it backward - as it is intended for people who are heading INTO Alaska NOT coming out of Alaska. This had not been an issue until we reach Edmondton - we needed to change from the road we were on to the Expressway #2. Well, guess what - Edmondton does NOT mark their roads - I guess they figure everyone knows where they are going - NOT. So, here it is, dark, raining and we have no idea where we are going with a 38 foot 5th wheel behind us. We end up in downtown Edmondton driving down through streets that are meant for cars NOT us - well, we finally see a sign that says Route #2, but it doesn't say which way to go - so we go through this intersection and just as we are passing the intersection we see this man frantically waving for us to turn. Well, we can't and I look up and there is an underpass that is too low for us to go under. Dan gets us stopped, but we are in the middle of a busy downtown street, in the rain, and we are stuck. We can't go forward and we can't turn around - it's a one-way street! Well, Dan gets out and talks to this man who had been standing on the side of the road. The gentleman stands out in the middle of the road, in the rain, and stops traffic so we can BACK UP and go the correct way! I was so proud of Dan, backing up the unit around a curve, in the rain, and didn't hit anything or anyone. Turns out, this man was homeless, who we think the good Lord put there as an angel for us. We handed him some cash to say thanks and were on our way. It still took us another half an hour before we found the correct road and then it was just by accident - I saw a sign that said "Calgary Trail" and we turned on it - turned out to be the road we needed. I was a wreck - I can say that I said some very unpleasant things about Canada and Edmondton. By the time we got out of Edmondton we were almost out of fuel. Now, we can't find a fuel station that is open that we can get the unit into - it's after 11 by now. Well, thank goodness we had extra fuel in the back of the truck that we had talked about using. We put in 10 gallons of fuel and talked to a trucker that was at the "rest area" (which is really just an extra lane on the side of the expressway that you can pull off into). He told us that our best chance of finding fuel would be Red Deere. So, to make a long story short we make it to Red Deere, find fuel, and head off down the road again. We travel about 30 more miles down the road until we finally found a rest area that we stopped at for the rest of the night. By this time it was after 1 in the morning and Dan and I were both whipped. We slept for about 5 hours and was back on the road by 6 the next morning.

I was determined to get the heck out of Canada - and by now were were a good day ahead of schedule. So, we drive straight through Calgary and head for the border - we reach the border for the US at Sweetgrass, Montana at about 11:30 am Friday morning. It took us about an hour to get through customs - not because of any problems, but because of the amount of people that were crossing the border. Anyway, we were in Great Falls by early afternoon and Dan wasn't ready to stop. So, we kept going again until about 10 when we stopped at a rest area again - this time close to Billings, Montana.

We don't have any trouble or any issues on the rest of the trip until we reached Georgia yesterday. Everything was going fine and right outside Macon (just before we got on I-475) we decide to stop and let the pups go potty. As we are letting them run some, Dan decides to go to the bathroom in the unit instead of walking over to the restrooms. When he comes out he says that he thinks that one of the tires is low. Well, we unload the basement and find the portable air pump which he sets up to put air in the tire. After 45 minutes we can tell that this isn't working. So, we decide to drive to the nearest fuel station and see if they have air that we can put in the tire. Which we proceed to do - as Dan is filling the tire I can hear the air escaping. I lean under the unit and find a "huge" hole in the tire that is leaking air as quickly as Dan is putting it in. So, we decide to drive just down the road to a new Super Wal Mart and see if they will change the tire for us. Well, they wouldn't touch it - so, I try calling roadside assistance with our insurance company (that's why we pay for the service, right?). Forty-five minutes we have yet to hear back from them, so Dan proceeds to change the tire himself - putting the spare on and putting the bad tire under the unit where the spare should be. I call and cancel the roadside assistance. We are finally back on the road by 7. We drive for a little while, but Dan is completely wiped out by the heat, humidity, and nerves - so we decide to stop for the night in a campground. We find one right off the interstate (The Pines) and pull in - hook up the electric and water. Dan goes to the bath house and takes a shower, while I take one in the unit. We are in the bed by 10 and have a really good night's sleep.

Up early the next morning and drive down to Lake Park - there by 9:30 and talk to our dealership about a few things that needs to be fixed while the unit is still under warranty. Dan also asks where is a good place to go to have a tire fixed. We go three miles down the interstate to the tire place - Dan is thinking that we will have the tire with the leak fixed and use it as a spare, but when we get the tire place we are shown that the leaky tire is ready to separate AND that there was a tire on the opposite side of the unit that has all steel belts showing! We don't know why that tire had not blown (thank you Lord!), but we buy two new tires and put them on the unit and put the spare back as the spare. It was close to 1 o'clock by the time we left the tire place, but we are on the road safe. The rest of the trip on down to Lake Placid was uneventful.

We decided to put the unit at Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring, as we need to have it attached to power to keep everything running. We get it set up, in the rain, thank you very much, but it is all set up and we don't have to worry about it. We headed down to Melissa and Justin's house where we are going to stay until closing. Today, Dan just couldn't wait to see the house - so, I called our agent and she met us at the house at 10 and Dan was finally able to see what we are buying. I was a little nervous about this, because he really had no idea what we were getting - I mean, yes, he had seen pictures, but pictures are just NOT the same. Anyway, he is happy and thinks that everything we have talked about will work out. Tomorrow we will do the final walk through before closing on Friday at 3.

Also, tomorrow afternoon I have "the" interview for the job - please keep me in you prayers and pray that I get this job. We really will need this additional income to be able to afford to do all the work that needs to be done in the house. I'll let you know how it goes.

Well, I have written a small book today, so I will let you go for today. I'll let you know how things go as soon as I know.

Take care and I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!

On the Road

We are still on the road, but are making really good time. We got through Canada in less than 2 days and are now in Missouri heading toward St. Louis. Should make Paducah, Kentucky by tonight if not further - Dan is talking about driving all night with us switching off. I'm not too sure about that one. We have just been sleeping in Rest Areas and only stopping for fuel and to potty the dogs (I fix a sandwich for us with the egg salad I made before leaving Juneau. I'm not going to talk about all the adventures we had in Canada trying to get out of there - I will save that for when I am not boucing down the highway at 60 mph.

Just wanted everyone to know that we are doing fine and when we actually stop for a time other than just to sleep I'll do a real post and fill you in on all the adventures this little cross country escapade has given us. BTW - keep praying that I get that job in Lake Placid - looks like I might have an interview when we get there.

Take care and I'll talk to you soon!

Almost packed

Well, we have worked hard today and have just about everything packed. We are not taking the "garage" - the guy who is taking our place is buying it from us - and Dan sold my bike (I wasn't real happy about that, but he says that we can buy another one once we get home IF I want another one). This way we don't have to worry about trying to figure out how we are going to transport it. We never could find a bike rack for the unit - so we would have a problem finding a way to get it home. (Really, it's okay - it is not going to hurt my feelings but I don't want Dan to know that!)

I still have to do a couple of loads of laundry - I just sent Dan in to take him shower so I can get a load started. I might not be able to get all the laundry done tonight - but I think I will have time in the morning. We don't have to be at the ferry until 1 tomorrow afternoon - so I will have all morning. Dan will work with Tom (the guy taking our place in the morning) and I can finish up with stuff here. I still need to cook the hamburgers and put them in the fridge and I'm thinking of browning some hamburger meat, so IF I want to make spaghetti one night all I'll have to do is cook the noodles and warm up the sauce and add the hamburger meat (of course, it doesn't take that long to brown the meat, so I might just hold off on that - depends on how much I get done with the things that HAVE to get done).

We worked together today and got the basement repacked - I think we have done a much better job of packing the basement then when we were coming out. Everything just seemed to fit better and we packed some other things in the basement that we had in the bed of the truck coming out. Of course, we did put two crates in the closet, and that makes a big difference. But I still think we did a much better job with things this time.

I will try and post tomorrow night, if we get into a park early enough. The ferry leaves at 3 (I know, I said that we had to be there at 1 - you have to be there 2 hours in advance or they give your space away) and it takes four and a half hours to get to Skagway. IF we are on time that will get us there at 7:30 and then have to find a place to camp for the night. I'm sure that we will both be tired - so, I might be able to post again until we get to the lower 48. I can always post while driving in the truck if I have to when we get down that way. So, if you don't see any new posts from me until the weekend you will know that we are in Canada and headed home and I will get you caught up as soon as I can.

In the meantime, you guys take it easy. Oh, by the way, I have applied for a job down in Lake Placid - say a couple of prayers that IF it is what the good Lord has in mind for me to do, that I get this job. It will certainly help with the remodeling! Thanks everyone.

Take care and I'll talk to you down the road!

The count down is on

Well, "T" minus 42 hours and counting until we leave on the ferry. Hard to believe, but I was busy today getting ready. I made chicken salad, egg salad, pasta salad, and a cinnamon stussel bread for the trip. Tomorrow I will cook some hamburgers in the skillet and put them in the fridge - that will be supper some nights when we have driven all day and I don't feel like cooking anything else. We also have bought hot dogs and chicken patties that will be a quick easy dinner. I know, this will not be the healthiest of meals, but it will fill the hollow spot and get us through the night. We will make up for it when we get back to Florida. I also did another load of laundry today - tomorrow afternoon, after we finish loading everything we will both take a shower and I'll do the final load of clothes before we head out on Tuesday.

I still have a lot of packing to do inside - I didn't do any today because Dan talked to a guy this morning that seemed interested in buying the unit. I know it would have been a very long shot, but you never know. Anyway, he said that he had to talk to his wife and he never came back, so I guess she wasn't that interested. He was local and it would have taken a lot of work to get everything done before leaving on Tuesday, but I think we could have done it. Anyway, we will never know now. Like I said, we knew that it would be an absolute long shot, but I guess that wasn't meant to be.

Our boss did hire someone today to take our place - so we will train him tomorrow and then follow him around on Tuesday morning to make sure he understands everything that has to be done. Right now, he is camped in the campground - and he will move onto our space after we leave on Tuesday afternoon. I'm glad they found someone - and then I won't have to worry so much about helping Dan out tomorrow - I can concentrate on getting everything packed up inside the unit and pad those things that needs to be padded.

Tonight we went out for the last time here in Juneau - Dan wanted to take me to this place he found while I was in Florida that serves Fish (Halibut) and Chips. It was really very good - very expensive ($12.95 per person plus drink) but we haven't found anything here that isn't expensive. I guess we could call this Dan birthday dinner since we weren't able to go out on Friday. Of course, while we were sitting there eating (I forgot to mention this was an outdoor place on the harbor overlooking the cruise ships) there was a group of kids playing around on the dock and all of a sudden this one little girl - probably 10 or 12 climbed over the railing and jumped in to the bay. I couldn't believe it - I know that water had to be in the high 30's or maybe the low 40's, but anyway you look at it that water is COLD! Well, she just proceeded to swim across the bay to a dock that was in front of the cruise ship and climb out. Then she ran around and did it again - these kids were just playing around jumping in the water and having a great time. It was unbelievable to us! You just never know what you are going to see around here.

On the way home we went over to the Visitor's Center to see if any of the bears were out feeding - I waited very patiently for about 10 minutes and out walked this little black bear. I was not able to get a good picture of him - first he hid behind some trees, then it got so dark that the flash would reflect off the leaves and you couldn't get a good picture, but at least we saw him and watched him catch a salmon and go up the side of the hill and eat it. That was pretty cool, I just wish I had been able to get a good picture - oh well.

Actually Dan and I talked this afternoon about all the things that we thought we would be able to do here in Juneau and weren't. For example, we never had any crab (which is really very good), we never rode the tram up Roberts Mountain, and we didn't get over to Admiralty Island to see the grizzly bears. We were trying to figure out why we didn't do these things and we figured that we are just too cheap - and the older we get the more frugal we become. Who would have believed that! Oh well, the next time we cruise up we'll have to take the excursion over to the Island and see the bears, and we can always order some crab and have it shipped to us.

Well, I think I will close for tonight- I need to go in and get ready for bed - tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I know that a lot of you that are still working have to report back to school tomorrow, if you didn't last week. Dan and I wish you a good school year with good kids and no problems!

Take care and I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!

Campground full again - are you kidding me??

Okay - our last weekend in Juneau and at the campground and what happens? Absolutely beautiful weather which means that all the locals have come out to camp - so for two days in a row now the campground has been full! Who would have believed it - it has been raining for six weeks straight and the last two days have been crystal blue skies and warm (for Juneau, anyway) temperatures. Dan took this picture of the camper this morning as the sun was coming up - which reminds me - I haven't told you that we actually have a night time now. It actually gets dark around 10:30 until about 6 am - that was pretty amazing to me. When I left to go to Florida we only had about 2 to 3 hours of semi-darkness - when I flew in last Saturday night at 10:40 it was DARK! Oh what a difference a month makes - can't imagine what it will be like a month of now (but we won't see it).

We started packing today - getting ready for Tuesday. We actually had someone in the campground ask about the hosting position (which is posted on the kiosk's around the park). Dan told him what the duties entailed and he said that he was interested and would come up and get the number for Marc and call him on Monday - it would be good if that could happen - Dan could train him on Monday and then just follow him around on Tuesday morning to make sure he knows what he is doing and then we could be ready to leave early - we have to be at the ferry terminal at 1:00 - the ferry doesn't leave until 3 - and we won't get into Skagway until 7:30. We will spend the night in Skagway and then hit the road first thing Wednesday morning - Dan wants to be on the road by 7 am and drive until at least 7 pm. We'll see how that works for us. We are hoping to be out of Canada and into Montana by next Saturday afternoon/evening. Only time will tell.

Oh, by the way, if any of you know of someone who would like a great 5th wheel that is less than a year old - in great shape and at a reasonable price tell them about us. We will be looking to sell the unit after we get back to Florida - probably around the 30th of August. The unit is great - we just won't need it anymore with our "new" lifestyle. Dan says that he would like to sell the unit and the large 350 and get a 150 and maybe a pull-along trailer or expandable. We still want to be able to travel, but it will only be for 2 to 4 weeks at a time in the summer - and that probably won't happen the first year anyway. Sooooo, to make a long story short - we need to sell the big unit. Seriously - let us know and people know. If we can sell it directly, instead of having to go to a dealer, then we can sell it cheaper.

Today was one of those days where you are taking stock of what you have, what you need to do, and what you need to buy at the grocery store. I did another load of laundry - so that is all caught up again. I'll do another load tomorrow - towels - then do the final load of clothes on Monday afternoon after we take our showers and get cleaned up. Tomorrow I'm going to make some egg salad, chicken salad, and pasta salad - that should give us a good variety for sandwiches for the road. We are trying to clean out everything we can out of the refrigerator as far as left-overs go - the only thing in there now is the barbecue beef that I fixed today for dinner (I cooked a beef roast in the crock pot and then shredded it and added sauce - it was pretty good). Dan started going through the stuff in the basement and seeing what we can get rid of and what we need to keep - and how to repack it so we have a little more room. We do have to make room for my bike and we have a few things that we have bought here that we need to keep, but I think we are going to get rid of some things. I'm sure that we will get all that packed up tomorrow - including taking the "garage" down. I don't want to wait until the last minute to do things - especially if we don't have someone to train on Monday. That will mean we will have a lot of cleaning in the restrooms to do with the park being full for two days.

Okay - enough already - I have probably bored you guys silly, so I will close for now. I wanted to let you know that I was able to download a couple of pictures for you tonight - only took me two hours plus. Anyway, I hope you enjoy them.


This was on the lake this morning at sunrise. I thought it turned out pretty good - hope you like it too.

Take care and I'll talk to you tomorrow!!

Happy Birthday Dan

Just wanted to wish my honey a Happy Birthday - we were going to go out to dinner tonight, but the campground is FULL so we can't leave! Oh well, we'll just spend the night in!

Catching up on some pictures promised

Hello, everyone! The last couple of days has really been hectic! I've been trying to get the laundry caught up, all the paperwork that needs to be filled out before we leave, helping Dan with the rounds, and trying to fill out a job application for Lake Placid. I think I have just about gotten everything done. I've talked to Highlands County School Board and have the application completed. I have also email the Assistant Principal and attached a resume. (I don't know if I should also email the Principal or not). Anyway, I have explained the situation and told her when we are leaving Alaska - my daughter, Melissa who also teaches at this school, has already talked to her. So, we will see what happens. If nothing else, maybe I can do some long term substitute teaching - we know that there will be at least one maternity leave after Christmas break to Spring Break - that might just be what will work out for this year and maybe have a full time position for next school year. We will just have to wait and see what plays out and what the good Lord has in store for me.

I have also talked to the Real Estate agent today - trying to set up some things for Mom to look at before we get back. I want her just to look at a few things and get a general idea of what she can afford. I really would prefer she not commit to anything until we get back, but who knows what she might do. Anyway, we will see what happens.

I told you about seeing the bear over at Steep Creek, at least, I think I did. Anyway, in case I didn't - close to the Visitor's Center there is an area where the salmon are running and it is a big bear viewing area. Dan took me over there on Sunday to see and there were two bears up in this tree fussing at each other. One of them finally fell out of the tree and went off into the woods, but this one stayed in the tree the whole time we were there - about 1/2 an hour. We went over again yesterday to see if I could be any better pictures with the long range lens on my camera, but they weren't out and the rangers have blocked off part of the trail due to their activity. We will try again before we leave.

I also told you about the salmon run - well, this is a picture of just some of the salmon in the creeks - I probably could have downloaded a better picture, but I did the downloading while we were sitting at McDonald's this morning after working on my application and emails. I can't download pictures from the campground - the Internet reception is just not good enough - so I do the downloading there and then come home and post. When we get where I actually have good service I'll try and post some better pictures.

That is something that I will not miss when we leave here - the spotty Internet service and phone service - I just got notification on my phone that I had missed a call and the phone never rang. Such is the life in the park.

Well, I don't have much else to report right now - I will continue to work on getting things ready to go - we did go over to another park and see the people that we met on the Alaska Highway coming out and we have been out to eat with once here (Karen and John) and let them know that we were leaving. We also were looking for a guy that Dan had talked to that he thought might be interested in the Camp host position, but he has already gotten a job somewhere else. I really don't know what they will do with this, but it won't be our worry after Tuesday.

I'm going to sign off for today - hope you guys are having a good week and --------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!

Bear in the Campground

First, let me say I'm sorry I didn't get to post last night - we had so much cloud cover yesterday and last night that I was unable to get on line, much less post. However, while we were at the Ranger's Station yesterday morning I was able to download these two pictures of the bear that has been in the campground all season.

He is such a pretty little bear - and he really isn't aggressive - just hungry. We can almost walk up to him to scare him back into the woods - now, don't get too excited - we don't get THAT close, but, as you can tell, we were close enough that I got some good pictures.

He had pretty much eaten all the food at the campsite next to this one, but we are not sure what he was after on top of the picnic table. Anyway, he finally went off into the woods and didn't mess with anyone else that day - he has been back in today and has flatten a tent (didn't tear it up) and the people have put it back up and I guess they will be staying in it tonight. More power to them.

Well, let me catch you up on what is going on - we will be leaving Juneau and start heading back to Florida this coming Tuesday - the 17th. We talked to our boss, Marc, and just explained the situation and told him we needed to get home and wanted to leave as soon as we could and still get our end of the season pay - well, he told us Tuesday that we had fulfilled our contract and we could leave whenever we had to. So, we went down to the ferry terminal to see when we could change our tickets to and they put us on the afternoon ferry on Tuesday. We let Marc know today (he wasn't in the office yesterday) and we turned in our paperwork for last month today. He told us today just to make sure that we attach receipts for the amount of the end of season payment to our last expense report and we would be getting that money in a couple of weeks - at least that will help with the expenses getting home.

Dan is excited about leaving and getting back to Florida - I mean, he hasn't even seen the house that we are buying yet - and we will possibly be back in time for closing. It will probably be closer to the fact that we will need to postpone closing for a couple of days - have it on Friday instead of Wednesday and we should be there. We will know more after we get on the road, but Dan is sure that we will be able to get there in time. He is planning on putting in some long days - probably 12 hours at a stretch - and we will see how that plays out, but I know that we will not be doing any sightseeing on the way home. Which means that I need to cancel all the reservations that I have made at the Redwood Forest, Yosemite, and the Balloon Fiesta. Oh well, maybe another time. Getting home is more important right now.

We went over to the visitor's center today and was looking for more bears - they are having a field day with the salmon on the creek there - but we didn't see any today. We did see some on Sunday - and I have a couple of pictures - maybe I will be able to post them tomorrow for you - will depend on the weather (I will NOT be sorry to leave all this rain!) Of course, once we leave here until we get back in the lower 48 I won't be able to post - just like when we were coming out. I don't know about places with WiFi going home and IF we put in 12 hour days and then have to cook dinner I don't know if I will be able to do much blogging anyway - but I will try and keep you up to date on the stuff that is happening.

Well, I guess I have bored you enough with my tales - I will need to do some emailing of places in the next day or so - I'll let you know how that works out. You guys take care and .............................

I'll talk to you tomorrow (hopefully!)

Back to work

Well, Dan has me back at work. Actually, I helped with rounds yesterday and then today I also was back to cleaning bathrooms. Doesn't take long for him to get me back to work! That's okay - it's just that my body hasn't decided what time zone I'm in yet, so I have been really tired the last couple of days. In fact, tonight after I finish posting I'm going to go take my shower and get in the bed. I'll read for a while, but when I'm ready I am just going to go to bed - no matter what time it is.

I have been trying to download a picture for you to see for about two hours and I just have not been able to do it (a lot of cloud cover today - just not raining). Anyway, I wanted you to see the bear. Yep, I finally got pictures of our resident bear. He had gotten into a campsite and eaten all the goodies there and had moved to the campsite next door when we got there. I have a great picture of him on top of the picnic table. He is not an aggressive bear, but he isn't afraid of us either. He just looks at us and then will 'mosey' on out into the woods when we yell at him. I sure did want you to see him - I'll try again tomorrow - we are suppose to have better weather then - we'll see.

We also went down and talked to Mark (our boss) about leaving early - and it looks like we are going to be able to and still get our end of the season pay. Mark said that we had to complete 60 days which we have already done, so it looks like we will be leaving here next week. In one way I will be really glad to get back on the road and get "home" to Florida - we will have a "real" home there soon, but in other ways I will be sorry to give up our lifestyle of full timing. You might ask why we are doing this. Well, we will need to take care of my mom and we won't be able to leave her for long periods of time - plus Dan will have plenty to do with the remodeling. I guess it is just time to move to the next phase of our life. Hopefully, we will still be able to do some traveling - maybe a month or six weeks at a time - but we will have to see how things go with mom. I am looking for a full time job again - hopefully teaching. I know that all the stars will have to align in just the right order for that to work out now - but, I am hopeful. I have applied for a full time position in the same school that my daughter Melissa works at - as a sixth grade math teacher. Like I said - everything would certainly have to align just right for this to work out, but it just might. It would certainly help IF I could get a full time teaching position - we would be able to finish working on the house much faster then if I don't - even be able to hire some of the work done, but that is just another aspect that we will have to wait and see what the good Lord has in store for us.

Well, I think I will close for tonight - I really am tired and I want to go take my shower. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow - not only of the bear, but of the salmon run that we have pictures of - if you have never seen it, it is amazing! Everyone take care and ------------


I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!

I'm Home!!!

I have finally made it back home to Alaska yesterday - well, actually late last night. I started out in Tampa (I took my mom to a friend of hers in Lakeland and she will be able to stay there until Dan and I are able to get back) yesterday morning. Had to get up at 7 am and Melissa and Justin picked me up at 8:30 for the ride over to Tampa. Left Tampa at about 11:40 and flew to Detroit. From Detroit I flew to Seattle and then on to Juneau arriving at about 10:45 last night (Alaska time) which means I was up for about 18 hours with most of that time on an airplane. To say that my body is a little shell shocked today is an understatement! However, the main thing is I am HOME!!!

I will be back to blogging everyday now and I will fill you in on all the happenings as we try and figure out our next step, but it should be an interesting ride. Thanks to all of you for staying with me. I hope that all is going well with you all and ..........................................

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!

A note to my followers

To all my followers on the blog -

I haven't been able to blog lately due to the fact that I am still in Atlanta and do not have access to a computer. Right after I got to Atlanta last week to see my mom and brother, my brother took a turn for the worse and was hospitalized. He passed away last Tuesday night. The memorial service was held yesterday.

I am working on getting my mom settled and hope to be able to return to Juneau by this coming Saturday - we will see. At this point I don't know when I will be able to blog again, as I said earlier, I do not have access to a computer all the time. This is the first time I have been able to get on since I arrived here in Atlanta.

Please bear with me as I work on getting things worked out. I hope to be back on the blog by the weekend.

Carol