The End of Our Alaska Adventure

 Life has been a whirlwind! At this point I can't remember what Thursday and Friday entailed, but I know it definitely included housework!

 

Once the movers were done (and our grill mysteriously disappeared) we got crackin' on home repairs. Wednesday night we opted for sleeping bags on the living room floor. After a night of tossing and turning (which was a great reminder of why I hate camping) John remembered that we had foam pads we could have used >.< That's ok though...at least I didn't have to deal with pets trying to steal my sleeping bag :D

We have worked non stop on the house. We normally include Lowes' and/or Home Depot as part of our date nights. Sadly, we've had to visit those stores during the morning this week. It wasn't nearly as fun as going during date night- we were exhausted, sleep deprived, and borderline grumpy.

Our TLF (temporary living facility) has been an experience! Despite the fact that the temps have been in the teens, John and I have been sleeping with our window open. Why would we do something that crazy? Well, the master bedroom is a lovely 80 degrees (at least). We can't really tell because the thermostat is broken and the heater in our room is stuck on full blast. The cold temps outside definitely help because the fan in the room certainly doesn't.

We found a moose outside our TLF. He's huge! The hood of my car would probably fit under his belly. I will miss the moose sighting when we leave!

As far as the fur babies go... They are having a blast! Hannah has been busy breaking rules (jumping on all the furniture, etc). She has found one spot in the house that is of some concern. Hannah likes to hang out in a spot in the living room.  When she does, she ends up with a stoner look on her face. We have no idea what causes it, but it's hilarious to watch her.

Here she is cuddling with the heater

Oh Begley, the poor thing isn't used to sleeping on a tile floor. I think last night he decided we weren't worth the discomfort and went to sleep on the guest room bed. Before that...

Yep, while John and I were slaving away on the house-

 Begley stole the comforter from our bed. 

At this point- both pets qualify for Santa's naughty list.

This weekend we got over a foot of snow in Eagle River! It was perfect timing! We were having to do some stuff outside and since my snow boots got packed... I had to wear my normal boots.  Those things fill nicely with snow.

 Since we no longer have a dryer I had to be resourceful!

We have made some time for fun. There was the squadron holiday party which involved carefully placed bids so John wouldn't end up being Santa, an elf, or the Grinch. Saturday night we attended a lumberjack party. John won the flapjack eating contest (he ate 10 in 2 minutes) but it was close with our friend Dan eating 9. We wrapped up our weekend with dinner with friends and a stressful game of Settlers of Catan!

We have less than 48 hours until we leave Alaska and there is a lot of stuff left to do and people to see! A small part of me is ready to get on the plane- just so I can get some decent sleep!

Be sure to check back! I'll be blogging our cross country adventure! 

We are traveling with two pets... how bad can it be?? ;)

  

Oh Sweet Summertime

Two of the best things about summers in Alaska is lots of sunlight and fresh salmon!  I was not able to go fishing last year, but this year I was totally ready! It's my duty as an Alaska resident to go fishing.  ;)

We left for our trip at three thirty a.m. (which was way too early).  After everyone arrived at the house, we piled our gear in the Jeep and were off! It was a two and a half hour drive to Kenai.  The best part of the drive was getting to watch the sunrise over the mountains.  Watching the sun rise or set during the summer is a rare occurrence for me. I think the last time I watched it set was last year after I had dropped John off at the airport for a trip.  The pictures don't do it justice

After arriving in Kenai and unloading all the gear we headed off to find our fishing spot.  We checked out a couple of spots before deciding on one and gearing up.  I've never worn waders before... but I think it makes Brittany and me look like true Alaskan Chicks :)

We all piled in the river and set out to find our own fishing spots.  While waiting for John to put the hook on my fishing rod I discovered a  blue fish right in front of me!  I bent down to catch it with my hands and before I could reach it the current carried it away.  I was little bummed about it. :(   After a unsuccessful hour in one spot, we headed down to the spot were the Russian River and the Kenai River meet.

There was quite the crowd.  I was a little jealous of the guys who had their setup on one of the islands. They had a nice little fillet table set up and seemed to have a sweet spot considering all the salmon they were catching.  Alas, we ventured into other parts of the rivers.  Brittany and I headed toward the Kenai River (which is wonderful shade of blue), but holy moly was it cold!  Mind you, I was sockless in my waders, and once my feet get cold... they stay cold.  My line got caught on a log, and I had to venture out into the Kenai River to untangle it.  For a few minutes I thought I was going to be swept away.  That's exactly why you use the buddy system while fishing.  I knew Brittany would catch me if I started floating away :)

Near the end of our time fishing I had given up on catching anything.  I opted for a nap on the dock. :)   After an exhausting six hours, we finally packed up our bags and started the trek back.  Although I'm a little heart broken over not catching any fish, there was one perk.  When I got home... I didn't have to clean any smelly fish.  :)

In other news

John and worked on the basement again Friday night.  It was my first time sanding. Poor John. lol.  I started out in sunglasses because I couldn't find the safety glasses I wore last week while mudding.  I couldn't see a thing so John tracked down a pair of safety glasses, but they were tinted yellow.  The color threw me off and I couldn't tell if I was actually doing a good job or not. Then I was getting dust in my eyes so I had to take my contacts out and try to wear glasses under the safety glasses.  We found the missing safety glasses... on Saturday

By the time we were done sanding  it looked like we had a mini snowstorm in the basement and we looked like the abominable snowman!  The basement is coming along and hopefully by September we will have John's man cave the entertainment room finished.

Alaska's weather has been amazing! It's definitely making up for last summer. Anchorage set a new record for the most number of days above 70 degrees in the month of June. We have had 17 days compared to the 14 they had back in the 1936. John and I are definitely trying to enjoy summertime while it last!