Will it, or won’t it?

Will it, or won’t it?

Driving to Anchorage and Wasilla was not a fun experience. It should normally only take me about four to four and a half hours at the most to get to Wasilla from Homer. It took nearly seven hours to get to Wasilla, all of which I debated if the trailer would even make it there. It was not a fun drive at all. Plus, I was tired, driving makes me sleepy anyhow, and so I was fighting against my own sleepiness the whole time as well.

Wobbly is the best word I have to describe the trailer. I seemed to like to wobble left to right and fish tail at the slightest swerve. I was frustrated beyond belief by the time I made it to town. My friend Miranda was supposed to be making the trip with me, however due to scheduling conflicts she was unable to come with. She had volunteered her husband, Jacob, to do the drive with me instead. He was willing, likes driving and taking road trips, and so Zac and I planned for Jacob to drive back with me instead of Miranda. When I arrived in Wasilla, one of the first things Jacob did was check out the tires on the trailer, checking tire pressure, etc. Come to discover, the tire that was supposedly ‘fixed’ by the previous owners had dry rot, which I hadn’t noticed before or known exactly what to look for, and (yes, AND) the tires were two different sizes. The sizes were only slightly different, not noticeable just by glancing, but could easily be what caused the wobble.

Good to find this out before leaving Wasilla. Not good to find this our when I was planning on leaving and it was a Sunday night with no place open. But, so be it. We found a place to take the trailer first thing in the morning, got their hours, stayed in Wasilla for the evening, and then left right away in the a.m. to try to get the tires fixed. From bad to worse can describe how this entire trip went, including our visit to the tire shop. Both tires needed to be replaced, needed to be made for a (much) higher grade load, and I would need a spare with a rim “just in case” something went wrong, which I totally agreed with, but hoped we wouldn’t need. The two tires were changed out, the ‘good’ tire was deceiving and was so soft and used that it practically folded in on itself once it was off the trailer. The “specialists” at the tire shop came in slightly flabbergasted at the beginning and said it was probably a good thing we came in when we did because they didn’t thing the tires would have made it another 10 miles even before I would have blown one or both. We mentioned that I’d just drove in from Homer on them yesterday and there was a look of utter shock on their faces, which scared me a bit, but helped to explain why I had been worried I would even make it. Because, I may not have.

Now, one more day further behind schedule, but the trailer was sitting up much higher, looked better, drove better, and was on the right tires for what was being done. Granted, I was now hundreds of dollars over what I had anticipated, but I had some wiggle room, just in case. At least at this point I did. Again, this whole thing became an ‘ordeal.’

The ‘Adventure’ Begins ?!?

The ‘Adventure’ Begins ?!?

I was anxious for weeks. Who wouldn’t be? I was trying to make sure everything was planned out that needed to be, so that nothing would go wrong. I searched Craigslist for months trying to find a trailer. I did not want to put the kind of money required into renting a trailer if there was a possibility of buying one outright and being able sell it or use it for storage once at home. I found an old travel trailer on Craigslist that had been emptied and gutted. It looked in decent shape overall. I didn’t care about the overall cosmetics of it. I asked all the right questions, or so I thought. I had a friend in Homer that was willing to go look at the trailer and purchase it for me prior to my arrival. After a huge run around of trying to wire her money and communicating back and forth with the sellers, the trailer was finally mine. I let them know that I planned to be in on June 15 and would want to pick it up then, as I knew they had to travel from Anchorage for me to pick it up. Everything was set. I was relieved to have that step out of the way. I purchased my plane tickets to fly out on the 14^th and arrive the 15^th.

I had to fly out of Dodge City, with a stop in Liberal, a 5- hour layover in Denver, and finally on to Anchorage, arriving at 12:30 a.m. Zac and the boys drove me to Dodge City, arriving about 2 hours ahead of flight time which is what is commonly requested. The terminal was not even open yet! And, it wasn’t scheduled to open until about 30 minutes prior to the planes arrival. This is definitely not what I expected. So, after grabbing some lunch and running to Hobby Lobby, we arrived back to the terminal – only for the plane to end up delayed by about four hours getting into Garden City. In retrospect, nothing went easy along this trip, from something as simple as arrival at and departure from the airport.

I was aware that when I picked up the Suburban in Anchorage, after getting in from the airport, that I would need to call AAA and get one of the tires aired. Other than that, the Suburban shouldn’t have any issues. Thankfully, I had friends who were able to check on the vehicle ahead of time for me. When I got to the Suburban, it started right up and I waited for AAA. When AAA finally arrived, the tow truck driver was

I had anticipated being able to pick up the trailer I had already purchased upon driving down to Kasilof. I had emailed the date ahead of time to the couple that I had bought the trailer from. The date was IN WRITING. However, when I got to Soldotna and called to ensure that what I needed was a 2” ball hitch and make sure that I could pick up the trailer (on Monday, June 16), I was informed that I would not be able to pick up the trailer as originally planned because their property was chained and locked and they had not unlocked it for me. They had been planning on me being there until the next weekend, on Friday, June 20 or Saturday, June 21. Because the couple lives in Anchorage, they told me they could not just come down to unlock the gate and would not be able to come until the weekend.

Frustrating! And there was not really anything that I could do about this. There were multiple angry emails back and forth. I even called the State Troopers to see if there was anything I could do in an effort to get my trailer sooner. There was not. Yet again I say, frustrating! I needed the trailer to do most of the work that I needed to with pulling stuff in and out of the storage unit. Instead, I had to deal with only the Suburban for a while and be prepared to push of my leaving date by a few days. I had planned to leave on Saturday, June 21, and now I wouldn’t even be able to begin getting the trailer loaded until then!

After freaking out for a couple of days about not being able to get the trailer, and working continually on the storage unit – clearing it out and sorting what stuff would come and go, I got a message from the seller that I could get the trailer on Wednesday night, rather than Friday night. It was still four days later than anticipated, but a lot better than Friday. I recruited a friend to go with me to get the trailer and we drove the hour back north to pick up the trailer. Trailer in tow, we made it to Anchor Point without any issues. The trailer was (is) old, which I knew, 1969 Duke travel trailer to be exact. However, other than the bench seat across the back and part of the bathroom, the entire trailer had been gutted and there was plenty of room to haul my stuff home, well … once I pared down a bit. The flooring on the trailer was new, there were a few holes here and there which would leak, the tires weren’t in great condition, and it doesn’t look pretty, but it towed and was empty and ‘seemed’ to be mechanically sound. Some spray foam, screws, and other sealant materials later and I was good to go. On my way back to Homer with plans to begin loading the trailer the next day.

Getting to Homer was no problem. The problem came once I got there. I drove over to where I was staying and was planning on parking along the edge of the road for the evening, which should have been no problem. I wanted to find a good place to turn around and face the other direction so that in the morning I would be able to just pull right out and head to the storage unit. I drove a little farther and didn’t see anywhere but thought there would be a place up the way a bit, so I drove a little further yet. Well, long story short, I got the trailer wedged in a spot that I couldn’t get it out of where there was a muddy hill behind the trailer, a blocked ‘path’ ahead of me, dense trees to one side and a fairly steep drop-off with some underbrush and a few trees to the other side. Shit. I was stuck, and stuck bad. I was in tears, frustrated, overwhelmed from the whole week so far and alone. I called Zac. I called my friends in Anchor Point, I even texted pictures of the predicament I’d gotten myself into. Even after much explaining of what I should try to do to get myself out of there, I was unable to get out and could not back all the way down out of where I was either. My friend could not come until the morning, on his way to work, to help me get out, and the friend I was staying with was still at work until 3 a.m. Well, this was just dandy. So, only option we could all work out was that I left a note on the window of the driver’s side door explaining that I’d be back at 7 a.m. with help to get myself and my vehicle out of this pickle that I found myself in. I left the current time (11 p.m.) and my cell number. I grabbed my essentials and computer and walked back down the way to the apartment. What a way to start!

Finally free, I went about packing up or throwing out my entire life. That’s how it felt at least. I had to work hard on Thursday and Friday in order to be ready to roll on Saturday morning as intended. I planned a storage unit sale for Friday, was able to secure some assistance (I have wonderful friends) hauling some stuff to the Salvation Army on Thursday and again after my sale on Friday. Friday went well, although left me with little time to actually pack my stuff as I seemed continuously busy with the sale. I was on my own so that hindered even being able to go grab something to eat or find some place to use the bathroom. Postponed leaving Homer by a day until Sunday morning instead of Saturday so that I could finish and get a good night’s sleep rather than being up all night finishing. Plus, my travel partner needed a bit more time to finish what they were working on with school and homework, which gave us each some needed leeway.

With the extra time, I was able to go to the get- together, planned around my visit, on the beach, get everything ready, go to the Summer Solstice party in Homer on Saturday night, finish packing the front of the Suburban, and drink some wine and chat with my friend that I was staying with. I was up a little late, or more like early into the next morning, so I slept in a little and then headed to Anchorage.

Part 2 of the 'ORDEAL' -- Home Sweet Kansas

Part 2 of the 'ORDEAL' -- Home Sweet Kansas

Initially we had intended to send Zac back to Alaska to get our stuff at the end of the summer. Once we’d found where we’d be living and had rented a place, etc… I would be busy preparing for work and would have the boys, and Zac could go up and take the time needed.  That was the idea at least. This would be one of the benefits at the time of Zac not working at that point.

Life happened. As it so often does, life intervenes and changes plans. Zac was hired as a Sysop with one of the elementary schools even before we returned to Kansas from Michigan, where we had to stay until we could rent a place in Garden City. His job, as with most of the IT jobs in schools was scheduled to begin a couple of weeks before school started back up again, just about the time that we were planning for Zac to travel back. Which is all well and good with consideration to the fact that we had to have deposits to rent and secure all of the accounts we needed for electricity, water, etc… Plus, it’s always better if we have the opportunity for Zac to gain employment.

So, life continued – same old, same old – for the school year and we began planning for a trip up at the beginning of the summer to get the rest of our stuff. This, of course, was enough to drive the boys insane (as well as Zac and I to an extent), as we had planned to have Zac go back up at the latest by October. So, nearly 9 months later, I would be beginning the long trek back up and all of the logistics and planning to get all of our stuff back to Kansas and FINALLY stop paying the cost of storage for the Suburban in Anchorage and all of our household goods over 300 miles from there in Homer.

I think the planning stages for the trip went fairly well. Due to expense, amount of travel time on the road, vehicle space, etc… we figured that it would behoove us to have only one of us to go to Alaska and bring all of our stuff back with us. Because of the sheer number of miles and amount of driving, plus for safety’s sake, we knew that it would be best to find someone who could do the road trip with one of us. There were a couple of possible options for this. Which is nice to have multiple possibilities when it comes to trying to find someone to travel that kind of distance with one of us. All of the possibilities we could think of however, are primarily friends of mine. So, this meant that it would need to be me to fly up to Anchorage, drive the Suburban down to Homer, then drive back with a trailer (of some type) loaded. The drive back meant driving up through Anchorage and Palmer, across to Tok, then into Canada through the Yukon on the Alcan, through British Columbia and Alberta, and into the United States through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and finally Kansas.

Whomever I found to accompany me along the journey would either need to fly from Kansas to Alaska with me and then we’d drive back, or they would need to drive to Kansas with me and stop off in Denver (likely) to fly back to Alaska. What it meant for the person going with me was hopefully a vacation for them that would be a fun, relaxing road trip with a friend through a large portion of western North America with gas and hotels already being paid. I needed to pay gas and hotel expenses for myself anyhow. Yes, this is an expensive journey, one that didn’t get taken when we moved last year.

Two problems occurred with all of this. First of all, I had three different possibilities of friends to travel with me. There were two possibilities in Alaska and one in Kansas. My friend in Kansas is way too busy with work this time of year, one of the two friends in Alaska would not have been able to afford even the flight back and really couldn’t afford to take that kind of time off from work, and the other friend (Miranda) who I had planned to travel with all along, had to work until the end of June and my window of time was prior to that. Things were already not going my way! Miranda did however suggest her husband, Jacob, as a possible travel partner. So, plan B formed with Jacob as the friend who would be doing the drive from AK to KS with me. Problem solved. The second problem was that unfortunately we weren’t able to save quite as much as initially planned, due to a change in employment status for Zac, which was necessitated to care for Zeke during the year. But, with my 2^nd job and summer pay we should have it covered, it was just going to be tight, with a little wiggle room for problems, but not tons. Nonetheless, it should be fun however, and again an ‘adventure.’

Preface (to the 'ORDEAL')

Preface (to the 'ORDEAL')

My family and I moved to Kansas last year with very little of our ‘stuff.’ We moved on a three- bag allotment per person. It was not ideal, but there was reasoning for moving with only part of our household goods, and with our vehicle left parked in another state. The timing of when we found out we would need to be out of the home we were renting was not conducive with all four of us getting passport books or cards, especially in consideration to the fact that we had only recently had to cancel all four passport cards and report them stolen from when the vehicle had been broken into in Anchorage. Also, we knew that we were headed to the Lower 48 for work, however knew little else. Although I was still taking interviews in Alaska and elsewhere, what we knew at the time was that I had accepted a good job offer in Arizona and had a second interview scheduled in Garden City, Kansas, at the same school I had nearly accepted a job at four years previously when we initially moved to Alaska.

We were flying to Denver and from there we would drive to Kansas. I would take my interview and we would either stay in Kansas or continue on to Arizona, or elsewhere if that is where the wind took us. That’s how it seemed at the time. As though everything were up in the air and where we landed was all a matter of whichever way the wind blew us. This was a bit scary for me. It’s not the way I normally do things. I’m a planner. Always have been. Not knowing was difficult. Especially when deciding what to pack to bring with us for an, as of yet, undetermined amount of time. There were ‘necessities’ to be packed, guns and cats. Seems strange maybe, but as these items are significantly difficult or impossible to transport through Canada, it was necessary to do this on a flight. That took seven (of 12) bags that were to come with us. The other bags needed to be carefully packed to be under 50 pounds each and contain electronics including the computers, PS3, some games and movies to last up to a year; interview paperwork, clothes and shoes, and general job necessities; clothes for all four family members for daily life and on the road; kitchen aid (which somehow still didn’t make it); and essentials such as glasses, contacts, medications, and so forth. We would be on the road and living out of suitcases for at least a week and then who knows?!? Turns out that week was much closer to two months of living out of suitcases until we finally had a place to stay and could begin our lives again. That sure is how it seems at least, with each progressive move, beginning our lives again.

The Adventure, err… “ORDEAL” …, of a Lifetime

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Many of you know that I recently went to Alaska to get the rest of our stuff and that it turned into a major headache to say the least. However, I know that I haven't told many the full story. That is in part to the fact that it's a REALLY long ordeal, I don't want to relay it over and over again, and frankly I really am just glad it's done and in the past. But, I did decide to blog about it, so that those of you who wish to know the story can know. I did write out the WHOLE story from the moving from Alaska in the first place part, so if you don't want to read it all - I get it. I'm also posting in parts because of that and as I get time to write each part up.

Comments can go on the blog and I'll see them (and likely reply), etc... The blog is easier for me than facebook, because not everyone is on facebook, I didn't see a spot to write entries anymore, and this can post to anywhere as a link anyhow.

So, here goes ... 

The Adventure, err… “ORDEAL” …, of a Lifetime

And by lifetime, I do mean that is how long it can be before I ever experience any of this again…

In theory, this should have been a nice and easy excursion. Just a simple road trip, restful even, relaxing. Or at least that’s how it was planned. The best laid plans and all… right?!? GRRRR!!!