BECKER BUNCH

Finally, right :)

2009-09-26T01:48:00.007-08:00

I am TERRIBLE at keeping everyone updated. Handslap I know. I am posting here just to attempt to share our lives in Alaska after 2 1/2 years living here. We LOVE it here! We feel at home here and even if we PCS (hopefully to Germany) we will return to AK For Sure!! Brad has been deployed now for 6 ½ months between KS and Afghanistan, and we are counting down the days til he’s home with us. I have posted lots of pictures on my Face Book so please look there to see what we have been up to this past summer. I also have a few projects done that I will post on my craft blog in the coming weeks, I hope.

Life has swallowed me whole but I guess that’s normal for me :)

This is what keeps us busy now and this coming fall.

So Mondays Kenzie has a science class, Zac is a Den Chief for cub scouts and Kalea has Girl Scouts.

Tuesday I usually go into work at the commissary to do mark-downs and salvage and Zac has Order of the Arrow (Boy Scouts) or Venture Crew (Boy Scouts), they alternate weeks.

Wednesday Zac has Boy Scouts

Thursday all 3 kids have a Glass Fusion class and the occasional Girl Scout meeting.

Friday all 3 have Drawing class, the girls have Irish Dance and Kenzie has Girl Scouts.

Saturday the girls have dance and of course most everything else the kids do falls on the weekend.

Sunday I have inventory at the commissary so I go into the deep freezer and count all the food in there and in the fridge. BRRRR!

Zac also has a Boy Scout meeting monthly to meet with his National Jamboree troop. Next summer Zac is going to the 100th year anniversary of Boy Scouts in America. He’ll be joining over 40,000 other Boy Scouts from around the world. He is also busy fundraising, right now its Boy Scout popcorn. Anybody want some??

Zac passed on the People to People student ambassador trip to Australia. I asked Zac his opinion to which trip he would rather make and he chose the once in a lifetime Boy Scout trip. He felt he can always join the PPL 2 PPL program or travel on his own. A very mature decision to me.

I also have been cleaning houses for over a year now so sprinkled in the mix I clean and do the final inspections with the housing authorities (days/times vary) Brad was my business partner but since he deployed a friend has come to help me.

I work for 3 different companies at the commissary (been almost 1 1/2 year there) so I am always there at weird hours/days setting displays, coupons, prepping major sales and audits. So my work schedule never is the same day to day or week to week.

I have been trying to squeeze some “me” time in and have been hitting the gym 6x a week for about 2 ½ months. 2 days cardio, 2 days weights and THANK GOD 2 days of yoga. I am also trying to find time to scrap, knit, breathe LOL and I even signed up for a quilting class.

I am still having Thyroid issues, mainly because I forget my Amour. Yet another reason I need Brad here with me. I was diagnosed with Cervical Dystonia last winter and had to have Botox injections in my neck, shoulder and back. WOOZERS! Not fun! My physical therapist believes I tore my Rotator cuff but I refuse to ride on the fun MRI train again. Why at 32 am I falling apart?? LOL

We have a great group of friends so literally every night and weekend we have friends over or we are over at their house. We have our TV shows we watch together, shopping we do, working out, girls nights, scouts and Skinny Cow time (my new FAV ice cream sandwich, YUMMY!!) They are our family here. I can’t wait til we get to see our friends and family when we travel outside. Looking more like next spring when Brad can join us.

Ok, well I am done for tonight. Kenzie has her 2 BFF’s spending the night (like every other weekend LOL) and Zac has Boy Scouts at 7:30am, stop laughing it’s not funny. Nope still not a morning person! I will try my best to update more often. Night everyone!

December in Alaska ‘07

2009-03-22T10:53:00.001-08:00

Dec 10th we got the keys to our house, the one w/o wheels. We are a bit overwhelmed by the space. Not that is necessarily a huge house but the laundry room is larger than the RV.
We pulled up the RV and unloaded our home. You would NOT believe how much crap you can stow away in an RV.
We also unloaded our 8x40 storage unit in 3 days with temps in the teens.
I had the boxes stored in the garage and basement so we could leisurely unpack. I figured all the stuff we needed we had in the RV and had in its place in the new house. The boxed stuff could slowly find its home. Well the packers in CO thought it would be a funny little joke to mislabel the boxes and mix everything together. No one will believe that the kitchen stuff ended up being in the hiking stick box, literally the LAST box I opened. We had company and she stayed for hours past when she wanted to leave just to watch the show.
Winter Solstice was a bit of a surprise. We were expecting the sun to be resting and to barley appear. This being the shortest day of the year and all. The sun rises around 10am and sets by 4pm. I am still confused why people think of Anchorage as dark 6 months of the year and made of ice. I am sure it is true for the Northern part of the state but not here. Everyone I talk to laugh and say, it is a big secret (Alaska). If you have ever been to Colorado, this area is like CO but on steroids.
The temps have been nice. We have touched down below 0 but have stayed in the teens most of the month. Snow fall came on xmas and coated the area but still very light.
We had some friends over for xmas dinner. It was nice to entertain again. Living in the RV we were unable to have the shindig’s like we normally do for the holidays.
We were able to continue our tradition of cutting down xmas tree. For $5 we bought a pass to cut down a tree on Elmendorf AFB. Just waited until Dec 24 to do it this year
Zac is learning about snow removal. He has been assigned drive way duty. He even shovels the neighbors drive too as she just had a baby and 2 other small children and a husband who deploys ever couple days. Good Boy Scout, doesn’t even complain… too much anyways.
I started work at American Greetings this month, you know the card company. It is flexible and I am able to make alittle xmas money. Working at Archivers gave me lots of experience in plan-a-grams and setting new displays.

November in AK 2007

2008-12-03T01:50:00.005-09:00

What a peaceful scene. Sharon, just wait until I get a better camera ;)

Drum roll please….we finally found a house. Unfortunately it is not what we had planned. We decided after 7 months of looking to purchase a home to move into base housing. The housing market in AK is more expensive than our 1 income family wants to spend at this point. We were offered a great 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 3 story home on base. It has a huge basement; half of which is finished and will work PERFECT as a scrapbooking/homeschooling area. We moved in Dec 10, 2007. So we officially did 23 months of living in the RV. Mikaela will not allow us to claim 2 years, I am corrected each time I say 2 years.

The kids are doing great and ready to have some space to move around without bumping into something or someone. We are going from 200 sq ft of living space to 2200 sq ft. So the search is on for furniture. We gave EVERYTHING away when we moved into the RV. I am also excited to have indoor plumbing again.

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s which causes hypothyroid. Lucky me!! I have learned that if you have a family member diagnosed with hypothyroid you have a 50% chance of being hypo as well. My father is hypo, and both my grandparents and great-grandparents and who knows, I could have other family members but they refuse to seek medical help. Stupid stubborn family members! Good thing I am not related :) If you have family members who are currently taking a thyroid replacement, please get checked. Here is a website to educate yourself if you have questions www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

October in AK 2007

2008-10-30T01:17:00.001-08:00

Brad just graduated the NCOA which means 6 weeks of absent Brad. It counts as 12 credit hours so it was pretty intense. He had plenty of homework and extra events. He had a graduation ceremony so we got dressed up and attended a formal dinner with his commander and classmates.

While Brad was attending the Academy I met a wife of one of his classmates. They were RVing in the spot right beside us. The good news is she is a hippy just like me. So the two of us hippy, artsy gals hung out every day for 6 weeks. She also homeschools her 2 boys and has a passion for nature like me. We even learned to knit together. The bad news is she lives in North Pole, AK, 6 hours away.

Brad has been absent from work for 6 weeks by now, not that it bothered him, and he is thinking he’s going back when he gets selected to participate in a base exercise. They go through a mock mobility line get to dress up in chemical warfare gear all day, all week and play M.A.S.H. Fun times there.

Brad is being told he will be deploying in January. The time frame has bounced around so we just know sometime in January. He has to take one for the team and do his obligation for the AF. In 18 years of service he has not deployed (Thank the Goddess!) He feels it is his opportunity to serve his country proud. He will be deploying somewhere in HI. Yeah, miss the winter of AK and live it up beach style. Pretty rough, I know. I am not a beach person but we might go, just to suffer along with Brad in HI in Jan :).

Ashley turned 15 this month. We hope she had a wonderful Bday in AZ. It kills us that we miss out on so much of the girl’s lives. From the big moments like birthdays and little ones like a bike ride, we miss them daily. The kids talk about them, what if they were here or they would love that. Brad tries to stay strong but there is a void when they are not with us.

We celebrated Samhain by remembering those who have passed before us. This is also the time to reflect on the past year and set hopes for the new.

The kids celebrated Halloween by taking to the streets as a Rocker, Fairy and Cowgirl. They hit the mother load and got a ton of candy. We were told the streets would be covered in snow but this year, not the story. It has snowed but not very much and it has mostly melted away.

We are still in search of a house. The water got turned off at the RV park so we are using the water tanks we bought. Brad has a heat lamp on them to keep from freezing as temps are in the teens. We have a dehumidifier running in the RV as we would be growing mold otherwise. Also the bath houses are now closed so showering is done at the base gym or at Brad’s work. I really enjoy running into his co-workers before showering and brushing my teeth. Wonder what they think of us? Oh and the potty…. we get to share a porta potty with the other RVers.

What an adventure!

Hello again

2008-10-22T21:29:00.001-08:00

Just thought I would start back with the blog. The past year has been beyond busy but I am sure the same goes for your crew. I will work on a year summary and hopefully start back with monthly posts. We are all doing great and look forward to hearing from you. Pic was taken in July. Hugs to all, Jill

September in Alaska '07

2008-04-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

Alaska life in Sept.

So the first 2 days we were home from our trip I didn’t drive anything but the couch. As many miles as we covered, I was exhausted! The kids were excited to be home, to see their dad and Thor, the dog.

We have picked up ALOT of activities here. For those who know us, know this is the way we roll. We just finished a 6 week archery class. The kids got to shoot with a compound bow and aim at a variety of targets. One of the targets was a stuffed foam monkey, so of course Kenzie had to intentionally miss that one.

On Saturdays the girls are taking Irish dance lessons. Both have become addicted to the dance steps. They practice EVERYWHERE! When they try at home it makes the RV shake as if we were in the middle of an earthquake.

Sundays are reserved for NASCAR and football of course!

Starting this month will be part of a Homeschool 4-H club. The children will be doing the rabbit project. Each will be getting their own rabbit to show in 4H.

Mondays and Tuesdays we have a homeschool computer lab class. The kids love it! Lego robotics, digital photography and tons of computer games are just a few choices they have to play with. Zac is building a little brother out of the Lego robotics.

Tuesdays Zac has Boy Scouts and Tuesdays and Thursdays he has basketball. He is enjoying playing a team sport. He is signed up with the Boys and Girls club on base. His team’s name is the Nuggets and he is really learning a lot.

Zac also wanted to try out Civil Air Patrol. I found a squad for him so he could see if it is something he likes. Well after 2 meetings, he decided he was not ready for the strict regimen the military life requires. At least he knows what they offer and I don’t have to worry about any flights as of yet.

Wednesdays we meet other military homeschoolers at the library for educational classes.

Thursdays we have Girl Scouts. Both girls are meeting together. It is a small troop but we are still looking for a more active troop to join.

Fridays we have a homeschool PE class. Each week we try out different sports at the B&G club. There is even a rock climbing wall so the possibilities are endless.

I have been having issues with my neck and back for years and finally was referred to have an MRI to find the source of pain. Let me tell you how fun it is to lie flat on your back, perfectly still while a loud machine swallows you and spits you out about 5 times through the course of ½ an hour. I am not signing up for that fun ride again anytime soon! They were able to determine that I am getting old and falling apart. Brad has been telling me that for years. So for a few months I have been doing physical therapy 2x a week. I swear they are going to start charging me rent there. Next week I start pool therapy. Just as soon as I can find a wet suit to enter the pool, I’m in.

I will be teaching scrapbooking on base and in Wasilla this month. I’m hoping to make enough money to pay for my habit (at least that’s what I lead Brad to believe). I am excited to meet some new people and to get back to something I truly enjoy.

We are just getting ready for the winter. Here, the trees are dropping leaves faster each day. You can sit and watch the leaves spiral down to the ground one after another like snow flakes in a calm winter storm. The roads look as though sheets of gold have fallen from the sky and layered the tops of anything in its way. As we drive along the highway, we follow the mountain ridge in which we see the merge of colors sprawl up the mountain side.

This weekend we went for a drive and the mixture of colors reminded us of ‘70s vinyl that would decorate the newer homes in those days. Splotchy patches of burnt mustard, sherbet orange and florescent yellow weaved between the black spruce. Some trees are slower in the turning process so we still have a few vibrant green trees trying to out last the avocado green shades. The undergrowth is a deep pomegranate red that pops out at you as you scan the road side driving by.

Our temps are dropping into the 30s at night and reaching the 50s during the day. Each morning when we rise, the snow is stretching farther and farther down the mountains. Now the nights are dark. By 8:30pm we are shadow less as the black fills in all areas. The mornings are slow to raise the sun so by 8am it seems overcast but light.

The moose have returned to daily visit and have gained much weight over the summer months. The calves that were so small when we arrived now seem the size of a large shadow against their mother. The bulls antlers are growing in a rich espresso velvet and are more visible each day.
If you visit AK in the summer it is safe to assume that everyone is gone. With 22 hours of sunlight and plenty of fishing, hiking and camping to be done after a long dark winter people make up for that lost time.

I am debating what to do if/when Brad deploys. Should I stay here in the dead of winter by myself? Go back to CO to stay with a friend and work at Archivers again until he returns? Go to AZ to be close to my parents? I guess it depends on how long he is going to be gone and where he goes. There is talk of other bases to deploy to, so we will see. He started the NCO academy September 26th.

We are still looking to buy a home but as winter sets in we started looking to staying in the RV and have also begun looking to rent a furnished apt through the winter. Who knows, we will just take it day by day.

Our Trip Outside

2008-01-01T00:30:00.000-09:00

So we are home, YEAH!!!

Just a visual of our driving trip. Start with A, where we flew in from Anchorage. We flew home from J. Don't forget the flying miles.

Outside Alaska- CA

2007-12-31T23:58:00.000-09:00

We rent another car to head towards Cali. This time we upgraded to a Chevy Malibu. Still a small car compared to what we are use to, but a HUGE improvement from the teeny, tiny Aveo we spent so much time in. Even the kids were remarking over the space. We didn’t get the same cheap rate as the Aveo though. Cars are cheap in the Midwest. This is not the case on the west coast. Especially when picking up at one location and dropping in another. At $83/day our 4 days with the Malibu cost about the same as our little Aveo did for two weeks…yeah it hurt!

We hit the road and made it into CA by about 3pm (about 500 miles). On the way we hit 117 degrees. Seriously, why did we decide to travel through AZ and CA in Aug??

We got to LA and stayed at March ANG base. This base is closing so it has the abandoned feel to it. The billeting is very Spanish inspired with terra cotta roof tiles and heavily textured white stucco walls. Large palm trees were in the center of the courtyard with a trickling water fountain. Absolutely GEORGOUS!!

About 2 years ago I helped my mom find some relatives she had never met and some she had lost contact with. While looking for her family I also decided to try looking up a long lost best friend from my childhood. Hours and hours of frustration and several dead ends later I was finally able to contact her. We had spoken over the phone and emailed, but had not yet made contact in person until today. Even though I had not seen her in 17 years I so could have picked her out of a line up. She was always beautiful and now, as a woman, has only perfected her look. She has the squeakiest of voices so Mickey Mouse was a nick name through school. Wanna talk about flash backs. We had a great time. She lived just 2 houses down and we were attached to the hip for many a year. She has 2 daughters that are the same ages as mine so they got along great. And meeting at a Dave and Buster’s was a great decision according to Zac. How quickly time passes. We are hoping next time to plan a vaca together.

A friend, Tina (Jason’s wife), who grew up in LA told me to watch out for the traffic in LA. I was confident in all my travels and growing up in a large city I could totally handle a few cars driving beside me. She informed me of the 70 mph posted limit and the ACTUAL driving speed and how I would be sitting still. Speeding ticket, hello! Ok Tina, you were right!! I am cruzin at 80ish :) and cars are flying past me and pissed that I am in the way. Oh and locking up the brakes during morning rush hour in the fast lane, 6 lanes in is probably not the best choice. Oh and FYI a Chevy Malibu will shut off IMMEDIATELY when the brakes lock up. Laughing now with slight residual twitch.

The next day we headed out up highway 1. We spent some time on the beach and the weather was awesome. It was sunny and high 70s the short time we were there. When we pulled out of the parking lot of the beach I got pulled over again! The police came to the window and asked if I knew why I had been pulled over. I was speeding. NO! Well I might have been, but that wasn’t the reason I was getting pulled over. I guess I had run through a stop sign in the park. Lucky for me I got a warning. He was a little confused though. I have an AZ driver’s license with a CO address but we reside in AK. Another interesting fact about AZ driver’s license is the expiration date. Mine is not set to expire until 2041, seriously! Now the kids think they have some dirt on me. “Look out mom, there’s a stop sign,” or “Are you supposed to be going that fast?” HAHA funny stuff!

We got to Travis and stayed in the TLF there, another 400 miles. WHOA!!! I felt like I was in the Ritz or something. Our room had 2 bedrooms and a full kitchen for $43 a night. What a deal. The next day we drove through Napa Valley and the surrounding area. It was absolutely beautiful. Zac wants to move to CA when he is an adult. He loved southern CA and he saw upper on our trip to AK. We turned in the rental car after 1400 miles in 4 days and spent the next day at the Travis terminal awaiting a flight home. The USO has a family lounge that kept the kids and I busy to kill time. We were able to catch another C-5 for the return trip. With 3 ½ weeks and over 6000 miles under my belt I needed a rest. It sure was great to see lots of friends and family. We missed a few but will definitely try to catch them next time. Never know when we will make a trip.

The flight home was uneventful. The landing was a little rough but we landed in one piece. We bounced a few times and the face masks were falling out due to the molding coming off the plane.

All in all we had a great trip. I HATE flying!!!

Outside Alaska- AZ

2007-12-31T23:48:00.000-09:00

Now it is a straight shot to AZ. Just as we are approaching the AZ boarder my cell phone rings. It is my mom calling from her neighbor’s cell phone. She locked herself out of the house when she took out garbage…in her jammies. My dad is the only person with her spare key (my divorced parents are best friends, adds to the craziness huh?) so here she is on her back porch, without her cigarettes and her soda, in the middle of August in AZ, and we would not be there for about 2 ½ hours.

I think I jinxed myself as I made a stupid comment a while back about how I WAS NOT going to AZ anymore! Since Brad and I moved away in ’99 we have been back to AZ NO less than 3 times a year. One year we went 6 times! I am an AZ native, born and raised. I am done, no more, seen enough for now. Since my stupid comment I have been back 3 times in less than a year. I even said once we moved to AK I was not going to visit anyone for a long time. I made it 4 months before heading down to see our family. Something is really wrong with me!

In AZ we have my dad’s station wagon to crusin around in. Talk about a pimpin ride. It used to be my grandparents and my dad bought it off of them.

Zac and Kenzie spent most of the 4 days in AZ visiting their daddy Jason. Luckily we get along great. Yes, just like my parents all 4 of the kid’s parents hang out. Normally Jason and his wife, Tina, will join Brad and I and my 3 parents for dinner. So it is our 5 kids (my 2 with Jason, Brad’s 2 with Julie and Brad and I’s daughter) and my dad, mom and step-mom, Jason and Tina asking for table reservations. I also get along with Jason’s family and visit with them. Crazy as it seems it works out great. The kids think it is great. When Jason comes to visit them, he stays in our house and he and Brad get along. Jason’s wife and I get along. I just wish it could be like that with Brad’s ex.

Before we left, the kids took some photos with their Grandpa Chuck (Jason's dad above), Jason's mom and Jason's Grandfather.

While in Tucson we did just over 300 miles in the 4 days. Of course we hit our favorite spots. We were even able to see my sister’s land where they are planning to build a home. On the 3 acres they will also build a stable and coral to board their own horses and maybe even take in some to make some money. This has been a lifelong goal for their family.

I was ready to be home. I am a spoiled Air Force wife. Brad has never deployed and in almost 9 years we have never been more than 3 weeks apart. We talk on the phone several times a day, but not having the face to face conversation really wears on me. We also spent the past 3 weeks on a couch, living out of suitcases, which is more than enough for me. I know everyone thinks we are crazy for living in an RV, but as much traveling as we do it sure is nice to have your own bed and ability to cook your own meals where ever you are. Don’t even get me started on having your own restroom. People are nasty at rest stops!

I was hoping a flight would be leaving AZ to AK but no such luck. We are now headed to CA to try and catch a flight from there. No guarantees we will be able to do so, but that’s our best chance to get home. Who knows how long our stay in CA will be. This is a great advantage to homeschooling. We don’t have to worry about making it back for “school”. This is "school"!

Outside Alaska- MO/OK/TX/NM

2007-12-31T23:41:00.000-09:00

We follow my dad to Rolla, MO and stopped for the night after 600 miles. This is the small town Brad’s grandmother lives in. The area is beautiful. Got a kewl pic following behind just past St. Louis, MO.

The next day I made good on my promise and ate at the Bob Evans before dropping off the car. I turned in the rental car after 3600 miles in 2 weeks and full of white sand from Lake MI. We now cram into my dad’s car. My dad is driving, Kenzie is in the middle, and my step-mom is in the passenger seat. The second row consists of Zac, Mikaela and me. It is a station wagon with two useable seats. The third seat and back are filled with luggage and pillows.

Remember this is the end of August. There has been an unusual heat wave plaguing the Midwest and 6 people smashed in a car for about 1300 miles. The A/C would freeze up so the vent would circulate the hot, humid air. It felt as if we were being slow cooked. The windows would get crack so the sound of 70 mph wind would deafen us. In my childhood music would be on in the car, in the house, everyday. I don’t remember my dad ever watching TV, ever! Well something happened as he has aged. The entire trip to AZ is without the radio… and this vehicle actually has one! For those who do not know my dad (great guy) this ’88 Olds station wagon is his newest vehicle he owns. His daily driver is a ’67 Ford p/u. Or a ’64 Pontiac Catalina, or ’64 Pontiac Bonneville…all without FM radio.

We make it through OK and are on the outskirts of TX and it is late. We are in search of dry ice for the 20lbs of MI blueberries my dad is bringing home with him. Every year he brings them to AZ. They are the biggest, juiciest, sweetest blueberries known to man. As the minutes pass the dry ice is evaporating so the hunt is on. A small town in TX at 10pm = no dry ice. We drive on and still no ice. We make it into Tucumcari, NM and finally stop for the night after almost 900 miles. We have the blueberries in front of the A/C unit for the night. Blueberries just hold on please don’t let go. We made a stop in the morning at a local store to get dry ice. Score! They will make it to AZ without completely thawing. I thought there for a while we were gonna have to eat 20lbs of blueberries in NM.

Outside Alaska- MI

2007-12-31T23:26:00.000-09:00

We made it into MI late that night, just about 600 miles. We headed over to the Foster’s house. They are like second parents to me. Mr. Foster and my dad have been friends since young teen years and Mrs. Foster has been there just as long. We always spend some time with them. They have a beautiful spread out in rural MI. A few acres with a flowing stream cutting across it, a nice home and a HUGE garage where we spend most of our time. Mr. Foster had just had surgery on his hand so he was home the entire time we were there. Their youngest daughter was there too. She was just about to start her senior year of college and was spending a few days at home. It was so nice see them. We just hung out and relaxed.

We met up with my dad the next day. He had car problems that stopped his progress from AZ to MI. Luckily they made it just short of their final destination. So Mrs. Foster and I grab some of Mr. Foster’s tools and headed off to help my dad and step-mom. By the time we got there someone else had stopped to help out. My dad had neck surgery the year before and here he is under his car trying to drop the fuel tank. I swear to you I want to smack him! With all of us helping we were able to drop the tank, replace the fuel filter/pump and raise the tank again. Oh did I forget to mention this is at a gas station parking lot and my dad had just filled up his gas tank. Of course it always could be worse. There could have been a heat wave floating through MI at the time of our visit…oh wait there was one. Well we got it done and headed to eat. Wouldn’t ya know it there was a Bob Evan’s on the way back to the Foster’s.

We made the trip to my grandparents to see how they were doing. We got lucky at the beginning of the year when we went to AZ to drop off my Jeep. They were there so we got to see them twice this year. I have a huge family in MI. My dad is 1 of 10 kids and of course everyone has married and had children. My family is a little sick and twisted and if you can’t take a joke you might not wanna come over. Sarcasm is a prerequisite to join the family. Now you see why Brad fits in just right. Montgomery and Gentry have a Xmas song that paints the picture perfectly Brad says.

This year the family reunion started at a bowling alley. There’s nothing like a bunch of Benkerts invading a bowling alley. We all look the same (all 10 kids have brown hair and blue eyes) and have A LOT of kids between us. So here are all these hillbillies bowling. It’s amazing we are all in shoes!

I am blessed to have the craziest family. My children are never at a loss for people to talk to or play with and Zac can build ANYTHING with the supplies at my uncle Bruce’s. My aunts have creative ways to play games and have fun toys for the kids. This year all the kids got screaming, flying monkeys! Yep, you heard me right, screaming flying monkeys. You pull their sling shot arms back as far as you can, aim at your target and let it fly. Through the air sails a streak of brown fur until it hits something and then you hear a LOUD shrieking scream from this thing. Lotta fun for another 5000 miles in an itty bitty car! I will find revenge ladies. Just you wait and see.

So we spent a week in between the Foster’s and my grandparents. Got some great photos of the MI scenery, just wish I had a better camera. Brad, listening??? HINT...HINT....

My grandparents live right next to Lake Michigan so one of the days we drove to the beach and walked around. We walked through the museum of transportation. There were so many amazing model ships. They were so small, but had every little detail. Talk about patience. The kids got to do some swimming and build sand castles.

I am trying to plan my return trip home. Not being accompanied by Brad I am only allowed to fly from any base going straight to Elmendorf. Most flights out of the Midwest are not heading straight to AK, so the plan is to try and head to CA where the most flights going directly to AK originate.

We say good bye to my family and the Foster’s. My dad heads out with us as he is our ride to AZ.

Outside Alaska- IL/IN

2007-12-31T23:25:00.000-09:00

We left that night heading onward to IL. IL and IN were the same as the several times we have been through there before. Lots of construction, truckers and impatient drivers. I was so distracted in thought about Brad deploying. I was trying really hard to joke around with the kids but found it was hard to focus my attention.

Don’t forget, Chicago has tolls, lots of them and you need change :)

Outside Alaska- IA

2007-12-31T23:14:00.000-09:00

We are trucking right along and hit IA by late afternoon. I am talking on the phone with Brad (hand slap I know) while driving through Des Moines. Now mind you, I am always the passenger or Brad is in the car with me. This is my first time passing through IA without Brad. So we are cruisin right along. I keep asking Zac how much further for our pull off. He keeps telling me the mile marker which is still a ways up the road. We are driving into the darkest, heaviest cloud I have ever seen. I mean I could almost stand on top of the car and touch the sterling black cloud drooping down from the sky. We then hit the rain. And I mean sheets of pressurized water slicing through the sky. It was raining so hard and so fast, semis were pulling off the side of the road. I am looking for an overpass as I am certain we’ve got a tornado sweeping through the corn fields. I pull off as I cannot see and the road has completely disappeared. I call Brad to remind him of my love for IA and the interest I have to participate in a tornado experiment in a match box car. It was raining so hard off the plastic car he could not hear me or I him. That was a great puzzle piece to add to the mix. I finally begin to drive again as the rain has lightened just enough to actually see the center line maybe 5 feet in front of me. This was the case for about 40 miles. Well we lost a lot of time as we could only go 20 mph at best. Next thing you know we are out of it. As quickly as we entered we were out. The sky was bright blue ahead of us with a beautiful double rainbow and a black wall behind us.

Well I pass another mile marker and ask Zac how much further as we should be turning off by now. He again gives me the mile marker for our exit which is still way off considering we have been driving for a while. I pull off the road to look at the map. Come to find out while I was busy talking on the phone to Brad the road I was on forked while I wasn’t paying attention and I had headed 70 miles North when I should have been heading due East. I know I know that’s what I get for talking and driving on the phone, even with hands free. Guess I got a little cocky as I have passed through Des Moines at least a dozen times in the past few years, remember Brad was always there though. So I look at the map and realize I need to back track to make it to his parents. I can either head ALL the way back down to the original interstate 80 or cut through on farm roads which are more scenic. I choose the scenic route. Hello black wall, here we go again.

I have now driven about 800 miles, 2 hours of sleep the night before, 5 shots of coffee and a few Pepsis. I am pinging and hallucinating and reentering the black wall of fiery. We get about half way through the storm when our exit appears. SO we turn off the interstate to begin our travels on 2 lane farm roads. Guess what… the storm is heading due east and we are in the middle of it. Had I known that before I would have gone down to 80. We had the same sheets of rain and black out conditions but now have cars and trucks coming at us inches away. Every time a vehicle would pass the car would get doused with water. We are in such a POS car that the entire car would shake from the force of the water hitting the car. Did I mention the high winds, lack of street lights and no cell phone service???? Fun times or the making of a horror flick, you chose.

We are crawling along, my hands are crushing the steering wheel cuz every time we hit a pocket of water the car wants to hydroplane into the other lane or down into the ditch I can’t see. About another 80 miles of that had me a bit on edge. We make it into Cedar Rapids by 10pm. Yeah, I am familiar with this city, I can get dinner for the kids as they are about to pass out from starvation and I can get right to Brad’s parents with my eyes closed from here. That was BEFORE they had construction and detours into areas I have never driven. And I think the guy who put up the detour signs forgot a few important signs. We finally make our way out of the maze known as Cedar Rapids and find a fast food place that is still open. Remember these are little towns. Being away from them for so long makes me forget how nice some of the folks are. The guy was super sweet. He even gave us a military discount even though the restaurant does not offer one and sent a message of thanks on to Brad. Small town hospitality is AWESOME!!!! We made it to Brad’s parents’ home just after midnight. I am totally fried. I think we ended up going over 200 miles out of our way. That makes over 1000 miles from CO to IA in 1 day. All because I thought I could talk and drive.

Brad’s dad got home from work shortly after I got there and explained that the storm was only a 10 mile wide corridor that headed east. So the entire time we were in the storm I could have dropped down to another farm road (IA is like a grid of farm roads) and I would have had clear skies and smooth sailing. Oh well lesson learned.

We spent the next day with Brad’s family. I got to share our photos from the trip to AK and many more we have. The kids love Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Fresh cookies, baked ham and a 52” TV, they never want to leave. We even got to eat lunch at Happy Joe’s. While eating lunch with Brad’s parents Brad calls to tell me he is deploying to Afghanistan in Jan for at least 4 months. After a few choice words I explain he could have waited to deliver the news as I was driving 600 miles after lunch so I had plenty of time to think about it. It was great timing on his part. I tried stopping in to our friends, the Schwenkers, but they were hanging out in TX while we were there. I’ll catch you next time guys.

Outside Alaska- NE

2007-12-31T23:12:00.000-09:00

I am so lucky that the kids are used to traveling. We have a routine. We only stop at gas stations or fast food restaurant to use the restroom. Guess I have heard too many horror stories and with me and my 3 kids I want to stop with more people and possible video surveillance. We also learned after a potty break, slap a sandwich together and eat while driving. Zac has mastered sandwich assembly on his knees in the passenger seat. The girls bag up chips and I refill water bottles before hitting the road.

NE was same ol same ol. We have made the trek across NE more than I would like to admit. Living in AZ and CO with family in IA and MI, ya kinda have to either go through KS or NE. YEAH!!!!

Outside Alaska- CO

2007-12-31T23:07:00.000-09:00

By now most of my friends in Colorado Springs have received a phone call that we are on our way to visit. I was offered by several friends a place to crash, which is a courteous offer considering my bunch o’kids. My friend Jen has a huge home that she opened up to us. We had become close friends while living in CO. She has 2 children, the oldest being one of Kaela’s best friends, Hunter and Autumn Marie (I take some credit in that kewl hippie name:)). Kenzie prides herself in being Autumn’s awesome babysitter. By the time we got there I was exhausted. Add another 500 miles to the total. It was about dinner time so we headed over to Monica’s Taco. The BEST fish tacos around. We even called Brad to brag…. I mean share the experience with him. We only spent 2 days there but we were able to see most of our friends and eat at all our favorite restaurants: Bird Dogs, Monica’s Taco, and Josh and John’s Ice Cream. As we went into our old hang outs the employee’s immediately recognized us. Yes, even at the Starbucks! We even got our Blue Moose salsa from Whole Foods.

I got to head over to Archivers and catch up with my old co-workers. Should have seen their faces as I came strollin in with my old Archiver’s apron on. Some of the customers were surprised to see me back in so soon after the move. Archivers was such a great place to work because of the people. I always had a blast going into to work. I could always count on Mel to crack me up every day. I was able to control myself and I only bought a tiny bit of stuff, for me any way.

We also spent some time with our good friends the Herbelin family. Both of our families home school and we became great friends while running Girl Scout troops together. Their girls and my girls are the bestest of friends (as Kaela says). While hanging out with them we stopped in at the RV Park where we use to stay. Ron and Yogi are the host and took us under their wing while we were there. We only had a few minutes to catch up with them as they were on their way to OK, but I’m glad we got to say “Hi” before they left.

Beth stopped in over to Jen’s. She is my comedian friend. We worked together at Archivers until she ditched us for another job. We even took a class together in college. Luckily for me, she paid more attention than I did. She was very helpful come homework time.

We headed out of Colorado Springs early. I mean WAY early for me. Five A.M. early. We had about 800 miles to drive to make it to Brad’s parent’s house in IA. Of course I had to stop and get me some go-go juice at Starbucks. So I am wired and we are on our way.

I was cruisin right along through Eastern CO when a police officer saw a shiny little blue Aveo fly by. I really had those hamsters purring (Great analogy Jen!). I ended up with a speeding ticket for 12 over, $60. Lucky for me, I guess I had slowed when he clocked me as I thought I was going faster. Needless to say, the trip took a more leisurely course from there. Nebraska here we come.

Outside Alaska- KS

2007-12-31T22:47:00.000-09:00

Oh, how I've missed Kansas. Zac wanted to capture my emotional reunion on film.

While driving, I start making calls. The first call is to my best friend. I get her on the phone and ask, “Hey, whatcha ya doin tonight?” Casually she explains her work schedule and plans for daycare for her son. Then she asks “Where are you?” I say “On my way to see you!” We both start screaming back and forth. Once all is calm she asks when we will be there. I told her we should make it there by tonight and by the way, can we stay with you? She screamed of course of course. She lives in Manhattan, KS where her husband is stationed at FT. Riley. He is in Iraq currently. That is the great thing about best friends; you can fly a couple thousand miles and crash at their house short notice. We lived together back in the day for a couple years so she is like a sister to me. We got there and checked out her beautiful house. The solid wood doors, beveled glass windows and hardwood floors even had the kids taking notice. We got to catch up together. I missed her wedding due to our PCSing to AK so I got to see the pictures and ask questions face to face. The next morning she showed us around the post and then it was time to head off. I grabbed a Starbucks and hit the road.

Did you know that an Aveo with a 12 gallon tank can run quite a while with the low fuel light on?? I finally found a gas station and fueled up 11 ½ gallons. That would have been fun in the middle of KS. That’s just less than 300 miles for the 1st day.

Outside Alaska- MO

2007-12-31T22:42:00.000-09:00

We are about to land so we begin cleaning up our stuff. I am ready to be off the plane by now. We had made friends with the other mom with 4 kids. Turns out they live on Ft. Rich and home school too. Once she knew she could fly on this flight she retracted her daggers.

With a few hops and skips we landed in Springfield, MO at the city airport. The temps in Alaska have not reached above 79 ALL year. Humidity is high but low temps make it pleasant. In MO in August the humidity is high and just about matching the outrageous temps. I think the kids had forgotten what hot, humid weather feels like cause they acted new to the scene. Even after almost all their lives living in AZ, IA, TX and CO.

Luckily the rental car place is in the airport so I was able to pick the car up right there. I walk up to the counter; gave my confirmation code only to discover I have no reservation. WHAT??? I am in Springfield, MO with 3 kids and no car. The rental car agent is doing everything he can to look me up. I ask if l can just rent another car for 2 weeks. The only thing they had left were Hummer 3’s. Yeah, I don’t think so. I was planning to do about 3000 miles in 2 weeks in a compact, not a thirsty SUV. I’ve got one of them at home. Turns out when I made the reservation and I told the rental place that ‘I needed a car tomorrow for 2 weeks” He put me down for pick up on the 16th. In Alaska the time was 10pm the 14th. Wherever the reservation department for Hertz is obviously a few hours after Alaska so I learned when I say tomorrow, I need to give the date. Easy fix, add a day to my plan and car was ready to go. So guess what kind of car you get for $185 a week with unlimited miles?? You guessed it a Chevy Aveo! It was a miniature compact car. If Brad had been with us it never would have worked. Zac sat up front and the girls got the back seat. Our one duffle bag, pillows, and backpacks filled the trunk. It got about 33 miles to the gallon so “being close” saved us big.

It is so hot the A/C really didn’t work and the one arm rest for Zac and I to share proved to be a constant battle. It was a whoever got it first type thing. As I was signing for the car I asked about a Bob Evans. If you read any of the earlier post you will have read about our love for Bob Evans. It is kind of like an IHOP but with AWESOME biscuits and gravy. It is in no way healthy, but damn good. It so happens there is a Bob Evans 5 miles from the airport. First stop in Missouri is Bob Evans. We walk in the door and we are greeted by the hostess. She asked how we were doing. “Well, it is his 13th birthday and we just landed ½ hour ago from Alaska just to get some Bob Evans sausage gravy,” I explain. Once we are seated I gave Zac a few gifts we saved from the party until his actual birthday. When they bring out the food a candle is perched in his biscuits. A quick little song and we dug in. I go up to pay and his meal (the most expensive) was not on the bill. I just wish everyday was his B-day as that boy can eat. As we left to begin our asphalt journey I told the hostess we would be back when we dropped off the car too.

We pull out of BE in search of a Starbucks. Yes I needed my 5 shots of espresso to wake up. We found it and we were on our way.

Zac is my navigator and he began looking for the shortest, quickest route. He trimmed 100 miles off our original plan (forget MapQuest). We start cruisin’ down the country roads in MO which consist of rolling hills of waving grass and jagged rock formations. There are trees scattered here and there and small lakes are filled with the cattle trying to stay cool from the overbearing sun. I know why too!

August in Alaska

2007-12-31T22:32:00.000-09:00

So we are now back to being 5 /7 of the Becker Bunch and we are missing the girls (sigh). The weeks following a visit are kinda tough. For a couple months we get use to them being here and having them with us really changes the rhythm of our family. The same is true when they return to Arizona. It has been rainy and dreary which adds to the somber mood. Living in Alaska, we know quick trips to AZ are out of the question. We use to make the trip at least 3 to 4 times a year plus them coming to see us.

Temps have cooled some to about the high 60s. The days are beginning to get darker so now it starts to get dark around 10ish. I have no idea when the sun rises as we are still sound asleep. You’ll have to ask Brad because he is up and gone to work early in the morning.

We are still hosting at the FamCamp here. We are preparing for the winter to stay in the RV. House hunting is not looking too hopeful at this time. Strangely enough there are other crazy people like us that brave the Alaska winter in a house on wheels. And not those fancy mobile homes either! We have tossed base housing around and have also thought about staying in TLF (temporary living facility) if the weather gets really bad. Our house hold goods were released and dropped off at a storage unit we rented. The boxes all look ok but we won’t know about the contents until we get a house. Brad found a shelf and one of his speakers that did not make it here in one piece, but he needed new speakers and the shelf is a Wal-Mart cheapy.

My family holds an annual family reunion which we have attended the past few years. Well, this year I decided to attend while Brad was at the NCO Academy. Turns out after I made plans to attend the reunion Brad’s Academy dates changed and Brad will be attending the Academy in Sept-Oct.

So I began working on going outside (term Alaskans use for heading to the lower 48) towards MI. Brad has told me, in no certain terms, that he has no intentions of letting me drive through Canada by myself, so I looked into hopping down. Hopping is flying on a military aircraft to the lower forty-eight somewhere and catching a flight back from a base flying directly to Elmendorf. If Brad were coming we could fly in and out of any base with enough seating available.

I began looking at flying into Travis, near Sacramento, CA. Because of security after September 11th, they will only give the flight schedule 72 hours prior to departure and all flights are subject to change without notice. This is really fun when trying to plan a trip. Hey, the flight is free so I will definitely play their game. The plan was to fly into CA, rent a car, and head towards MI visiting everyone I could along the way and return to CA 2 weeks later to fly home. Well, the storms and evacuations in HI diverted all planes I would’ve taken. I walked into the terminal on Aug. 14th around 7pm to sign up for a flight to Travis. That flight had been canceled because of the storms in the HI area. But they did have a flight heading to Springfield, MO that night. Roll call was at 1am and the plane was leaving around 4am. OK, I was not planning on flying into MO but quickly started making calls about a car rental and a return trip. I went home to work out the details. At about 10pm I got the car booked and the bags were packed. My dad offered a ride from MO as far as AZ if needed.

I had known for about 2 weeks that I would be trying to fly outside in the middle of the month so I made an appointment to get a prescription for “happy” pills to fly on the plane. Since Brad works in the pharmacy he said he would just bring them home after the prescription was filled. So the night of the flight is at hand and I ask Brad for my “happy” pills he picked up from the pharmacy. He began to search through the medicine cabinet looking for the pills. They were not there. He keeps looking all around to no avail. I am beginning to panic (the last flight I took had a similar story). He is asking if I knew where they were. Excuse me??? He had told me not to worry. Once someone filled the script he would bring them home. The week earlier I asked if he had picked them up and he said yes. Well he decided to run up to work to verify they were filled and picked up. He forgot his badge in the race against the clock and the call person had left for the day (2 hours before suppose too). Luckily the security officer knows him well and let him in. Guess what… he never picked them up. They were there waiting for me.

So he rushes home we load the truck and head towards the terminal. Military hops are stand-by. Depending on whom you are and the reason for travel will determine what category you fly in. Being an unaccompanied spouse going on vacation I am at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. The flight we decided to hop on had 7 seats available with no one else inquiring about them. We got to the terminal and found the roll call time had been bumped up and they were boarding the plane in 45 minutes. Great! We were the only ones there and ready to go. Within the minute we got into the building and began the process a woman and 4 kids came looking for the same flight. Then came a family with 3 kids… and a single guy…and so on. The daggers were flung in our direction but the staff was able to fit us all in on the flight. Guess there were other seats available after all.

I pop ½ of a pill to knock out the nerves but remain conscious for the kids. This will be their first flight EVER! They had stepped foot on a plane in TX for cub scouts, but that was pre 9-11 and lasted maybe 10 minutes.

We boarded a C5 cargo plane. WOW! These things are huge. It was dark and kind of raining out so as we approached the plane the light is reflecting off this ginormous beast, like a super sized beached whale would look under the full moon. We climbed off the bus and up the stairs to the upper deck.

Well it is now 12:30am August 15th, Zac’s official 13th birthday. What could be a better gift than an 8 hour flight in a kewl military plane? He had wanted to fly for years but his paranoid mother refused to let him. Living in Alaska has changed my thought process a lot.

We got situated and ear plugs in place. Take off surprised the kids. “Better than a roller coaster ride,” Mikaela said. I was so skeered I clinched the kids to hold them in place. The ride is pretty bumpy and everything rattled but it was free. The seats were able to recline and the arm rest came off so we were able to sleep some. The only complaint from the kids is there were no windows to look out. Kenzie found a small emergency exit that the window covering had fallen some so she could peek out but no real views.

Another flight under my belt. Did I mention I HATE flying!!!!!

July in Alaska

2007-12-19T21:56:00.000-09:00

Happy 4th to all!!

I have something to add to my list of “firsts.” For the first time in my life I have spent the month of July NOT in hot weather! We have not hit above 75 this month. Even at night the temp only drops a few degrees. For the entire month I think the low was in the 50’s? We are now watching the sun set around 11:30pm.

We have had a few rainy days that set the tone of a lazy summer day. It’s perfect weather for sippin’ cold lemonade, or ice tea for Brad, listening to the buzz of the air conditioner. Yes, at 75 degrees we run the air.

We purchased a large screened tent so we could eat outside with worrying about mosquitoes eating us or carrying the kids away. They are plentiful up here! Surprisingly, the Famcamp area is not too bad, but if you go hiking in the woods without spray you will never be heard from again. They will engulf you from head to toe, no lie. Just ask the kids about taking pictures outside. They would swat away until I would tell them to stay still for the picture. They would freeze and give me their best smiles under the circumstances and resume swatting after I lowered the camera.

Brad has been a barbequing fool. Salmon, Halibut and Reindeer sausage are some of the favs he has been grillin’ up. In Alaska you don’t get dinner without a show. While eating the grub we are able to view the local moose, Herseys (Momma) and Kisses (calf), as they stroll by. It is a nightly event right in our front yard. Most of the moose we have seen are cows, but we have even seen our first bull with nubs.

We spend most of the day and evenings outside. We are directly across from the playground and the kids have made some forts to hang out in. All of the camper kids come around. With 5 kids there is someone for everyone to play with. Imaginations come alive when you’re that close to nature. Brad spent many of summers with his brother doing the same thing.

We have been meeting a lot of people coming through the FamCamp. That is one of the perks being hosts. It is fun to talk with people from literally all over the world. We have even exchanged some numbers and will stay in contact with some campers.

Brad’s pharmacy hosted a picnic. It was a great chance to meet his co-workers and their families. Lots of games were played but the water gun fight was most memorable.

We are still looking to buy a home but had to kick our realtor to the curb. Guess when we told him our price range he decided he would not be making a large enough profit to work with us. Houses are made of gold in Alaska. So far that has been the biggest drawback.

The girls and I were driving around waiting for dance (imagine that we were early) and we happened to find a motor-cross track in a city park. Now we just need some four wheelers and go carts! Are you listening Santa?!?!

In the state of Alaska teenagers are able to test for their drivers permit at age 14. You should have seen Ashley’s eyes bug out when she heard that. We gave her the study guide and she read through it front to back. We began taking her out to get some miles under her belt on base. So picture this. Ashley is a 14 year old girl maybe 5’2” and about 100lbs soaking wet, driving a 4ton Excursion or long bed, crew cab dually. Brad told her if she could drive these, she could drive anything. She did great! She gets that from me :). Being on a military base it is not uncommon to have random checkpoints set up to check military I.D’s for security reasons. While we were out on one of our drives we happen to drive up to one. She had to stop and talk to an SP (military police) while driving. Again, Ashley’s eyes were bugging out and she was nervous as all get out, but we talked her through it and again, she did great! We took her in to test and Ashley got her permit just before she headed home to AZ. Brad will never forget how excited she was. We are all proud of Ashley, but Daddy was the proudest by far.

Because Michele and Ashley were flying home July 31st, we decided to celebrate Zac and Michele’s 13th B-day before they left. So following our family tradition, the b-day kids get to make their cake and decorate it. They both got Carhartt pants as one of their gifts. Living in Alaska these are a must.

Ashley took a babysitting class on base while she was here too. She baby-sits a lot in AZ and now she has specific training to add to her resume. This class is mandatory for teenagers that baby-sit on a military base, so now she can advertise on DM in Tucson if she wants.

Because I am not working 2 jobs or running a couple GS troops, I have a little extra time to catch up on old unfinished projects. I am working on a crocheted purse with wool yarn. I will wash it in hot water to felt it to 1/3 the original size. Because I like large messenger bags the thing looks like a sleeping bag, no lie. I will keep you posted on how it turns out. The kids keep kidding me that it will make an awesome sleeping bag if it doesn’t shrink down enough. Gotta love the support that family gives.

We are taking advantage of the great hiking trails and extended sunlight. Our latest conquest was a 10 mile hike in Girdwood which is just south of Anchorage. This area is heaven on earth. The scenery was too much to absorb so we will have to go back again and again. We even got to take a hand cart over 100 feet above a rushing river. Fun Times for those with a deathly fear of heights! We have been told this a well known grizzly hangout, so next time we will have bear spray and maybe a sidearm.

We also wrote another chapter in a mother and son tradition. Zac and I camped out to await the new Harry Potter book. It all began long ago in Texas when a friend, Lafawn, suggested a book for Zac. He was still learning to read so I began to read him this adventurous series that so many have grown to love. We joined the crowds and wait at Barnes and Noble to get our hands on the saga of Harry and his friends. We got there early and Zac almost made it on the news but a cute little brunette caught the news reporter’s eye and away flew the camera. I told Zac to get used to that. Inside there were lines and lines of people. There were games and activities while we waited. Then came the countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. We waited over an hour after midnight to get our hands on this book. Zac had it finished in just a few days.

I have been attending crops at the local scrap booking stores and meeting other scrapbookers. Yes there are other freaks that like scrapbooking as much as I do. It’s like a cult. Must worship paper, stickers and stamps.

The summer ended with Ashley and Michele heading back to AZ on July 31st. They are going back to triple temps. Not sure how well they are gonna readjust to the 40 degree swing.

June in Alaska

2007-08-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

The saying midnight sun has a whole new meaning to us. WOW! We celebrated the Summer Solstice which is the longest day of the year and truly felt it with the 22 hours of sunlight. We have been observing the days growing longer but have become use to it. It seems like nothing to be sitting around at 11:30pm and it still looks like 7pm. The sun sets just after midnight now, but there’s still enough light to see across the street to the park when it finally does set. We have hit the hottest temps so far (79 degrees) and we were sweating like pigs. We got a pleasant surprise that Ashley and Michele’s first flight to AK would be covered by the PCS move paid for by the military. Their trip left much to be desired by the airline company. They were to have a non-stop flight from Phoenix to Anchorage. Julie agreed to drive them to Phoenix from Tucson to ensure a straight flight. When they arrived at the airport they were greeted by extremely rude staff as they tried checking in Ashley’s Yorkshire terrier. The dog got checked in but the girls were not seated together on the plane. Then they board the non-stop flight to Anchorage. Well I guess the flight had a change of plans as they stopped over in Vegas. The girls were asked to exit the plane and were told by the staff they were not sure if there would be seating available for them. WHAT???? Two teenagers, in Las Vegas, tickets paid for straight flight to Anchorage, Mom in Arizona, and Dad in Alaska. Yes, we have begun the grievance with the airline company. We are just ecstatic the girls made it safely and can now experience Alaska with us.

They made it just in time for Fathers day. Brad could not have asked for a better gift than to have all 5 kids with him. He also received some wanted CD’s and a new bottle of cologne. Before we even arrived in AK we were told we HAD to eat at the Moose’s tooth pizza restaurant. They also have a brewery so for father’s day we headed to the Moose’s Tooth and dined on some delicious pizza and Brad sampled some of the most popular brews.

The base has many activities for families. We are getting familiar with the Artic oasis which is a huge indoor activity area. Inside there is a miniature golf, a climbing wall, a skate park, a teen center, a game room to include pool table, air hockey and fooze ball, a computer lab, TV area, park equipment, and full gym with teenager equipment too. They offer many different classes for families too. I can see we will be spending a lot of time here in the winter. We attended a base picnic with live entertainment, free food, games and a bald eagle release. A local bird rehabilitation center worked to rehabilitate a bald eagle that had an abscess on its wing. We have been taught by a Lakota tribesman that eagles carry prayers on the wings to the creator. The kids and I took a minute to share our prayers with the eagle to ask that he carry them away. It was amazing to see a wild animal that had been unable to fly for a year and a half gracefully fly into the horizon.

I have been visiting the local scrapbooking stores in the area. I have been asked to teach so I will begin teaching at the arts and crafts center on base and also a local scrapbooking store in Wasilla. I am super excited! I miss working at Archivers. That has defiantly been my most favorite job. I learned SOOO much that I hope I will be able to inspire scrappers here.

We got to attend a fun family show. The Severy Iditarod dog show is a slap stick hour long skit that teaches the history, hard work and dedication needed for the Famous Iditarod race. When even meet a famous star from the movie 8 below.

The girls have started an Irish dance class. They love it and caught on really quick. We have even borrowed River Dance from the local library and have watched it A LOT.

We got to participate in another homeschool event. This time it was an out of this world fair. Men in Black, Harry Potter, Gilligan’s Island, The Hobbit, Star Wars and Legend of Zelda were some of the favorite booths.

We have been biking about 25 miles a night. We like to ride our bikes to the base movie theater (very cheap) to see current releases. We also were recommended to a Chinese restaurant called China Town just out side one of the gates so we ride to that for dinner.

We love to go for drives. No matter where you are going the views are drop dead gorgeous. There are mountains in the distance and the ocean on the edge of town with lakes scattered everywhere. The wildflowers are crowding the curbs and sidewalks. I mean the Fireweed is eye popping magenta and the Lupines are a deep blue. On our many drives we have seen hillsides that are overtaken by daisies. We even were able to find a patch of wild Iris growing, my moms fav flower. The trees are very beautiful but also very sappy. Every morning you can see the sticky coating across the trucks. While talking to other RVers you can literally see the honey drops falling from the trees.

We were asked to volunteer as assistant host. This is an awesome opportunity to us. This is our dream once Brad retires so getting some experience under our belt is nice. We also get to stay free which is my favorite stay. Roy is the camp host and has been doing it for many years. He retired from the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He also heads to the lower 48 for the winter. We just do as he tells us too and help people when needed. Some funny stories and some really stupid Girl Scout leaders keep us entertained. The leaders decided to ignore the NO OPEN FIRE base wide ban and started a fire on the ground. They didn’t even clear the 1” of dead leaves from last year before setting the logs a blaze on the ground. Seeing how I am a Natural Resources student, Girl Scout leader, Boy Scout leader and common sense camp host, I about lost it when they got attitude that we asked them to extinguish the fire

Brad has many opportunities to volunteer here. He signed us up for a cancer relay for life event. The kids helped sell candy and glow sticks to the runner/walkers. Then they decorated several paper bags to place a candle inside to remember our family members who have lost their lives to cancer. My maternal grandmother died of breast cancer, my godfather and paternal uncle to pancreatic cancer, Brad’s maternal grandfather to cancer and Zac and Kenzie’s paternal uncle to childhood leukemia. They were also hosting a midnight crop to scrapbook too. Anyone who knows me knows my truck is a storage unit for my scrapbooking supplies, so of course I had to go and play too.

We have been taking advantage of the 2 pools on the Air Force base and Army post. Both of them are free and a lot of fun. Again, this is another activity that will be great in the winter.

We are still seeing alot of wildlife. We have a little black bear that stays in the RV park. Photo was taken about 11:30pm and you can still see the sun peeking through the trees. Also a few moose that visit daily too.

May in Alaska

2007-08-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

Our dream has come true. We have only lived in Alaska for one month and we’re SOLD!! When we got here the ground was still frozen and trees were bare. The grass was dead and the mountains were brown. In the short time we have been here there has been an explosion of color. Slowly we saw the Birch trees sprout green buds and by the end of the month they began to unfold and fill the bare trees. We observed the grass piercing up through the soil in little sporadic clumps to say hello to the sky which has been stunning blue with white fluffy clouds. Dandelions are bursting up in groves and adding bright yellow patches on the ground. The mountains are now velvety green with the contrast of the lime green Birch leaves and the deep forest green of the Spruce and Black Spruce. The days are getting longer so for a night owl like me it allows me to stay outside longer than normal. The downside to that is nothing stays open longer even though it is light out until 11pm now.

We picked up Bullwinkle, my truck, from the shippers just after we arrived in Anchorage. The grill was damaged but everything else looked good. I am relived. I was told some gruesome stories about broken windshields and excessive body damage. I have a sentimental attachment to vehicles so it is nice to have him home :)

We are now in the market for a home (without wheels under it) so the search is on. We have been driving around looking at land and houses and we have come to a conclusion. Alaska is not like any other state we have lived in. You’ll be driving along looking at $500,000 homes with a meth lab trailer right next door that has been collecting trash (no lie) for YEARS!! We are looking outside of Anchorage in Wasilla, which is about 45 miles away. We knew it was our kind of town because you can ride 4 wheelers and snow machines to the store. Ya can’t get any better than that!

We have been getting together with our friends Kari and Lawrence and catching up while doing some barbequing. They have introduced us to some food joints they have found and fun activities to do. Lawrence is in the Army and just made Sgt. He asked Brad to pin him at the ceremony. This is a great honor and Brad was more than willing to do this.

We even got to go on a vacation 3 weeks after arriving in AK. The base gives out free tickets to ride the local train so we got 5 round trip tickets to Seward, AK. We made reservations at the Army resort down there for the evening. The ride was really awesome and we all enjoyed it. None of the kids had ever been on a train before so this was huge ordeal. The train cut between the mountains and followed the coast for about 120 miles. We passed a glacier and miles and miles of untouched land. Seward is a beautiful little town where LOTS of fishing takes place. It is nestled in between snow-capped mountains that are sterling grey. The weekend was 65 degrees and clear blue skies. We hiked all around after getting a Starbuck’s coffee. We practiced skipping rocks and all improved our skills. We hiked back to our room and Barbequed dinner. The next day we hiked down to the Aquatic sea life center. The kids had a blast touching the star fish and they finally got to see the puffins. The ride home was just a beautiful and relaxing as the ride there.

For Mother’s day we met up with Kari and Lawrence again and ate at Garcia’s. We used to go to one in Tucson so we were familiar with the restaurant. The food was delicious and the margaritas were great. So was the company.

About a week after we got here I picked up Brad from work to run some errands and I got pulled over on base. Not for speeding either. Guess I spent too much time in California as I was told I stopped like they do. The SP was really nice and just gave me a warning.

Late one night after leaving our friends about 1:30am I was driving back to the RV and noticed a weird glare on the windshield. I asked Brad what it was and we soon figured out we were experiencing the Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights. The show was only about 5 minutes but the unexpected change of colors and the gliding movement through the sky was breath taking. The pictures and postcards do not do it justice.

Our wildlife viewing has been exciting. There are moose every where to include just outside our RV door. Thor was out on his run frozen in fear when the moose came looking for the down trees in the site next to ours. Brad saw the first black bear across the street from FamCamp at one of the lakes on base. The next day the kids and I saw a mama and her cub playing in a grassy area. Bald eagles, porcupines and fox are sighted daily.

I love when Brad is on vacation as he can let his beard grow out. He looks like a mountain man as Kari calls it. I am saddened cuz I know it is going bye –bye because he starts work soon.

We found a homeschool group and attended their World Fair event. It was pretty cool. You got a passport and traveled to different booths that represented different countries and learned about the culture, language, yadda, yadda and for ten cents you could sample the food. Jeovaun and Diego (Kari’s homeschooled sons) went with us so the kids had a blast. The only downer was when Kaela and Diego popped whole chunks of brie into their mouths. They were not expecting such a unique flavor.

We have been riding our bikes all over base. No hills and low elevation compared to CO makes us feel like athletes.

We will be staying at FamCamp and volunteering as the assistant host for now. We are more than excited and hope we can stay here until we find our home. Brad is able to ride his bike to work as it is literally across the street. It takes him longer to drive and park than to ride his bike.

Life in Alaska is wonderful

2007-06-04T17:03:00.001-08:00

We have been here 1 month and still cannot believe how lucky we are to live somewhere so beautiful. We will be posting once a month from here on out about life in Alaska. I was finally able to post the last leg of the trip on the blog and will be posting the 1st month here by the end of the week. We miss you all and look forward to seeing you here in Alaska soon. If you would like to see the other photos from the trip just let me know and I can burn a cd and mail it off. We want to thank everyone for their best wishes and heartfelt prayers as we journeyed 6000 miles to our new home. We had a fun and safe trip thanks to your positive energy and supportive comments. With our hearts we thank you. The Becker Bunch

DAY 26

2007-06-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

We made it!!!

We awoke about 100 miles from Elmendorf A.F.B. We opened the blinds and ate breakfast over looking a beautiful mountain range with a gorgeous lake and trees and even ice glaciers in the distance. After we cleaned up from breakfast we began heading towards the base. The excitement is building. The drive is amazing, trees and lakes just along the side of the road.

We pull on base and drive around looking for FamCamp (in our book it says follow the signs, right by the hospital). It was slow driving as it was lunch time and traffic was heavy. It didn’t help we are on a new base and pulling a 32’ trailer. I call base info to ask for directions which was a waste of time. They say to call the visitor center. We found the fitness center first so showers here we come. It was nice to take a long shower after being on the road. We found FamCamp and pulled in. We found out the water is turned off so the lines won’t freeze. It’s all good. We can handle boon docking we just need to dump our tanks.

They have a dump station but no water to flush our tanks. So we begin looking for the dump station on Lambert Street. The camp host gives us directions and we are off. We circle around for another ½ hour before calling the information again to ask for Lambert as we can not find it. They don’t know where that is either and tell me to call the visitor center again. I call the visitor center and get an airmen whom when I ask for the location of Lambert Street tells me she doesn’t know where that is. I ask her to look on the base map to see if she can locate it as we are still circling with our 32’ trailer. She informs me that it is NOT her job. She tells me to call the information desk, which is the place that referred me to her. So to the visitor center we go to get a base map. We make it off base, through the zig-zag barricades to meet her and get a base map and then back through the barricades to find it ourselves. We looked a little longer and said forget it and headed back to famcamp. The host asked how it went and we filled him in with the details of our excursion. The only thing we could think was with all the construction going on, they removed the signs.

I take Thor out for a walk and start talking to a fellow RVer. He and his wife are PCSing to Travis and will RV fulltime there too. We begin swapping tips for the trip down and RVing here. He even gives Brad some fresh Halibut fish.

We drop the house and go to get our 1st Starbucks in Alaska at the BX on base. Then we head over to see our long time friends Kari and Lawrence. They are stationed at FT. Richardson and said next time they see us they want Brad to do his famous Sprinkler dance. We pulled up to the back of their house and Brad hopped out and rang the doorbell. As soon as Kari comes to the door Brad breaks into his dance. She was surprised because she didn’t think we would be there that soon.

We had a great time hanging out, as if we had never been apart. They barbequed quite a spread and we didn’t leave until 12:30pm because they work in the morning. We are home and loving it.

DAY 25

2007-06-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

If things go well we will be in Alaska today. We woke to a beautiful setting of snow covered mountains with trees as far as the eye can see.

The scrap booker in me HAD to take photos of us crossing into Alaska. Smart me thought ahead just for this photo op and bought extra batteries before we left Colorado. I put them some where safe to keep them from getting lost. When I needed more juice for the digital camera I would have them on hand and know just where to find them. Guess what?? Those bad boys are really safe cuz I have no idea where I put them. So I had to buy $9 batteries (4 AA) as I have missed place the ones I set aside for the trip and the low battery sign is on.

The worst part of the road has been the last 150 miles to the border. There are A LOT of frost heaves with no break. We have seen more orange flags than we can count. We averaged about 30mph during this stretch. Brad was more then ready to get through this area.

I think the Yukon is the prettiest area I have ever seen in all my travels. There are about 30k people in the entire providence and 20k of them reside in Whitehorse. Look at a map of the Yukon to understand the size of land and you’ll realize how sparsely populated it is. There was a stretch for 108 miles that did not have any services. We even passed a sign that said we were leaving the 911 service area.

The bathrooms along the highway were a big disappointment and are disgusting. We’re hoping it is due to winter weather and will be kept better in summer months. There is a lot of trash everywhere especially at the rest stops. Thank God for the RV.

We made it to Tok, AK by 3pm. This was a good thing for a few reasons. We had phone service again and our internet air card picked up service too. We crossed our final time zone and lost an hour. Kissed the Alaska ground and stepped in 2 countries at once. And most importantly we found diesel for $2.96/gallon…and we were happy about it!! We stopped and talked to our horse trailer friends again and exchanged phone numbers. We will have to get together with them when we get settled.

We left out of Tok with about 300 miles to Anchorage. We knew we were right where we belong when we saw ATVs driving around the town to run errands. We kept driving until Brad noticed it was already 10pm and it was just starting to get dark. We decided to stop about 115 miles North of Anchorage and called it day.

A feeling of home has come over us. The kids are even remarking the beauty and it doesn’t have anything to do with video games! We knew our trip was a success when Zac called daddy Jason saying, “It doesn’t even feel like we have been traveling for a month.”

Wildlife count for bald eagles, moose, and caribou increases each day. Today we added a new animal to the count. We saw a load of bunnies in the trees right along side the road.

We will try to get some sleep but we are beyond excited!!

DAY 24

2007-06-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Earth Day! I couldn’t have chosen a better way to spend it than traveling through Canada. We had a relaxing evening talking with the owner of the Downtown RV park and horse trailer guy, Jim. Jim and his wife, Pip, purchased a deluxe horse trailer in Idaho and were bringing it home to Anchorage.

We paid $23 for a camp site which was the most we had paid on our trip so far but it turned out to be well worth it. The owner had cable and even turned on the Speed channel so we could watch the race in the RV, GO JR!!! The bathroom and laundry facilities were the cleanest we had seen for quite some time.

Morning came and we began our never ending climb up mount laundry. We pulled out just before lunch with a quick stop at sign post forest. The last official count was over 600,000 signs from all over the world. We even added a sign for friends of ours, Kari wuz here, as an inside joke.

We filled up with diesel but only because we had to. It really hurt at an eye gouging price of $3.78/gallon. OUCH!!! We only filled up enough to get us to Whitehorse where we were relieved to fill up at a mere $3.39/gallon.

Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon providence with the largest in population in the Yukon, 20,000. We were relieved to find another Starbucks. I could smell it even before we knew if there was one in town. I ran while Brad waited in the truck. An elderly gentleman approached him while he waited and started asking questions about our Wildcat trailer. He was pretty sure that he had just purchased one or one like it. He was very friendly and talked for quite a while. The only negative thing he had to say was he really liked us Americans, but informing us that Canadians are not so happy about the war and will never forgive us (Americans).

We are beginning to see moose on a regular basis now. It reminds of Colorado Springs and seeing mule deer every day. Other favorites and frequently seen animals include caribou and red tail hawks.

Zac noticed there were no houses along the foothills of the mountains. This was unusual as every town we have lived in had houses up the side of the mountain. It was a nice change.

We are beginning to see the effects of extended sunlight. It is 10pm and it was still light enough to see clearly. When June comes around we will only have about 2 hours of “twilight” and the rest of the day will be full of sunlight.

We have seen more lakes than I have ever seen and the scenery is still breathtaking. On the other side of the coin the rest areas are . I am hoping it is because of the season and they will be tended to on a regular basis now for the summer.

We passed Jim and Pipe again and honked as we drove past. We pulled into a large rest area over looking a beautiful sunset, 10:30pm.

DAY 23

2007-06-04T16:35:00.000-08:00

Last night we spent the night in a serene mom and pop camp ground. They have a general store on site to buy any last minute or forgotten items. The wife also makes homemade breads and cinnamon rolls daily to sell in the store, smelled yummy. During the summer months they offer horse back riding guides, fishing guides, cabins and RV hook ups and it all is nestled in between a mountain pass. It was still very early in the season so every thing is still covered in snow. But you could feel the hominess feeling this place has. We got to talking to the owners and they are putting it up for sale. They are into their 60’s and ready to relax so if you’re looking for an investment and some hard work we have found the deal for you.

We are driving through the mountain range so there are still areas with lots of snow and ice. As we drove on we found areas with break up happening. We found one of the many perfect spots and stopped. The river was clear teal blue (due to minerals from the mountains) with thick ice banks along the side of the quickly moving river. The river is bordered by crisp green pine trees that lead your eye up towards the snow capped mountains. The sky is bright baby blue with light whispy clouds suspended in the air. As we stood there taking photos and breathing in the fresh air, the music of the rapids rolling over the rocks, the moaning creek of the ice shifting along the banks and birds rustling the trees reminded me of a relaxation sound track.

We saw a young Caribou early in the day. He refused to face us once I got the camera out. We also saw a lot of Stone Mountain sheep. They are indigenous to this area and they have wiry fur and curly horns. We came up to one that would not move out of the road. The Stone sheep are licking the salt off the road so they do not want to move for nothing. It’s the equivalent of for sheep. A little further up the road we came across a hidden treasure. We turned in the Lirard natural hot springs. We were going to pay admission only to find out they don’t start to charge until May 1st. It was only $10 a car load but free is always better.

We hiked the mile to the hot springs. During spring and summer months rare orchids grow along the dock path towards the hot springs, again we were too early in the season. We were surprised to find only a handful of people in the springs. The water was anywhere from 108-120 degrees depending on where you were and if you were stirring the water. As we were relaxing we got to talking to others in the water. We found a home schooling family of 8 from Fairbanks, AK. Home schoolers kind of stand out so we instantly began conversation with them. We also started talking to a young woman on her way to Fairbanks and Denali to work for the summer at a bird observatory. She is a biologist so of course my ears perked right up and I had many questions for her. We then met John and Mary. They are another couple that RV full time and work as camp host and such. They were a wealth of information as they have been traveling this way for years. They were very impressed with our decision to RV full time with children. They wish some one would have told them about it when they were younger. After about an hour of talking, they gave us some frozen salmon they had caught on the Kenai. It is so nice meeting others with the same idea for life. I wish we were staying at the same park as they are. We could have talked to them for days. We know where they will be this summer so I think we will be paying them a visit. We had always said we wanted to visit the hot springs in Colorado before leaving but we never made the time. We all loved the hot spring and a decision was made by all today, we NEED a hot tub when we buy a house.

Once we pried ourselves out of the hot springs we made lunch and started back down the road. Not more than 5 miles away we saw our first buffalo in the wild. What beautiful animals they are. We learned from the ranger that there are several herds the largest being 400 in the area. This could be a problem for smaller vehicles as they like to lay in the road and lick the salt off the road. How would you convince a herd of buffalo to move out of your way??

We stopped in for the night at Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. The owner was very entertaining. He had a heavy Irish accent and a quirky sense of humor. In the office, mounted on the wall is a deers rear end, sun glasses perched on the tail, the nose, and you can guess what the mouth was. The owner called it his cousin, making the kids laugh hysterically. We talked with him for over an hour and that was just while we were checking in. He kept trying to get the kids to shovel snow for him. They didn’t want any part of that. Another gentleman (horse trailer guy) walked up so we began talking with him as well. We had passed each other several times earlier in the day and day before. We did it enough that we started waving each time we passed. We will defiantly stop back in there next time we travel through the Yukon, even at $23 a night.

We plan on stopping at the Signpost Forest in the morning.

DAY 22

2007-05-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

We woke this morning to a brisk, cool Canada morning. I think temps were about 3 degrees when I got up. Canada does Celsius so again, another conversion to get Fahrenheit. We picked up a generator before leaving CO and it has been the best investment we have made. We can camp anywhere level and run the entire house with it. We would like to upgrade to a Honda or diesel but those start in the $3000 range so our little $375 one will do just fine for now.

We were up and on the road by 8:30 am (no hell has not frozen over) as we continued north. We ran into a lot of snow and it’s the most we had seen yet. It reminded me of Colorado in February. We found some waterfalls splitting the snow as break up was just starting in this area. The river was mostly frozen at first but showed signs of thawing as we drove on. It was very winding and a beautiful shade of teal blue. Ice chunks were breaking off the banks of the river and floating down stream.

We hit Dawson Creek before lunch and of course had to take some pics at the first mile marker to start the Alcan Highway. It is a military acronym from the 40’s. It was originally built to help war efforts. We had our first taste of bad weather there as IT was snow/sleeting. Brad is frightened about the dirty truck and RV. I have to keep reminding him we are in Canada on our way to Alaska so who cares! We even had our chance to drive the turnabout (of course with Canadian accent) a few times.

We ate lunch at a restaurant called Mile 36. It was a small Mom and Pop place where we were enlightened by another Canadian tradition. I ordered for Brad as he ran out to the truck. He wanted a chicken sandwich and fries. The waitress asked if he wanted gravy. I have the deer in the headlights look on my face and then she asks, “You don’t know what gravy is do you?” I say, “I do but I am not sure why you are asking. She explained that most people prefer brown gravy for their fries. Being tourists, we had to try it and it was pretty good.

Our wildlife total took a jump today. Two wolves crossed in front of us stopped and made eye contact. Brad and I both feel they brought a message that confirmed our feelings. It was very enlightening as we felt connected to our spirit guides. We also saw a fox.

We saw over a dozen dead moose, one dead caribou, one living moose (they are huge by the way) and that message was slow down! We even saw a couple bald eagles, lots of ravens, ducks and geese.

We really liked Chetwynd, BC a city of about 7000. It was higher in elevation so it still had a lot of snow. The drive into and leaving was some of the prettiest we’ve seen so far.

Rocky got a pretty good workout today. We pulled about 6 good passes. We kept things slow and steady but still made a respectable 450 miles.
We did manage to hit a huge frost heave and sent every thing in the air. After inspecting things we did not find anything broken yet, but it shook it up pretty good. Some of my scrapbooking stuff shifted so I was panicked. Most of the frost heaves are marked with little red flags but they can’t mark them all. The highway would be covered with flags for 1500 miles.

We stopped at Testa River campground for the night. After seeing the living moose on the road we figured that was a good sign to get off the road. The campground was not open for the season, but the owners said we were welcome to boon dock in the parking lot for $5. We hooked up our trusted generator and we were set for the night.

We made it to Alaska

2007-05-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hello all-

We are having issues posting with Blogger so I will keep working on it but we got here safe and sound last week on Tuesday. Hopefully we will be able to post our trip through Canada. Wishing you all the best, The Becker Bunch

DAY 21

2007-04-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

We spent the night at an A&W/gas station in Cache Creek, BC. This was our first long run on the generator. We used it for about half the night and it worked great. We awoke to the smell of rancid grease they had just dumped in the dumpster next to us. Yummy, just in time for breakfast! Hey it was free, so how much can we complain???

Cache Creek is a little town with lots of trucks pulling though. We stopped inside the gas station and found some Nestle candy. The packaging is different but unwrapped it tastes the same. We are driving through many small towns and they all have one thing in common. There are many with old cars in the yards. The kind of cars we like too. Now we know where to shop when looking for more vehicles to add to our collection which is now down to 6.

The road we are on is twisting between mountain passes following the valley. Trees are just beginning to awake from winter, the birds are flying in the air, and the water is crisp blue. The views are spectacular. As we continue on we hit a sheet of snow. The snow is flying almost horizontal and hitting hard. You could stand on one side of the road and not a snow flake is falling. The other side is getting covered with the stuff. About 2 miles up the road it is clear again. Then it was sunny blue skies with huge white fluffy clouds in the distant.

After lunch we gained elevation and hit some rain. As we drive on we enter snow covered country. It is very calm and the stillness is relaxing as we drive on.

There are more lumber mills than you can shake a stick at (no pun intended) with logs piled for blocks or pulp. We are also in the capitol of hand made log cabins country. We can see them building the homes, taking them back down and the trucks taking the homes off to the new location.

We see a lot of Dairy Queens and A&W. Diesel is about 106.9 a liter in Canadian currency. Brad’s job has been to convert the liters to gallons and then Canadian to US currency. Each time he does he tries to walk me through it. I am hoping he gets the hint that I don’t nor do I want to understand it. He does it so why do I need to confuse myself?

XM Satellite is working but gets a little fuzzy when we are in valleys or in tunnels. We have also realized that Radio Disney plays the same 5 songs, over and over and over and over. This is the girls’ favorite station and they ask to listen to it at least once a day. We try to avoid it but have to give in as we are out numbered (Zac jumps on their side too).

We pulled into Prince George and saw a Flying J with diesel for 92.6 cents per liter. No I don’t know what it works out to per gallon. So we top off for grand total of $184 in Canadian and again I don’t know what that converts to. We are on our way out of town and guess what we see….a Starbuck’s in Prince George. Of course we gotta, so Brad whips the RV around and we journey into get our first Starbucks out of the USA. We are in a college town so everyone is young. The girl working behind the counter kept saying, “Right on” and “For sure” as I explain our drinks. AHHH….coffee and sugar.

There was not as much traffic North of Prince George. We have seen some large snow drifts and a lot of water. I mean a lot with lakes and rivers on both sides of the road. As we headed north out of Prince George most of the lakes are still frozen. Snowmobiles are very popular in this part of the country as there are tracks every where. We see some deer but that’s about it for wildlife.

We are stopping just south of Mackenzie for the night. Kenzie is beyond excited. She still remembers eating at a restaurant when she was almost four called McKenzie. We found a little gas station where the lady working is letting us shower for $2/adult and the kids free (Canadian price) so, “Yee Haw” cheap for us. It is set up as a bunk house for logging workers. It was a very clean facility and she is letting us boon dock in the parking lot for free too. If you are driving in BC please stop in and give her the business. She is very nice and even says, “Right on” too. It is called Windy Point Inn.

DAY 20- Entering Canada

2007-04-27T01:30:00.000-08:00

We were told by our Canadian friends we met in the Red Woods that entering through Sumas is the best/easiest place to cross the border. Driving through Northern Washington was beautiful. The land is speckled with cute little farming communities with huge mountains rising just beyond the farms. We made it into Sumas about 5pm.

As we approach the Port of Entry to Canada we pulled in behind a car already with the border patrol. As we come rolling up the border patrol agent starts waving frantically to stop. As soon as the car pulls away he waves us up to the window and asks Brad to turn off the truck. When pulling the RV Rocky’s turbo builds a lot of heat and shutting off the oil supply to a hot turbo is not the best prescription for it, so Brad waited to let the temp come down before shutting it off.

The guy rolled his eyes and with a disgusted look on his face and just starred at us. The truck is really loud and in a corridor the sound just echoes louder. By the time Brad shut off the truck he’s thinking he’s going to get cavity searched. The agent was dry as a rice cake. He asked for IDs, where we live, liquor and firearms to declare. Brad declared the 6 pack of Red Hook. He asked again about firearms. Brad replied no. “Why not?” He asked. That is when I spoke up about the kids not having a NRA course training yet. That was it. No passports, no birth certificates, no health record for Thor, nothing. They didn’t even look in the RV. At least we had every thing just incase.

We pulled into Canada and jumped on Highway 1. Not sure what to expect, we find the roads very easy to navigate. We passed Bridal Falls which is a huge waterfall that was moving from all the snow melt. The mountains are all seeping water and little water falls are at every glance. The kids are unable to keep up with them. We are also noticing a lot of avalanche runs and I mean huge runs. Some have apparent recent activity as shown by tree and road damage. I am glad we are not coming through any earlier. The rivers are zigzagging next to the roadway and they are full and running quick. British Columbia is beautiful so far.

We have been surprised with the amount of truckers we have been passing…or passing us I should say. As far as wildlife, we have seen some deer and a large white “Sasha” dog, like our friends the Brinley’s Great Pyrenees, standing on the side of the road. We stopped in Cache Creek, BC for the night. Now if we can brush up on our metric conversions we’ll be doing great!

DAY 20- Leaving the lower 48

2007-04-18T16:40:00.000-08:00

This is our last wake up in the continental USA this trip. It is kind of surreal. We are leaving the country today. I will be the farthest from an Archivers than I have ever been (HAHA). I do miss it though.

We got the last few things done and we pulled out of the FamCamp at McChord, AFB. The area is just so beautiful. We really enjoyed our stay here minus the stress of the truck and the rude camp hosts.

We made a last minute stop to the BX to get one last coffee from a Starbuck’s in the lower 48. Brad stayed in the truck to look at the route again. We have been using the Milepost to guide our agenda through Canada. If you plan on traveling through Canada or Alaska this is a must have. The kids and I ran into the BX to get the coffees. I begin the spiel of our coffee concoction when the lady said, “I remember you.” The one making the coffee also said she recognized the drink. Both had made our drinks before just at separate times. NOT addicted!! I wired Brad without his knowledge. So knowing their coffee is a little weaker than our coffees in CO I added another shot (6 total shot of espresso). Brad is driving as I am typing and he is reacting from the added caffeine. He says his hair tingles and he can feel his beard grow. I clue him in as he is about half way through his drink ;).

We will be at the border soon so this will be our last post until we make it into Alaska. Verizon has service in Canada but charges for each MB and since I have NO idea what those are we will not be using them. We will journal each day and post them in once in Alaska. We “think” we have all the needed paperwork. We will soon find out.

Good bye to all of our friends and family until we see you again.

DAY 19

2007-04-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

We awoke with the stress of the truck still weighing very heavy on our mind. The diesel repair fairies didn’t have time to stop by last night so obviously we can not leave today. We pay for another night at FamCamp and I begin calling diesel shops to see if they can run a diagnosis on the truck. Most appointments are all a week out. The last place I call refers me to a shop just South of where we are that can fit us in today. We run down there and the technician plugged in his Snap On scanner and took it for a spin. The only code he could get out of it was a code for the air intake heater. Brad had unplugged it as a mod to get better air flow which equals more power and better mileage. This would not cause any issues except we are in a 99% humidity area and it could be causing some issues coming from such a dry climate.

So we head home so Brad can hook it back up. Easy fix if it works. Brad quickly hooks it back up and we take off for another test run. It started running really rough again so he stopped and popped the hood to look and listen. On the driver side there is a loom of wires that run over the valve cover. The Chilton’s manual calls it the engine control sensor circuit. He ran them with his hand to make sure they didn't come in contact with the exhaust manifold (grasping at straws). He pinched the connection together and the truck straightened out and ran perfect. We drove it for about an hour and it ran great. After $200 for a CPS, $12 for diesel additive, $70 for a scanner and a couple burning ulcers it just needed a little wiggle. We drove around for an hour hitting the rpm’s that were causing issue and it is running perfect now.

So we head to the commissary to stock up on food and supplies. We are planning 7-10 days through Canada so I wanted enough food for the entire trip plus 1 extra week of food in the event of a longer time in Canada. After filling three shopping carts we are ready to check out. Most of the menu is meals that can be prepared with the stove and water only. We are not sure what facilities we will find or how often we will be hooked up.

We finished everything on our list today so tomorrow we can hit the shower and we can pull out. It is amazing how little things can alter the mood of a trip and realign the pace. Even if it delays our plan it works out for the best in the end. Our spirit guides defiantly work in wonderful, mysterious ways.

DAY 18

2007-04-18T16:33:00.001-08:00

It is Monday and we are working on our to-do list for pulling out tomorrow morning to head out of the country. We need Canadian currency, some traveler’s checks, 2 weeks worth of food and supplies and an international calling card as our cell phone roaming charges will eat us alive as will our air card for internet. Laundry again haunts us and we need to clean and pack things up. Those darn kids change clothes EVERY day!!

We head out to the bank in downtown Tacoma to get the money. We exchanged our money and headed towards the 1st Starbucks again. No we are not addicted, just gotta have it to function. By the time we pull out of downtown Seattle Rocky is really running rough. We head home so Brad can read up on the computer about what is going on. We also realized that Brad has brief bouts of turrets when Rocky is not running good.

Brad plays around with it trying different things and nothing worked. He was able to pin point the rough spot between 1200-1600 rpm. After researching on the computer we get knots in our stomach. Some of the symptoms we were experiencing were that of fuel injector or injector pump issues. The damage for just parts would start at $475 an injector and we have 8 of them not to mention the injector pump. Each has their own sensor and of course more work than possible in a FamCamp RV site to diagnose. So we are a little stressed as we head to bed. Anyone interested in a 2000 F350 Power Stroke???

DAY 17

2007-04-18T16:26:00.000-08:00

Yeah, today we get to head towards Pikes Market which is best known for the area of the 1st Starbucks and the people that throw fish (more on that later). Yes, that is the highlight of the trip for me. We pulled out of FamCamp and it was looking pretty overcast and there was a cool bite in the air. Rocky is doing well and traffic is not bad. We turn to head to downtown Seattle and Rocky starts acting up again. Okay, nothing to panic over right, just some bad diesel working its way through. We drove around the downtown area for quite some time looking for a parking spot. We finally found a spot and we head off to get our now much needed coffee.

The area is streaming with people. We found the 1st Starbucks (The mother ship) and we heard the angels singing, bells ringing, and light shining down from the heavens. The aroma of freshly brewed espresso and sound of bluegrass singers in front of the store beckoned us in. We knew we were in the right place when we stepped to the counter, ordered our Iced Venti Americana, no H20, add a shot of espresso (now 5 total), add caramel sauce and Vanilla syrup, stirred and topped off with ice and Brads with a splash of soy milk. The Starbucks employee starts laughing saying that is her same exact drink too!!! It was so cool. The counter is L shaped so they throw the cups to get to the bar. The lines were long yet quick moving and damn the coffee was perfect. Just like our favorite Starbucks in Barnes and Noble in Colorado Springs. The only problem is the coffee went WAY too fast. We wanted to go back for another but that would just be TOO much caffeine.

We began our on our path through the market. One entire side of the market, about 2 blocks, was nothing but flowers. There were tulips, lilacs and huge bouquets of brightly colored flowers. We were walking through the gaggle of people when a booth caught my attention. I found beautiful pieces of jewelry that reminded me of the style of scrimshaw. I am my mother’s daughter ya know. The gentleman that makes the jewelry hand cast each of the different designs and then uses an acrylic polymer mixture to make copies of the hand cast mold. http://www.danielleen.com I found a Celtic Endless Knot. I LOVE it. Cindy was even taken by his talent and bought a pair of beautiful fish earrings. The style is very native for this area. He has quite a resume as he is an Anthropologist. He lived on his boat for some time and has been studying Northwest Coast art for over 20 years. His spirit is very wise and he is the type you could sit and listen to all day.

We continued on and came across the famous throwing fish stand. It was a fresh fish stand where the workers looked for an excuse to throw fish to each other. It was good entertainment. We were recommended to eat at a local fish place called Ivers by an Archiver’s customer… repeatedly. We found one right on the pier so we ordered at the fish bar and popped a squat on the pier. The seagulls were well feed and used to eating off the pier so they were swarming the area. The food was good for the price. By the time we sat down to eat the sun had made its way out and the clouds had cleared. Dan and Cindy both commented about how beautiful the day was as it had been along time since such perfect weather.

Of course we had to explore the Ye Old Curiosity shop. It is a must see as it has been around since 1899 www.yeoldecuriosityshop.com It had everything from tourist key chains to real shrunken heads. They had it all. We walked around the store and Brad was lured in by a rice writing sales man. He got Brad to tell him all the names of our kids and wrote my name and Brad’s with a heart between and all 5 kids names on 1 grain of rice. As I was passing by the guy asks me to hold out my hand and he drops the grain of rice on my hand. Just after instructing me to not roll the rice around in my hand, I rolled it down my sleeve. I did get to see all of the names but of course I can not find a flipin grain of rice in my sleeve. The grain of rice was free but the jar with the “special” solution to preserve the writing starts at $25. Yeah, I don’t think so.

We hiked over to the area of town that was built up over time so the 1st floor of all the buildings is now the basement. You can see the tops of the windows and the skylights on the sidewalk. Pretty cool looking. They even have an underground tour you can go on.

Cindy had described a chocolate drink that Godiva makes in their stores. Lucky for me there was a store in the mall 9 blocks North of where we were. So in search of chocolate we hiked to the mall. Unlucky for me not all the stores make the drinks and this one did not. Oh well, we were there so of course we HAD to buy some chocolate. Brad even won a candy bar.

As we hike back to the truck we were drawn to a couple of street performers. This was a unique pair that we had not seen yet. One of the guys was a bagpiper and the other was a beat boxer. Weird combo but it sounded really cool. We hung out awhile jamming with their little robots dancing on the sidewalk. We returned to the truck hoping that the additive has worked in the fuel. We say goodbye to Dan and Cindy as they have to work tomorrow. We had a great time with them. Both are very laid back and easy to get along with. The kids have always enjoyed their company too. They address each kid and have real conversations with them.

We started Rocky only to find the additive had not yet kicked in. In fact it got worse as we drove home. We made it over to the auto store to have codes read on it, but nothing comes up so we head home. Bad diesel, gonna take some time to work it through.

DAY 16

2007-04-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

Red Hook Brewery is the destination today. This is a local micro brewery that Dan has discovered. Being the beer coinsurer that Brad is, he had to taste for him self before giving his thumbs up.

Brad ordered the sampler. This gives the patron the chance to sample the 5 different brews they offer. All the beers were good but the ESB and Pale Ale were the 2 that got a right arm with a slight swagger of his approval. So we bought a little of both and brought them home. Their Smoked Salmon sandwich is to die for. It is in some town, way far away from where we are staying and if I had known how to get back there, we would have gone back for another.

We spent time sitting around enjoying the busy atmosphere in the brewery and looking at the souvenirs. We got there around 2ish and the place still had a 45 min wait for lunch. I had just asked Dan and Cindy if they had found any good live music bars. They confessed to not knowing of any area bars with good live music due to their “lameness.” A few minutes later the Harmony Kings broke into song. You could not have planned it any better. A group of men in the middle of a busy as can be brewery began singing Barber Shop. They were good. They were a quirky group of about 15 or so, all singing their part and in perfect tune. The customers even had some request filled. We had a blast.

Cindy had raved about a mom and pop coffee place called Victor’s. Because Brad drank, I drove and of course the truck starts to act up. We pulled out and start down the road and Rocky starts sputtering like it is running out of gas. Not consistent but obvious. We make it to Victor’s and we believe we just picked up some bad diesel in Oregon the last time we filled up. We ordered a Java Jane and a cinnamon coffee drink with a cinnamon roll to share. The coffee was excellent with chocolate whip cream on top. The cinnamon roll was the closest to a homemade one I have ever had, very delicious.

From there we are headed to Snoqualmie Falls which is a truly beautiful water fall when the truck acts up some more. Brad rubs the dash and starts talking to Rocky like the movie Christine to no avail. We keep driving only surging occasionally (bad diesel in 108 gallons is gonna take awhile to run through). Dan and Cindy had not been to the falls yet so this was first for them too. They had driven by, but not stopped. We hiked down to the Snoqualmie Falls which was ½ mile, but it was a pretty steep grade. It was enough to work off that cinnamon roll. Kenzie definitely thought it was more fun going down than coming up. It is amazing that people do not give water the respect it deserves. The energy and force the water has running over the edge is majestic and you can feel the rush right through you. The sound of the falls commands your attention with strength as you take in the sights. Again we had found a scene from a postcard. The sunset, waterfalls, spring flowers and a great mixture of trees are breathtaking.

On the way home we stopped by the Flying J truck stop to pick up the additive to add to the diesel to make the truck run better. Diesel was at $2.85 a gallon which is the cheapest we have seen in WA so we fuel up.

DAY 15

2007-04-17T23:28:00.000-08:00

Today (Friday) was a day we like to call PJ day. The past few months have been very hectic with preparing for the move and all, so it is nice to take a day to just veg out in PJs. We hung out in the trailer most of the day. It rained all night and most of the morning. Our RV site has a canopy of trees over head so it is always shaded. It is very hypnotizing having the rain patter on the roof with an overcast hue. It only adds to the pure enjoyment of the PJ day. But even with the PJ day we have laundry and cleaning to be done.

After we finished our chores we decided to run a couple errands. We headed over to Ft. Lewis Army Post which was just down the road. Their FamCamp is awesome and it’s right along the side of a lake with paved spots and lots of tree privacy. We drove around to check it out and found very pristine buildings from before the turn of the century. It had housing that was of royal caliber and perfectly landscaped parade grounds. It was the largest Post Brad or I have seen to date. They had the usual bowling alley, movie theater, fitness center, but they also had a roller skating rink which was packed. They offered Seattle’s Best and Starbucks, Popeye’s chicken, and Burger King to name a few.

In keeping with the true PJ day we decided to grab dinner out before heading home. We choose to dine in a restaurant called “Shari’s”. The kids thought it sounded great as Brad’s moms name is Shari. It is spelled the same and she is known for good food, especially the Kringlas. We learned it is a chain with over 100 restaurants all through out the West Coast. The food was pretty good if you’re looking for cheap home-style much better than a Denny’s but same kind of menu. I gotta recommend the Cinna-sensation French Toast…sugar buzz never hurt anyone. Also kids eat free on Saturday and Sundays.

We waddled into the shopette after dinner and rented the movie Ice Age 2. The kids thought it was hilarious and even quote the lines from the movie. I am lame and old and I fell asleep just after the movie started. I would like to see it. Maybe next time I can make it through the end.

DAY 14

2007-04-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

Today (Thursday) our mission was the Space Needle. We trekked off towards downtown Seattle prepared to deal with the nightmare of traffic/parking. We were pleasantly surprised to find easy access to downtown w/o traffic problems. We even found parking right across from the Space Needle to accommodate our truck. We parked right next to Cindy as she met us there. We were able to get discount tickets on base so we were ready to head up to the observation deck.

The ride up is in a glass elevator up the side of the needle. It was quite nerve racking (for me) as all the kids instinctively gravitate towards the glass window up front. Not being a fan of heights I tried to avoid looking out. Once we made it to the top we were able to get a 360 degree view of Seattle and the surrounding area. The view was amazing. There were so many houses and buildings, as far as the eye can see and trees woven through out the streets and buildings. We got some great shots of the city. I was even able to find our truck below in the parking lot. The big blue tarp covering the generator made it stand out.

There were a lot of other tourists at the Space Needle. Even a Starbucks up there to get you wired before heading down. You can’t go a block without seeing a Starbucks, Seattle’s Best, or Tully’s. These are some of the major coffee houses in the Seattle area.

While shopping for Space Needle souvenirs we got the phone call to confirm the sale of our Suburban “Buzz”. We really loved our Suburban and for the time we had it, it really made traveling with our family and all my scrapbooking supplies very comfortable. The family that bought it has 3 young children all in car seats. We wish them the best with “Buzz”.

We were invited back to Cindy and Dan’s for dinner. They ordered from one of their favorite pizza places. We consumed a lot of pizza, and toasted to the beloved “Buzz” (no just kidding Mel) and relaxed. After dinner it was time for the ladies to get there chocolate fix. Cindy introduced me to Tully's, a coffee house chain. Very good coffee and even better pastries. Cindy and Dan have made the trip to visit us while we lived in TX and in CO. This is the first time we have been able to visit them. It was great to see their neck of the woods, which is gorgeous and their hospitality was the best. Brad was quickly reunited with Moose and Lowkey (retrievers) and even got a little wrestle time (w/o PB, Scott) in before saying goodbye.

DAY 13

2007-04-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

We woke up in WA to very beautiful, tall trees and green, green grass overcast morning. Moss is growing all over the roofs of all the buildings. Even some of the RVs that have been here way too long have moss on their roofs.

We were getting ready to face the day when there was a knock at the door. The camp host paid us a visit. It wasn’t a “hello did you get set up okay, do you need anything,” visit the way our old camp host Ron did. Even if the visitor pulled in after hours as we did, they were greeted kindly. No, we were greeted with a, “did you plan on checking in this morning?” I responded, “Yes, we were just getting ready.” She proceeded to inform me that we NEEDED to be there at 9am to check in (it was 10:30am). I explained that I had in fact filled out the night check in but I had a coupon for 1 night free and was waiting until we got to the office to make sure I wrote the check for the correct amount. She was still snippy but said to come in to check in.

We headed to the office. Brad and I open the door. The woman I had spoken to was behind the desk and an older man was in a recliner. As soon as we stepped in the man spoke to Brad. “Ya know when you walked that dog of yours, he pooped and you did not pick it up.” It was a great way to be greeted, no hello, no how ya doin, nothing. Brad had run Thor on the bike and had sent Zac to pick up the poop but the guy did not see that of course.

Now I am pissed. I told the lady we are PCSing, been on the road for 12 days, just drove a couple thousand miles pulling a trailer with 3 kids and a dog. No where does it state we needed to check in at 9am and if there is a problem we need to address it. I think she realized how we were feeling cuz her tune changed and she began dancing to impress. It is a camp ground; it is suppose to be a relaxing experience. After working at the FamCamp for almost a year in CO I learned A LOT. It made me see how nice it was having camp host who go above and beyond their responsibility with every guest (Ron and Yogi).

We headed to go meet up with Brad’s sister. It is now lunch time so the kids are groaning again. Cindy mentioned a spot we might like so we decided to give it a shot. We ended up at the XXX for lunch. Get your mind out of the gutter, its Brad’s sister! It is the last XXX Root Beer Drive. (www.triplexrootbeer.com) It was very good eatin. Zac and Brad both ordered their Famous Incredible Triple XXX Burger. The thing was bigger than Zac’s hand. He finished it while Brad could only make it half way through his. I tried to get Zac to save some but he insisted on finishing it. I swear I thought he was going to get sick but he didn’t. The décor was old pieces of cars, licenses plates from all over, and memorabilia relating with cars and old times. We loved it! See Mel, I am not the only one.

After eating, we headed out to get some pics in front of the building (always a scrapbooker). Out side there was a sweet ’61 Impala with a blower sticking out the hood. Brad is peeking inside when over the speaker from the restaurant a guy starts talking to Brad about the car. “Wanna pop the hood?” He asked. Brad nodded excitedly. Then the guy spoke through the speaker, “Wanna start it up?” Brad whipped his head out from under the hood and shouts Yes, Please! So the guy comes out and tosses Brad the keys to a 700hp big block shot of espresso. WOW, let me tell ya about some power flowing through that car. The guy was explaining the history of the car and future plans and the shows he was taking it to. He also spoke about the other projects he has at home. It is so nice to see an old car in the hands of some one who appreciates the power. The owner also told us how much fun it was to show those imports what horsepower really is. I think Brad will have an ear to ear grin for quite some time.

We headed back to Cindy’s after lunch to hang out. For dinner we went to Olive Garden with Cindy and her husband Dan. A co-worker of Brads had given him a gift card to make up for the not so good good-bye luncheon his work threw together for him. The going away party started and everyone started eating while Brad was still working the pharmacy window. Pretty sad after 3 years of dedication to a squadron, but hopefully the new pharmacy will appreciate Brad for the hard worker he is. Dinner was great as was my margarita with an extra shot of Amaretto on the side.

Seattle is very beautiful. It’s a huge city and lots of traffic, but we were able to take the freeway everywhere we have wanted to go. Tomorrow we will head to see the Space Needle.

DAY 12

2007-04-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

We spent the night at a truck stop in Halsey, OR and took the most expensive showers I have ever taken. It cost $17 for all 5 of us to shower which was after she gave us a great deal. It would have been $35 w/o discount (still cheaper than renting a room). The showers were trucker showers and it showed so NO TOUCHING anything. After 3 days in the Red Woods it was nice to shower though.

FYI: Did you know in Oregon it is illegal to pump your own gas? My dad told me that but I did not believe him. If you knew him you’d understand.

We began our search for the “Spruce Goose” after breakfast. I guess Brad and I did not drink enough coffee because both of us had a hard time following the directions. So we took the scenic route and only had to turn around twice, but we made it.

The “Spruce Goose” was a cool experience. We got there at lunch time, so we put out the slide and ate lunch. It’s so nice to have the RV with us. We were there about 3 1/2 hours and that still was not enough for Brad and Zac. Mikaela announced upon arriving at the museum that she did not want to read anything about airplanes only look at them! They even had their own vineyard. A plane with its own vineyard? Really? They were doing some wine tasting the day we were there but we said no thanks since it was without a screw top.

We saw a SR-71, P-51, P-47, P-38, UH-1, P-40, Spitfire, and a B-17 just to name a few. They even had the remains of a few propellers off the ocean floor from planes from WWII. There was a lot of history in that hangar. The most famous, of course, was the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose.

The “Spruce Goose” was huge. If you lived in a cave, like I did, and knew nothing of the plane you can watch the movie the Aviator which is about the life history of the designer, Howard Hughes. It was amazing to watch a short video that explained the history of the plane and the strange life of Howard Hughes. And to think he built this thing back in the forties. He truly was ahead of his time.

After leaving the museum we made the trek towards Portland. Luckily we made it there about 5pm, rush hour or stand stillville as we would like to call it. It’s always fun driving in rush hour with a 32’ RV following us. Imagine the looks we got when we jumped into the carpool lane with the RV. The sign said two or more people in a vehicle or a bus. We had more than 2 people and we are about the size of a bus.

We got into Tacoma about 7ish. Found McChord A.F.B. FamCamp. Much like USAFA FamCamp. Very spread out and heavily wooded. We got a great spot, kinda off on our own right by the park. Set up the RV and ran to Safeway for some basic groceries. Ok so we drink soy milk, Colorado $2.49 for ½ gallon, Washington $4.29 for ½ gallon. Pack of tortillas $1.79- CO, $4.59- WA. I figure it is just getting us prepared for AK.

Tomorrow we will catch up with Cindy, Brad’s sister to check out Seattle. We will be here for about a week before saying good bye to the lower 48.

DAY 11/ Adios California, Hola Oregon- Just for Beth

2007-04-10T00:02:00.000-08:00

It rained all night, just amazing the difference coming from a state that has been in drought with such tight water restrictions. We thoroughly enjoy the mornings here in the park. 8:30 in the morning and it feels and looks like 5:30. There is just enough light to see around the room but not enough to see detail. Yes, we were up at 8:30am Katrina! Thank God we were not in tents. Rain is very pleasurably until you are trying to tent camp and it just won’t stop. We have been there plenty of times.

Last night Brad went out to help some late arrivals get into the site across from us. He got to talking to the husband. They were traveling South on 199 when they were stopped by the highway patrol to let him know the road was temporarily closed due to a rock slide 10 minutes prior. This is the same 199 we planned on heading North in the morning. We pulled out this morning and found the road was open but only one way at a time. As we passed the area of the rock slide we could see crews cleaning the area. There’s nothing like a rock slide to push ya over the edge of the road, down the tree speared cliff to the jagged rocky river bed. I am little on edge from the lack of guard rails on these roads, can ya tell??

The kids got to playing with the family that pulled in last night before we left. The have 5 kids, 4 girls and 1 boy. They are living in WA but will be returning to Canada very soon. They were helpful in giving tips on our trip through Canada and places to stop and explore. Good luck with your move back to Canada Ross, Sara and gang.

We crossed into Oregon just before lunch. We pulled into a little gas station. Diesel was $2.65 a gallon. You would’ve thought we had just won the lottery by our reaction! We saw the lowest price in California at $2.89 when we first pulled into CA. And it didn’t get any cheaper than $3.03 after that. When you are buying 108 gallons at a time that makes a huge difference. Propane was $1.90 which was much cheaper than we were buying in CO. It’s crazy how within 40 miles the price can differ so much.

We had to make a pit stop in Eugene for a little pick me up by the name of Starbuck’s. While explaining our detailed drink I got to talking to the espresso kings. Again, we hit the jackpot of informative people because the guy grew up in Seattle. He began listing the highlights we must see, including the 1st Starbucks and the restaurant Starbucks had. I make the comment that Brad would like to see the “Spruce Goose” in WA. Luckily, another customer recognized the name and corrected me to say that it is actually here in OR. So we stopped just shy of Portland near Salem to camp out for the night. The Spruce Goose http://www.sprucegoose.org/aircraft_artifacts/exhibits.html will be visited by the Becker Bunch tomorrow morning…okay who are we kidding, lunch time.

We wanna throw a shout out to some friends who just took a step closer to their dream of RVing. They bought a Nissan Titan, next will be the RV. Congrats, we hope to see you on the road soon.

Also to some other friends who bought 2 trailers and a hitch to fix up to sell to finance their dream to RV too. (Just don’t ask him to turn off your car alarm) See we are not the only crazy ones!!!

Next stop, McCord A.F.B. to hang with Brad’s sister and her husband. See you soon Cindy and Dan.
Hola Beth from the rojo woods, my title es bueno??? Tu gusta my skills?? Hasta, Jillbert

DAY 10

2007-04-09T23:15:00.001-08:00

Happy Easter!!

The Easter Bunny found us here in The Red Woods. He brought the usual eggs with candy, money and the traditional spring plate, bowl, and cup to each of the kids. I guess this tradition all started back when the kids were little. The Easter Bunny was broke and the kids were in need of some new cheap dishes so he thought, “Hey, I gotta an idea!”

The kids gathered their eggs and had breakfast. The weather was a bit cool, just perfect for a bike ride so we loaded up and rode through the park. Brad takes Thor for some exercise. Thor is a built to be a sled dog as he pulls Brad around the curvy streets like nothing.

We explored on the bikes and found some hiking trails that we hiked through. The sizes of the trees are larger-than-life. We come across one that was down and it was wider around than Brad is tall.

We found another area of the river that came straight out of some perfect painting only an artist could imagine. We rode back, made lunch and returned to our water colored masterpiece for another picnic. Lunch again was a relaxed, peaceful meal. Trust me, they are very far and few between so we REALLY enjoyed the serene setting. We watched a duck fish in the river. Those boogers are quick. He would fly upstream, dive into the river and surface downstream with a fish.

After lunch we took the truck to explore farther into the Red Woods. If you are planning a vacation, you need to come through the Red Woods. http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=413 I can not explain how spiritual it is to drive among some of the oldest trees in a mature forest. The way Mother Nature has perfectly sprinkled trees, ferns, bushes and flowers so precisely for thousands of years is overwhelming. We drove through the back country on a dirt road that crisscrossed the crystal clear river. If time were our friend, we would stay a couple more days and continue to explore.

We drove into Crescent City in search of more batteries. The generator works great but quiet hours start at 8pm so flashlights are a must as it is pitch black from the tree cover. Crescent City is very small. Almost everything was closed for Easter. Even the little Wal-Mart was closed. Home Depot was open, GO Tony Stewart!! So we bought our batteries and headed home.

It began to rain on the drive home. We made it home, cooked dinner and ate by candle light. What a great way to end our stay here. The windows were open with a slight breeze coming through. The candle light and the sound of rain made for a perfect goodnight. Oregon here we come.

DAY 9

2007-04-08T16:28:00.001-08:00

We awoke in the Big K parking lot, made breakfast and headed off. For those who know us, mornings are not are thing so we pulled out about 10am. We started back up highway 101 when something caught our eye. Clam Beach was just off Highway 101 near Little River State beach.

When we pulled in we could see the ocean. The waves were huge and the fog thick. We hiked out to the beach. The fog was rolling quickly and as we approached the water we couldn’t see the RV anymore. The sand was so saturated that as I stepped next to Brad’s foot print the water was like iridescently gliding over the footprint and erased it.

We found some kewl rocks, really bad when an entire family are rock hounds and absorb most of the household weight with rocks. The sound of the waves rolling in with the cool breeze of the wind gave us North California fever. We are now hooked.

We had planned on driving straight to the Red Woods but how could we leave this sanctuary? We hiked back to the RV and made up lunch, hiked back to the beach and had a picnic. If only every meal could be this relaxing. After lunch, we began searching for drift wood. Gotta have drift wood to match the 15lbs of rock and shells.

A lady brought out her horses to run on the beach. As soon as they hit the sand one of the horses took a dust bath in the sand. He then popped up and began to buck around and dance as if he was excited to be on the beach.

The fog kept rolling and the sky cleared to a bright blue. We relaxed, centered and grounded on the beach. We headed to the RV with much hesitation. All of us had a hard time leaving.

Farther North on 101 the fog was thick, really thick and it was about 2:30pm. We followed the coast and at many points right up against the cliff with the ocean visible out Brad’s window. We entered into the Red Wood forest. We pulled into Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park with no anticipation of staying. I had been told they had no RV vacancy. As soon as we pulled in we found a RV space to fit us. Got the RV unhooked and set up. We will be here for 2 nights, forever if we could.

We hopped onto our bikes and rode around the park. HOLY CRAP this is the prettiest place on Earth. We stopped to speak with the host who just happened to live in Alaska for 25 years. So we spent some time talking to him and his wife. They will be hosting that park for 2 months. That is something for us to think about in retirement.

We rode around for a bit longer, found a crystal clear raging river. The last time we saw such clear water was in TX at the Frio River. The water in spots was turquoise blue.

We got some wood and started a campfire. We cooked up some grub and made smores.

This is truly a mystical place. Off to sleep in the Red Wood forest for the Easter bunny has a busy night tonight.

DAY 8

2007-04-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

Guess what?? We had MORE laundry pile up on us so we worked on that for a while this morning. While we were tackling that mountain we also got the house cleaned and everyone showered…all before 11am. Just like a production line. We packed up the house and pulled out of Travis FamCamp. We had to stop at the BX to get our traditional shot glass and souvenir. It was probably the largest BX I have seen to date. Even the food court was full of different dining options. Brad had been joking with the kids about wanting to eat in a Taco Bell in California so we ate at the Taco Bell on base. It was as good as a Taco Bell can be. Then we headed to the commissary. WOW! I have not been in a commissary that busy in quite some time. Not even near payday or a case lot sale. It had a great produce section and even a Sushi deli (Ashley) next to the meat deli. And let me warn you, everyone here on base has a BMW, a Lexus, or a Mercedes. I mean everyone.

We drove through Napa Valley today. The land is gorgeous. We stopped and got a flat of strawberries. (OMG!!) that had to be the best I have ever tasted. They were red through to the center and were dripping down your arm juicy. Highway 101 is very scenic and very curvy. Trees canopy the entire road and everywhere you look there is lush under growth as land covering. Flowers are just beginning to bloom so they are very florescent in color. Shocking yellow, sweet orange and tart green burst in our eyes.

We stopped at a Big K for the night in Eureka. Fired up the generator and camped out. We got a little rain, but not very much. Just enough to make a soothing rhythm to cast us asleep after a long day of driving.

DAY 7

2007-04-07T00:25:00.000-08:00

Well today we were prepared to head to San Francisco…again. After yesterday we felt we better knew what to expect. First lesson in a big city, expect the unexpected. I grew up in Tucson, a big city I thought so I had hopes not to stick out like a sore thumb, HAHAHA I hear ya’ll laughing, I really believe it too!

When we arrived to the BART departing depo, there was a woman reading aloud from the bible and singing “Jesus loves me and, you” repeatedly. When we returned almost 8 hours later she was in the same spot, singing the same verse. The only other time I had met some one like this was in TX at the Alamo. That depot needs some good cleansing energy so if that’s what it is to some; I hope her message sinks through.

We were again asked to donate money for people to ride on BART, I think the same couple as the day before. I find it hard to teach the kids to help whenever possible in a situation like this. What would really be helpful and make difference in their day to help them self or would we just be another sucker paying for their ride. Not sure, I am always torn in these situations. I want to teach caring but also that you help those who help them self.

We rode into the city and hopped onto an old streetcar. Those bad boys get packed. We were in there like sardines and they kept picking up more and more people. We got to the Pier 39 to travel to Alcatraz. Kenzie was not to keen on the boat idea. I think see has listened to me talk alittle to much cuz she’s not to fond of boats like her mama. Kaela was relieved to see the boat was not as big as the Titanic as she has watched the movie and is scared to ride on a big boat. We rode on top of the boat. What a great ride. The weather was fabulous and the scenery could not be beat. We arrived on “The Rock” and got a pair of headphones for an audio tour of the prison told by actual prison guards and prisoners that resided at “The Rock”. All of us thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Afterwards we hiked around the island and got some fun souvenirs. The best purchase so far has been the kid’s harmonicas that have Alcatraz engraved along with a saying that, “Music is a privilege,” a story told about the prison during the tour. All 3 kids picked it and have not put them down since. They actually sound pretty good and it’s easy to know where they are. Now Brad and I need to get a washboard and a Moonshine Jug and we’ll have a real hillbilly band.

We ate at another diner, not as good as Johnny’s, I think it was Lori’s diner. I would not recommend it for the food but it did have kewl decorations of old cars and stuff.

We walked around before catching the BART to head home. This is the most diverse city I have ever been in. It was great! We have traveled to some really one dimensional towns so it’s nice to see a place that anything goes, not just about sexual orientation either. That is what everyone automatically thinks of but the food, culture, races, music, clothing styles, and art all expressed many different influences. I think we saw every nationality represented in harmony. And within each nationality was diversity. Guess what we represented, remember the kids had their harmonicas by now:)??

San Francisco is beautiful and we would love to come back. We were disappointed with the litter and graffiti everywhere but I guess it’s to be expected with such a large population in a small city. I think next time we visit we will come without the kids and stay in San Francisco rather than commute in. It is just too stressful trying to keep track of the kids in the large crowds, even with ALL of us holding hands like the freaks we are, yes I still make everyone hold hands. Easier to make sure they are not picking up things on the ground, really! Also, being a HUGE germ-a-phobe I was constantly trying to tell the kids not to touch the handrails, doorknobs, seats or anything else hundreds of people had touched that day.

We will be packing up the house and heading North through Napa Valley next. We are in route to the Redwood Forrest. We’ll see how I handle highway 101. Mel’s Bloody Mary mix might have to be a companion this leg of the trip.

Side note: if you are planning on any kind of road trip, XM is a must. We got the unit cheap at Car Toys for $39.99 with a $20 mail-in-rebate (6 month subscription is the key), Brad installed with an FM frequencier thingy, another $20 and service is $12.95. I know, I know, paying for radio is stupid but almost 4 years of driving through TX-AZ w/o radio and CO-AZ w/o radio for 3 years no less than 3 times a year, plus all the other traveling done = willing to pay $13 per month to have completely NO breaks in service where we have traveled so far.

I am working on adding photos so check back soon.

DAY 6

2007-04-07T00:08:00.000-08:00

So the consensus is we are not city people. The traffic, crowds, lack of parking for big trucks and rudeness is too much for us. Have you ever read “Country Mouse, City Mouse?” If you have it explains it all. The smallest truck we have out of 7 is a ’73 Jeep Wagoneer and we were driving Rocky…the biggest truck. When we arrived to park to travel into San Francisco via the BART we were informed that they do not have the “problem” of duallies to park in the city so we were on our own. Mind you we were not in San Francisco but in the BART parking lot in Richmond trying to catch the public transportation because traffic and parking in San Francisco is bad! Trying to keep track of 3 kids when you’re out numbered is stressful enough without worrying about parking a land yacht.

Riding the BART was an experience all in its own. It stands for the Bay Area Rapid Transit. It is the closest we have ever been to riding a subway. We started in Richmond, CA and ½ hour later we were on Market St in San Francisco. This was much easier than trying to drive a crew cab dually through the city and finding parking.

We then caught a cable car to the Cable Car museum. Brad and Zac got to stand on the edge and hold on just like in the movies. The girls sat with me on the bench. Once at the museum we saw how the cars are powered and how big the cables are. We even got to learn the history of cable cars, the first models and different tools needed to build them.

From the museum we headed to the Palace of Fine Arts. The architecture was beautiful; there were columns that stretched to the sky. The dome was larger than one could imagine. We then headed to the Exploratorium http://www.exploratorium.edu/ to let the kids check out the hands on science experiments. When we got to the door, we learned they were closing early for a special event. If you are ever in San Francisco this is a must. We got to enter for about 15 minutes, just long enough to see what we were missing out on. Note: 1st Wed of the month is free, a savings of $55 for a military family of 5.

We saw the Golden Gate Bridge. Very cool and amazing to think how it was built. The kids got to play in the Pacific Ocean water for the first time today. The kids loved the sand as it was very soft. Kaela was even prompted to lay in the sand like of making a sand angel and rubbing the sand on her face. Zac, of course, began to dig into it making different tunnels and forts. Kenzie found some glass that had been tumbled in the water for while. She is convinced it is a rock. She headed back out to look for more “rocks” when she got drenched from a wave that snuck up behind her.

We ate at Johnny Rockets for lunch. It’s a 50’s style dinner that was small but very cute. The grill is in the middle of the restaurant so you can watch your burger being cooked.

The Becker Bunch even braved Lombard Street; “America’s most crooked” street in San Francisco. Not with the truck and RV but on foot. It seems incomprehensible but cars were driving on it while we hiked down and then back up.

There were 2 young guys in a little yellow 2 seater scooter that we kept seeing all day that were having too much fun, dancing and singing while driving the scooter thingy. While driving down Lombard St, they jumped out, dancing and switched places. They even did the Night at the Roxbury thing. The kids cracked up and waved each time we saw them.

We had a long first day in San Francisco with some crazy events, like being sworn at by a homeless man for not giving him money and punk kids trying to scare us after getting off the BART to head home. Not like we looked like tourist, with our proud Air Force hats, Keens and Camelpacks! We are heading back tomorrow to explore Alcatraz; we’ll see how many kids we leave there.

DAY 5

2007-04-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

We made it out of NV without gambling, well at least not with money. We took the gamble of heading through Lake Tahoe instead of driving on I-80. We gambled and won. The drive to and through Lake Tahoe was beautiful. The trees were huge compared to those we saw at the USAFA. They had bright green moss that grew over the trunk and down each branch. The green was very vibrant. It was very congested around the lake and gas prices were way over the $3 mark. It was also the first true test for Rocky (our truck). There were 3 passes that we had to pull and the last one seemed to go on for about 3 miles. The grades didn’t seem to be a problem for anything or anyone but me. Driving that close to the side of a mountain was a bit stressful. There will be more therapy in the near future.

We saw first signs of spring here in CA. Big bugs… yuck! With the bad there is good. Things have been very green and lush since we crossed the border. I can see why people love this area. It is just sad that so many decided to build as much of the natural landscape is gone.

Traffic was intense as we approached Sacramento. We pulled through there at about 8:30pm and it seemed like 8:30am. Good thing we weren’t pulling a big trailer or something. Good thing for us diesel is about $.20 cheaper than gas here in California. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

We are now at Travis A.F.B. FamCamp. This park is much smaller than what we are use to but it is very beautiful.

We have lot of fun stuff planned in San Francisco so we will see what all we have time to check out. We are planning our trip to San Francisco using a book buy DK. I LOVE it, makes it very easy for me to plan our trip to the bay. www.dk.com

DAY 4

2007-04-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

We pulled out of FamCamp on Hill AFB about 1:30pm. Did you know even on vacation you still have to do a crap load of laundry?? Our friends surprised us while we were fueling up on the way out of town. They posed so we could get a couple of pictures together. Then they crossed the line… they snuck money into the truck to try and pay for dinner the night before. We didn’t find it until we got to NV. We’ll get them back…it’s on Scott and Katrina!

I did manage to find a local scrapbooking store to visit. I did really well too. Brad was happy I only came out with a little bag. The mission was to find something about UT. I found a cute little sticker. The other stuff was just too cute to pass up.

We drove about 400 miles today and ended up at Winnemucca, NV in the Wal- mart parking lot.

I-15 takes you around Salt Lake and it was absolutely gorgeous. Huge mountains, water never ending and even some sail boats taking advantage of the beautiful day. “That is a lot of water,” Mikaela said “You could get lost in all that water”. You have to love a child’s logic sometimes. Zac wanted to drive over to the Morton salt mine we passed to dare some one to lick the mountain of salt. See previous statement about child logic.

We drove past the Bonneville Salt Flats. We thought about opening up the truck and see if we could top the world’s fastest land record but we thought Thor would probably freak in the trailer. Nevada is what we had expected so far. We plan on stopping in Reno for lunch then we should make it to Travis AFB before dinner time.

One side note:
If you are driving through WY and you find a Forrest River spare tire cover it’s ours. It seems the 55 mph winds swiped it off the back of our 5th wheel. We just figured it out this morning.

DAY 3

2007-04-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

So today we planned on spending the day with our friends here in Hooper, UT. We got ready and began to pull out of FamCamp. At this point we are not hooked up to the RV. Two men flag us down to inform us that we were in their reserved spot. They we extremely nice and apologetic even though they did nothing wrong. Turns out, the guy that helped us park and told us to grab any open site forgot to inform us that the building across the way has a reservation sign up for the camp sites. So needless to say we had to move to an open site. Luckily Brad and I have become really fast when is comes to hooking up the RV so in no time we had the RV moved and re-hooked up. The people that we moved for were really nice and if we were not leaving tomorrow, we could have stayed where we were but the sites here are nose in. We informed them that we were glad they caught us when they did because we were on our way out and would not be back until late.

We drove through Hooper, pronounced Huper (I think) by the locals, to get to our friends. They invited us to their son’s birthday party so the kids got to run around and eat chocolate cake. I think this has been the highlight of their trip so far. We then headed to the Hill Aero Space museum. We ran out of time to walk through the different exhibits inside but we were able to walk the static display. We saw some really cool planes to include a B-52, B-1, and a C-123. As we were heading back to the trucks, an elder volunteer for the museum invited us into the chapel. He explained the history of the chapel and spoke of some of his flights and time served. When I say elder, I mean touching into the 80’s easily. He was a very spunky and kind man. Just a great little bit of information to appreciate those who served many years ago for our freedoms.

We headed over to Scott and Katrina’s for dinner. The manly men fired up the grill (keeping their eyebrows) and began the BBQ. We had great food and great company. We have been fortunate along the way to meet really great people. The kids all got along and had a great time playing on their 1 acre yard just east of the Salt Lake. The area is lush and trees are blooming already. They have a smorgasbord of animals ranging from miniature goats, a miniature horse, two dogs and two cats. Zac had a great time just digging in their huge dirt pile and with Nathan (their 4 year old son) as his side kick. Nathan followed Zac around as though Zac was his hero. The girls played with Lauren (their 6 year old little girl) while us adults relaxed and enjoyed the company. They have promised to visit us in AK and you better believe we will hold them to their word. They have a great set up and we totally enjoyed our stay here in Huper (Hooper) UT.

So we now say goodbye to some really great friends that we will miss until we meet again. Goodbye surprisingly beautiful Utah and on towards California.

DAY 2

2007-04-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

Well we got up this morning and packed up the house. We needed showers so we drove to the Fitness Center on base. We were warned about the wind in WY but NOTHING could prepare us for what we experienced today. Trying to walk into the wind was a work out before entering into the building. We stopped at the BX for some souvenirs and asked if it was always this windy here and they laughed at us. The lady said “this is nothing”. We were amazed at the base housing. It was some of the nicest I have ever seen. It reminded me of the housing on Ft. Sam in San Antonio. We got a picture of one of the more amazing houses we say. Turns out it was a 2 star general’s house. It was hard to believe that it was one house.

We hit the road about 11am and started towards UT. The wind was constant and strong. The warnings reported 55 mile an hour winds. Pulling an RV up hills with 55 MPH head winds are not the best making for a fun road trip. Brad backed it down to about 55 and it kept the truck from pulling over 2500 RPM. It kept downshifting out of overdrive so in some areas we got low double digit gas mileage. I guess it could have been worse…like Kansas we had passed through a few weeks before.

The scenery was getting better; it was just the wind that made it slower than what we would have liked it to be. As we approached UT the mountains began to change and we saw really cool rock formations. I was expecting UT to be flat and desert like Moab cuz that’s how I remember it. It is gorgeous. The hills are turning green and look like velvet. The mountains are very close and still snow capped. Once we got to Hill AFB, our friends Scott and Katrina came over to help set up the house. It is great to see them. We are all twins separated at birth. We are spending Sunday with them then we will head out towards CA on Monday.

DAY 1

2007-03-30T23:44:00.000-08:00

We got to a slow start but, we finally got started on our adventure today. The past few days have been a blur and we are as ready as we are going to get.

We had to stop in at Monica’s Taco for one last meal of their famous fish tacos. They were better than normal. Probably because we know they will be our last for some time. After lunch we headed to our favorite Starbuck’s in Barnes and Noble to get the best Americana concoction, well our version that we have perfected. While we were there we walked over to see if the Milepost had come in. There were none on the self, so we asked one of the employees. Turns out they got 2 in, but both were set aside for other customers as special orders. They offered to order 1 for us but we explained we were heading out today and that would not work. Lisa (the Barnes employee) called one of the customers who had it on hold to see if they would mind if we could take theirs and she would order a new one for them. The stars were aligned just right cuz we now have a 2007 Milepost to travel through Canada.

We made it to F.E. Warren AFB, WY today. F.E. Warren is located in Cheyenne, WY. Let me tell ya about finding FamCamp in the dark, with a large truck and trailer in tow, on a base that you’ve never been to before. It makes us appreciate how nice FamCamp was on the Academy. There is one other RV here and it is 22 degrees. We plan on checking out the base in the morning. All of the building we saw (in the dark) were Plantation style. It looks like they have had some fresh snow but the roads were clean.

So far so good and we will end on that note. Tomorrow it’s on to Utah.

2 days and counting

2007-03-29T01:54:00.000-08:00

So, we are down to 2 days before we leave…and time is flying by.

March 13th, I was able to surprise Brad with tickets to the Last of the Breed concert, Willie Nelson, Meryl Haggard, Ray Price and Asleep at the Wheel. We were some of the youngest in the crowd and we are not young anymore, at least Brad isn’t :).

We successfully delivered my truck to have it shipped. The only catch is we did not go to Dallas, TX as we were told. Brad was planning our route and found that there is a VPC (vehicle port of call) in St. Louis, IL. After map questing it, he found it was actually closer than Dallas, plus it is a straight shot back home. The ride home was a bit cramped, 2 adults, 3 kids and 1 large dog in a Ford Taurus but we stopped at Bob Evans restaurant along the way so life was good again.

Well, I am no longer an Archivers employee. Saturday was my last night and I was greeted with a bouquet of balloons, a cake and a handmade card with a generous gift card from my coworkers. My family even brought in a bouquet of flowers. This has definitely been my best job ever. Between the coworkers and customers that I was able to build friendships with and the fact that it was a scrapbooking store, it couldn’t get any better.

Sunday was our going away party here at the TLF (temporary lodging facility). It was so nice to get together with friends and reminisce on the past 3 years we have been here. Brad fired up the grill and we chowed down on some damn good BBQ, and of course we had Bird Dog BBQ sauce.

We are doing a partial DITY move so we had to weigh the truck and RV dead empty then we will reweigh full to be reimbursed for the cost of moving household goods. SO we emptied EVERYTHING out. Can you believe how much stuff we have crammed into our RV in the past year?? Luckily the kids were troopers and helped to unload the RV. With the RV completely empty it was time for the fun task of cleaning from top to bottom, then reloading the RV. We rented the TLF for a week so we were able to slowly unload and reload.

Tomorrow is our last day in Colorado Springs and it will be filled with running last minute errands. Brad worked his last day here at USAFA on Monday so he will out process from this base tomorrow. He will then work on finishing Rocky and the Becker Bunk house (RV) and fingers crossed we will be hooked and ready to go by early evening.

The Count Down...

2007-03-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

So another month has passed and boy have we been busy! We are now 18 days out from our 4000 mile voyage to Alaska. We made a last minute trip to Tucson, AZ at the end of February to say goodbye to friends and family before our move. The timing was great as my grandparents were also visiting from Michigan. The kids got to help Grandma bake her famous Snicker Doodle and Cowboy cookies. We also got to have dinner with my Aunt Lavonne (my mom’s sister) and Uncle Paul. It was nice visiting everyone, but it was hard not having our RV. We towed out my ’73 Jeep to store in AZ so the RV had to stay in Colorado. Not having it showed us how spoiled we are. We traveled quite a bit in the past year and had always taken it with us.

We caught up with the Weinstiens for a night of visiting. I worked with both of them at a restaurant called Carlos Murphys, a place I worked at for WAY TOO long.

Another event we got to participate in was AMARC’s first family day. AMARC is better known as the airplane graveyard. Both my parents work there as did Brad when we lived in AZ. That was probably Brad’s favorite job he has had to this point. It would be like Zac working in a Lego store.

The kids also got to spend a lot of time with their cousins. No matter how long it has been since the last visit they always pick up right where they left off and have a great time playing together. It’s a shame they don’t live closer. If Cindy would only move to Alaska….

Brad was able to spend some time with Ashley and Michele. They are getting excited to come visit us in Alaska. Michele spent the entire week with us, stomach flu and all. As strange as it may sound, Brad felt lucky to be able to care for her while she was sick. Normally he just gives sympathy over the phone. Ashley had to baby sit, but we got to spend some time with her as well.

We took advantage of our time and hit our favorite places to eat such as Eggies, Gus Balone’s, Ajo Café and Yokahoma Rice bowl. It will be a long time before we can eat there again. And of course we had to hit Taco Cabana for breakfast tacos in NM.

We are now in the chaotic mode of gearing up for the big move. Our household goods (yes, household goods NOT in the RV) were packed and loaded last week. We had a total of 5400 lbs of goods. Most of the weight turned out to be books and collected rocks :). We found out that we are NOT taking my Excursion truck to Denver to ship to Alaska like we had been told, but it does start with a “D.” It just happens to be Dallas, TX. SO, with 3 weeks left we are now driving to drop off Brad’s old Ford pickup then to Dallas to drop off my truck. We hope to see some friends who live in TX. The last week will be spent prepping the RV and truck that pulls the RV. We are spending a few nights in TLF so we are planning a goodbye party and finish out processing from this base.

Brad and Zac had a winter survival class at the beginning of March. The temperature at the trail head was -5 degrees with a wind chill of -20. They snow shoed about 2 miles total through several FEET of snow (over a foot of new snow fall that day). They spent the day digging snow caves, learning winter navigation and signaling skills, and then hiked back out. I did the same class 2 years ago and if I move wrong I still have residual pain.

Zac and Brad were presented a commanders coin and certificate for a good deed done. They dug out a RV and truck of a couple that had tried to pull into FamCamp through all the freshly fallen snow just before Xmas. The gentleman was very appreciative and wrote in to the commander. The commander thought it was worthy of recognition and presented Brad and Zac commanders coins at the monthly staff meeting. Brad just considered it taking care of our own.

We will be updating the blog again after our trip to TX. I’m sure we will have some new things to add as we do every trip. Then, we will be adding each step of the way.

The ball is rolling...

2007-01-28T23:17:00.000-09:00

Welcome to the Becker Bunch Blog!

We are preparing for our upcoming move and we wanted to share our experience as we take each step closer to our new adventure with friends and family. We have been researching Alaska life and falling in love with all Alaska has to offer.

We began planning our route and asking for advice from those who have also traveled to Alaska.We are taking Brad's truck and we will be pulling our 5th wheel. This is going to be an extended vacation as Brad is taking about 20 days of leave in addition to the 11 travel days the Air Force gives him to get there.

So far the plan is as follows, leaving out on March 30th heading towards Hill AFB, UT to visit some friends we met here at the USAFA FamCamp for a couple days. We would then like to travel West to Cali to spend a few days exploring San Francisco while staying at Travis AFB. Maybe even spending a day checking out Alcatraz Island. We then will head North on Highway 101 to the Red Wood Forest. This has been a dream of mine for a while so we will stay for a few days to take it all in.

We are still researching if we should continue to head North on Highway 101 towards Washington or cut over to Highway 5. We have been warned that 101, although very scenic, has tight roads, steep hills and slower traveling whereas Highway 5 is more a straight shot.

Brad's oldest sister lives in Seattle. We are excited about spending some time with her and her husband and having them share their favorite spots in Seattle. We plan to stay for several days at McChord AFB, of course stopping in at the 1st Starbucks :).

We have began looking at the trip through Canada. We are waiting for the most current issue of the Milepost http://www.themilepost.com/index.shtml to be released in March to plan that portion of our trip. We have been told that the Milepost is the bible for traveling through Canada.

We would like to invite you to save the web address and check back often. We will add posts and pictures of our trip. Let the adventure begin.....