Discovering the Washing Machine

Emily discovered the Washing Machine today.

..she's crawled back in there 3-4 times today just to check on the laundry.

Yesterday's Hike

We went on a hike yesterday along the Buskin River, near our home. It was an easy stroll through the beautiful forest where we picked raspberries along our route for a pie we'll make tonight for dessert.

We didn't see any wildlife, but came across a HUGE bear turd!! After that we were kind of paying much closer attention to our surroundings and trying to keep the dogs close and from wondering out into the woods.

Wetting the Bed.

As Emily gets older, she'll hate that I am asking this to the "world" - But,

...does anyone have any remedies for diaper leaks?

Emily is finally (almost) sleeping through the night. When she wakes up in the morning she is just so excited to see us; but I am troubled because her diaper leaked again, and not only do I have to change the sheets, but she has been sleeping in her wet clothes all night...and smells like urine!!

This happens almost every night and during naps. I've tried buying night time diapers, but she soaks through those. I've tried double-diapering it, but she soaks through those as well. I use Huggies...maybe Pampers would be better? Any suggestions?

I guess I shouldn't say "leak" but rather "soaks through them" - Anyway, I'm looking for any suggestions! Post a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks!

Moving into Kodiak

So, the Move-In Day went well. They kept bringing stuff out of the truck and it's a whole bunch of old furniture that we've been carting around for the last few years. And now that our second bedroom is Emily's room and no longer an office/game room - we have a lot of stuff left over that we're not going to be using. So, we kept telling them to put that stuff in the garage and that we'll be having a BIG yard sale in a few weeks. Needless to say, the garage is FULL!! So is the storage room behind the garage!

Here's some pics of the boxes in the house. We've unpacked about 70% of the stuff inside the house so far - but we haven't gotten to the stuff in the garage just yet. We've got a BIG TASK ahead of us!! YIKES!!

The Newest Voice in Kodiak

Most of you already know, but I was offered a new job as the Morning Talk Show Host for Kodiak's local radio Station, KVOK!! Crazy? I know!

When we first found out that we were moving to Kodiak I started looking for a job online, as something I could do to get out of the house everyday. (People go crazy here if you're locked up inside for too long) So, I wanted something that would be fun and stressless. At the Alaskan Online Job Board there were only about 20 positions open, all of which had something to do with the fishing industry...except for one...The Morning Talk Show Host. So, I applied. (I never thought they'd actually call)

Now, this was a few months ago and they told me they were looking for "the right person...not just someone to do the job" and not in a big hurry to fill the position, but if they found that person then they would just hire them. Anyway, being 2 months out, I totally thoguht that the position would be taken by the time I got to the island. The lady in change of the station just said to send her an email when we get into town, and we'll see how it goes.

So, a few days after we got into Kodiak (still living in a hotel) I sent her an email to let her know we arrived. She said that the position had still not been filled and that she'd like me to come in. So, I got a babysitter for Emily. I went to my interview in a sweater, jeans, and some cheap black loafers I bought at WalMart...all of my clothes were in storage! I totally apologized for my casual appearance and explained how my clothes weren't coming until the following week. My casual outfit kind of made a nice ice-breaker to the interview.

Anyway, the interview went really well. While I was there I recoreded a test track of the weather and a commercial just so they could hear my voice, and they asked me to come back the following morning to just get a walk-thru of the production room. So, bright-and-early the next morning I went in again for about an hour, and everything went well, and they informally offered me the position. They are working on the formal offer and will get that to me...um, probably this week.

So, the bad news is that the pay isn't the greatest. But, I'm really looking at this as more of a reason to get out of the house (without baby), so the pay isn't too important - I can also continue my website stuff from home. We were able to get Emily in a home daycare with another Mil-Wife here. I'll probably be going into the station a few times over the next couple weeks, but I won't actually start until Sept 2nd.

So, there you have it!! woop! woop!

Our New Home in Kodiak

#3 on The List!!

So, as of Friday we're #3 on The List!!

We started out as #7 when we got here and now we're at #3...so, it seems to be going fast. Sadly, no one works on the weekend, so we'll still be #3 on Monday. I am hopeful that we'll be placed by mid-week next week.

Tomorrow we'll be "kicked out" of our hotel we're at now because they're already all booked up for next week and we won't be able to stay. So, we're moving hotels to the base hotel on Monday. However, they don't allow dogs. So, Chloe & Bryndall will be staying at the non-local kennel on the Island. We'll have to drive about an hour to the rural part of the island to drop them off. Luckily they seem more like a doggie day care and the kids will be sure to "go out" at least 4 times a day. Whereas if they were in a kennel at the vet (which would be our only other option) then they won't get to go out at all.

Anyway, I am so nervous for the dogs to be so far away...and for a few days. I mean, we have bears here! What if they get eaten?!?! Yes, they'll be inside...but what if they go for a walk, and a bear comes, and it eats Bryn, and then Chloe defends her, and then the bear eats Chloe. Ya, I've got the whole "scene" running through my head. It just makes me so nervous because I don't know the area yet.

It's just not fair because they said we'd have a house! Now, we're going on a month of living out of a suitcase in a hotel. Our stuff is already here waiting for us! We just need a home!! RIDICULOUS!!

Homeless in Alaska

So, we're still homeless. We are a little more optimistic then we were yesterday when we first found out that there were no homes available for us here in Kodiak.

Since yesterday we have "moved up" on The List and we are now #5 in line to get a home!! We got the local paper with the listing of available rentals...only 1 of which we could possibly rent because all the others won't take dogs. We stopped by that possible rental yesterday afternoon. It is a brand new 2 bedroom house...the guy is still making the house! We stopped by and the house "should" be done by Aug 20th. It doesn't have a kitchen yet and all the drywall is still exposed...it still needs a lot of work, but the guy thinks he'll probably have it done in a few weeks. He pretty much offered it to us if we were interested...so, we need to get back to him by Tuesday.



We're still waiting on a "Base House" - We fell in love with a vacant unit on Lake Louise...so, we need to hope/pray/chat/anything that they will be working on the house around the time our name is at the top of the list. They haven't started working on it yet and it seems that the Housing Office gives away a house per day...so...maybe! That's what we're crossing our fingers for right now.

There are about 10 vacant units right now. We're all just waiting on the contractors to get done with the units before we can move in. They are only allowed to work on 2 units per day...so, I'm not sure how it will all work out, but I am hoping that we'll kind of have a better idea on everything early next week.

We also went around looking at possible house purchases that are on the market. The houses here are relatively cheap as compared to those in California. Like $250,000 is what we're looking at. However, I'm still not too confident that the numbers will work out with me still being out of work. But, we're looking at all our possibilities. If we did purchase something it would need to be "rentable" in the future, as we are only staying here for 3 years. So, we'll see how everything pans out.

It was SUPER HOT here today and I went around in a tank top most of the afternoon. I think we must be closer to the sun, or something. The temp in the truck said 66 degrees, but it felt like 90!!

Pictures in Kodiak

Here are some pictures we took of our first visit to Kodiak.

Alaska Trip - Day 18 -- IN KODIAK!!

Well...we made it to Kodiak today!!

We arrived via ferry at 8am this morning. The boat docked and we walked down to the car loading area to get ready to leave the ship. We were excited to see that the dogs did well alone in the car all night...the ferry would not allow them to come up to the deck. So, for 12 hours they were alone in the car. They were SUPER EXCITED to see us when we came down!! ...super thirsty, super hungry, and needing to pee...but they were really glad to see us!

As we pulled out of the ferry...towed car & everything...we saw the Chris' new Senior Chief, Chief, and 2 of his fellow airmen. They were all there to welcome us to Kodiak. We pulled the car off to the side and got out to greet them. As Chris went off to greet his new coworkers, 2 women came up to talk with me. They were from the Kodiak Spouses Association and they knew I was coming...I was surprised and flattered that they came out for me!! It was really nice of them!!

We talked with everyone for a little while and then Alex Major (Chris' friend from San Diego who is now stationed in Kodiak) took us off to get all checked in with the appropriate offices. Chris got checked with the Admin offices quickly, and then we were off to the Housing Offices. This is where the "Happy Story" becomes a little sticky.

We walked in and the lady there pretty much said "Welcome to Kodiak, we have no room for you." She went on and on about we should consider renting an apartment in the City because the Coast Guard Housing was full...even went as far to give us the daily listings of open rentals. The whole time this lady is trying to give us bad news...I'm just thinking...Holy Shit! Where will we go now?!?! -- We hadn't made any reservations at a hotel because a few weeks ago the very-same-Housing Office said that they had "plenty of housing" and we shouldn't be concerned. Well, needless to say...they lied.

We are now #8 on the list and waiting to get a house. She said it could be a few weeks before we get a house; and when something finally does become available we will need to take-it-or-leave-it...basically saying that if we don't like what's available we're up Shit-Creek! (sorry for the 4-letter-words...I'm so upset right now) We were under such different expectations!

We called the 1st listing on the ad which did not say "No Pets" (there were about 7 listings total...no one wants pets) and the 1st listing we called said he'd prefer No Pets, but might consider us. However, the location wouldn't be available for another few weeks. So, we'll be stuck in a hotel for at least a few weeks!!!!! SHIT...we've been in a hotel for 3 weeks already!!!!!

Speaking of which...this is where I am writing from...yet another freak'n hotel! We were able to get into a local hotel which actually accepts dogs...thank God!! And, I guess we'll be homeless for a little while longer.

Oh...it gets better... let's talk money... I know this is a "foopaw subject" but we're going to briefly discuss it. -- The Coast Guard does not pre-pay our current hotel stay in Kodiak while we're awaiting housing! We need to put the money up-front for the hotel and we "should" be able to get about $140/day to spend on a room, however the room is costing us $180/night, but they don't care...and we can file the form after a ten-day period, and then it takes about 3 weeks to get reimbursed. (Hell, I just got reimbursement last week for a claim they owed us for Chris' expenses while he was in North Carolina Jan-May!!) So, basically...we're going to front a hotel stay for about 2 weeks at a rate of $180/day for 14 days...um, that comes out to roughly $2500 out of our own pocket!! And then the Coast Guard will pay us back like a month later. Again...Holy Shit!!!

So, that's the story right now. It's a little after 1pm, and Chris is out doing some more admin stuff...so I might have an update for you again later.

By the way...we got a phone call this morning to tell us that all our stuff arrived today! So, our "house" is here, but we still don't have a home!!

Alaska Trip - Day 17

Today is our last day on the Mainland! From here-on-out we'll be living on an island!

The morning got off slow, as usual. We went to CostCo in Anchorage and picked up the 500+ pictures we uploaded online & ordered the night before. And after that we hit the road. The drive went pretty quick and before we knew it we were almost there and it was already 6pm! Our drive today took us through the Kenai Pennisula, which was beautiful!

We ate dinner along the Homer Spit and then lined up for the Ferry. We checked in to the Ferry Terminal at 7:30pm and didn't actually board the boat until after 10pm. It was a LONG process and we were both so nervous about actually arriving in Kodiak.

We had to unhitch the Jeep from the truck and drive them in seperately. Whouldn't you know it...the Jeep broke down on the ferry loading ramp! Heck...we made it this far!! We just hitched it back up to the truck and towed it on. Chris did an amazing job manuevering it onto the boat with the truck in reverse.

We got on the boat and into our "stateroom." The boat overall was like a nice version of the Catalina Flyer (which I'm sure you've all been on.) Our "stateroom" was a small closet-space with a bunkbed. It was easy to fall asleep on the boat with the slow rocking...but I was so sick when I woke up (because of the slow rocking & the nerves.)

Emily did well on the boat...gosh...if she only knew how far we've come to get where we are!

Alaska Trip - Day 16

We spent the day in Anchorage doing a little bit of shopping and running some errands in the "big city" before we head off to the island the following morning. So, nothing too eventful today. We stopped by REI and picked up some "base layers" which is just a nice way to say thermals...but they're not made from thermal. It's better.



Here's my 1 pic/video for the day.

Alaska Trip - Day 15

We hit Anchorage today. It was a long journey in the car...like 9 hours! It was a hard 9 hours because our "goal" was to drive to Alaska. So, technically, we arrived in Alaska yesterday...and we still had more driving to do?!?! (OMG!!)

We were not excited about today's drive...not to mention, that the road was pretty much horrible during most of the drive to Anchorage. We had one stretch of the road which had Road Construction & a one-way traffic zone with a Pilot Car. We waited for about 45 minutes in a LONG line of cars for the Pilot Car to come get us before we could continue through the road. Once the Car came and we started following him (along with about 40 other cars)...he took us through a 5 mile stretch of road construction where they were blasting away the mountains. It was the longest road construction we've come across thus far!!

I think, at this point, we all were over being stuck in the car. Chloe & Bryndall started to argue in the same way sisters would after being in close-quarters for too long. They were pissed at each other because one was touching the other...so Bryndall sat on my lap for a while until it blew over. Emily was a little bit of a pill today...I think she wanted to get out of the car as well. And, it was a LONG DRIVE today!! But, hey, we made it!!

Emily's 2 Top Teeth!

Like I mentioned before, we had been reading a guide book along our route and we have learned A LOT about the scenery and the history of all the towns along our route. We learned about a Moose Trap that Anchorage has devised along the freeway. Originally they made the freeway smack-dab in the middle of a moose migration pattern!! As a result they would get frequent car accidents involving moose along the highway. So, they created a fenced Moose Trap that is designed to lure the moose away from the highway and get him back into the forest...pretty interesting!

We got to our hotel around 7pm and settled in. We're staying in a suite-style hotel, so there's a good-sized kitchen, 1 bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a walk-in closet - it's nice to have a little more space than normal...we've been living cooped up together in a small hotel room for the past 2 weeks! So, this is nice. We went to dinner at Applebee's where we had a gift certificate (Mel, I think that was from you...thanks!)

So, that was our day & night today...boring...

(but I guess you've got to have a few of those every now & again.)

Alaska Trip - Day 14

We made it to Alaska!!!

Woop Woop!!!

Today we left Whitehorse, Yukon and headed for the town of Tok, Alaska. It was about a 10 hour drive and let me tell you...we felt all of the ten hours. Between being anxious about just getting to Alaska and being tired of being in the car, we just wanted to get there. It was a long day.

We left Whitehorse at about 10:30 in the morning and we got to Alaska at 8:30 at night (PST); we entered into the Alaska Time Zone, 1 hour behind Pacific, so it was actually 7:30pm. Most of the drive consisted of the Yukon, boring old Yukon!


We stopped every few hours or so to let the dogs out and stretch our legs. Well, as we followed the road through a curve the valley opened up and there was this huge, extremely blue lake. It was a beautiful shade of this sea blue color...the same color we saw in Tahiti. it was a glacier lake created by the runoff of a nearby glacier. It was beautiful! We pulled over to get out and take a picture. The shores were a black sand...we haven't seen any sand along the shores of any waterway - so this was just amazing! As we all got out the dogs quickly ran across the shoreline. We took in the view and Tracy had to attempt to skip at least one rock along this perfectly blue, calm lake. Without even noticing, or paying attention, she geared up to throw the rock...and the minute she let it go toward the water...so went Chloe!!! Right into the Glacier Water!! Yep...she thought we were in San Diego again and playing catch with her in the ocean. Without even thinking twice, Chloe went dodging into the frigid water!! Instantly we started screaming at her, and cracking up at the same time...it was hysterically funny!! We dried her off the best we could and left the scenic beach with a wet dog...and a new wet dog smell.

We approached the last 100 miles or so of the trip (before the U.S. Border) and the Alaska Highway turned to crap! They obviously don't take care of that road! There were so many potholes and the road just kept going up and down, up and down (I call them woopdees). We finally got to the U.S. Border and as we pulled up we were nervous that they would give us a hard time...we had it so easy getting into Canada, we thought for sure we would get searched coming into the U.S....Nope! They asked us a few questions and sent us on our way! Damn! All that work for nothing! Oh well, we should be thankful that it was easy.


We had finally made it to Alaska, yet we still had another couple hours of driving to do before we got to Tok. The part of Alaska that borders the Yukon, no shock to anyone, looks just like the Yukon...crappy. So, we weren't impressed. As the drive went on, the views got much better and we were happy with its scenery...and the roads were much better too!


We finally drove into the city of Tok, quickly finding the cabins we were staying in. This place, Caribou Cabins, was amazing! We drove down this gravel road to a driveway, turned into it and nestled in the forest were 4 cabins. There was a large cabin in the back where the family that owns the place lives, it was also the office. We threw the dogs in the cabin, disconnected the Jeep and ran out to get some laundry done before they closed. We ended up using a laundromat at an RV park...how ghetto! Oh well, it worked. We went to get some food then went back to the cabin. Now, by this time, its already 11pm, our time. We didn't even get to enjoy this place!! We did a quick webcam with Grandma Lauri, Emily was tired so she wasn't in a good mood though. Then, and this is the funny part, I took Chloe outside to play ball for 15 mins or so. Yes, it was still light enough outside, it was almost midnight. Shortly after that we all went to bed and Em actually slept throughout the night in her crib! Welcome to Alaska!

Alaska Trip - Day 13

On our way to Whitehorse...the Capital of the Yukon Territory. We expected a BIG CITY! We drove further into the Yukon, only to discover that the Yukon Territory is really ugly. British Columbia is SO MUCH NICER! Most of the trees in the Yukon are dead or trying to regrow. We have been reading a book along the way Scenic Driving through Alaska and the Yukon. So, we've been getting a little history along the way.

Apparently the majority of the Yukon forest throughout our trip was flattened by fires, but this is good for the soil so it is not necessarily looked at as a bad thing; beetles also devastated the forest, killing A LOT of trees! Because of Global Warming the Spruce Beetles were able to have 3+ life cycles per season, whereas previous to this they would usually have only one. So, because of the change in climate the beetles were able to reproduce and do more damage (another reason to help stop global warming!)

Well, after 6+ hours we finally arrived in Whitehorse. It was a quaint town probably no bigger then half the size of our hometown back in California...without the neighboring cities! We checked into our hotel room and then went out to get a bite to eat. We ate at the Mexican Restaurant across the street that was nominated for "Best Patio 2007!" and it is advertised all over! ha-ha!

So, we ordered a Top Shelf Margarita when we sat down...chips & salsa were $3.50 extra. The drinks came and they were GROSS!!! The WORST margarita I've ever had! It tasted like a concoction I made from left over alcohol while in college. After reading the menu which had the recipe for the Top Shelf Margarita, we discovered that they made it with Jim Bean, Cointreau, and Sweet & Sour. Who in the hell makes a margarita with Jim Bean?!?! Oh it was gross!! So, we sent them back...I think that might have been the first time I have ever sent anything back. It was just horrid...there was no way we were going to drink it. We ordered a regular margarita instead and that was much better (of course, still not as good as Margarita Monday at Acapulco!)
Anyway, we didn't take too many pictures today because we just weren't too impressed. So, here's what we got today.

Alaska Trip - Day 12

We left the interesting mountain town of Iskut at about 9:30am, we thought we had a super long drive that day and we wanted to get going earlier than usual. We didn't even bother with breakfast, we just packed up and bailed out of there. It was a decent place but for some reason we felt a little unsafe.

We were heading to Watson Lake, which is actually in the Yukon Territory, as opposed to British Columbia, which is where we had been travelling up to this point. If you look on a map, you can see the vast distance we've covered thus far...B.C. alone is gigantic! The drive to Watson Lake was uneventful...shorter than planned, we arrived at about 5 pm. We checked into our hotel, The Belvedere...reminded us of a convalescent home. This town has two things its known for and The Belvedere isn't one of them. Watson Lake is home to the world famous Sign Post Forest and the Northern Lights Center. The Northern Lights are visible from here but the cloud cover was too thick for us to see anything. We checked into the hotel, then we went to the Sign Post Forest to check it out. It was pretty cool, they have about 70,000 signs posted up from people from all over the world.

We ate dinner at the hotel's diner...it was mediocre. After dinner, we went to the Northern Lights Center, we caught the 8:30 pm show they had...it was somewhat informative, however kinda boring. Em was getting fussy so we split just before it finished. We went to bed at about 11 that night....it looked like dusk outside...Em wouldn't go to sleep...you know the story. So we woke up at about 6:30 to get ready to go...again we had a long drive ahead. We got ready, ate breakfast at the diner, loaded the car and then...we went to the local hardware store to get a piece of wood to make a sign for the forest! We couldn't leave this place without representing our family and where we came from! The visitors center at the Forest had paint for us to make the sign, we just needed the wood. We painted up a sign, fairly quickly, and hammered it into a post in the Forest...

The Moore Family Adventure has officially visited Canada!

Alaska Trip - Day 11

Once again we were sad to leave such a nice place (there are so few of them). We had a nice breakfast at their restaurant at Bell II (Meziadin Lake) before hitting the road...late again, as usual. We drove and drove. We hit some bad weather and it rained off-and-on for most of the drive.

We arrived in Iskut after only about 2 hours. Remember, this was the 150 miles that was "supposed" to take 10 hours according to Google Maps...well, it only took 2 hours. (I don't know what they're smok'n!) So, we ended up having a restful day in Iskut...yet, there is seriously NOTHING to do here!!

We checked into the cabins but they weren't ready for us yet...it was about 1pm. So we went into "town" to get gas & lunch. Their "town" is one small gas station/grocery store/cafe/post office -- yep, it's just ONE building!

So, since it was the only place in town for lunch we stopped at the "cafe" and had lunch. Their "cafe" was in the back corner aisle of the store, where they removed the shelves and put in a snack counter and served hot dogs, nachos, chili, and that's about it. We had hot dogs and nachos...let's just say that it wasn't that great. Um...in the aisle between the the toy aisle and the drink coolers!! HA-HA!!!

By the time we got done with lunch our cabin was ready. We went in and it looked like something that was built by hand as a class project. The cabin looked like it was in a scene from a scary movie starring "Jason." It was probably one of the most irry places we have stayed so far. There was an RV Park just below the cabins, as they were on a hill. And there were a few RV spaces where the tenets had taken up residency. All things considering, we were just fine.

Chris went fishing on the lake and actually caught a fish! While Emily and I prepared dinner in the cabin. (The "cafe" closed early so we picked up some stuff at the "store" which we could prepare in the microwave back at the cabin.) So, while Chris was fishing we were microwaving! It was fun!

After dinner we actually were able to speak to mom & dad via webcam and a skittish satellite Internet connection. I could NOT believe that we got a signal there...even though it was intermittent.

Alaska Trip - Day 10

Well today we set off for Meziadin Lake....it was another 10 hour day of driving. Since we left Prince George, we've been heading due west for most of the day. About halfway thru our drive, we came to a junction, HWY 37, The Cassiar Hwy. This is the first highway we took that actually said "to Alaska." It was exciting to see! There was a great big sign on the corner of the junction that said "North to Alaska." We had been driving on roads that were fairly large, sometimes several lanes and actually there was quite a bit of traffic on these roads. This road, not so much. For miles we were the only ones on the road, it was desolate, lots of trees, big mountains, definitely different than the other highways. We really felt like we were actually getting to Alaska. We saw a sign when we first got on the road that said "check your fuel, next stop 270km (160 miles)," I had just filled up the tank at the junction so we were good. Up to this point we had been able to get gas about every 50 miles or so at the most. On this road, there was one gas station, it was at the lodge we were staying at. We arrived at Meziadin Junction, its were HWY 37 splits to go north or to go west. There was a sign that said, "Alaska, 45 miles." There were referring to a small town on the long string of islands that make up the southern area of Alaska (near Juneau). We were really close to Alaska but that wasn't where we were going.


We went the other direction and about an hour later we found our hotel. This place just appeared out of no where! We were driving saying, "it should be around here somewhere..."
All we could see were trees and mountains! We pulled into the lodge, ran in to eat; it was almost 8 pm and the dining room closed at 8. We checked into our little cabin room and enjoyed the rest of the night. It was a cozy little cabin...these people dumped a whole lot of money into this place, pretty good considering its in the middle of nowhere!!! The have a Heli Skiing business too, they had the helicopter parked next to the hotel. Nice place!!!