As I woke up this morning, the realization that my life is about to change VERY drastically. Our house is now sold, we have already shipped all of our household goods that we want to have in Alaska to a UHaul storage location in Palmer, AK, and are currently residing with my wife’s parents until we start driving North To Alaska (I couldn’t resist).

Work

My wife has spoken with several of her superiors above her to discuss options for staying with her company, and** due to COVID-19, the idea of telecommuting is a daily reality. We now have proof that, no matter where you are located, you can still perform many of the daily tasks required from an office job, particularly in my wife’s case. She has intermittently worked from home for almost a decade, and with the current world situation, she now has positive proof that it does not matter where she sits to get her job done, as long as she has internet access and a phone line.
So, in trying to understand the reasoning behind the Global Pandemic, it may be that the universe wants to help us maintain a decent income until we get established in Alaska…because, at least for us, that is definitely a positive result of this world-changing event.

My business is currently being transitioned into the hands of its new Owner/Operator, I have only be the assistant for almost 6 months now while I have been training my replacement. In seeking out someone that I trust to carry on in my absence, in the manner I would like to see it done, it turns out that the answer was in front of me the whole time. My business has been growing for 15 years, and I am just as overprotective of it as I am of my daughters…ironic, as one of my daughters, along with my “Future Ex Son-In-Law”, will be taking the reins. I only have daughters, and I believed that none had much interest in doing what I do for a living. I think that it is a wonderful opportunity for someone with the right set of skills and drive, so this makes me very happy. It was a career move for myself, allowing me to shelter and feed my family for 15 years, so let me put this out here, Thank you, Hank, for helping me to help myself succeed.

Travel

We are driving our 6 year old Honda Pilot, as it is a very comfortable ride, spacious, reliable, and All-Wheel drive. Oh, and the wife wants to keep it, so I suppose that should also be sort of important. I am actually looking forward to driving across this great country to see things I’ve never seen in person before.

Part of our plans revolve around tourist sites, like Mt Rushmore. But what REALLY excites me is getting a week long, cross country tour of America’s local food, particularly the barbecue! Memphis and Kansas City are going to be two of our more anticipated stops, but having been stationed in Omaha in the early 90’s, I look forward to revisiting that fun town, only this time not as a penniless Airman on food stamps. A local restaurant that opened just before I arrived there in `88, Nettie’s, is a definite must-see for me, since they are still open! It really isn’t just about us getting to our destination of Alaska, the journey really does excite both myself and my wife.

Originally, we were going to drive through Canada on the ALCAN, or the Alaskan Highway, constructed during World War II to connect the lower 48 to Alaska across Canada. We were excited to see some of Canadas wonders, and being a USAF veteran, I wanted to see the history behind the creation of the road first hand. As our plans progressed, we ran into a pretty significant stumbling block.

If you were not aware, part of my plans for living in Alaska is to hunt wild game for food. You cannot do that with spatulas or tennis rackets. So, yes, I have guns. Quite a few, in fact. (I also have several hammers, chainsaws, and shovels. Each is just a tool, and only as dangerous, or useful, as the person using it.) Canada has over a billion acres of wilderness, chock full of bears, moose, wolves, wolverines, and other things that would want to do you harm, as well as many forms of walking and flying protein to provide you food. However, by most US standards, their gun laws are rather draconian, and I would have had many problems and excessive expenses in order to get my firearms and ammo across their lovely land.

So, instead, we are going to keep our money in our own country. (Do the math – 200 miles is 4-5 days of driving gas, lodging, food, and the worst part, all the tourist trinkets would would just HAVE to purchase.) Instead of the ALCAN, we are taking the Alaska Marine Highway System, a state-run ferry that services many of Alaska’s coastal towns. We are driving to Bellingham, WA to catch the M/V Kennicott, drive our car onto the vehicle deck of that ship, walk up to the passenger deck to our outside (windowed!) room for what is effectively a 5 day, low-budget, no frills Alaskan cruise.

It is a bit pricier than just driving, but allows us to bring whatever “tools” (guns+ammo) we want for our future hunting adventures. And we get to watch the world pass by as we leisurely cruise up the inside passage, and soak up the wonders of the Pacific Northwest. This part of our trip will take us to the tiny Alaskan town of Whittier, a town we have already visited, and if you are ever in Alaska yourself, you really should make the trip there. They offer a day cruise, “26 Glaciers” that was something I shall never forget. And the end of our ferry ride is also very near the end of our journey – Whittier is a mere 2 hours drive away from what is soon to be what we call home.

By The Numbers

With only 99 days left that only gives us 13 more weekends.
To put it in gardeners terms, if we were to plant pumpkins today…they wouldn’t be harvestable until after we left…if we hustle and get Brussel sprouts in the ground by the end of this weekend, we may be able to pick then as we load the car to leave…
For the dog lovers, if we had a dog bred today, we may just have time for the pups to be born and maybe weaned of the mother. Maybe.
For my USAF brothers, my basic training and tech school took about 100 days, turning a snot-nosed, know-it-all punk into a future upright citizen.

Time really does march on.

Peace,
db

Need something from Amazon (and who doesn’t)? I earn a small commission from purchases made when you begin your Amazon shopping experience here. You still get great Amazon service and your price is the same, no matter what. And for the record, all of my Amazon links provide me with this referral fee.