Home Again

I arrived home from Alaska Thursday morning after flying most of the night. I was so tired, I immediately zonked and slept for 3 hours. I’m still feeling a little logey because I have a slight cold that I picked up from Steven.

It was cold and rainy at 1:00 a.m. Thursday morning when I left Anchorage with a forecast low of only 28, but it’s 100 degrees here in the Valley of the Sun today. It’s amazing that the temperatures can be so significantly different in parts of the same continent.

I’ve had requests for more descriptive information on Robin and Ken’s property. Right now, they are renting a three bedroom duplex in Eagle River, and their property is in the process of excavation. This 3/4 acre piece of land is on a heavily wooded mountain just above Eagle River. There is lots to be done to make the house Ken and Robin are designing fit on the property and maintain the views. Since is in such a beautiful area, there will be big windows on all sides to take in that view. There’s a small pond on the lower corner. They will move a lot of ground around in order to make a flat enough place to set the house. There was a huge boulder smack dab in the middle of the lot that had to be blasted apart to even move pieces of it. The well has been dug and septic tank is next.

We did a little sightseeing. I already wrote about driving down to Portage Glacier. I’ve posted some pictures of that trip.

Steve and Deanna’s home is about 5 miles up the mountain from Robin and Ken. They sit near the summit and it’s all switchbacks getting there. At least the road is paved and well maintained in the winter, and Steve has his own small bulldozer for their driveway, but it still seems like quite a trip into Anchorage every day. I got a few pictures of their home, but not enough to do it justice.

On Wednesday, Tami joined Robin, Steven and me for a trip to Wasilla. We didn’t visit any sight-seeing locations other than to drink in the view along the way. It was very overcast that day, and we couldn’t see Mt. McKinley, but on good days it is usually visible from there.

All in all, it was a great visit with a perfect balance between sight seeing and just relaxing with family and enjoying the kids. I’ve updated my photo gallery, with new pictures added to Robin’s family in addition to the Alaska album. I also posted a few new pictures of Lauren and Nathan in Brian’s family album. Check them all out.

Glenda’s and my trip to New England will be postponed about a week. Her dad has been having a terrible time with infection and nerve pain in his toe so he is having minor surgery on October 3 to insert a pain masking device in his spine. We’re praying he does well and that this eases his pain. We’ve been very concerned about him, and won’t go until we are sure he is comfortable and well situated so Glenda can be gone for a month.

In the meantime, I’m going to do some things around the house, like paint the bathroom and sew new drapes for the living room and other little fix-ups. It will be time well-spent. And now, I better get to it!