It is Monday, four more days of school!!! We spent the weekend with friends out on their boats. We did a little fishing, Jude got her first King Salmon weighing in at 13 lbs and I got one that went 22. Our host set a line that was left in overnight, and we got 2 halibut and a Lingcod. That has to be one of the ugliest fish I have ever seen, but they are supposed to be very tasty. The problem is that our freezer is very small in the trailer and we are having issues getting everything in. Such a problem. I did see an add for fresh Alaskan King Salmon for only $24.99 per pound.
After fishing, we spent the night anchored out is a small back bay, similar to the places we go in the North Channel. The biggest differences were the snow capped mountains, the 11 foot tides, and the Brown Bears on the beach. This is the only cruising grounds that we have found that can compare, and even out-do, the North Channel. We still like the fresh warm water in the Channel. No swimming up here, it is like a salty Lake Superior, 45F.
We moved out of the house last week and are living in the 5th wheel in a campground that is right on one of the harbors. Amanda flies in on Wednesday. We have a harbor cruise lined up for her on Thursday, our friends are planning an Elks Lodge Burger Special on Friday night. On Saturday we board the ferry and head to Juneau for a few days. From there we will head up to Skagway and then to Anchorage. Amanda will be traveling along with us to Anchorage. She got some good news the other day, Julius will be home before Christmas. This may change her trip back to Michigan in November, but that decision will come later.
21 May 2007
09 May 2007
Good News/Bad News
The Johnson's: The only bad news that Jude and I have is that I still have 12 more days to go to work!! That said, we really do like it here in Sitka. The area is just beautiful and we are starting to make friends. We are to go out on short overnight cruise next weekend on a friend's boat. Jude has been working about 4 hours per day at a shop that does embroidery work on shirts, hats, etc. She has also become involved with the Emblem Club, a support group for the Elks Lodge. Last week was the state Elks convention hosted here in Sitka. She was there volunteering in the kitchen making meals for the 125 attendees. We would love to stay in Sitka, but it is so expensive. Our 900 sq ft house was listed last year for $268K, our rent is $1350 per month, but the worst is $4 for a draft beer!! We are looking fwd to spring/summer and fishing up north and the trip back to Bruce Mines. I have confirmed that I am not much for Island life, 14 miles of road is not enough for me. The good part however is that we have only rolled up 1200 miles on the truck since August! (120 miles per month!!) I guess I did forget about our sad news, and that is that 15 year old Hanna has cancer and we are not sure if she will even make it back to Bruce Mines. She is my second last dog and with our traveling I hope I can keep it that way, but I will truly miss her.
The Livengood's: Starting with the bad news first, Eric will not be able to get out of the Army. Through a typical Army snafu, lost paperwork and what not, they are back in Lawton, OK, at Ft Sill for 6 months of schooling. The drive took them about a week with a ton of Alaskan wild life for the first couple of days and the winds of the plains for the last couple. The Army is giving them a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) move. What that means is that all of their belonging will be packed up and moved to Lawton, OK. They will be in Lawton for 6 months, and then a PCS move, probably back up to Alaska! Guess who is paying for that, that's right, the American tax payer. It looks like there will be another deployment for Eric. He is hoping to get back to another Stryker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stryker) unit. He feels safer going to war in one of those as opposed to a Humvee. They will be trying to sell their house down there in Lawton and tough out the summer in their 28 ft travel trailer, that last summer was Carrie's home base for her fishing expeditions. On the lighter side, while Eric is in school, Carrie will be taking the trailer and the kids back east to see the Livengoods in Maryland, and Jude's mom in Detroit. While in Detroit, she is planning on heading back to Owosso for her 10 year class reunion. Eric will fly in for the weekend. Wow, in 10 years she went in the army to Hawaii, got married, 4 kids, Lawton, all but one semester of her BA, Anchorage and Alaskan life. Not many out of old Shiawassee County are going to be able to top that one!!
Cavira's: Amanda is toughing it out. She is living on post in Anchorage. Julius was home on R&R back in March and won't be home till next Jan. He is still in Baghdad and obviously not enjoying it. She is doing some substitute teaching and other tasks around the local elementary school. She recently helped put together a fund raiser for a friend who has cancer and raised $2500 for him. The auction included such great Alaskan items such as $400 for Hobo Jim's hat (an Alaskan folk singer http://www.hobojim.com/iditarod.mp3) and $60 for a dog sled ride. Only in Alaska. Amanda just got an advanced present, a ticket to head back to Michigan next fall for the M vs OSU football game with the Big House Gang and Thanksgiving with Jude's family.
Our Travels: Amanda flies into Sitka on 23 May and will travel with us on the next part of our Adventure. We board the ferry to Juneau on 26 May. We will be there for a few days and then back on the ferry to Skagway. From there it will be up to Whitehorse, in the Yukon, and then up the AK HWY to Anchorage. We will be in south central Alaska until the first part of July when we will head back to Bruce Mines, launch the boat and try to spend the remainder of the summer relaxing in Canada. Then, off again south for the winter. Where? We are planning on next winter following the Michigan football team to their bowl game be it Florida or California.
That's all for now--R0b
The Livengood's: Starting with the bad news first, Eric will not be able to get out of the Army. Through a typical Army snafu, lost paperwork and what not, they are back in Lawton, OK, at Ft Sill for 6 months of schooling. The drive took them about a week with a ton of Alaskan wild life for the first couple of days and the winds of the plains for the last couple. The Army is giving them a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) move. What that means is that all of their belonging will be packed up and moved to Lawton, OK. They will be in Lawton for 6 months, and then a PCS move, probably back up to Alaska! Guess who is paying for that, that's right, the American tax payer. It looks like there will be another deployment for Eric. He is hoping to get back to another Stryker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stryker) unit. He feels safer going to war in one of those as opposed to a Humvee. They will be trying to sell their house down there in Lawton and tough out the summer in their 28 ft travel trailer, that last summer was Carrie's home base for her fishing expeditions. On the lighter side, while Eric is in school, Carrie will be taking the trailer and the kids back east to see the Livengoods in Maryland, and Jude's mom in Detroit. While in Detroit, she is planning on heading back to Owosso for her 10 year class reunion. Eric will fly in for the weekend. Wow, in 10 years she went in the army to Hawaii, got married, 4 kids, Lawton, all but one semester of her BA, Anchorage and Alaskan life. Not many out of old Shiawassee County are going to be able to top that one!!
Cavira's: Amanda is toughing it out. She is living on post in Anchorage. Julius was home on R&R back in March and won't be home till next Jan. He is still in Baghdad and obviously not enjoying it. She is doing some substitute teaching and other tasks around the local elementary school. She recently helped put together a fund raiser for a friend who has cancer and raised $2500 for him. The auction included such great Alaskan items such as $400 for Hobo Jim's hat (an Alaskan folk singer http://www.hobojim.com/iditarod.mp3) and $60 for a dog sled ride. Only in Alaska. Amanda just got an advanced present, a ticket to head back to Michigan next fall for the M vs OSU football game with the Big House Gang and Thanksgiving with Jude's family.
Our Travels: Amanda flies into Sitka on 23 May and will travel with us on the next part of our Adventure. We board the ferry to Juneau on 26 May. We will be there for a few days and then back on the ferry to Skagway. From there it will be up to Whitehorse, in the Yukon, and then up the AK HWY to Anchorage. We will be in south central Alaska until the first part of July when we will head back to Bruce Mines, launch the boat and try to spend the remainder of the summer relaxing in Canada. Then, off again south for the winter. Where? We are planning on next winter following the Michigan football team to their bowl game be it Florida or California.
That's all for now--R0b
20 April 2007
Picture Link
Being new at the blog, I am trying to get things connected. Some of you asked for some pictures of Sitka, well follow this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannysfault
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannysfault
16 April 2007
Catch up time
Wow, lots of things have happened since I last contacted everyone. I stopped the mass emails because of issues that some of you had reading them. I never did find out what the problem was.
Last winter we traveled from Michigan to Annapolis to Katrina relief to the south west to San Diego, up the coast, a month as campground hosts in Washington, then up here. It has been a fun journey so far. Alaska is an amazing place and we love it here in our new home state.
Family Issues. Eric made it home from Iraq last November to be with Matt, the newest member of our family, the day after he was born. Babies don't wait! Amanda got married to Julius Cavira, a soldier, a real surprise, who is now deployed to Baghdad. The announcement last week by the Pentagon that soldiers would now be spending 12 months at home and 15 months in Iraq has been taken very hard in our family. Eric has decided that his family comes first. He is considering submitted his paperwork to leave the Army. He would be out about Jan 08. Amanda and Julius have a longer go at it. Julius recently re-enlisted. What that means to Amanda and him is that during their first 3 ½ years of marriage they will only be together for 12 months. This system is broke! It is time for a timetable in Iraq. These people have been fighting for 1400 years.
My sisters are both doing well as are Jude's brothers. Jude's mom is fine and living near Tom's family. She spends lots of time there with the great grand kids. They are traveling up here on a cruise at the end of May. Too bad the ship does not make a stop here in Sitka.
School: The job up here has been horrible. The problem is that the standards here are low and there are no consequences for ones actions. Classes are supposed to start at 8:45. I usually don’t take attendance for another 10 minutes because there are very few people in class. The whole program is a joke in the way that the kids can basically do anything they want. I have been hanging on since before Thanksgiving. 28 more days of school.
I have decided that this teaching business is tough. I was glad I took another teaching position After working at the same place for 33 years was my success with kids because of skill or tradition. Here I have had the opportunity to to realize that even though that the job sucks, I love to work and relate with the kids.
Sitka: What a beautiful city. About 8800 people when the cruise ships are not in. That number goes up by 2000-5000 per day when the cruise ships come in. They are a mixed blessing; they come loaded with money and tourists. We live near the center of town where I walk 3 blocks in one direction to the ocean and school (the school is right at one of the harbors) and 3 blocks in the other direction to the base of a mountain. If we go the other way it is 7 miles to the end of the road in either direction. Since August we have put just over 1100 miles on the truck.
The wildlife is neat. The bald eagles are in around here right now. It is not uncommon to see a dozen or so in the harbor sitting in the boat's rigging. We have sea lions and whales. The gift I got Jude for Valentines Day would bring tears to your eyes, Bear Spray. The brown bears (grizzly) should be coming out again any day now.
Retirement: OK, this time it is for real. We are headed back up to Anchorage this summer to do some more salmon fishing. We will be there until about the 4th July, then head back to Bruce Mines. In the fall we will be headed down south the Sunday after the Michigan/Ohio State game. Where south, we are not sure yet but we are going to what ever Bowl Game Michigan is in next year. This past season was the first year we have not been to a single game. It was also the first time we had to be ready to watch M football at 8AM most weeks (AK time is 4 hours behind Eastern time.) Where we are at next spring will depend on lots of things. Ever since we sold the house in May 04, we have be making plans one day at at time as things come at us. Any planning we do gets changed. We like it that way!!
Last winter we traveled from Michigan to Annapolis to Katrina relief to the south west to San Diego, up the coast, a month as campground hosts in Washington, then up here. It has been a fun journey so far. Alaska is an amazing place and we love it here in our new home state.
Family Issues. Eric made it home from Iraq last November to be with Matt, the newest member of our family, the day after he was born. Babies don't wait! Amanda got married to Julius Cavira, a soldier, a real surprise, who is now deployed to Baghdad. The announcement last week by the Pentagon that soldiers would now be spending 12 months at home and 15 months in Iraq has been taken very hard in our family. Eric has decided that his family comes first. He is considering submitted his paperwork to leave the Army. He would be out about Jan 08. Amanda and Julius have a longer go at it. Julius recently re-enlisted. What that means to Amanda and him is that during their first 3 ½ years of marriage they will only be together for 12 months. This system is broke! It is time for a timetable in Iraq. These people have been fighting for 1400 years.
My sisters are both doing well as are Jude's brothers. Jude's mom is fine and living near Tom's family. She spends lots of time there with the great grand kids. They are traveling up here on a cruise at the end of May. Too bad the ship does not make a stop here in Sitka.
School: The job up here has been horrible. The problem is that the standards here are low and there are no consequences for ones actions. Classes are supposed to start at 8:45. I usually don’t take attendance for another 10 minutes because there are very few people in class. The whole program is a joke in the way that the kids can basically do anything they want. I have been hanging on since before Thanksgiving. 28 more days of school.
I have decided that this teaching business is tough. I was glad I took another teaching position After working at the same place for 33 years was my success with kids because of skill or tradition. Here I have had the opportunity to to realize that even though that the job sucks, I love to work and relate with the kids.
Sitka: What a beautiful city. About 8800 people when the cruise ships are not in. That number goes up by 2000-5000 per day when the cruise ships come in. They are a mixed blessing; they come loaded with money and tourists. We live near the center of town where I walk 3 blocks in one direction to the ocean and school (the school is right at one of the harbors) and 3 blocks in the other direction to the base of a mountain. If we go the other way it is 7 miles to the end of the road in either direction. Since August we have put just over 1100 miles on the truck.
The wildlife is neat. The bald eagles are in around here right now. It is not uncommon to see a dozen or so in the harbor sitting in the boat's rigging. We have sea lions and whales. The gift I got Jude for Valentines Day would bring tears to your eyes, Bear Spray. The brown bears (grizzly) should be coming out again any day now.
Retirement: OK, this time it is for real. We are headed back up to Anchorage this summer to do some more salmon fishing. We will be there until about the 4th July, then head back to Bruce Mines. In the fall we will be headed down south the Sunday after the Michigan/Ohio State game. Where south, we are not sure yet but we are going to what ever Bowl Game Michigan is in next year. This past season was the first year we have not been to a single game. It was also the first time we had to be ready to watch M football at 8AM most weeks (AK time is 4 hours behind Eastern time.) Where we are at next spring will depend on lots of things. Ever since we sold the house in May 04, we have be making plans one day at at time as things come at us. Any planning we do gets changed. We like it that way!!
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