What a wonderful week.

  I woke up this morning to the sound of Trumpeter Swans on the lake, calling to each other.  Beats the old rooster crowing hands down, in my humble opinion.
  We've been busy, as usual, getting the RV ready for winter.  We did take a few days off though to enjoy the visit of our best friend from Houston, TX.  Mike arrived at Ted Stevens International Airport at 1:00 am on Sunday 8/10.  There are zero flights from Houston that arrive at a decent hour.  Needless to say, we slept in late.
  He and John got busy on bringing the rest of our Alaskan belongings over from the storage unit.  The gun safe and contents, we loaded into Trooper.  The big, heavy, cumbersome snow plow went into the bed of Goliath, along with the spare tires for the Goblin.

  

  After moving all that, the guys decided to have some "fun" and move some of the old railroad ties on the property to a location where they would be of use.  One use is to have something to rest that heavy plow on.

It was also a chance to use Goblins wench for something other than self positioning on a trailer.

Mike decided to try "surfing" Alaskan style.

  The guys next project was to design and build the "dog house" as they called it.  A small access to the dump valves on the RV.  It will allow John to be out of the weather when he has to dump the tanks.  (Yes, I can do it too, but he say's it's his job)

  Not a bad job, and I think they had fun doing it.  I left them on their own and vowed not to keep track of the curses, splinters, and bashed thumbs.  One of the toughest jobs I ever had.  

  We didn't make Mike work all week though.  John took him to Anchorage to explore all the gun shops there, including the famous "Wild West Guns" gun shop.  

   This shop is featured on Animal Planet as a "reality" series.  The only thing real, is the prices of the guns.  Think $$$$. 

  The following day, we drove down to Portage Glacier road to the wildlife refuge.  It was a dreary, rainy day, but Mike was able to see a moose (up close and personal), wood bison, caribou, and elk.  He also found some great gifts for his Texan friends in the gift shop.

  We also took him to the Matanuska Glacier.  Matanuska Glacier is a valley glacier in the US state of Alaska. At 27 miles long by 4 miles wide, it is the largest glacier accessible by car in the United States. Its terminus feeds the Matanuska River. (courtesy of Wikipedia).  

  The glacier is about a 1 hour drive from us through the beautiful Chugach Mountains.  About 3 miles before you reach the turn-off, you can see the glacier from a turn out on the highway.  Breathtaking views, aren't they?

This is your first glimpse of the glacier.

  The only road access to the glacier is via privately owned land.  $20.00 per person to even get in, but I think Mike felt it was worth it.  With crampons on his shoes, he took off like a light, running down the trail to the glacier, and before John and I had even made it half-way, he was climbing on the ice and taking panoramic pics with his phone.  His reaction?  "That was the most awesome thing I've ever done."

  On his final day with us, we took him NW to Houston, AK.  Got his pic by the city welcome sign, then to the popular stop Miller's Market for breakfast and more souvenier shopping.  All too soon, his visit was over, and he had to go home (sad faces), BUT, he wants to come back in February to experience winter (his words, not ours), and to enjoy the festive annual tradition of Fur Rendezvous.   The worst part of his trip he claims is the 13 hour flight.  See you soon buddy.

Week 3 at the Homestead.

  Wow have we ever been working.  Measuring, cutting, fitting, recutting, remeasuring, refitting to finally get the skirting panels to fit.  There HAS GO TO BE an easier way to do this.
 We might have been able to complete our project in that time if:
1) We were younger
2) We had more experience
3) We measured correctly the first time
4) We measured correctly the second time.
Luckily for us the extra cuts were subtractions of inches, not additions.  We both kept forgetting to include the width of the 2 x 2 bracings.

  We persevered and by the end of day 1, we'd put up one whole panel!!!

John got the glorious job of crawling underneath to secure the panel to the RV.

  We started out using our circular saw to rip the plywood, but it kicked back too much, so down to trusty Home Depot we go to rent a table saw for 3 days.  While John was gone, I finished wrapping the water and sewer lines.  They won't pass the "house beautiful" test, but they are protected from freezing.

  One of our biggest challenges was getting the skirting around the wheel wells.  There are L brackets, wiring, fenders, and all kinds of obstacles in our way.  We fought, we cursed (John mostly, but I did say a word or two) and we struggled.  By the end of day 3 (time to take the saw back) we'd only made it about 1/3 of the way around the RV.

  So, with our backs screaming at us, splinters in our hands (yes, we had gloves, but they get in the way sometimes), and our frustration levels at an all time high, we stopped.  Next week, our best friend Mike will be here to share in our agony.

  Taking breaks from this, John went to Palmer and got his driving license. We enjoyed the weather while walking the pups, and dealt with the Matanuska Telephone Association.

  One tech came out on the 6th and proceeded to tell us that it will be a BIG JOB to run the cables to the RV.  He will have to turn this over to the engineers. (Oh joy!)  I'm hoping it is better than our experience with MEA in getting power on.

  First, he says, we must move the cargo trailer, afterall, they will have to trench to put the cables in.  We may also need to move the 'portable' garage. (Which is so heavy and cumbersome it really isn't portable).  He says that we'll be put on a waiting list for the engineers, then a waiting list for installation.  We seem to be doing an awful lot of waiting.

John and I have noticed a phenomenon here.  When we were stationed in Guam, there is an attitude called "Island Time".  Island Time is very akin to the Mexican "Manana" .  We now know there is also "Alaska" time.  No one is in a hurry to get anything done, and we are captive to their schedules.  Just one more little thing we'll need to adjust to.

  Next week will be a fun week (we deserve it).  Yes, Mike will be helping us winterize, but we will also take him to the Wildlife Refuge in Girdwood, the Matanuska Glacier northeast of Palmer, and to Talkeetna.  He does deserve to see some of the country while he's here.  It is his first trip up.

Until next week.

Week 2 ---Busy as bees and having fun doing it.

  The day after we got the Goblin home, we were able to get him started.  A run down the road to the mail boxes and back for each of us, now it's time to get to work.

But first, John had to get a play pic with the Green Goblin

    We put the gazebo we had originally purchased to provide shade and protection from the elements for the pups over the Goblin because we couldn't find his cover.  We left the snow plow in storage as it is too heavy for us to lift.  That in itself was an undertaking.  The box says 3 minute set up, but I don't think they imagined 2 older folks (with arthritis) setting it up.

  Later that day, we finally found a home for the industrial size egg incubator/brooder that we'd acquired with the land.  The lady we gave it to raises chickens and was ecstatic to receive it.  It took 4 strong men to remove it from the shed and put it in her pick-up.

   We can now make plans to use that shed for John's "Man Cave".

  On Monday, I'd taken a water sample to Matanuska Water for the "free testing"  They tell me they only test for hardness, iron, and chlorine, but they were nice enough to give me a kit for full testing.  They'll call me if anything is found.  In other words, no news is good news.
  The DirecTV tech came out.  No line of sight for the satellite, he recommends Dish.  With so many trees on our land, I'm wary of satellite again (DirecTV was called as we are still under contract) so I make arrangements with MTA (Matanuska Telephone Association) for TV, DSL, and phone, but they can't come out until mid August.  Oh well. C'est la vie.
  Tuesday, we set out for Palmer to take our tests for an Alaskan driver's license.  On the way, I dropped off the new water samples to the lab.  Same story, we'll call if we find anything.
  The way Alaska has their DMV set up is phenomenal.  Take a number and while you're waiting, fill out the forms.  Within 15 minutes I was taking the test.  Missed 2/20.  I PASSED, but I didn't bring the proper documentation with me (passport, proof of Alaska address), so I'll go back tomorrow.
  Back at the homestead, we build a better set of stairs to make it easier to enter and exit the RV.  What a team we are!  Measured, cut, and put together in under an hour.  What a difference they make.

  Our next project is to start on skirting in the RV for winter.  To Home Depot we go.  $580.00 later, we head for home with a quick stop at The Three Bears (a local version of a Costco or Sam's Club) to pick up a 10 x 20 "portable" garage.  We need this to store our building materials to keep them out of the weather (later for Trooper and Goblin).

  Surprisingly enough, the project went very well.

       This was also John's 57th birthday.  He says it was the BEST working birthday he ever had. 

  The following day, we drove into Anchorage to register at the MTF for our healthcare and do some shopping.  By the way, did I tell you all I FOUND the diamond I'd lost from my ring?  Dropped it off at Zales for repair, I'll pick it up on 8/13 when I come back south for a doctor appointment.

  We also got word this day from the water lab.  We need to chlorinate our well.  EGADS!  They don't tell us what's growing in there (+ bacteria of some sort).  To the web I go to find out how to do this.  Multiple steps and over 24 hours to complete it.  Luckily, I have bleach available so no additional $$$ out of pocket. (It was $120.00 for the testing)  We decide to wait for Friday (8/2) to do this.

  To chlorinate a well, you must first know how deep it is (ours is 30 ft.).  You then take the well cap off, pour the bleach in, run all faucets until you smell chlorine in the water, shut them off and wait 24 hours.  Meanwhile, we get plenty of bottled water into the fridge for drinking, and get our 5 gallon back-up supply out for other uses.

  During the no water hiatus, I use the time to heat tape and insulate our water lines.  We also put the power cable up and attached it to the well house.  More "stuff" off the ground means less chance of us tripping in the winter time.  

Before

After

  We also plan to change the sewer drain from the RV corrugated type to a solid PVC, but will wait until we clear the chlorine out of the lines since we need to drain the gray water tanks onto the land to prevent killing all the "good" bacteria in our septic system. 

  So, we finish the week smiles and a sense of accomplishment.  Until next week when I'll show pics of our finished, hopefully, projects.