The Journey

Moving across two countries

I'm so excited to tell you guys all about our move! I was freaking out in the days leading up to it, so sure that we wouldn't be ready. The night before we got on the ferry we were having dinner with our best friends and staying at their house. Just before Soldier was supposed to get off work I was finishing up mopping, stopped, and went "God dammit we're going to be ready." I was completely shocked. Anyway we spent our drive listening to a dramatic telling of Lord of the Rings and the audio books of Harry Potter so I'm going to try and tell you our trip dramatically. Here goes. 

Day the First: Friday
We began our journey before daybreak, stepping onto the ferry at about 6 in the morning. The sky was dark and it rained for much of the 6 hour trip. Soldier watched some porpoises jumping, but I was not fortunate enough. I was nervous, apprehensive of what we were taking on, but Soldier was exhilarated.  Our chariot (her name's Sabrina) was laden down heavy, but Soldier was unconcerned. The ferry docked at Skagway and we began. The town was quaint but somewhat deserted; we spied few other cars on the road. Fog covered everything, making the mountainside road even scarier. A black bear tried to cross, became spooked, and ran alongside us for a moment. Getting through Customs to Canada was quite easy, only taking a few moments. Most of the day was spent driving on the edges of mountains, next to lakes, me looking for wildlife. We ended the day with what soldier called Wilderness Snow Camping. Night had already fallen when we reached the government campground. I was sick with worry; I felt too exposed. Two inches of snow sat on the ground, and we only had a thin tent. Inside, we first laid down a moving blanket, then our sleeping mats. We each got inside a regular sleeping bag then slithered into a double sleeping bag. I was so cold I had to wear my Uggs all night, and we both wore rabbit fur hats (the kind with the ear flaps; I had mine hooked firmly under my chin). I slept somewhat fitfully; I woke up continually having to hide my face to keep it warm.

Day the Second: Saturday
Our second day began earlier than the first. We had broken camp and were on the road at 4:30. The first part of the day went slowly as we drove through the mountains on snowy, slushy roads. Miles and miles went by between "towns," though each of the towns would be a single gas station and restaurant with nothing else around. It perplexed me; where did these people live? How did they get food? How could they stand being so far from civilization?
Travelling along, we saw some cars ahead of us slow down. Then we came upon a herd of bison.

Soldier stopped the chariot for me to take a picture of one just beside the road. The flash went off and a giant eye started to turn toward me. I urged him to drive; I didn't want Sabrina to be rammed by a giant bison. We continued our drive through mountains and snow. There were many areas that had been burned and all that was left was a swath of blackened tree stalks. Where the trees were healthy, they were green and yellow, dusted with snow. It looked like Christmas. Continuing along, drivers ahead of us slowed down again and a moose ran across the road. A MOOSE! The entire time of living in Alaska and for this trip, my biggest wish was to see a moose. It stopped at the side of the road to eat, but we were driving too quickly for me to get a picture. But I saw a moose. After over 13 hours of travel, we ended the day in Grande Prairie. If you ever stop in the area, stay at the Podollan Inn and Suites. The room was lovely and the customer service was fantastic. (I cannot say the same for the other places we stayed). 

Day the Third: Sunday

This day began later, after a refreshing breakfast. We thought we were coming closer to more cities more often, but we were mistaken. Not far out of town I saw a brown bear eating along the side of the highway. I kept watch out for more moose, but saw none. Eventually we entered into Jasper National Park. Though we saw no additional wildlife, it was still fascinating. The mountains in Juneau were no small things, but the Northern Rockies were HUGE. There were glaciers all along the mountains, in the middle of them. 

Eventually we came to Banff, though we agreed that Jasper was the more exciting of the two. We stopped in town and found our way to the Banff Avenue Brewing Co. The beer was good, the only downside was that they did not have stocked the shirts we wanted. Leaving town, we saw an elk on the side of the road eating.

The rest of the night was spent in the hotel, drinking and enjoying our time together.

Day the Fourth: Monday

This day was meant for a break from travel. We began with a short drive to Lake Louise. We intended to also visit Lake Moraine, but it was closed for the season. Lake Louise was beautiful though. I love the colors of water depending on the depth, composition, weather, and any number of other factors. The weather was foggy but it may have worked in our favor. Soldier and I don't let the weather stop us from our adventures, but we're sure it stops other people. We make the most of what we can. After Lake Louise we ventured back to the town of Banff. Though we didn't see more wildlife, we enjoyed the mountains and town. 

Day the Fifth: Tuesday

Another day began at 4 in the morning. It was already snowing. Soldier drove on despite the inclement weather. I kept watch at each animal crossing sign, but saw no more moose. Eventually, however, we passed by an alpaca farm. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Soldier noticed a trembling in the chariot. He stopped to check and tighten the tires, and broke a stud. After consulting with a mechanic friend, we decided we needed to find a dealership to get it fixed. Enter Regina. It should have been a quick stop, but the mechanics kept telling us about new problems that needed to be addressed. Soldier acquiesced to all of them, and we were now very behind schedule. (A very large THANK YOU to the Subaru dealership in Regina; they knew we were travelling through and worked as quickly as they could). Finally we made it back to the US border; I won't deny that I was slightly sorry to leave the niceties of Canada. Thankfully it was another easy crossing and we were suddenly in North Dakota. We had intended to spend the night in Fargo, but we only made it as far as Minot. It was another long day of driving, and we were very tired upon getting to bed. 

Day the Sixth: Wednesday

We stayed long enough for breakfast, and got back on the road. More snow. I had wanted to spend some time in Fargo to see some college friends. The farther along we traveled, the worse it became. Between Jamestown and Fargo it was near whiteout. We lost track of how many semi trucks had veered off the road; but once again Soldier was the best. He navigated around cars, through uncleared roads, and somehow making his way without really being able to see. We were only able to stay in Fargo long enough to attain gas, which made me very sad later on. And that was mostly the end of the excitement. It was just prairie and city, traveling much too long for my taste. We finally arrived at Soldier's brother's house at around 1:30 in the morning. Soldier was concerned about making me a drink but I just wanted sleep. We were so close to our journey's end. 

Day the Seventh: Thursday

Finally, the last day had arrived. Four short hours in the car stood between us and our destination. Along the way, we saw at least 7 police cars on the highway. Thankfully, however, the last of the trip was uneventful. We arrived at our apartment and unpacked the car, then sat down with a beer. Now comes the real work: car shopping, job searching, house hunting. Thinking about it all makes me tired. 

I don't really have many initial thoughts on Cleveland so far (though, to be fair, we're actually outside of the city so we haven't seen it yet). I hope we'll find a nice house and enjoy our time here; I still worry whether this was the right decision or not. Whatever the case, though, here we are and we'll have to make the best of it.  

The Last Summer

The Last Frontier

When we got our date to leave, we had six months left. I knew it would go fast. I knew that when it finally came, I would feel like it was a whirlwind. I was right. It's just about a week until we get on the ferry. 

This summer I've tried to really appreciate Alaska and all it's given us. Soldier and I got married here and have spent the last 3 years in an apartment that looks out on ocean and mountains; where I can sit and watch cruise ships dock and seaplanes land. We were blessed with a beautiful, sunny summer. We had a couple of visitors and took advantage of some last ditch adventures. As much as I've gotten down on Juneau, I know I'm going to miss it. It's a surreal life up here. 

I may have already mentioned some of these things but in getting emotional I have to tell you again. Our best friends were planning on getting married and wanted Soldier to perform the ceremony...so they booked a helicopter out to a lighthouse on 4th of July. We took a helicopter to a lighthouse for our best friends to get married. We saw whales as we were flying over the ocean. The next day, Soldier and I took the skiff out to pull the crab pots. It was a gorgeous day and I was out in a bikini top and shorts pulling up pots. But as we were out Soldier had to dodge all the commercial fishing boats and their nets. We stopped for him to throw a line out and I remember looking around and thinking, "This isn't normal. This is amazing." Do you have any idea what it's like to see a whale come up while you're sitting there in a 14 foot skiff? It's terrifying and amazing at the same time. You realize how incredibly small you are and how incredibly awesome nature is. 
When Soldier's cousin came up to visit we took a seaplane to Admiralty Island. Admiralty's claim to fame is that there are more brown bears than people there. We went to see the Coastal Brown Bears (fun fact: they don't call them grizzly bears because they're not as aggressive). I would have liked to have seen them a little closer but I was also kind of okay with it. You're basically just out in nature, in the territory of this massive deadly animal; you're at the mercy of basically whatever they want to do. It's crazy. 

With the amazing weather, Soldier has had many opportunities for great fishing. That's not to say bad weather keeps him from fishing, but good weather means less worry for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm real freaking sick of his fishing obsession. And as we got along in the summer I kept asking what he was planning on doing with all the fish he was catching. Guys, I do know that it's a good problem to have. But I will be glad when every week doesn't include an all day fishing trip.  
The good weather also meant we had lots of time to stroll around downtown, which I love. Lots of watching seaplanes land and just general sunshine, not as much hiking as we should have done.

We've had both of our work going away parties, the movers have taken most of our stuff away, and I've started cleaning out the apartment. This time next week we'll have taken our ferry trip, crossed over into Canada (hopefully without any issues), and should be on the tail end of getting to our first campsite. The journey should take about a week and we're spending 2 days at Banff National Park, which I'm really excited about. 

I think we've had as good of a last summer as we could have. I'm excited for the adventure of our multi country road trip, and  getting back to the lower 48. Hopefully I'll have lots of animal pictures to post from the drive!  

196 Books: Brazil

An Invincible Memory by Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro

I'm assuming most of you know where Brazil is, but in keeping with tradition: 

Here's a review, not from the book cover, but from Publishers Weekly: 

A family saga spanning nearly 400 years, this absorbing epic novel lays bare the soul of the Brazilian nation. Whaling, war, macumba, slavery, murder, cannibalism and Brazil's struggle for independence add momentum to Ribeiro's lyrical, effusive, sonorous, serpentine prose laced with a touch of magic realismsomething of a cross between Melville and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. (The author himself has rendered the fluent translation.) At the center is Amleto Ferreira, a 19th century paterfamilias and conniving bookkeeper who defrauds a baron of his wealth; Amleto's ladylike, long-suffering wife Teolina; and their children, among them a priest, a romantic poet and a soldier. A bestseller in Brazil, the novel graphically portrays the terrible cruelty inflicted by whites on blacks, mulattos and Indians; the lives of these native peoples unfold in dozens of intertwined stories. The relationship between Merinha, patient, Penelope-like servant girl, and runaway slave Budiao is moving. Also memorable are 100-year-old Great Mother Dadinha and Maria da Fe, a bandit warrior who converses with birds and seeks special power from a sorcerer's charms. Catapulting his tale into the 1970s, journalist Ribeiro ( Sergeant Getulio ) creates a stunning portrait of a people who, though outwardly mirthful, are still not free. 

Uuuuugh this book. When I was first looking at it I thought it sounded great. When it arrived I was like Okay, that's pretty substantial but not a big thing. And then I had the moment of realization. This guy is a wannabe Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I started trying to flounder through it and then read some reviews that of course liked the similarities between the authors. Me? Not so much. That's kind of why I put in the Publishers Weekly review. Cuz guess which authors I did not like at all? You guessed it: Melville and Marquez. So I did finally finish this one, but it felt like it took 5 years. 

I felt like the first third of the book could have been scrapped, and the last 20 or so pages where it skips ahead to the 70s was out of place. The majority of the story took place in the really 19th century (I think) so the other timelines seemed odd and it wasn't entirely clear where we were in time. Also, the descriptions of the racism and rapes and shit were just awful. They made me sick. And I know that stuff really did happen and maybe it's good for me to recognize that and be uncomfortable but...shit. People are the worst.

But there were definitely things that I liked. Maria da Fe is the hero that everyone needs. She was such a badass. And the main part of the story was pretty good. SO. If you like Marquez, this is a good read for you. 

Great Days

Budget night is the new date night

It's been a while since I just wrote about life, so here we go. 

I can't remember if I've reported it here, but a while back, Soldier got a reassignment. Basically we had a last resort of putting in a hardship of me having to go to Seattle for my RA treatment. While we were waiting for our paperwork to go up the ranks I was afraid to be optimistic...I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to handle it if we got turned down. But we were approved and we'll be moving to Cleveland, Ohio this fall! Any haters can keep their mouths shut; if you have any good places to visit/eat/things to do I'm all ears. 

With the impending move, I've decided I'm really going to try to appreciate Juneau for our last few months. Fortunately, we've had a beautiful summer so far so it's been a little easier. I've been trying to take in the magnitude of the mountains, the strangeness of looking out my office window to see a fleet of helicopters landing, watching the cruise ships dock and seaplanes land and take off from my living room, eagles and bears just doing their thing, and all the amazing salmon Soldier has been catching. I've even been having a little flare up with my knees, but my attempt at positivity and insistence on walking most days seems to help a lot. 

But something happened today I never would have expected. In the 2 and a half years we've been married, Soldier would broach the subject of a budget and I immediately shut down. To me a budget means you're telling me I can't spend my own money on what I want. But with the move coming up and having a real summer, I'm more open. So he had me listen to a podcast he thought I'd enjoy and we came up with a plan: weekly budget nights. Today was our first one and we had a great time! We had great conversations and came up with a good starter plan, had steak, and went walking/playing Pokemon go. (I like to call it Poke-hunting and yeah we're kinda nerds, what of it?!) Then we came home and just hung out for a bit. 
There are some days that I truly, truly appreciate my Soldier and the life we have, and this was one of those days. It's easy to get down on all the negativity, so it makes me appreciate those days even more. 

Anyway, let's see...we have a trip home in August and we booked a cruise for next year. Exciting stuff! I'm still working on the Brazil book, it's taking a while as expected. Well, until next time dears! 

196 Books: Brunei

Written in Black by KH Lim

Here's Brunei:

And, per usual, the summary:
A darkly humorous coming-of-age novel set in Brunei on the island of Borneo, Written in Black offers a snapshot of a few days in the life of ten-year-old Jonathan Lee, attending the funeral of his Ah Kong, or grandfather, and still reeling from the drama of his mother leaving for Australia and his brother getting kicked out of the house and joining a rock band. Annoyed at being the brunt of his father’s pent-up anger, Jonathan escapes his grandfather’s wake in an empty coffin and embarks on a journey through the backwaters of Brunei to bring his disowned brother back for the funeral and to learn the truth about his absent mother. On a quest that takes him across the little-known Sultanate, past gangs of glue-sniffing poklans (Brunei’s teenage delinquents), cursed houses and weird shopkeepers, Jonathan discovers adventure, courage, friendship and, finally, himself.

Ok. Let me start out by saying I know this is out of order; Brazil was supposed to be up. See, I apparently waited too long to order the new books, so I finished the last one and didn't have Brazil yet. I waited for quite a while, but it still didn't show up...so I started on Brunei. I think Brazil ended up getting here like 2 weeks after it was supposed to. Anyway now I'm out of order it and it makes my poor little type A brain hurt. 

Anyway, onto the book. I felt really bad for Jonathan throughout the whole thing. Poor guy was getting shit from everyone. But I was proud of him when he went on his journey. Plus he had some pretty crazy adventures that kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a real easy read too, which was nice. (Honestly I'm like 3 pages into Brazil and it is not going to be an easy one.) 

I also really liked the ending. It wasn't terribly happy, but it was hopeful. Umm...what else can I say about this one? Man I'm so bad at writing reviews. Oh! I did really like the description of all the funeral rituals, it was really interesting. 

Unfortunately it'll probably be a while before I get the next one up; so far it seems like a bit of a chore to read. 

But here's something else noteworthy...we're getting out of Alaska! Turns out it actually is ridiculous for me to have to fly to another state for RA treatment, so Soldier is being transferred back to the Midwest. We're happy, and I'm actually glad we get one last summer here. We shall adventure appropriately. 

196 Books: Botswana

The Lion Children by Angus, Maisie, and Travers McNiece

Botswana is here:

Here's the very glowing summary:
Emily (16), Travers (10), Angus (9), Maisie (7) and Oakley (1) lived in an idyllic 300-year-old cottage in the Cotswolds. They attended the local school, watched TV and did all the things English middle-class children do. Then, in 1995, their biologist mother seized the opportunity to study lions in Botswana and, in the space of 3 months, changed the family's lives forever. Within 24 hours of landing in Gaborone they were travelling to their new home at Maun in the Okavango Delta, one of the most beautiful wildernesses on earth. Weeks after arriving, the children had made home in an old mission house full of stray dogs and were learning to fetch fresh water, dig a toilet and which creepy crawlies could kill you and which couldn't. Their classroom was an open hut and free days were spent in a Land Rover tracking prides of lions across hundreds of miles of bush. The Lion Children is an extraordinary life-enhancing story about the joy of childhood and living in an environment as different as it can be. But above all it is about the lions, who we get to know through the eyes of the children themselves. This story will capture the public's heart and imagination. It is illustrated with the children's own drawings and photographs taken over the 5 years.

I was less than excited about this book even as I was ordering it. I've been trying to stick to books that are set in the country as well as authored by a native, but I just couldn't get one here. So I felt a little bit cheated, and that may have soured my reading from the get-go. 

So the stories themselves were interesting enough, but I just kept feeling like I would hate these kids if I met them in real life. I'm going to get on my liberal high horse and say the amount of middle-class white privilege seeped through the pages, and that was one of the things I've really been trying to avoid with this reading adventure.

I mean let's look at the entire reason of this book: this mother decided, kind of on a whim, to uproot her family and move to Africa...to an entirely different continent. For a huge number of people on the planet, this wouldn't even be imaginable. So she had this disposable income to move seemingly quickly with what appeared to be no clearcut plan. From what I gathered, it sounded like she just kind of fell into the lion thing. They move to a few different areas, obviously none of which are luxury, but they're still kind of separated from the villagers and, though finances are tight, have no problem getting what they need. 
The kids are vegetarian athiests and eventually get homeschooled, none of which are bad things, but they seem so pretentious about it. Again, this might just be me reading into it with prejudice. At one point the little girl is talking about missing her friends in England and can't understand why they just don't come visit--all they need is money for a ticket, afterall! Granted, she's still pretty young at the time of writing so she may not really appreciate the expense of traveling from England to Botswana, but I rolled my eyes so hard. 

Again, the stories about the animals and living in Botswana were interesting, I just...meh. On the whole I felt like this wasn't the best option for this country. I still feel cheated. 

Um I was a little late in ordering the upcoming country books (also I read a lot more on vacation than I'd expected) and I don't have my next one yet. :( So I've no idea when I'll have another "review" for you guys, but I'll post if/when anything exciting happens! 

Family Vacation

A Tropical Time

I'm not sure if I effectively conveyed how apprehensive and distressed I was to be going on an almost week long vacation with Soldier's entire family. I was almost panicked. 8 adults, 5 children ranging in age from 6 to less than a year, in one house. To top it off, Soldier's family is a lot more extroverted than me. Well, I'm happy to report that I was completely wrong about the whole thing. 

The travel from Juneau always sucks, and this was no exception. Our flight left at 5ish in the morning (9 Florida time) and we arrived at the house around 1:30 the next morning (9:30 Juneau time) so we traveled for 16 hours. That's a lot of hours. Too many hours. 

Ugh. Fucking pause. I have to rant for a moment. A friend of mine has apparently started into a pyramid scheme (though they like to call it mulit-level marketing) for some sort of snake oil (or a "health" drink). She's been bugging me about it for anti-inflammatory to help with my RA, but won't leave me alone. On the one hand I'm not one who's really that into "natural" remedies over medicine, and on the other hand I'm not fucking interested. I hadn't shown any interest and tonight I was thrown into a group text so now these random people have my number. And when I said "thanks but I'm not sure...I'll talk to the rheumatologist!" that wasn't enough; it was "oh no, you need it and look at this chart and watch this video!" 

Breathe. Okay. So giving the benefit of the doubt, my friend might really be thinking of my best interest and want to help, and she is in the medical field. But I just don't want it. And it shouldn't matter how great she thinks it is; if I say no that should be it. Why is it with autoimmune so many people turn into "experts"? I don't know how many times I've been told I just need to change my diet or add something or subtract something and even when I say I'm not interested it keeps going until I'm pissed. And as outspoken as I am here, I'm quite a bit of a coward in real life. So when I get pissed and rude, it takes a lot. It's fine...it's fine. I guess if it keeps going I'll have to find some way to be kind but assertive. Oof. 

Aaand back. We got to the house in Florida very late, and we were both pretty exhausted. Well, I was...I think Soldier was. The house was dark and all the women and children were asleep and, shortly after we arrived, the men came stumbling down the street from the bar. So we had a few drinks with them and went off to the apartment for some sleep. I think that was one of the reasons it was so great (on my end): there was a carriage house that they generously gave to Soldier and I. Which meant no crying babies in the middle of the night, no kids waking us up early, and some space to ourselves. The space was the big thing...I didn't have to worry about my stuff being all over, I could get away for a few minutes when I needed it, and Soldier and I could have time to ourselves. 

Day one (Sunday) was spent on the beach and in the pool. All the kids are so fantastic; they pick right back up and remember us and just want to play with us. I love it! 

Monday the guys went fishing, one of the sis in laws (and one of the kdis) came shopping with me, and mom in law and the other sis in law took most of the kids to the zoo. Shopping was a pretty short trip and we spent the rest of the afternoon reading out by the pool. Glorious! 

Tuesday we went to a state park. There was a little nature walk where we saw an osprey, a great horned owl, and an armadillo! I was very excited. Later that day Soldier and I got to meet up with a good friend of mine who was on a work trip in the area. We had dinner and drinks and it was such a good time. I'm so glad we happened to be in the same area at the same time!

Wednesday was another low key day, as far as I can remember. Pool and beach and one of Soldier's good friends came down that evening. One thing really cracked me up: we were down at the beach and I made sure to bring my phone and turn the sound up in case Friend needed to contact us. He had to drive a few hours from the airport and when the flight landed I got a text that said (roughly) "Since we're the responsible ones, I wanted to let you know I'll be there around 8." I laughed so hard, knowing that he knew I'd be the one to be worrying about it. 

Thursday was the best. We went kayaking through some mangrove...forests? I don't know what they're called. Mangrove..things. It started out in kind of a bay area and then went into almost a tunnel, then open, then really tunnel. We cut the trip short (I think we went about 3 hours total) but it was amazing! Although I kept hitting myself in the face in the tunnel; it was really narrow and when I tried to paddle I'd get hung up on the overhang. Also I was last in the group because I like to be Mother Hen so I can see and know where everyone is, so between those issues I lagged behind. We didn't see as much wildlife as I would have expected, I guess because of the time of year, but we did see stingrays just before the adventure ended. Oh! And there was a sea turtle on the side of the road while driving out. I get real excited seeing exotic creatures. Don't judge me. We got back and sat by the pool for the night. I should mention this crazy thing...I was sitting and put my feet on Soldier's lap. Dr. Dad in Law noticed this bone on my foot that kind of sticks up that apparently isn't supposed to. So he started pushing and pulling and all sorts of messing with my feet. He told me to stand up and it felt completely different...it was like my arches had been gone and reappeared. It was super weird, but pretty cool. Like, really cool. 

So, that's kind of a glossing over of the trip but a fair enough overview. It was full of family, and sun, and sand, and booze, and food, and talk, and laughter, and love. This isn't the first time I've been glad to be wrong and I'm sure it won't be the last. And, credit where credit is due, Soldier was great. I was worried that he'd get around the boys and spend the whole time drinking and being rambunctious and just being kind of an insensitive ass. But he was cognizant of me and my needs and was compiant when he was rather drunk. 

Soldier is pretty great. I know I keep saying it, and things aren't perfect all the time, but he's pretty great in general. And I'm glad that the trip went so well. For now, I'm still peeling from all my sun time...and quite happy about it!