A New Old Adventure

Well I am sure you all have heard our good news. Brandon, the girls, and I are all heading off to Alaska this summer. Thinking of this makes me laugh. I never thought I would want to keep going back up there. The draw of family and all that is familiar is very strong!! I am glad that I have a husband who is willing to understand what I feel and also like living in a small town in Alaska.

So far on our Coast Guard adventure we have lived in:

Sitka, Ak until married

Eureka, CA 2000-2001

Oxnard, CA 2001-2003

Sitka, Ak 2003-2006

Rockland, ME 2006-2009

Sitka, Ak 2009-????

Do you notice a trend? I sure do. It seems I am only able to make it away from home for 3 years!!! Is that sad? I don’t know… I do want the adventure, but for instance we had to choose between Sitka (home, family) and Hawaii this time around. What did we do? We chose a small boring town in Alaska over what some people would consider paradise!!! Now it was far up on our list, so we did have a chance of getting there, but the detailer chose Sitka for us.

I do worry that Brandon agreed to this job for me. It will be hard for him. The TAD billet is not that fun. He will be jumping on planes to head of to who knows where when ever they want him to. I hope he knows how much I appreciate the sacrifice he is making for us. I worry that we didn’t really think this decision threw and might end up regretting how much he is gone. I know I will have support with family in town, but no one can replace him, you know.

Ok enough of that mushy stuff…

Brandon and I are planning on driving across country on this move. Most people I talk to think we are insane. “Who drives across country with three kids in a tiny car?!?!?!” they ask. Well I guess we do. Besides my Mom thinks it’s a good idea. Thank you Mommy!!!

How could we pass up the opportunity to see so much of our country?!?!?! The kids will even remember a lot of it when they are older, and if not then pictures will jog their memory. This is what I would like to do if we had all the money we needed and all the time. So Coast Guard be nice to us and let me have my dream… please….

Put cats on the plane in Boston. Thanks Jen!!! Maybe go see the aquarium there.

Drive to New York City check it out for a couple of days.

Head up to upstate New York and visit friends and see Niagara Falls.

Head west to Chicago and see a Cubs game (Brandon’s favorite team)

On the way out west see Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National park.

Veer South and head down to the Grand Canyon and then to Kingman AZ to see family

Head West again to San Diego to see more family

North to Alaska, and on the way

Stop in San Jose to see more family

Head up the coast threw the Red Woods (would love to show the kids those) to Eureka see more friends

Farther north to Portland OR more friends

North again to Bellingham to see more family and catch the ferry up to Alaska.

Arrive in Sitka 3 days later completely exhausted and ready to go insane.

I of course would like to drag Brandon kicking and screaming to smaller sites along the way.

So that is my dream. Will it happen? Probably not, but wouldn’t it be great!!! I think I might need to get a job so we can pull it off lol…

What am I looking forward to after our move…

The kids living on a street where they can ride their bikes and play with other kids.

Woods that we can go in and not get Lyme disease (this is a big one for paranoid me)

Walking distance to the beach

FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY

Familiarity

We should be able to pull of classes like dance, piano, and what ever else they might want to do, for the girls.

Coffee and bagels for lunch at the Highliner.

FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY

My girls will get to know some of their cousins!!!

Family dinners with more then 5 people!!!

Being out on the water again.

Hiking in the woods

The smell of morning

Familiar faces every where

Being able to afford family vacations

I could go on and on and on

What I will miss while there…

TARGET!!! Lol

Roads going to other towns

Other towns

City life

The thought that we could have been in Honolulu lol…

Adventure of new things

That’s about it…

I guess we made the right decision. My first list is a lot bigger then the second.

So everyone, we are off again. Brandon’s report date is July 1^st and we should be finding out soon when we can pack up all of our stuff and head out. This means I need to start shoveling out this house!!!!! It’s amazing how when you get a bigger place it fills up over time. I don’t recommend having a basement if you move a lot. They are bottomless pits!!!!

See all of you in Alaska soon!!! And hopefully a lot of you along the way!!!