You Huge-Beautiful-Spacious-Massive-Ginormous Adventure.
Change. Something I can't say I am the best at. But something I have become very familiar with. I can't believe the places life has taken Brady and I, in our first few months of marriage. To the tropical lakes of Guatemala, to the cold land of Alaska. We've been blessed with some pretty amazing "homes" thus far.
In the last few weeks Brady and I have moved from Guatemala all the way up to Alaska. Which in my mind are completely different places. Not much is comparable between the two. Brady is used to living Alaska, he has been coming up here summer after summer, for as long as he can remember. I am new to this place. I visited about 5 years ago, for a couple weeks. I remember loving the serene beauty. The quiet and slow lifestyle. On the drive up, Brady reassured me, "Sarah, you will fit in up there, because everyone is a little strange in their own way." Well, thanks Brady. But I guess it's true, from everything I've seen so far :)
Every leg of our trip up to Alaska, had it's unexpected twists. Leaving Guatemala City, we were blessed with smooth traveling. Our flight kept getting pushed back, due to engine problems, but we would rather be on the ground longer, than in the air with a bad engine. When I stepped off the plane, I was anticipating culture shock. One of the hugest thing was the fact that everyone was speaking English, all around us! It seemed too easy, not having to translate everything.
CALI:
When Ma (Brady's mom) picked us up from the airport, she took us out to In-And-Out. Good fast food, but it was missing the depth of flavor and spice that Guatemalan food had. I half hoped to see Verde Sauce, ready to be used, at every meal. Weary of traveling, I was excited to arrive at the "Peaceful Warrior" (Brady's parents live on a house boat in Ventura Harbor). If you ever get the privilege of waking up on a boat, you will want to sell everything you own and buy a boat of your own. I am a lover of the ocean, and it's quite the blissful life, living upon it.
We spent a week aboard the Peaceful Warrior. Brady was able to help build some awesome steps for the boat, which work a lot better than the little ladder leading up to the deck. On Sunday we were able to attend church in an actual building for the first time in months (I do miss many things about house church though)! Brady and I spent a lot of time, paddle boarding around the Harbor and out to the mouth. Near the end of the week, we discovered one was missing though! And had quite the time, trying to find it! You can read all about that here:
http://www.faithonanchor.blogspot.com/2016/04/notice-lost-paddleboard_13.html
On Monday, at 3 AM, with a fully packed car, snacks and blankets and duffle bags neatly situated in the back seat, we set out on our drive to Spokane.
SPOKANE:
We didn't manage to pull into Spokane until 1 AM the next day. 22 hours straight drive, but luckily we had a bed waiting for us, in our old sweet city. My old roomies opened up their home to us, and sweet Emily gave us her double bed! It was so fun catching up with them! Of course we had a day full of errands to attend to. I had to be to the school at 12:00 for my internship interview with my Prof. And we had to swing by the court house to "get married" officially (little did we know that we had left our papers in California). And Donut Parade, is a priority in my mind, I mean come on...in Spokane for a day, you have to go get a maple bar and cup of coffee there. We also had a long grocery list for camping food.
We slept another night in Spokane, waiting to get a hold of Kathy (Justin and Kelsie's old neighbor). We were going to borrow a tent from Justin and Kelsie, that was in storage below her house. But for some reason, she wasn't answering her phone. It was simply going to voicemail. Maybe she was in Montana visiting family? We drove by her house, and didn't see a car, so we assumed she was on vacation. Then next morning, we got a call from Kelsie and she immediately started crying, "So we just got a call from our old landlord, and she says that Kathy died!" What a shock! She wasn't sick and she wasn't that old. She smoked quite a bit, but I just didn't think she would die anytime soon. This lady was a gem, she predicted that Brady and I were going to be a "thing" :) She always gave Tadgh graham crackers, and was awarded the name "Grandma Graham Cracker". She was always up for a chat, and the last time I saw her was right before my wedding, when Brady and I went over to her house to give her an invite. We ended up staying with her for a couple hours, putting on her storm windows (Justin and Kelsie always did this for her, but they were gone so...) and trying to set up internet for her. I had no clue that this would be the last time I ever saw Kathy :(
We decided we were meant to be in Spokane at this time. Because, Justin and Kelsie had a bunch of stuff stored under her house and someone had to move it. We spent the next morning moving all their stuff into a storage unit. It was a sad and eery feeling being at Kathy and Justin and Kelsie's old houses, with many memories of summer nights spent on the lawn, laughing and shooting the breeze, with all of them. So many memories, this was the spot where Brady and I fell in love, 2 summers ago. It just goes to show that that chapter of our life is over. Just sweet memories now. We were flying down the highway, out of Spokane, by 2 PM, on our way to Canada.
CANADA:
Day 1. Our plan was to camp all the way up to Alaska, because with the distance we had to cover, we knew we wouldn't even be out of Canada until after a couple of days. Our first night, we spent just outside of Banff National Park. We pitched our tent at "Dry Gulch" campsite, and found out that it was free, because all the water was turned off for the winter. Yay! We didn't have sleeping bags, but I had brought like 50 blankets, so we were guaranteed to be warm :) I still had a target gift card from our wedding, and so we had purchased this little camp stove, which became our best friend, when we didn't have firewood to build a fire with.
Day 2. The next morning, we explored Banff! Yes, it was glorious! We kept pulling over every time a hike caught our eyes. By mid afternoon, we decided to ask where camping was available. I went into an information station, and asked the lady at the desk if she knew of any camping sites in Banff available for the night. And she gave me the weirdest look. I guess everything was still closed for the winter, and she was having a hard time understanding why we were even camping in a tent. Inside Banff all the electric fences were shut down, so the bears were roaming freely, and the hiking up to the lakes was not recommended, because of avalanches. Lol, Brady and I felt pretty stupid after talking to her. But got a little information out of her about a site in Jasper National Park, where there was year round camping available. We weren't the only ones tenting, because when we got to the campsite, we saw many other people just like us pitching their tents for the night. It was that night, that we made the most amazing beef stew. Food made over a campfire is to die for.
Day 3 (Still in Canada). The next day we drove until we found a campsite, which was also free. We were scrounging for firewood, when our only neighbors came driving up to our site on their fourwheelers. A bunch of teenagers out for the weekend, doing some fourwheel playing, but they gifted us with a huge pile of firewood, just out of the kindness in their hearts. What angels. We made a wonderful chicken and potato soup over our roaring fire that night. The nights were definitely getting colder. But we slept well on the grassy bed, where we had pitched our tent, right near a beautiful frozen lake.
Day 4 (Canada still...it's huge)! We were headed towards Liard's natural hot springs. And we wanted to stop and bath in it. Everyone should do this when they are on a week long road trip. There is nothing more refreshing then dipping in steaming hot water, while the air around you is wintry cold. We were back on the road within an hour and half. We were seeing all sorts of wildlife. We saw a porcupine, a moose, a bunch of mountain sheep, two bears, a bunch of caribou, tons of bison, big bald eagles, deer, coyote. It was also that night, after seeing the bears walking along the side of the road, and feeling the bitter cold, that we decided it would be better to just stay in our car and keep driving. By 12:30 AM, we had pulled into the sleeping town of Whitehorse. We tried 5 hotels, seeing if any of them were cheap enough for us ;) Finally one guy felt sorry for us, I think, and gave us a nice little discount. It was heaven sleeping in a real bed, and taking a hot shower.
ALASKA:
Day 5. The roads began to get really bad, and by bad I mean, very gravely and bumpy. With no police for miles and miles, we may have been speeding a bit, and hitting those random bumps at such rapid speed got me worried about the eggs in the back seat. When we pulled up to the "Welcome to Alaska" sign, we may have gotten out and leaped around like excited little kids. Good bye Canada (you huge-beautiful-spacious-massive-ginormous land), and hello Alaska :) We were on our last stretch of driving and we were determined to make it all the way to Soldotna. Approaching a mountain range, I was overtaken by the breathtaking beauty of these snow covered peaks. This mountain range did not end soon, it just kept stretching out for miles and miles. Wow! We reached the coast by 10 PM that night. Crazy how much time has passed since I had been here 5 years ago. If someone had told my 19 year old self that 5 years later, I would be married to Brady and moving to Alaska for the summer, I wouldn't have believed them. It's so strange how our lives ebb and flow, and where our paths are led.
We slept in the car in Fred Meyer's parking lot. And didn't wake until 8 the next morning.
We've moved into our cabin at Cohoe Fishing Camp, and have the property to ourselves, basically until fishing starts in June. It's so peaceful and still out there right now. And we have a "million dollar view" as Brady likes to say, with the snow peaked mountains lining the coast right across the bay.
In the last few weeks Brady and I have moved from Guatemala all the way up to Alaska. Which in my mind are completely different places. Not much is comparable between the two. Brady is used to living Alaska, he has been coming up here summer after summer, for as long as he can remember. I am new to this place. I visited about 5 years ago, for a couple weeks. I remember loving the serene beauty. The quiet and slow lifestyle. On the drive up, Brady reassured me, "Sarah, you will fit in up there, because everyone is a little strange in their own way." Well, thanks Brady. But I guess it's true, from everything I've seen so far :)
Every leg of our trip up to Alaska, had it's unexpected twists. Leaving Guatemala City, we were blessed with smooth traveling. Our flight kept getting pushed back, due to engine problems, but we would rather be on the ground longer, than in the air with a bad engine. When I stepped off the plane, I was anticipating culture shock. One of the hugest thing was the fact that everyone was speaking English, all around us! It seemed too easy, not having to translate everything.
CALI:
When Ma (Brady's mom) picked us up from the airport, she took us out to In-And-Out. Good fast food, but it was missing the depth of flavor and spice that Guatemalan food had. I half hoped to see Verde Sauce, ready to be used, at every meal. Weary of traveling, I was excited to arrive at the "Peaceful Warrior" (Brady's parents live on a house boat in Ventura Harbor). If you ever get the privilege of waking up on a boat, you will want to sell everything you own and buy a boat of your own. I am a lover of the ocean, and it's quite the blissful life, living upon it.
We spent a week aboard the Peaceful Warrior. Brady was able to help build some awesome steps for the boat, which work a lot better than the little ladder leading up to the deck. On Sunday we were able to attend church in an actual building for the first time in months (I do miss many things about house church though)! Brady and I spent a lot of time, paddle boarding around the Harbor and out to the mouth. Near the end of the week, we discovered one was missing though! And had quite the time, trying to find it! You can read all about that here:
http://www.faithonanchor.blogspot.com/2016/04/notice-lost-paddleboard_13.html
On Monday, at 3 AM, with a fully packed car, snacks and blankets and duffle bags neatly situated in the back seat, we set out on our drive to Spokane.
SPOKANE:
We didn't manage to pull into Spokane until 1 AM the next day. 22 hours straight drive, but luckily we had a bed waiting for us, in our old sweet city. My old roomies opened up their home to us, and sweet Emily gave us her double bed! It was so fun catching up with them! Of course we had a day full of errands to attend to. I had to be to the school at 12:00 for my internship interview with my Prof. And we had to swing by the court house to "get married" officially (little did we know that we had left our papers in California). And Donut Parade, is a priority in my mind, I mean come on...in Spokane for a day, you have to go get a maple bar and cup of coffee there. We also had a long grocery list for camping food.
We slept another night in Spokane, waiting to get a hold of Kathy (Justin and Kelsie's old neighbor). We were going to borrow a tent from Justin and Kelsie, that was in storage below her house. But for some reason, she wasn't answering her phone. It was simply going to voicemail. Maybe she was in Montana visiting family? We drove by her house, and didn't see a car, so we assumed she was on vacation. Then next morning, we got a call from Kelsie and she immediately started crying, "So we just got a call from our old landlord, and she says that Kathy died!" What a shock! She wasn't sick and she wasn't that old. She smoked quite a bit, but I just didn't think she would die anytime soon. This lady was a gem, she predicted that Brady and I were going to be a "thing" :) She always gave Tadgh graham crackers, and was awarded the name "Grandma Graham Cracker". She was always up for a chat, and the last time I saw her was right before my wedding, when Brady and I went over to her house to give her an invite. We ended up staying with her for a couple hours, putting on her storm windows (Justin and Kelsie always did this for her, but they were gone so...) and trying to set up internet for her. I had no clue that this would be the last time I ever saw Kathy :(
We decided we were meant to be in Spokane at this time. Because, Justin and Kelsie had a bunch of stuff stored under her house and someone had to move it. We spent the next morning moving all their stuff into a storage unit. It was a sad and eery feeling being at Kathy and Justin and Kelsie's old houses, with many memories of summer nights spent on the lawn, laughing and shooting the breeze, with all of them. So many memories, this was the spot where Brady and I fell in love, 2 summers ago. It just goes to show that that chapter of our life is over. Just sweet memories now. We were flying down the highway, out of Spokane, by 2 PM, on our way to Canada.
CANADA:
Day 1. Our plan was to camp all the way up to Alaska, because with the distance we had to cover, we knew we wouldn't even be out of Canada until after a couple of days. Our first night, we spent just outside of Banff National Park. We pitched our tent at "Dry Gulch" campsite, and found out that it was free, because all the water was turned off for the winter. Yay! We didn't have sleeping bags, but I had brought like 50 blankets, so we were guaranteed to be warm :) I still had a target gift card from our wedding, and so we had purchased this little camp stove, which became our best friend, when we didn't have firewood to build a fire with.
Day 2. The next morning, we explored Banff! Yes, it was glorious! We kept pulling over every time a hike caught our eyes. By mid afternoon, we decided to ask where camping was available. I went into an information station, and asked the lady at the desk if she knew of any camping sites in Banff available for the night. And she gave me the weirdest look. I guess everything was still closed for the winter, and she was having a hard time understanding why we were even camping in a tent. Inside Banff all the electric fences were shut down, so the bears were roaming freely, and the hiking up to the lakes was not recommended, because of avalanches. Lol, Brady and I felt pretty stupid after talking to her. But got a little information out of her about a site in Jasper National Park, where there was year round camping available. We weren't the only ones tenting, because when we got to the campsite, we saw many other people just like us pitching their tents for the night. It was that night, that we made the most amazing beef stew. Food made over a campfire is to die for.
Day 3 (Still in Canada). The next day we drove until we found a campsite, which was also free. We were scrounging for firewood, when our only neighbors came driving up to our site on their fourwheelers. A bunch of teenagers out for the weekend, doing some fourwheel playing, but they gifted us with a huge pile of firewood, just out of the kindness in their hearts. What angels. We made a wonderful chicken and potato soup over our roaring fire that night. The nights were definitely getting colder. But we slept well on the grassy bed, where we had pitched our tent, right near a beautiful frozen lake.
Day 4 (Canada still...it's huge)! We were headed towards Liard's natural hot springs. And we wanted to stop and bath in it. Everyone should do this when they are on a week long road trip. There is nothing more refreshing then dipping in steaming hot water, while the air around you is wintry cold. We were back on the road within an hour and half. We were seeing all sorts of wildlife. We saw a porcupine, a moose, a bunch of mountain sheep, two bears, a bunch of caribou, tons of bison, big bald eagles, deer, coyote. It was also that night, after seeing the bears walking along the side of the road, and feeling the bitter cold, that we decided it would be better to just stay in our car and keep driving. By 12:30 AM, we had pulled into the sleeping town of Whitehorse. We tried 5 hotels, seeing if any of them were cheap enough for us ;) Finally one guy felt sorry for us, I think, and gave us a nice little discount. It was heaven sleeping in a real bed, and taking a hot shower.
ALASKA:
Day 5. The roads began to get really bad, and by bad I mean, very gravely and bumpy. With no police for miles and miles, we may have been speeding a bit, and hitting those random bumps at such rapid speed got me worried about the eggs in the back seat. When we pulled up to the "Welcome to Alaska" sign, we may have gotten out and leaped around like excited little kids. Good bye Canada (you huge-beautiful-spacious-massive-ginormous land), and hello Alaska :) We were on our last stretch of driving and we were determined to make it all the way to Soldotna. Approaching a mountain range, I was overtaken by the breathtaking beauty of these snow covered peaks. This mountain range did not end soon, it just kept stretching out for miles and miles. Wow! We reached the coast by 10 PM that night. Crazy how much time has passed since I had been here 5 years ago. If someone had told my 19 year old self that 5 years later, I would be married to Brady and moving to Alaska for the summer, I wouldn't have believed them. It's so strange how our lives ebb and flow, and where our paths are led.
We slept in the car in Fred Meyer's parking lot. And didn't wake until 8 the next morning.
We've moved into our cabin at Cohoe Fishing Camp, and have the property to ourselves, basically until fishing starts in June. It's so peaceful and still out there right now. And we have a "million dollar view" as Brady likes to say, with the snow peaked mountains lining the coast right across the bay.
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