Hello out there,

I hope everyone is staying healthy and hydrated down there in the lower 48, I hear it is HOT. Kodiak continues to not disappoint and be cool and damp. The only time I break a sweat outside is when I run or go hiking. Now don't be jealous because in another month or two when I am shoveling snow, you can remind me about this posting.

So as of 9pm tonight my mom was well on her way back to Richmond, VA and stopping for a quick leg strech and plane change in Seattle. She is due back in Richmond sometime tomorrow (Wednesday morning).

I don't have any good stories this post but, will answer some questions that I have been getting.

Is it light all the time in Alaska?
Not all the time. The sun goes down around midnight and comes back up 6 or so. On the local news it actually tells you how many minutes of daylight we are losing. Places such as Anchorage have less rain than Kodiak so they have more light. I actually like it. I will report back during winter and let you know about the darkness. I have heard that it "isn't that bad in the winter."

Why is gas so expensive in Alaska?
I have NO idea but, on base I pay 3.79 a gallon and in town people pay 3.85 a gallon.

Why is the capital in Juneau?
I haven't found that out yet either but, I do know that it is too expensive to move to Anchorage. You can not get to Juneau by road, you must fly in or take a boat (just like in Kodiak).

What do people do in Alaska for a living?
Fishing is a very lucrative career here along the coast but, not the only career. Here in Kodiak we actually have tree farms and export the trees to Korea. Yes, we actually do export something to Asia, can you believe it? Drilling for granite so I guess you can say The Rock Industry. Also working on The North Slope or somehow being involved with the oil industry. Tourism is a huge business here too.

So a short post tonight but, I am going to try and post more piectures.

I do love Alaska but, miss my friends and loved one's.

Andy wanted me to make sure that I send his love to everyone out there too.

Where's the heat

Hello everyone,

Today is Sunday and mom is leaving on Tuesday; well I guess that depends upon what Mother Nature has planned. Time has flown by. I remember mom saying last week "what are we going to do until Tuesday?" Well my answer was a lot and a lot very slowly. Alaska has two paces; slow and slower. I know I am a very ancy person and always have to be doing something but, doing "it" slowly is kind of nice.

The Tinko-Kodiak house looks amazing on the inside as well as the outside. We had "the girls" over for Mexican night on Friday and they couldn't stop talking about how put together the house is. Funny how it is the same furnishings and art work as we had in Atlanta and Nashville but, just in a new place. We are very lucky to have 2 very talented artist friends; Michael White and Matt Lively. These pieces of artwork give off a warm and friendly reminder of our friends and family in the lower 48. (The lower 48 is a HUGE coluqual phrase used here in the Great White north).

When we are not decorating or running to the only "department stores" (WalMart and True Value), I am trying to get mom exposed to as much of Kodiak as I can. She has been a trooper, let me tell you. She went up Old Woman Mountain, which is right behind the house in her $20 keds. I repeatedly told her that the view of our "hood" was great and just right around the corner. After about 20 minutes of serious hiking for anyone, let alone someone in their 70's, I told her that we could turn around and I would take a picture for her. She wanted to go out that night and buy a pair of $100 hiking boots but, decided that a picture just might be cheaper.

Today I took her to Fossil Beach but, it wasn't quite as beautiful in the rain as it was in the sun. We did see black tailed deer and bison along the alomst 40 mile journey. Keep in mind Kodiak has less that 100 miles of paved roads. It still really pretty. We did see a shark on the beach, yes ON the beach. From what we can gather it was caught in someone net and left on shore.

The temperature still hasn't gotten over 65 degrees since Andy and I have arrived. Today it got to 57 and that was around 6pm. I hope that our friends and family in the lower 48 are staying sydrated and safe.

Andy wanted me to tell everyone that he LOVES being on the ship but, misses everyone dearly. His first week out he saw a lot of whales and even an amazing killer whale but, of course did not have his camera with him. We expect him to behome sometime in September.

The pictures I have attached (in no order) are a view of Barometer Mountain from the front porch of our house. A picture of the bison from today and a picture of the shark.

I'll try to update the blog a little quicker next time.

Thanks to everyone for all their support and friendly comments.

Still enjoying the scenery

Hello everyone!

Whew, since I last checked in the oil cap in the gulf has been plugged! I know there is a long road ahead but, hopefully those involved will learn from their mistakes.

Also, since my last post I had a milestone birthday. I was lucky enough to meet some great women/new friends while Andy's boat was pulling away and they threw me a great party . Their husbands/ significant others are also on the ship and that is just one of the things we have in common.

I am also lucky enough to have a great mom who was willing to come in town and help me unpack and settle into the new house. I could not possibly do this on my own. Convincing her to come was the easy part; getting her from Anchorage to Kodiak was the hard part. Kodiak is notorious for their fog clouds that is not very conducive for aircraft travel.

Friday she was grounded in Anchorage for the night. Her red eye flight Saturday morning was cancelled and their she sat on stand by in the airport. Eventually she made the 2nd flight that day that was able to land in Kodiak. I would love to shake the pilots hand. Today in WalMart and woman walked by us and said "Hey, I was stuck in the airport w/ her for 2 days." My mom said she met so many people she didn't remember seeing that lady. The lady only got out this morning (Sunday), she had been grounded for 3 days.

What was my present to my mother for braving the storm? Well, a first hand view of Kodiak's most famous resident, the Kodiak Bear. We just so happened to be driving down the main road here to town when we saw him. He was beautiful AND huge. He tried to run out in front of us but, got scared and turned around and ran into the woods. We both screamed "BEAR" at the same time. I couldn't believe how his hair glissened in the sun. No pictures available sorry.

Wednesday me and some friends went for a hike and then to fossil beach. WOW, some of these places on the island are the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

I am mighty tired so I will leave you with pictures of the fog and of beautiful Fossil Beach.

Hugs and kisses

Nancy, Hogan and Brancy

10 Days

So we (me and the dogs) have been in Kodiak for 10 Days now and all is well.

I have yet to have a bear sighting or encounter but, I have seen their tracks in the mud (does that count)? I have now learned that you can smell the bears when you get close to them. Apparently they smell like garbage. Which makes perfect sense to me.

We did fill up on gas on Sunday and as you can see from the picture posted earlier; it was quite expensive. But, with less than 100 miles of driveable roads, no job, the USCG base being .8 miles and the mail box being 5 miles away; I don't anticipate filling up anything soon. Can anyone beat my commute?

There are so many trails here I don't even think I am going be able to hike all of them before we leave in 3 years. On any given day, unless it is raining REALLY hard, you will see cars just parked on the side of the road. What these people are doing is parking at trail heads or just even paths and getting out and going for a hike. Some of the paths are flat and some are hilly. I love this!!!

Hogan, Brandy and I try to take a hike everyday and they are trying to get used to all the new smells. One way to keep bears "away" are to attach bells to the dogs collars. I almost feel like Pavlov b/c everytime I pick up their bells they run towards me ready to go for a hike. I think it took 2 times for them to realize this.

That's it for now folks.

A few pictures

I am going to try something different today. I am going to try and upload some pictures now (3:08 pm) before thereis a lot of internet traffic later tonight here in the hotel.

Story time will be later tonight.

Back by popular demand

Today I found out first hand why people love living here (in Kodiak that is). It was the most beautiful day. The temperature reached a whopping 72 degrees.

On a sad note, Andy had to ship out this evening. But, I will not focus on that b/c that is the whole reason we are here and the reason we (American's) can all sleep comfortably at night. I did get a great tour of the HUGE ship and got to help him organize his locker and rack (bed). It is truly amazing to see all the Coasties in action on their boat.

Back to beautiful Kodiak.

It rains alot here but, the second the rain stops everyone is outside. I laugh b/c in Atlanta during time of year, I am chasing the shade. I would literally zig zag my way through a run trying to stay out of the sun. Here, I am chasing the sun.

Yesterday, Andy and I went for a hike in not so perfect conditions but, it was great. I counted 5 World War 2 bunkers on our walk before we actually turned around. I am embarrassed to admit this but, I had to have Andy brush up my knowledge on the WWII; good thing I wasn't on the show Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader.

I am not feeling especially whitty tonight so I will leave you with some pictures of the bunkers, mountains and the dogs on the not so perfect day. Tomorrow I will post pics from Andy's ship and from the perfect day here today.

We/I are still living in the hotel and waiting for our goods to arrive. But like I said before I left "At least I have a great view."

Many hugs

Nancy and Andy

P.S.
I tried to upload more pics but, I am on the hotels internet so this is all I could get!

First thoughts

Aloha,

Let me start out by saying the Aloha is only a dream. It is chilly here darn it! We were told "that we haven't had summer yet" and we have put ALL of our stock in this statement! Today on a mini hike we saw our own breath.

So everyone wants to know what Kodiak is like and I will try to paint the best picture I can without visuals. Hopefully our computer will be back tomorrow, PC rather.

Upon first arriving to Kodiak, I heard a guy say "tell me why I live in Minesota again" my reply back to him was " I'm glad you feel that way bc I have tons of anxiety running through me right now. " Kodiak is a beautiful place, when you can see it that is. It is always cloudy and there is hardly ever any sunshine. The one day/night we had sunshine the sun peaked through around 9PM ish showing it's true colors around 11pm. I kept opening the curtains and telling Andy to look outside and see what a beautiful view we had. He repeatedly reminded me that it was 11:30 and we needed to go to bed.

If I could sum Kodiak up in one sentence it would be "stuck in the 70's.". The houses here are VERY modest, with a few exceptions. No one has updated their houses or their curb appeal except for a few. I believe the attitude is "what's good enough for us, is good enough for you."

I really have gotten used to Kodiak's lifestyle quickly. No one is in a hurry and no one is trying to get ahead of you in the rat race, if in fact there is one here. If you are driving too fast behind someone, they will pull over and let you pass.

Another thing great about the town is how everyone wants to make sure that you are bear aware. I mean EVERYONE. They all have their stories and the areas to avoid and their thoughts as to what to do if you see one. They want to make sure that you know bears let us live here. Every restaurant and hotel you go into all have bear skins o their walls if not a stuffed Kodiak bear that is bigger than I have ever Iimagined.

Hogan and I came across a red fox today that was absolutely beautiful. It just stared at us as much as we were staring at it!

hopefully we will have pictures tomorrow. Until then enjoy the heat, bc we are damn cold.

Hugs and kisses

Nancy and Andy

Greetings from The Buskin Lodge, aka Comfort Inn, aka Home Base for The Trinko's

Tonights blog is going to br relatively short and still no pictures. We actually found a computer shop and they are hopefully going to de bug us.

We checked into housing today and were told there is a waiting list, which is fine b/c we have no idea where our goods are. Our goods are in transit and were told it takes 6-8 weeks bc of being on an island. So we are still here at the hotel with our 2 dogs. The hotel itself isn't too bad and can be quite entertaining at times.

The owners of the hotel live on site 4 doors down. The 3 young maids live across the hall and barley speak any English. Let's just say the owners of the hotel are grosly out of shape and are not afraid to talk to customers in their robe and nightgown at any hour of the day. However, they seem to be very accommodating and put up with us.

I did go to the gym today and it is even better than I had hoped for. In case some of you did not see my Facebook post.......I will tell you about a funny bear sighting I had. I went for a run yesterday on a side road and were told bears really don't like to cross roads but they will. The road was quite curvy and Sure enough i saw a big brown bear crossing the road up ahead on the curve. I stopped dead in my tracks and took a big breath of air and realized it was a brown mini Cooper!!!! True story

We are adjusting quite well to being 4hours behind eastern time so I will leave you tonight bc I am actually tired out despite the sun telling me differently.

Did I mention the high today was 52 degrees, brrrrrrr

Destination Kodiak

Anchorage to Homer via highway ------- Homer to Kodiak via Alaska Marine Highway (ferry)

Please forgive any punctuation or run on sentences but, Andy's computer was attacked by a virus and I am having to use my iPad. I do love my iPad though but I can't upload any pictures on here either. I really don't know how those pirates get pleasure out of crashing peoples computers.

The day began with waking up at 3:15 am, packing the car and driving to Homer. We could have stayed in Homer to avoid the 4 hour drive but we had had enough of small towns for a while. Not that we weren't getting ready to move to a town where there is 1 bear for every 4 people. But, we liked the hotel in Anchorage and weren't sure what accommodations lied ahead.

The drive to Homer was very windy and curvy. There are MANY MANY MANY fishing camps along the way with very clever names, which I can't remember right now but, the local medical clinic had a big sign out front that said "fish hook removal here" The other neat thing about the drive was several little coffee and expresso shacks that seem to come out of nowhere. They look almost like an old photo mat! Oh, and then there was the female moose that was grazing on the side of the road that we got great pictures of but, well you know, maybe I can upload those at a later date.

The ferry is a 45 car ferry (sorry no picture provided) that takes approximate 10.5 hours to reach Kodiak. If you are lucky, like we were, and board towards the end of the pack, you get off first. Most of you are with the "first in, last out principle." The ferry allows pets but, they must stay in your vehicle, in the belly of the vessel. To answer everyone's question; Hogan did great thanks to his sedation medication. Brandy of course was perfect. Nancy successfully completed the trip as well, I will answer questions as to how I did it via private email or phone conversation ; ) We did see sea otters as well as whales along the journey!

When pulling in to the Port of Kodiak, the scenery was amazing. Kodiak is nicknamed "the emerald city" and we found out why. It was 10 pm and we could see the snow capped mountains and lush green hills as if it was 10am. We found our way to our temporary hotel and just couldn't get up enough energy to go find the midnight fireworks.

Happy 4th of July to everyone and especially those who past or current have protected our freedom.

We really do miss everyone more than you can imagine. Our cell phones do work so please don't hesitate to call.

By the way when a dog farts in a hotel room , it is MUCH worse than in a house, apartment or loft.

We got Crabs

Anchorage

We woke up this morning and had nowhere to be for the first time in 3 weeks!! What a great feeling to have. We finally ventured out around 2:30.

Andy is a bit disappointed with Anchorage in the fact that he thought it was going to be alot smaller (pop 280,00) and have a "homey" feeling. But, I assured him that when we get to Kodiak, we will definitely have the small town feel (pop 12,000). No matter what feeling Kodiak gives us, it is going to be our home for the next 3 years : )

We ran a few errands around town and some how ended up downtown in a restaurant and that is where we got our crabs; King crabs that is. The crabs were absolutely delicious. We are hoping the crabs are as good in Kodiak as they are in Anchorage.


We are back at the hotel now and have to get up at 4am to drive to Homer to catch the ferry to Kodiak. Did I mention that the ferry ride to Kodiak is 11.5 hours? With the sun actually never setting (they actually say there is 3 hours of darkness but we have yet to see that) and the anticipation of actually getting to Kodiak, it may be tough falling asleep tonight.

We forgot to bring our camera out and about with us today so we will leave you with pictures from the glacier. We will be back up and blogging on the 4th unless there is wireless on the ferry. The 4th of July fireworks actually go off at midnight on the 3rd and we will are scheduled to arrive at 11 pm!

Happy 4th to everyone.

Much love

Nancy, Andy, Hogan and Brandy

Thursday July 1st

Tok, Alaska to Anchorage Alaska! The drive to Anchorage was VERY bumpy and windy. Somewhere in between here and there we were behind a car with a license plate from Dekalb County, GA (my old stomping ground) and no I did not know the person driving the car. We also got to use an outhouse, which neither one of us had done in a while! How fun and it wasn't bad either. So Andy continues to drive and I decided to take a nap. I was suddenly awoken to the sound of the tires of our vehicle grinding up gravel. I quickly sat up and wondered what was going on. Andy said he was turning around b/c he saw something. Was it another bear or a moose I asked, "no, just wait" he said. (Patience, patience) All of the sudden appeared a massive glacier in between all the other mountains we had been looking at for hours. Oh my god, this thing is/was amazing. It is in the Prince William Sound. I think I just saw on TV that there are 2 glaciers. I'll have to do more research on this. Anyway, enjoy the pictures! So after many, many stops to look at the amazing scenery we continue on. We thought we were going to be going through Wasilla, where Sarah lives, but you have to take another road and at this point we just want to get to our hotel and stop driving. So no, we didn't see Sarah or Bristol or anyone with the last name of Palin. Remember sticker shock? Well at the gas station where we stopped, gas was cheaper than back in Tok but, a 12 pack of coke was on sale for $6.19 and a thing of window washing fluid for the truck was almost $4. So when we get a permanent address I'll be sure to make a "wish list" and everyone can send me care packages. LOL. I will be shopping on base as much as I can. Upon arriving in Anchorage we see a subdivision, oh boy! It is almost like we have never seen a big city before. I think we were even on a highway and an interchange!!! Anchorage has almost 280,000 people and is Alaska largest city. So we arrive at our hotel and unload and venture off to find a place to eat. We stop at a place in a strip mall the is called MacKenzies Grill or something like that. How bad could it be being in a strip mall and with the word "Grill" attached to it? So we walk in and it is a "White table cloth restaurant" with a very few menu options. I think the cheapest thing on the menu was a caesar salad with salmon for $19! To share an entree cost $9.95 for splitting an entree. Andy and I can not recall ever leaving a restaurant before b/c of the menu prices but, we do now; Thursday July 1st in Anchorage, Alaska. Our 2nd stop was a great choice. It was called Piper's and it is right near the airport and right on a lake with that is totally decicated to Sea Planes or "float planes." Mission accomplished. It is hang to hang up or snowshoes and go to bed. I will have another entry tonight (Friday July 2nd). I am not if we will have on for July 3rd b/c we will be on the Ferry for 12 hours taking us to our new Island home. See you guys in a couple of hours.

Wednesday June 30th

Haines Junction -----to------ Tok, Alaska! Alaska, Alaska, Alaska

We took our time leaving Haines Junction and we will miss her. We stopped at the General Store which reminded me of The Old Styles Bi-Rite, for those of you from back in the day. Anyway, this General Store might as well have been a Publix in our eyes. Although it was pretty small they had everything, EVEN Dr. Pepper. We haven't seen Dr. Pepper in months it seemed!

We met up with our Air Force friends crossing the border into the good Ole' U, S, of Aaaaaaaaaaaa. We all stopped at the first gas station/convenience store and all had a group hug. Obviously every american stops at this store as there were American Flags everywhere as well as a sign saying "Free Coffee for all U.S. Military." The sign might have well said "Free Money" to everyone in our caravan. Me, being the non coffee drinker, also had a added treat, fountain drinks and wait...... a fountain Dr. Pepper at that. Yum!

So they say there are 2 seasons in Alaska; Winter and construction. BELIEVE THIS! As we were waiting in line to follow the "Follow Me" pilot truck Andy noticed our Air Force friend Will had a flat tire on his truck that happened to be pulling a small U Haul trailer. Ugh.......... Well, they got it changed and on our way we went. We have passed a few people riding The Alaska Hwy on bicycles. The "Follow Me" truck people are nice enough to give the bikers a ride in the back of their truck with their bikes or these people would never come out alive. I actually feel sorry for the people of motorcycles b/c they must have so much road rash, mud, dust and whatever else you can think of on them going through this.

Sorry kids, no wildlife seen today : (

We arrive in Tok, Alaska where we are staying for the night. The hotel was like a mini compound/campus. There were 15 buildings with 4 rooms per building. The rooms were HUGE.

We were starving when we arrived to the point where my hands were shaking. There really aren't places to stop on the Alaskan Hwy unless you want gas station sandwiches or hostess products. I did have Cliff bars for basic survival. So we headed to the hotel restaurant right at 5:30 AND we didn't even get a senior citizen discount. The food was the best we had had in a LONG time, probably since we had left my mom and dad's house (whenever that was) AND they had a salad bar, a very basic salad bar but, who cares.

The hotel had Internet in the lobby and only on their computers. The line was very long and I assume they were the people from the 3 tour buses parked outside. At that moment I found myself prejudice to tourists AND I haven't even gotten to Kodiak yet. This attitude must change b/c there is no sales tax in parts of Alaska b/c of all the tourist money they get each year. Plus, I am still a tourist until I get to Kodiak.

We did 3 loads of laundry that night and met more people in the military being stationed in Alaska. The next morning Hogan and I went on a 4 mile run and it felt great.

We have been told that we will have "sticker shock" when we get to AK. You can see an example of sticker shock by the price of gas as we crossed into AK. I believe gas is about 3.18 in Anchorage though.

Onward to Anchorage, will we see Sarah Palin in Wasilla? Read on to find out!

Tuesday June 29th

Watson Lake --- to Haines Junction, Yukon Territory

Watson Lake was not one of our favorite places. The town had a "dirty feeling" to it. I thought the town had a population of about 50 but, it is actually 1,600. The town is referred to as the Yukon's Gateway and sits at the junction of the Campbell and Alaska highways. The junction is well marked with a famous landmark, the Signpost Forest. It would take a whole day to look at every sign. That is really ALL the town has to offer.

The hotel was barley adequate to rest our tired bones. I will give you a few examples and make sure everyone is able to still keep their food down. When we opened up the fridge it smelled like someone was storing a science experiement in it. We decided to skip using the shower the night before and the next day; surley the next hotel had to be better. I think everyone gets the picture here.

We continue to meet more people in the military that are transfering to different parts of Alaska. We met a Warrant Officer and his wife and 2 kids who were in route to Anchorage for 4 years. Andy met an Infantry guy who had just left Ft. Benning; ahhhh GA, who was moving to Fairbanks and we ran into our new friends, the Air Force family of 6, again.

We arrive in Haines Junction!!!! This town is probably the same size of Watson Lake but, the feel is much, much different. Andy checks in at the front desk which is also the bar (love it). The bartender is also the Inn keeper (her name is Barbie). So the motel is actually a bar that has 12 rooms attached to it; I'm really going to like this place! So we let the dogs out of the truck and they are immediately met by 3 other dogs, non with collars on. One dog is actually Barbies and the other 2 are a bar patrons. There is no need for the dogs to have collars b/c everyone knows who belongs to who!

The hotel room is extremely small is exactly like a log cabin and had just enough room to turn around in. There is no a/c but, the window did open. The view of whatever mountain we were "forced" to look at was absolutely breathtaking. I asked some bar partrons where would be a good place to go for a run/walk and they directed me to a trail that took me to the river. Here again was an amazing view of nature, I was actually a little nervous that I might run into a bear or even links.

After dinner the whole family went on the same walk again and had a great time. I bought a bottle of wine at the bar for $11 and Andy had some Bud and we played cards out on our porch and staired at the beautiful view until it was time to go to bed. This was probably our best nights sleep in the Yukon.

Did I tell you we loved Haines Junction?