Pack N' Ship

Day 2.

It's an exclusive club.  I'm not sure that I really wanted to join it.  You gotta have money, willingness to shop on end and the desire to not starve for 4 months.  I guess that last part would help the second part out but I gotta tell you, the first part, it's a shocker!  If you wanna join it, get a job in the Alaskan bush and you to could join the ranks of those who buy in mass quantities and learn how to pack and ship the Alaskan way!

All the totes we need.  Or so we thought.

A view from the back seat.

No where left to sit

Look at all this!

Unloaded, some packed...so much work left!

It's famous now.  The face that created giggles!

My new Costco personal record!

Dry food, non-perishable items and anything you need for the apartments all gets bought and shipped either via bush orders at the stores (wonderful!) or you take it with you, pack it yourself and then take it to the post office.  The Bush Mail at Wal mart....wonderful!!!  Here's the stuff I want, you pack it and bill me for shipping.  Yeah, I don't have to deal with it anymore.  Thank goodness.   Shopping at Costco, they don't have that option but they have the stuff I want.  It comes home with me and I make it ready to ship.

Duck Taped boxes of fruits and veggies ready to go

 I didn't ever think i'd be duct taping boxes together as close to 70 lbs. as possible.  (as long as they were the same exact size and squared off)  All boxes shipped needed both a return and to address though the "to" was so big and taped to it so well that if Godzilla tried to take it off it would only make a scratch in it so there was no way it could get "lost".  Totes were zip-tied on one end so if it was over the limit we could remedy the situation quickly before closing them for good.

We got everything bundled up, ready to go and headed to the post office at 7 pm.  It's the busiest one I guess and they are open until midnight.  We took in several totes, boxes, etc and waited in line.  It started out with our "guide" asking if they had carts or a special procedure for so much stuff and "Richard" said to just get a hand truck and start bringing it in.  Not so nice of a tone.....we knew it wasn't a good night for him.   Guess who was my teller?...Richard.  Oh, kill him with kindness.  Beg for mercy as it was my first time ever shipping and I had just left my family 2 days ago.  Play the victim card.  It worked.  I got a few smiles, some passes and of course a "Nooooope!   3 lbs. overweight!" or the like when something was just a bit heavy.  Good thing I had room in another tote!

Shipping at the Airport Post office

The others were glad I got him and worked my magic while they enjoyed the fruits of friendlier cashiers.  Our evening ended with a Subway fix and a late night in the front room.  Headed to bed for another day of more shopping for the cold and frozen items to again pack and then fly with us to King Salmon.  It will end, then we won't have to shop for 4 months!  I'm ready for that for sure!

Receipts from Post office

The rest of you....please comment and add your memories of me and my craziness.....I'm sure your accounts of me making you laugh or doing something weird are much better than mine!


Day 2, in the books.  Yes, It's the end of day three but I think that blog will have to wait until tomorrow morning.  Good grief I'm tired!

Whirlwind, perhaps a tornado even.

So, I know it's way overdue.  You are all waiting with anticipation as to what Anchorage is like, how I'm dealing and what's been going on.  It's the end of day 2 now and it's 11:27 pm.  I'm making the time to write a blog so that I don't keep everyone in the dark any longer.  It's been a long two days and I know that if I wait any longer I will start forgetting some of the cool things.

Here we go.  Day one was crazy.  A flight away from the ones I love to a new place I'm sure to love.  As I got off the plane I felt like a celebrity (kinda) as Kathy and I walked from the plane and were met by Bill holding a piece of paper with our names on it.  Oh ya!   It got even better when the bags were waiting for us all bundled up by person.  I didn't have to search through bags or anything.

Our "Brunch" Stop

I came back to the house to meet everyone else here already.  I figured that I would have been one of the first people here because I had come in so early in the day.  Not so.  Some people had come in during the middle of the night.  I got about half an hour to compose myself and get ready to head out for some brunch and the start of shopping.  It was good though because it got me right into the idea of getting ready!

First stop was the DMV.  We needed drivers licenses.  Walk up to the window, show your passport and they say, "ok, do you have your Social Security card?"  What?!  No, is the passport showing that I'm a US citizen not good enough?  I didn't bring my social security card.  What the heck for!?  Darn it.  I need that driver's license!  They gave us (there were two with this same issue) an address to go to and we were able to obtain a letter that showed our name and number that was stamped by the office.  All we had to show them was our passport.  Go figure!  Back to the VERY CROWDED DMV to wait in a line, fill out a piece of paper, wait in a line, take the computer test and answer 16 questions right, wait in a line, let the lady write our score down so we can take a number to wait in the big line of which 80 numbers were in front of us at ticket taking time.  80!  So, what did we do?  We people watched.  We watched the motorcycle guy get upset when another motorcycle guy parked his bike touching his.   We watched the mentally unstable guy use the back of that same unhappy motorcyclist's bike as his podium and fill out his form on it.  That same unstable guy was lots of entertainment for the duration of our wait.  He told the motorcyclist he used his bike and almost got the snot beat out of him.  He begged people for cigarettes, talked to everyone he could and we think he was trying to sell his number.  Oh and if you are wondering, the DMV, it's near a really spectacularly designed McDonald's.  We've seen it from every angle.

We started off shopping with a bang.  Wal-Mart has this great thing going for them where you pick all the things that don't contain alcohol, won't explode and won't spoil; you take it to their back registers, they ring it up and add some for handling and they pack and ship it for you!  The shipping is added to your card once they get the weight all put together but dang!  It beats having to pack it and drag it down to the post office yourself.   (more about that later!)

The breadsticks were to die for!

Tons of shopping it felt like later and a graduation from summer excel camp for some students of LPSD we were headed to dinner.  I'd heard stories about this famed place, stories that it's the best pizza ever and that I had to have it when I went.  Well, we made it there.  It was late at night, we were starving and I knew I had to make a phone call.  Poor Jen.  She said her mouth watered via phone.  Just an FYI, 2 people at the table had cream soda for you!

The end of day 1 came to a close with a heavy sigh and knowing that a new day full of shopping was to commence.  I fell into bed without even thinking about the blog because I had been up for almost 23 hours by the time I finally was able to get some rest.  Now I'm a day behind and I hope to catch up tomorrow morning with tales of Richard and the wonders of packing.  For now though, please know that I'm doing well.  I've met new friends, enjoyed a day of sun and now a day of rain.  It's green and lush here like Oregon with the Mountains of Bend in the backyard (maybe a bit bigger then Bend!)  The city sprawls out like Salem and Keizer all rolled into one with a little bit bigger city feel.

Day one is in the books.  Day two.....it's there too, but you'll know about it later!  :)

A trunk, a container, or a bedside table?

The time crunch is on! As each day clicks by when I check my calendar it seems as if I am just not getting enough done. I know that everything will come together in the end but as I think about things that must be done at certain times, it feels like so much must be done here in the next couple of weeks and then almost nothing until the very end.

We hit up a few Goodwill's and the like type stores the other day. Well, let's not say a few. Every one in the area honestly. I had to find dishes to eat off of, various tools to use in the kitchen and a stop at a store for a bath mat and shower curtain. I just don't want those second hand. After a hard day of shopping, we came home with a few good finds and a cool looking treasure trunk. It's red with gold trim, a working lock and in good shape. If I ship it full to 70 pounds, it will cost $60 all the way to Alaska. Seems like a pretty good deal in all honesty. I wonder how close I can get it to 70lbs. and how much stuff I can pack in it. That same trunk should also be able to house extra blankets and maybe become a bedside table when it gets there. Let's hope it makes it there in good condition!

Now that I have a few good containers to ship in, I'm excited to start making the list of what I'm going to put in them and get them out of my hair. I will be happy knowing that I will not be empty handed when I get there. Some comforts of home will be nice to have when I arrive in a new world, a new home and a new life that awaits me in the last frontier.

Today started with a quick mow of the front yard and continued with the moving of many items here at home. The old garden area got mowed down and the truck canopy was moved so it can sit on the sawhorses back there and not be in the way. The boat was moved from sitting in the driveway to the side of the garage that was previously occupied by the canopy and the yard/driveway is now ready for the upcoming garage sale. Oh, am I doing too much? My jeep loves her spot in the driveway tonight!!

So that's what is on the docket next. I continue to get ready for this garage sale that is the weekend after the 4th of July. Going through rooms of the house, deciding to keep, toss, sell, or ship. I've made it through....oh a closet or two. I've got a long way to go. I'm waiting for the next rainy day to make it through the upstairs area because it is sooo hot up there. I've got a lot to do between cleaning that upstairs and then getting the downstairs all cleaned up and sorted will probably take a few hours on it's own. I guess procrastination isn't going to be an option soon. Doing it now will only make my last few weeks here more pleasurable right?

The night comes to a close, the first day of summer has been a productive and warm one. As I head to bed, the 45 days left will turn into 44 days and counting.......