Somewhere in Middle America

Happy Birthday Mom!

Fargo, ND to Omaha, NE

We left Fargo this morning, and after a short 6 hour ride through South Dakota and Iowa, we arrived in Omaha, Nebraska. When we left Fargo it was 72 and windy, and by Iowa, it was 93 and clear. We are loving it! We saw a bit of an acrobatics show from the highway, a few more hay fields, and then another big city! It's so nice to see a skyline.

We arrived at our hotel, time enough to change and get ready for dinner. Tim's college friend, Quinn picked us up and took us downtown to Upstream in Old Market, where we enjoyed hand-cut Omaha steaks.

Tim's HI: Seeing Quinn, and catching up with him, and enjoying a good steak dinner.

Tim's LO: Pasture, manure smell through most of South Dakota. It was enough to gag a goat.

Quinn and Tim

Faith's HI: Short driving day, meeting Quinn. It was nice to put a face with all those college stories! Dinner was great- lots of pilot talk over dinner about IFR and the VFR of the BPA, and the FAA with their GPS nav com...wanting that VOR, on the NDB, for SIDA...sida shmida.

Faith's LO: Tonight is our last night, and tomorrow's our last day of government-funded lodging and per diem. Tomorrow it's back to reality- and it might be a harsh one. We have a list of rental places to check out when we get there, and then I'll start pounding the pavement and up the job search intensity.

God Bless America

Yorkton, SK Canada to Fargo, ND, USA!

It was another gorgeous, pretty short, pretty boring day. The drive was easy, and the scenery lovely. It all looks the same, but lovely nonetheless.

We didn’t sleep in too late, as getting OUT of SK was a priority. We ate some snacks on the road for breakfast. People were out on their farms and in their fields doing Saturday farmer stuff- like burning fields, and circling cattle, and other important Saturday farmer stuff.

Tim’s HI: Coming back to America and going to Olive Garden for dinner. The food at Olive Garden was great! Being in America, going to a real city, with real food, at real restaurants feels great!!

Tim’s LO: Winnipeg, MB. Very disappointing. I had my expectations (my first problem), and it did not live up to my expectations.

Advice to Keith re: Winnipeg. Lookout! There’s a certain sandwich shop (starts with a “Qu”, and end’s with a “izno’s”) that does not use the right bread. They’ll serve you a Torpedo bread sandwich- the skinny stuff that you didn’t ask for-- and charge you for the regular bread!

Also, they might put a hair in your wife’s sandwich (Sorry Cappy-must be a MB thing).

Faith’s HI: Getting back to the U.S. feels GREAT! I was so excited to be able to use my cell phone again. I got to make a few calls, and feel like I’m catching up with some people. AND- no debit card issues today! Too bad I winced every time I swiped…like that’s helpful!

My VISA advice to Keith: in Canada, Visa is pronounced “vissssa” (with a soft ‘i’ like in Tim); whereas Tim is pronounced “Teeeem”

Faith’s LO: Happening as I type. We’ve been in the hotel for about 30 minutes, and the phone next door has been ringing the entire time. Tim called the front desk to let them know slash request something be done about it.

This is genius…they said, “We’ll call up there and see if anyone answers.”

What?!?!?! That’s the problem!*sigh* I’m going for a walk.

Saskatchewan = boring

Edmonton, AB to Yorkton, SK

The most colorful sight of the day

Just like the 'monster tractors' from the movie "Cars"! Very cool

We saw a lot of neatly stacked hay...

...and lots of beautifully manicured fields.

Today was a long and mostly boring one. The scenery was flat and dry, but pretty.

Some of our advice for Keith...and others headed South. Tell your bank. Tell them often. Then, tell them again. For the past 3 days we've had our debit cards declined at least once a day (something about appearing in various states and countries appears suspicious!). This is embarrassing and rather inconvenient. As if our brightly colored Alaska plates didn't give us away already. We call the bank, they are quick and gracious to fix it, then we call again to remind them that we still have our cards, and we still want to use them. "Yes, we want to use the debit card." "Yes, Edmonton is in Canada." "No, we are not returning to Alaska anytime soon."
Also-avoid as much of Saskatchewan as possible.

Tim's HI: The breakfast Omelette at the Marriott in Edmonton!

We were comped a 'Canadian Buffet Breakfast'. This version of a breakfast buffet includes all the originals, plus hard boiled eggs, grilled tomatoes and 'back bacon'. AKA: Canadian Bacon. The omelette was fantastic!

Tim's LO: It's a tie! 1. Losing my hearing (see Faith's LO), and 2. Saskatoon. The drivers, the traffic, and the lack of ice cream in my root beer float were today's downers.

Faith's HI: Waking up without an alarm, watching the Today Show, having a healthy(ish) breakfast. Feels almost like a normal, routine morning. I miss routine.

Faith's LO: We ran over a cat. It was very sad. I saw it coming, and due to the two-lane hay-sided country road, there was nothing to be done. I screamed (apparently a lot, and rather loud) before, during, and after the fact. gross.

Thanks for reading our updates. It keeps us going during the boring bits to think of things to share with you. We'll keep you posted. We're supposed to arrive in Fargo, ND tomorrow. Hopefully it will be more relatively boring news! We're excited to get back into the U.S.!

Civilization, here we come!

Dawson Creek, BC to Edmonton, AB

It was a short 6-hour drive today from Dawson Creek. The roads were great, and the speed limit was 110 km/h. Makes the drive a little bit better.

Tim's HI: The Waterpark at West Edmonton Mall. There were a lot of fun slides at the water park. Also I got to sample the Segway.

Segway lessons

One-handed!

Tim's LO: The hotel we're in tonight was not available through Claire (my Garmin) because it is on an Indian reservation.

Faith's HI: WEST EDMONTON MALL! 800 shops- aka-miles of shopping heaven. I made it out with only one purchase! Dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory was delish.

Faith's LO: Today, the 4th day with each other didn't start out so fun for me. Being with the same person for 4 days, all day, all night...every meal...that's a new low, as we've never spent so much time together. Honestly, I'm testing my own patience at this point. Can't imagine how Tim puts up with me. He says he loves me...
Also, I'm tired of driving slash riding (mostly riding).

Oh Canada!

Wednesday- May 27

We hit the road early-ish, eating breakfast on our way. We pulled in to Dawson Creek for the night around 6pm.

Tim’s HI: free pizza dinner at our hotel

Tim’s LO: The construction and 38F low at Summit Lake, in the Canadian Rockies.

They're very efficient here...combining medics and flaggers. This ambulance is the muddiest I've ever seen, apparently goes 4x4ing.

Faith’s HI: Hearing from home, that all went well today, and finally having access to the Internet, and some phone coverage. Welcome to civilization- we’re getting close by the kilometer.

Faith’s LO: mistakenly assumed that “Children’s Benadryl” wouldn’t have some drowsy effects. I barely made it driving for 30 minutes all day. I couldn’t figure out why I was so sleepy. It dawned on me to read the instructions (probably should have done that first). Right after the warning to “not give to your children to make them tired” (my first clue), it says: “May cause marked drowsiness”. Hmmm. Anyway- my LO: sleeping most of the afternoon in the car.

Tomorrow...getting an early start, making our way to Edmonton!

Oh Give Me a Home...

We saw 5 small herds of buffalo/bison (what’s the difference?!), 7 little black bears, and 3 moose between Whitehorse and Muncho Lake, and we didn’t hit any of them!

Tim’s HI: getting into hotel by 9pm

Tim’s LO: food at Watson Lake…disappointing upon consumption, even more so about 30 minutes later. Are there health food inspectors in Watson Lake?

Signpost Forest in Watson Lake before lunch

Faith’s HI: a couple car naps, and playing DJ with some new road tunes, and watching Tim talk to his new girlfriend "Claire". She's new to him, has a charming Australian accent, and tells him everything he wants to know. "Claire Garmin" is Tim's new best friend!

No Starbucks for 200+ miles...not even a Mocha Dan's!

Faith’s LO: Liard Hot Springs (if you can even call it hot). Did you know they charge for this place?! It’s like a really ghetto Chena Hot Springs meets your never-been-cleaned, second-hand, backyard hot tub. If there was any Alaska Girl left in me, the slimy rock bottom, and bear warnings took it right out of me! I really don’t know what all the rage was about this place.

I’m glad we went so we’d have something to write about… and to confirm that I’m ok leaving the Great North.

C'mon Baby Drive South!

Monday, May 25

Memorial Day

We left Fairbanks, for our 3,700 mile drive to St. Louis (with EXACTLY 70,000 miles on our car!). After a little goodbye breakfast at Denny’s we hit the road.

We’ve been playing Hi/Lo in the evenings over over-priced food and sulfuric water, and thought you'd like to know what we've come up with...

Tim’s HI: easy crossing at the border, pulling into Whitehorse by 11pm and getting 37 MPG!

Tim’s LO: saying goodbye to everyone in Fairbanks.

Faith’s HI: sleeping in a BED for the 1^st time in a month!

Faith’s LO: leaving Fairbanks, friends and family. And finding out that apparently I’m prone to car sickness…

Village Monument in Haines Junction

Goodbye

Over the past week or so, some of the goodbyes included goodbye to flight instruction (for now), our home, and our girl Harriett.

Time for Change

The last time we updated this crazy thing (January), we had just won the chili cook-off, and were preparing for a vacation. We had every intention to blog about the big trip (which included Dallas, Mississippi, and Seattle), but while we were out we got a long-awaited phone call…

…back in June 2008, Tim applied for a job with the federal government. After months of paperwork, interviews, praying and waiting we were told he was hired. They wanted us to start in April. We negotiated a start date that would allow us time to sell our home, wrap things up at our jobs, and prepare for such a big move. Three months ago, that seemed like plenty of time. Tim starts his new job in St. Louis on June 8. We are driving out of Fairbanks on Memorial Day weekend.

Today, we realize that next weekend will be our last in our home. The movers have come, the closing on the house will happen soon, we’ve notified our jobs. We’re continuing to look for a new home, a new job for Faith, and sadly, a new home for Harriett. About two years ago, this house looked a lot like it does today.

Here’s to big changes!

discreet packing skills

Just before they loaded up our stuff

Lots of neatly labeled boxes- just waiting to be unpacked! It'll be like Christmas!

We’ll keep you up to posted!