More views & more work

We took a drive to Flat Top Mountain on Sunday to check out the views. There are plenty of trails that await. I am now officially on house hunting days, so known as permissive temporary duty. I hope to get settled before I am set to attend orientation on Tuesday and Wednesday. With that being said, I've been busy running errands, including getting an estimate for the damage done to the Kia: $1777. Once the parts get in, I'll set an appointment to get it repaired.

Cody's been very busy at the course, with the drive opening today and the course opening with temporary greens on Friday. It's opening 3 weeks earlier than it did last year, which means Cody's short a few staff, so therefore has to work about 12 hours per day. Things are going well, though. He's been spending his days interviewing, organizing/designing the pro shop layout, and creating the work schedule.

We're scheduled to receive our household goods this Friday, so no more floor sleeping for us!

And here are some pictures from the past few days.

A view of surrounding mountains

That's new...

One of her new favorite places

The JBER hospital, my new place of employment

Happy Easter

Cody is offically a Catholic! His robust respones to the baptismal vows earned him entrance into the church. After spending 4.5 hours at the church last night (3.5 hours in the actual service), we decided we deserved a laid back Easter Sunday. We slept in (until 8!) then headed downtown to see the sights and grab some coffee. We did find a nifty park on the south side  of town, Kincaid Park, saw a moose, but left much of the park undiscovered for a later time. We stopped by Wal-Mart after we realized we didn't have anything available for our apartment if we were moving in tomorrow. We walked out with only the bare essentials, shower liner, bath towel, detergent, soup, storage bowls, and 2 spoons.

Wishing you all a lovely Easter... God Bless!

Before heading to the church

Cody in his baptismal robe, all ready to go!

Newest member of the church!

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The group with Fr. Tom, Fr. Rapheal, and Deacon Felix

Cody and I in front of the altar at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's

Helping open presents at midnight

Cody's favorite gift, a rosary his Dad received at his confirmation

Downtown Anchorage

Downtown had lots of character

Ths quilting store reminder me of some place Mom and Beth would like to go

In front of the Alaska Railroad station

Yep, definitely used the self-timer

What could be more perfect than a purple and orange moose?

Cody's favorite mural

"Brian... what's the plural of moose?" "Moosen!"

Kincaid Park

The lump to the left of the front trees, that's another moose

It's always better when we're together

What a busy two days it has been. I arrived in Anchorage at 2:15am Friday morning, greeted by a smiley Cody Long. We quickly retrieved my luggage (it all made it!) and headed toward Stan's house (where he's been staying the past week). We had about 3 hours of sleep before heading to the base to meet my sponsor, supervisor and start the orientation piece. Well, long story short, wrong building, wrong time, and misinformation led us to delaying that much until the afternoon. So Cody and I decided to retrieve the car from the shipping company. Sadly, we found a sizable dent in the rear tailgate area so we're now dealing with insurance, estimates, and everything. From there, we headed back up the base for another missed meeting, followed by a quick meeting-turned 2 hour long goose chase throughout the hospital for my orientation piece and in processing. Finally, we got Cody to work for the day (around 3:00pm). I was able to change before we headed back to the course for the master plan presentation on the improvements they're looking to make. Without any further hassle, we were able to get some shut-eye.

This morning we decided to do some exploring. After coffee, of course, we headed down the coast along the Cook Inlet. Words and pictures don't do it justice. I did spy my first moose ever, which was quite an event, just ask Cody. We caught a glimpse of a bald eagle along the boardwalk as well.

From there, we did a little shopping. I was prepared for some sticker-shock, but it really wasn't as awful as I anticipated. Mostly the grocery items were $1-2 more than what I had just spent in Arizona. We did find a large section of Tillamook cheese at Wal-mart. :) We're now taking a quick rest before we get ready for Cody's entrance into the Catholic church tonight at the Easter vigil.

Congrats, Cody! and enjoy the pictures below...

Ted Stevens International Airport, with all my luggage



First view of the mountains, downtown Anchorage



And here's the dent...

View of the course, scheduled to open April 29

Head Pro





Cody and his new course

More of the course, with the awesome mountain view

Moose droppings

Easter egg hunt, but only because they spilled on the floor

Reunited

This was an awesome sight, as the clouds looked like snow drifts with the illusion of a larger mountain



Moose!



Wildlife preserve

/Can't see it, but there's a bald eagle at the top of the pine tree

The moose is back

Cook Inlet

Beautiful mountains, even with the rain

One of my favorite pictures from today

Fetching fresh spring water

It's true, I was skeptical, but it was wonderful

We climbed up the mountain for a better vantage point

We spotted a few trails along the way (and waterfalls!) that we saved for better weather. It was only 40 degrees today, but comfortable with a sweatshirt and jeans. We did get everything lined up to sign our lease and pick up our apartment keys on Monday. We decided on a 1 bed/1 bath, with a walk-in closet, fireplace, and washer and dryer. It's about halfway between base and the course, so it should work our nicely for both of us. I'll post pictures as soon as we get in to the unit.

Happy Easter!