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...
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| Ted Stevens International Airport, with all my luggage |
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| First view of the mountains, downtown Anchorage |
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| And here's the dent... |
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| View of the course, scheduled to open April 29 |
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| Head Pro |
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| Cody and his new course |
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| More of the course, with the awesome mountain view |
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| Moose droppings |
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| Easter egg hunt, but only because they spilled on the floor |
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| Reunited |
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| This was an awesome sight, as the clouds looked like snow drifts with the illusion of a larger mountain |
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| Moose! |
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| Wildlife preserve |
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| /Can't see it, but there's a bald eagle at the top of the pine tree |
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| The moose is back |
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| Cook Inlet |
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| Beautiful mountains, even with the rain |
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| One of my favorite pictures from today |
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| Fetching fresh spring water |
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| It's true, I was skeptical, but it was wonderful |
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| 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!
