Alaska/Canada 2017: Preparations & Family Moves

January, May, & June 2017

MV Kennicott, our transport to Alaska

    Doug has long dreamed of taking the ferry to Alaska, of loading his VW Westy on and pitching a tent to sleep on the deck. So in January, we reserved passage for ourselves and our Traverse Westy-style van, plus a roomette, from Bellingham, Washington, to Whittier, Alaska, the port closest to Anchorage. We read travel brochures and websites; sent away for maps and information and the Milepost, the bible of Alaska travel; and plotted our interests on an Alaska map taped to a sheet of drywall on our dining room table. We had everything possible done to the van to ensure as much as possible a safe passage across thousands of miles of highways, many two-lane and some gravel. We bought and made No see-um bug screens for the van's windows and doors and made blackout curtains for the windows. We made lists--things to do, to get, to take--and gradually checked off the items. 

  

New insulated blackout curtains Marilyn made for the van.

Bug screens held on by magnets Marilyn made.

    In the midst of our Alaska preparations, Doug’s son, Andrew, got out of the Marines in mid-May. He and his wife, Devon, had decided to move to Washington and had asked if they could rent the house we have owned in Bellingham for many years. 

Devon &Andrew preparing to move from Virginia to Washington.

 

Doug flew to Virginia and drove one of their cars across the country on freeways, definitely not a Blue Highway adventure. The kids left a day later than Doug, driving a U-Haul truck and pulling their VW Jetta on a trailer. 

    They got stuck for three days in Cheyenne, Wyoming, by a late spring snowstorm. 

Stuck in Cheyenne, WY by a mid-May snowstorm.

Drew, Devon, and Auggie the cat stuck in Cheyenne.

    They eventually arrived in Bellingham at 8 PM a few days later. With the welcome help of our tenants, they unloaded the U-Haul into the garage.

U-Haul unloaded into the garage in Bellingham. Honda FIT ready for the road again.

    At 10:30 PM, Doug, Devon, Drew, and Auggie, the cat, left Bellingham and drove non-stop to Visalia, arriving at 3:00 PM the next day. Andrew and Devon spent a few weeks with family and friends before beginning their new life. 
    The second week of June, we packed the Traverse for Alaska and Doug drove to Bellingham, where he began work on the house and yard and set up our room. One of the many perks of the kids living in our house is that we get to stay there for the first time ever, as it has four bedrooms. 

New bed ready to be made in our room at our house in Bellingham!

   

Doug pulled out the holly tree next to the garage and the overgrown bushes in the front planter box.

    It was not all work, as he also enjoyed time with local friends and with daughter, Katie, and husband, Javier, who drove up from Seattle one weekend. 

Javier and Katie at Whatcom Falls, Bellingham

     I flew, while Drew, Devon, and Auggie drove to Bellingham a week later. Drew and Devon threw themselves into renovations. Less than two weeks after arrival, they had painted three rooms, including prepping wood paneling with spackle; whitewashed the fireplaces and painted the mantle; built and hung shelves; and worked in the yard. 

Devon prepped the wood paneling with spackle...

...then painted it. Such an improvement!

Devon & Drew building shelving for the kitchen.

Doug, Andrew, Devon relaxing in the newly painted living room.

Auggie stayed clear of the activity and took in his new surroundings from the highest shelf.

  

     Since moving and start school full-time in the fall, they've also taken time to hike to Whatcom Falls, just a stone’s throw from the house, and around nearby Padden Lake, and otherwise get to know their new community.