We have finally settled into a house!! The movers came on August 15th and spent the day unloading all of our things that have been in storage since the end of May! We are very happy to report that there was only one thing broken - and it was a cheap lamp. We spent the day helping the movers check off boxes and unpack and by 5PM, we had a houseful of boxes and a bed to sleep in. I did have to spend a few hours hunting for a set of sheets :) My day was spent unpacking dishes and kitchenware, while Brant hooked up electronics and the washer and dryer. I spent the whole next week unpacking, organizing, and cleaning, as Brant had to report the next day to the base and began working. I had the whole week off and didn't start until August 25th. We love our house and have met some nice neighbors...more pictures coming soon of our house and during the Arnold's visit over Labor Day :)

Day 14: Anchorage, AK

We're finally here!!! We left Tok this morning after a wonderful breakfast at the cabins! Our drive today was about 7 hours. We were driving along a stretch in the mountains, and a huge female moose came stomping out of the woods right across the road! We couldn't get the camera out fast enough!! There were a couple of stretches of construction that held us up for awhile. We made it with only one crack in the windshield and only one dent in the hood! The car looks like someone colored it in white chalk since we haven't washed it since we left Anderson! The movers are coming at 8am on Friday morning to move us in and we are so excited!! We got into Anchorage and stopped for gas - $4.39 on base, and that's about 10 cents cheaper than off base! We also wore out a squeegie on my windshield - actually the whole car needs to be squeegied! We picked up Brant's truck at the POV - he's glad to finally have his baby back :) He's been without it for over a month now. We got on base and checked in - the apartment we are in is pretty nice. We are allowed 30 days to stay in the apartment so that we have time to find someplace to live if we need it, but we'll only be here until Friday morning. The weather is beautiful - about 67 degrees - it feels so nice outside! We drove around the base for a little bit. We found the hospital where Brant will be working - it's right inside one of the entrance gates, so he won't have to battle too much traffic in the mornings! We found the base exchange - we can buy groceries, clothes, etc. (they pretty much have everything that WalMart has) but a little cheaper. The base is beautiful - the mountains are in the backdrop, there is a lot of green spaces, and creeks with trails, etc. Brant has to report to the hospital tomorrow morning just to sign in and say he's here. I had to give him a haircut tonight as he's let his hair grow for the past month :) He refuses to get the "high and tight" haircut that they give at the barber shop here - haha. When he's done in the morning at the base hospital, we're going to go over to Providence Alaska Medical Center where I"ll be working to meet the people I'll be working with and check it out! We've got lots of errands to run tomorrow and things to get organized before Brant starts full time on Friday. Thankfully, I won't start work until the 25th, so I can put the house together next week :) We'll keep y'all updated!! Our cell phones work now too, but don't forget we're 4 hours behind EST :)

Day 13: Tok, Alaska

We made it back into the USA and Alaska today!! We are staying in Tok at the Burnt Paw and Cabins Outback - a place we found online. They have a cute little gift shop and about 10 cabins outback that they rent out for people traveling through. They also have Alaskan husky puppies for sale :) They were only $50, and I took this picture and showed it to Brant before we went to bed so he could think about it, but it didn't work :( I don't know how you could resist that face?? We got into town and went to get some brochures and pamphlets at the visitors center. Then we went to the general store in town and I finally got some new sunglasses, so we won't have to pop the lenses back into my other ones everyday :) We had dinner at Fast Eddies - famous for their pizza. We were in the parking lot and there were these two big trucks that each had a four wheeler on them. On the four wheelers were two huge caribou heads. I guess they cut the meat up and were keeping the heads for trophies. We went back to the cabin and watched the olympics for awhile - USA and China women's gymnastics. It finally got dark about 11PM and we went to sleep :)