Vacation

The Alaskan highway glistens from rainfall near Anchorage, Alaska

All I am hearing all day, every day is "When are we going to Anchorage?"

The answer is : sometime next week.

The only place that we have driven to since moving here is Delta Junction (and no offense to anyone that lives there, but it wasn't worth the drive!)

We have decided that even though we don't have the extra cash right now, we need to make the trip to Anchorage while we have the chance. I know that I won't be doing it alone next summer and we might be moving before the summer after that. This is our chance :)

I've made the mistake of not doing all of the sightseeing I wanted in other places we've been stationed. When we were in Texas, I always wanted to go to the Space Center in Houston. After 4+ years there, did we ever go? NO! Did we ever go to Alcatraz while we were stationed in Monterey? NO! I think we only made it up to the San Francisco area 2-3 times. So, we're going to Anchorage!!

When we are going will depend on when we can get a room on post. The rooms at Elmendorf AFB are already booked, but the ones at Ft Richardson can only be reserved 3 days in advance for people who aren't on orders/official business. So, we have to wait to see if we can get a room or not.

If not, then maybe we'll just sleep in our truck. Just kidding of course. But really, a hotel room for a family of 7 isn't cheap. Everywhere I've looked, we don't technically qualify for one room anymore. They want to empty our pockets by forcing us to get 2 rooms at over $100 a piece. Yikes! I had wanted to stay 2-3 nights, but I don't see that being an option anymore.

Maybe we can sleep in a cabin somewhere. Or a tent. That would be fun :) Especially since I've been reading about all of the mean grizzly bears that are lurking around the Anchorage area. Ok, so maybe we'll fork out the money for a hotel.

We're planning on going to the zoo and the science museum and we'll be stopping at Denali National Park on the way down.

The girls have begged to go to the mall also. Doesn't that seem silly to want to visit a mall? We don't have what you could really call a mall here. Do 10 stores in a building together qualify as a mall? I don't think so. I guess I don't blame them since we haven't been to one in over a year (and that's a long time in their short little lives).

I just wish that there was a Target. I could get really excited about that. I'm really having Target Marche withdrawals. We only have Walmart here and it's not the same. There is a Target being built in Anchorage and my friend is actually flying down for the grand opening in October - with empty suitcases! After one year, I'm not that desperate yet. She's been stationed here for 4 years without one, so I understand :)

Well, I have been rambling. Everyone else is asleep, so I need to get back to working on setting up the school room. I was making a lot of progress until I sat down at the computer....