Day 8...Some people just don't get it !!

Today I had to bite my tongue, you know the old saying..."the customer is always right" .   HA!!!! I beg to differ, however, it is not my place to argue with someone buying their morning coffee. I have this regular older man who comes in to get coffee ususally every morning. He is older than me, but I don't think by any huge amount, but he is the classic...crochety, grouchy, totally negative old man. Hardly ever has a smile, never has much nice to say...but this morning he started up a conversation with me, that opened up an opportunity ( or so I thought ) for me to tell him that in one years time, we were retireing. The conversation went something like this:

me... " I am pretty excited... in one years time, my husband and I will be retireing, and heading north"

him... " there is no such thing as retireing in one year...either you are retired or you're not"

me... " well, like I said, not retired yet, but in one year we plan on being retired... at least...semi-retired, and that's exciting"

him...." Then as I said, you are not retired, and ...there is no such thing as semi-retired, that's just a pipe dream, in otherwards, you don't have enough money to retire"

me..."  well, that's right, but... we are packing up our 5th wheel anyhow and going north, to spend some time in Alaska"

him...."Do you like snow"

me..." not full time, but I think I can handle a winter up there... it would be fun and something different"

him..." oh, you think so do you, let me tell you about snow.. its cold, you can't walk in it, and anyone who says they like it is not really very truthful"

me..."??????????????"

Ok, so at that point he walks away, and says , have a nice day.
What ????????????

Well, I'm not real sure I'm a snow lover, not real sure I will ever be retired...fully....but I can tell you one thing... I have a much better attitude about life than that man.

Day 7, Razor Clams.... Alaska verses..........

 One days limit... 120 razors !!

My mouth is watering :) 
YUMMMMM

Day 6, Downsizing

Downsizing....a word we often associate with large companies cutting back...or a term used to eliminate excess inventory.....Well, today was a day of "Downsizing" in our house. Only it wasn't...actual downsizing, it was imaginary downsizing.
We looked around the house, in cupboards and closets, surveying each room....and deciding what could stay and what could go. Certain pieces of furniture will need to be stored for our future return....some will go the girls.....some will go out on the street with a "free" sign attached. Then of course, there are things like our good dishes and crystal. Things I had planned to give to the girls when I died...instead...we will pass on before we leave on our semi-retirement. They might as well enjoy these things now...and even if we return full time, rent a new home etc.... we still don't "entertain"....and when we do....we use paper plates. Life really has become much  more simple.
So today we spent a few hours, trying to determine what we really need to keep, what we want to pass on, and what we want to get rid of. Its a big challenge, but I am realizing .... in a rather somber moment...that there just isn't alot of material things I am attached to. It won't be so hard to let go... I don't think .

Day 5, a little taste of the good life

When I get to thinking about all the great things in Alaska, this is one that comes to mind. Our friend Russ took Don fishing one day out of Homer, and this was the days catch. Nothing quite like fresh halibut from the cold alaskan waters.
Today I was talking to my daughter about our trip and she asked me what made us decide to do this??? Well, my answer was pretty quick...it is just "TIME" I said..... time for change, time for adventure, and mostly I think, "Time for Us". I liked her answer to that...she said " you have to do what's right for you, and you have to do it while you are both able to enjoy it"
Thanks TC  :)   I totally agree.

Day 4, a picture of Camp Run-A-Muck

Hi on Thursday evening...day 4 of our countdown. Today I decided it was time to upload a bunch of photos of our 2006 summer in Alaska. It is hard to describe to someone how amazingly beautiful Alaska is...if they have never been there. So...for the next few days. I thought I would try to entice you all to visit Alaska yourselves. It is truely a beautiful state...but......I thought I should first of all....show you camp run-a-muk...
 I really believe I can spend a lot of time here :)
And... if you look in the lower corner of this picture, you will see a red and white camper,,,and a red and black pickup. That was us the summer we spent up here in Soldotna.
Well, thats it for tonight...and I will try and show you all why we love it so much. Have a great night...and see you tomorrow.

Day 3

Well, here we are, day 3 ...of 412 days. Wow, I have a lot of days left to blog...and I intend to come up with a thought of the day ...everyday. What I am going to come up with is another story...but I promise to stay on track...everyday.
So...today I came up with an awesome idea. My biggest issue with RVing it...is....to have to sit in uncomfy chairs, or lawn chairs....when I have the most amazing recliner chair, and so does Don. So....I decided tonight..that what we have to do is remove the uncomfy, ugly old fold down couch in our rv...completely  remove it...and in it's place, we will put both of our recliner chairs...our soft and comfy, cushy recliners...in its place. So..the seating and comfort issue is settled...we can sit back and relax,but the next issue is...TV. So, today I decided that Don needs to make a special TV mount. We will buy a new flat screen tv...about 32" ....we will build a mount that can fold down from the ceiling...something that we can pull down when we want to watch tv...then fold back up when done. What a cool concept. Big screen TV in a small RV. Then to top it off..... I discovered today that there is such a thing as a RV washer/dryer...all in one...only 24 inches x 33.5...that does both...washes and dry's all in one. Wow..sounds like it was made for us.
So...once again , I am running out of negatives...the positives just keep mounting up :)
I will keep you all posted with our up and coming ideas...:) and once again...have a great night:)

Day 2

After posting my first blog entry yesterday, I decided to email our friend who lives in Soldotna, Alaska... "Wild Bill".  For those of you who do not know Alaska ..Soldotna is located on the Kenai Peninsula, about 3 hours south and west of Anchorage. It is a small typical Alaskan town, one main street, a Fred Meyers, a Safeway, a big fishing, hunting hardware type store.. ( which by the way, has an unfinished wood plank floor completely covered in tiny nail size holes from all the "studded" boot covers people wear in winter to prevent slipping on the ice). Soldotna also has a McDonalds, a subway and numerous little shops to poke around in. In the summer the tourists stream into Soldotna to fish the famous Kenai River that weaves its way thru town.  In the winter, it is a quiet little town with just the locals .. quiet streets and closed up gift shops, and a frozen river. But it is a beautiful little town, surrounded by hundreds...or perhaps it's thousands ... of little lakes. Turnagain Arm and huge mountain volcanos like Illiamna and Mt. Redoubt run up the north side of the peninsula, the Chugah mountains run along the south east side and to the south is Homer...famous for its awesome Halibut fishing. All in all, it really is paradise.
Our friend Bill has a wonderful little log cabin on one of the many little lakes and when we stayed up there 6 years ago...we named his place camp run-a-muk. We spent alot of hours with our camper parked in his driveway and had so much fun. Two years after our summer visit, we flew up and spent 2 weeks with Bill in early March, in the cold and snow, and saw another side of Alaska's beauty. No wonder we are totally hooked.
OK, so.... I have totally wandered off the subject of todays blog entry, my email to Bill.....
I sent Bill a message, saying .. guess what... we are coming north in the summer of 2013 !!! He replied almost instantly with a " Glad you are coming ....Camp-Run-a-Muck is always open". That was great news. We now knew we had a place to spend a lot of our summer...a base to call home.
But...then a second email from Bill arrived.. " Hey, do you want to house sit during the winter...rent free". Wow !!! So, it turns out that for the winter of 2013/14, he plans on wintering south and has offered to let us live rent free in his cabin. Our only cost would be the utilities which he says run him about $150 a month thru the winter. Hmmmmmmmm ..... now that is an offer that is hard to turn down. A chance to stay longer, in a rent free comfy cabin...and get the True Alaska Experience.
There are definete down sides to this....such as a longer time away from the kids, a colder winter than we are used to, and just generally being so far away for  that long. But on the flip side....there is some pretty enticing things too...such as wintering in a cozy cabin, looking out at Mount Redoubt... watching the northern lights....seeing Moose in our driveway on a pretty regular basis...watching the eagles.... ice fishing..etc etc etc.....and the list goes on.
But...again....its a loooonnnnnng way from home.
At least we have 411 days to decided.

Day 1

Ok, so this is all new to me, but I decided that the best way to prepare myself for my own future adventures would be to ask you all...what you think. Are we crazy??? Are we putting ourselves in a precarious position...gambling with the future. Here we are, living in a rental house for the past 15 years, paying rent that was LOW 15 years ago...and we want to close the doors, shut off the power, cancel the cable and tell our amazing landlord that we are going to VACATE. Wow, that is a huge decision. We have this awesome yard and cute little old house that we have lovingly treated as our own for this past 15 years. Almost all of our Grandchildren have never seen us in any other house..this is Gramma's and Grampa's house...this is where they come every Christmas, every Thanksgiving dinner, where they all have rode the same little garage sale plastic tryciles up and down the sidewalk, where they have all searched for easter eggs and played in Grampas hot tube. A place where they have been babysat, where some of them have actually lived...( for a short time ). And now...here we are, saying ...ok...lets pull up stakes, pack up our stuff, put it in storage...and move into the 5th wheel.
Now ...first off, you have to understand...our 5th wheel is not one of those amazing ..50 foot monstrosities...with a whole bunch of slide outs...washer/dryer...all the amenities of home. We have an older model, 23 foot 5th wheel, with NO slide out, and NO washer and dryer. We do however have stove, a fridge, a microwave, and decent shower and a comfy bed. What more does one need? Right?
Well, the plan is in motion, the wheels are turning... and there really is no going back. We went to Alaska 6 years ago...fell in love with its pure simplicity, its beauty, its laid back ...older way of life. Once you have been, it is hard to not go back.
We have a family here...Daughters, Grandchildren and a great family life...But...
They are all growing up, they are all going to lead their own lives, make their own choices, and move on, and those days are fast approaching. I have come to the reality that they will not stay here for me :( but...they will have amazing lives.
Now...it is time for us !!!! Yikes, that is hard to say out loud !!
So.....here is my question??? Are we crazy?? Are we doing the right thing?? I would love some input here...any input??
Have a great night :)