We made it safely to Manley Hot Springs.......our home

It was quite a drive in from Fairbanks for sure! Jon drove the first 80 or so miles of the paved roads....some slipping and sliding included.

I drove the last 70 some miles to town. In the dark, pulling the trailer.....with snow drifts and blowing winds.

Got into town about 8:30 pm and came right to our place. We hadn't been home long when one of the townspeople pulled in on their snowmachine. Snowmobiles are called either snow machines or snogoes here in Alaska.

Once we got all the shutters off the windows and door we got a fire started promptly! The thermometer in the house registered about 20 degrees.

After that we carved a path with the snow shovel to the house from the truck to unpack clothing and groceries. Snow was about a foot or so deep.

After getting the house all warm I whipped up something to eat and pretty much just passed out.

And that is the beginning of our time here.......first Alaskan winter.

Black Friday

Nothing special planned for today. Jon fixed breakfast and I did the clean up. He spent some time re-loading ammo for Heath.

I finished the peace fleece hat and of course he had to have it. I will get a pic of it tomorrow if I remember.

Got out my stocking kit/pattern and wound a ball to get it cast on.

More cleaning and organizing.......in such a small place it is hard to one keep clean and two to find places for everyday stuff.

We had smoked salmon for dinner with mashed potatoes and brocolli.......shhhh don't tell but Jon cooked the dinner! Woot!

Tomorrow is Diane's retirement from the Road House party at noon so I am making a batch of brownies and also whipped up to dish/face cloths on the pin loom to gift with a bar of my handmade soap tied with pretty yarns.

Amy popped in to say the guys where again playing poker tonight......so he took off to play.

I am watching some dvd's and baking the brownies.......should do dishes......I have the water on to heat up......it's hotter than heck in here when you fire up the oven! Whew maybe open up the front door for a bit.

Thanksgiving

Got up this morning and Jon cooked breakfast of pancakes and bacon. I made the coffee. After breakfast clean up I got started with the stuffing for Amy's turkey. I have to assemle and then take over to her house by snowmachine........it's kinda fun. Wish we had two machines. Our truck is movable but it all depends on the temperature. If it's too cold you have to start the generator and plug the heater for the truck in before starting it. So it is just much easier to ride the snowmachine.

I think that we will start looking for a second one......he says this one isn't the best for breaking trail etc in this deep of snow.

In the last day or so we got an additional 12 or more inches on top of the about foot we already had.

Had to have our drive plowed twice and Jon borrowed a snowblower and sorta blowed the yard. Made it easier to shovel a path to woodshed, outhouse and shed.

Dinner was great! Amy did a great job. Lisa brought pies, she is like the best baker! We hung out for a few hours and watched tv in our turkey comas! 

Great new family of friends! Heath and Amy, Lisa and Shane, Jack, Jon and I. 

After a great visit we came home watched a show and fell fast asleep! What a great holiday!

Wednesday, before Thanksgiving

We woke up about 8:30 seems to be "our" time to wake here.

Breakfast, coffee and dishes......More unpacking.

Guys had another poker night and Jon left up $60! yay

I sauteed sage sausage, onion and mushrooms to throw together the stuffing for Amy's first Turkey. 

I have been working on a Peace Fleece kit hat and almost done!

Finished Jon's Christmas stocking from Annies Woolens kit. And will soon be starting mine so we will have at least 2 new and only Christmas decorations in our new Alaska home.

Maybe we will cut down a charlie brown tree and string some pop corn and figure out a few other decorations for it.....

Tomorrow is our first Alaska Thanksgiving! 

Tuesday.........

Got up and into work today........spent most of the day doing online courses and training. Boring! Long and slow.

Snow started around 3pm and we expect that it will go thru until tomorrow at 3pm.

Nothing much else, dishes, sorting and organizing.....cooking etc.

Monday first day back at post office

Well I got up at 7:30 ish and made coffee had a bowl of cereal and fired up the snogo. Had to be at work at the post office by 9. 

It was a good day of remembering what to do! Oh and we did not have mail delivery last week. We only get mail in by plane monday, wednesday and friday. I guess before we got in town there was no mail on Wednesday or Friday due to snow conditions. The plane couldn't fly. 

So Monday, my first day back......there was over 800 lbs of mail and packages! Yikes welcome back Lorrie! 

All went well and I was able to get all mail and packages scanned in by 1pm. That is the requirement.

After mail sort and all it was time for lunch. We just stayed at the post office for lunch and checked all of my logins etc.

Finished off the day on a good note to ride the snogo home and make dinner, do dishes etc.

Then it was movie time and good night! So tired and still not adjusted to the time difference. And just when you think that daylight savings of 1 hour time change is a lot to handle........4 hours takes time.

Also you have to figure into that it doesn't get daylight until like 10 or so am and starts getting dark at 4;30 pm!

Day one after a really good rest at "home"

Today is sunday and we worked more on unloading and taking a good ride into town on the snogo.

We were very lucky to find one used but in excellent condition in Fairbanks before we headed home.

Went into town and visited, checked in and got our plans.......my plans for Monday and Tuesday from the post master Amy. My boss. I am to work 9-5 both days for some re-fresher training.

Then the guys all got together and spent the day out on the snogoes checking out trails for the winter moose hunt that I believe starts December 1. That was a long day for Jon out there he played with the guys for about 10 hours!

I stayed home and unpacked and organized some.......lots to do.