Cowgirl Bea

One thing Bea wanted to do before Nana and Grandpa left for New Mexico was to go horseback riding with Grandpa. This afternoon, we took Bea and her friend Casper out East End Road to our friend Mark's stable, where he does trail rides to the head of the bay. Bea (and Grandpa) had a great time.

Friday Morning Cranes

Woke up this morning and headed to the kitchen to make coffee. This was the view outside my window.

Getting Closer Every Day

Remaining tasks are slowly getting completed. I've finished painting the doors at the house I finished in March. (By the way, the crap in the yard is the owners. I didn't leave it like that)

I've also finished replacing a flight of stairs to the third floor apartment at the triplex (where Matt and Susa lived until moving into their new house last Saturday).

The other day, we went to Bea's last day of Raspberry Lane pre-school. They had a party for the kids who have birthdays during the summer when school isn't in session. It was pretty cute!
The house is full of boxes ready for storage/yard sale/packing in the car. I've still got some shingles to patch on the roof, then just final tidying up before heading out, hopefully May 31st.

So Much To Do - So Little Time

Only two and a half weeks to go and so much to do. I finished painting the house in Forest Glen (I'll try to post a picture) yesterday. Just have to paint the entry and garage doors and that house is complete. I was basically done in March, but had to wait for warm weather to paint. We've had a week of warm sunny weather; great for painting but also perfect fire weather. There's a large fire out East End Road, beyond where we used to live, threatening the Russian Villages. (story at http://www.adn.com/news/environment/fire/story/794110.html)

Today or tomorrow, Homer Electric Association is supposed to hook up Matt and Susannah's power. We've been using a temporarty lash-up all winter since they couldn't dig under the road last fall. There's 200 feet of 100amp service cable strung from a temporary meter to a spruce tree, then across the road to another tree, then to the house. Anybody need a bunch of wire?

Tomorrow night I'm playing my final gig with the Elders at a tiny bar on Pioneer Avenue. Then Saturday, Matt and Susa have a bunch of friends and a U-Haul helping them move into their new house. As soon as they move out, I have to replace the stairs going to their third floor apartment here at the triplex so new tenents can move in. I also have to do some roofing repair and then concentrate on packing and getting ready for the mother of all yard sales. Annie and I have all our clothing packed and Susannah has boxed up stuff to go into storage. I've still got a shed full of tools and building materials to sort through and organize.

Annie went to her last Realtor's meeting yesterday. The local Realtor's Association organized a lunch meeting for her and there was a huge turnout. She's been out and about in the car with Susannah every day this week. The transfer from wheelchair to car is getting much easier, which is a huge boon considering how much time we'll be spending driving in a few weeks. Everywhere I go I meet people who are familiar with the Truth or Consequences area. Everybody I've talked to loves the place and is very encouraging.

Annie and David's Great Adventure

After 28 years in Alaska, Annie's rheumatoid arthritis has made it necessary to head for warmer climes. Susannah found a web site designed to find your ideal spot to live, based on your climatological, cultural and economic desires. One of the places that came up was Truth or Consequences, NM. There are hot springs there for Annie to soak in, cheap housing, and a warm dry stable climate. We plan to leave Homer on or around June 1st. Susannah and Matt's house is done! Final inspection was today and the loan should close next week. Check out their blog at http://www.westhillhouse.blogspot.com/. The hardest part of moving is leaving little Bea.

We'll post on our blog as often as we can with picures of our trip. We plan to drive and move along slowly stopping along the way. Driving instead of flying is going to give us the freedom to see a part of the country we haven't seen before. We also plan to stop in Pinedale, Wyoming where David worked in the early 70's.