Taken out in the Valley this morning
I debated whether or not to go out on a hike with a group from the area this morning and (although I really wanted to) practicality in the end prevailed. I am moving out of the hotel tomorrow morning and into a house Out the Road that is 21 miles from town. Right now it has a bed and end tables and a kitchen table in it, which helps a lot. But I needed STUFF. To live and at least be somewhat comfortable.
Next weekend I will move an armoire and TV and DVD player into the house - items I bought from my short-term room-mate when I first moved to Juneau. I am hoping that I have a line on a couch.
Anyway........I went yard sale-ing in the snow this morning.
First stop was a sale located at an elementary school in town, and for $25 I bought: a set of dishes, coffee maker, dish rack, small set of cutlery, rock with a bear painted on it, two hot plate holders with a moose and bear on them, a blanket, two pillow cases, three tupperware containers, a serving plate. and a spatula.
Then I drove out to the Valley in increasing snow and stopped at a couple of other yard sales. Picked up a bag of free coat hangers at one stop, and a mixing bowl for $1 at another. I violently dislike shopping in stores but really like to go to yard sales, and I was pleased to find out that yard sales are very popular up here (and that the items at these sales are as cheap as they are in TN). Cool!!
By the time I had finished with these sales it was snowing heavily and I decided to take a quick drive out the Back Loop and Montana Creek Road area, so that I could snap some pictures of the shooting range for my Mountain Boy. It is a beautiful and quiet area, and there are trails hidden all over the place. Some pictures:
Pictures of the two shooting ranges on that same road:
Pictures taken on the grounds of an elementary school in the Valley
I made three more pit-stops before heading back to the hotel in town. First was to Wal-mart where I bought two new pillows ($10 each), and bedding (queen sized fitted sheet, flat sheet and pillow cases - matching but bought separately for a total of $13). Also had another set of car keys made before I lose the only set I have.
Second stop was to the cable company to pick up a cable box, and all the wires, plugs and attachments I have no idea what to do with..........
And finally to a gas station because I do not trust any of the gauges in my new/old car. Nothing reads as it should - temp reads too low, oil reads too high, battery reads too high, and I wasn't sure about the gas gauge. Sure enough, even though the gauge read as a full tank, I put $16 worth of gas in the vehicle. The car drives great and I hope that it holds up for a while, but all the electrical in this thing is FUBAR'd.
On the way home I stopped at the Wetlands pulloff to take some pictures (the same place where the cute blonde cop busted me for riding my bike on the highway a couple of weeks ago). The snow had not stuck to the ground in this area. This is a swampy, musreg-filled, and wide open area located directly off Egan Drive that is well-known for bird watching.
Nowadays I feel bipolar - the ups and downs of moving up here alone, coming close to selling the house in TN and then having it fall through, starting a new job, missing family, looking for a home in Juneau, looking for a vehicle that wouldn't break the bank, the logistics of what to bring to Alaska when the time comes/what to sell/what to giveaway, wondering how long it will be before we rent out the TN house and when Mountain Boy and Jamie-dog will be able to come up here...............it's been a wild ride. I'm ready to get off the roller coaster. I hope that happens soon.
