Sunday, Monday, and Lots of Progress!

Monday, a busy day.  Kathy starts her fourth week of work, and looking forward to a much better workload, 12 clients scheduled.  She will also participate in the interview of a second MFT, someone up from, wait for it, La Mesa!  What are the odds?....

We've decided to pay for a PO Box, instead of waiting until we are entitled to a free one, when we have an actual home.  The postmistress tells me, for the first time, that we will be eligible for a refund on the six month charge, so that makes it even more of a no-brainer.  PO Box 147 is ours, and makes me feel like, finally, we are putting down roots, are part of the town.  :-)

I finally get to see the inside of our log cabin, and it is even better than we expected it would be.  It could be bigger inside, but then we would just have to spend more on heating it.  It's completely furnished, minus a dishwasher; the bathroom was redone a year ago; the couch is a pullout, and it looks like we can squeeze our queen bed into the upstairs bedroom with the existing one, ready for Kelli and Jared and Henry and Brady and Faith to visit at Christmas!  White Christmas or not, it will be a special Christmas!

Back to our cabin for lunch, then back to Craig to see the place we might have for the whole six weeks or so before we can move to our 'final' cabin.

I drive back down the Port Saint Nicholas Road, looking for the 5.3 mile marker.  I find the house, and it's got as good a view as the Alaska Pacific Lodge we've stayed in several times on the same road.  We would have an apartment-like space on the second floor, our own bathroom, and share the kitchen and washer/dryer.    The windows look right out on the bay, wow.  It will cost us less than half of what we have been paying, so again, a no-brainer:  we have a place to land for the entire six-plus weeks, YAAHOOO!  It's a half hour drive to SEARHC where Kathy works, but it's one of the most beautiful drives I've ever seen, and there is no traffic.  :-)  Wow, things are definitely looking up.

Next stop, the transfer company that is holding our two crates of household goods.  I explain the situation, ask if there is any way they can hold them until October 8, for a charge of course, and the answer is no.  It's not a very big operation, so somewhat understandable.  They refer me to a couple of storage places.  I don't want to break these crates down until they are at our house, if I can help it.  Maybe there is a better answer: next door to our final home, there is a house with a huge parking area, and the owners owners have already left for the year, if I remember correctly.  All we would need then is a tarp to keep out the rain.  Have to tackle that one tomorrow, or later this week:  the transfer company already agreed to hold them until Sept. 1, so no emergency on this task, and I have an interview tomorrow across the island that I have to prepare for.

Now to the Craig Library, with computers and a printer:  I need to print out my job history for tomorrow's job interview, and some other documents.  It all works fine, and I'm on my way to pick up Kathy from work, just in time. 



Sunday, more rain.  In the evening, we talk to both Brady and Kelli, and get up to speed on what they are up to:  Faith had a good first week at her new position, always nice when that happens.  Brady says they tinted the windows on the Volvo, and I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't!  They went on a 10 mile hike in Big Basin State Park on Saturday, and came back to find a flat on the Volvo, and the spare flat, too!  What can I say, they made it all the way home, 500 miles, just after they bought it, so it was in good shape then! 

Kelli and Jared and Henry are having a nice time in Maine with the McCannells.  Henry is really enjoying blueberries, by the handful, according to Kelli.  He's also enjoying his six cousins. 

I made it to the Prince of Wales Salmon Hatchery Salmon Dinner Funraiser last night, and met some new people, including the science teacher at the Craig High School, and a physical therapist that also works at SEARHC in Klawock (this Clinic has both a medical component, making up the bulk of the building, and a mental health one)  The salmon was all you can eat until they run out, which they did, and was delicious.  The waterfalls along the highway were really amazing, about twice the normal number and really flowing strongly. 

A Place to Stay, where we are now, can accomodate us from Sept 7 to Sept 30, leaving two large gaps on either end, for one, and a lot of money, for another.  We get our laundry done, go to our favorite coffeeshop for hot chocolate, and run into Victoria, our main housing connection, for the first time.  It's Kathy's fancy rainboots that get her attention, starts the conversation,  which leads to the discovery of who they both are, pretty funny. 

From Victoria's friend, we learn there will be a Coastal Cleanup effort in late September, part of the one we've worked with in San Diego, a nice connection.  This and other efforts have cleaned up 40,000 lbs. of fishing line, fishing nets, and other serious hazards to marine animal, fish and birds, over the last four years. 

We drive out Port Saint Nicolas Road to try and find the lead we got to cover the entire gap we have in housing, between August 25th and October 5.  We can't find it, but it's a beautiful drive.