Getting Aquainted

I loved arriving in Alaska so close to the weekend. We can actually take our time and get to know the area before we start the process to get settled in. So we spent the past two days driving around and discovering Ft. Richardson and Anchorage.

Ft. Richardson looks nice enough but you can't really tell because it's covered in about 2 ft. of snow. One thing we didn't notice right away is how desolate it is. You don't see people out walking around like you normally would on other installations. And they are practical about their headgear (no berets here, just winter caps). The housing looks okay and I'm impressed with the fact that not only does it have a basement but the also have garages as well. Some units look better than others but that doesn't bother me (much). I was also glad to see that the yards are a decent size and there's enough space for our swingset. The housing on Elmendorf AFB looks way better than Ft. Rich. Too bad we couldn't get their stuff. We discovered that the PX, Commisary hospital, and most of the schools are also on Elmendorf. At the PX we got a surprise when we saw that you can buy firearms there. And here you don't need a conceal-carry permit. And if you want to buy one, all you need is an Alaskan drivers license. Jason is exempt from this because he's active duty military. So he's quite happy that he can buy a firearm at a fraction of the normal cost and not pay tax!

Yesterday we went out into Anchorage. While driving we saw our first moose! We didn't have our GPS working yet because we needed to go buy a download in order to get the Alaskan/Canadian maps. Anchorage is really just like any other city. We have most of the same things that are back on the mainland. Armed only with a map we found a mall (which is HUGE!), Walmart, Sams Club, Costco, Target, and BestBuy. At BestBuy we bought the download we needed and we now have a working GPS which will make getting around much easier.

When we got here we were preparing ourselves for the cold weather but we're discovering one thing that we didn't even think of: the extremely dry air. Because the air is so dry, there's static electricity everywhere. I have to keep Jorden's hair tied back at all times. Just being here for two days has severely dried out our skin. We are putting lotion on ourselves and the kids at least twice a day. And the air is so dry that we are constantly thirsty. I'm already a litte dehydrated. Looks like the endless supply of Mountain Dew and apple juice is going to be replaced with flavored water and Gatorade.