Now began the work of planning what we needed to take up with us. The plans were to pack the truck with as many things as possible and drive it to Alaska! We gathered things from the house that we were not using and thought we could use in Alaska. We purchase things that we were not sure we could get in Alaska or that would be too expensive up there. All of these were packed into boxes or placed in the truck. The extra long things that would not fit inside the truck were wrapped together in a extra large tarp and tied to the top of the truck. Glenn figured that the truck was loaded with an extra 3,000 lbs.Glenn and our grandson, Jordan, left early one morning to start the long three day journey to Prince Rupert, Canada where they would take a ferry to Ketchikan. Glenn came down with a really bad cold the day they left home. He drove most of the time and then would collapse in bed at night. Jordan drove a little, but found that the truck was hard to manage due to the weight that was in and on the truck.
I left for Alaska three days later. I flew into Ketchikan and Glenn and Jordan picked me up at the airport ferry. They had arrived the previous night, so they got up early and were able to complete their shopping at Wal Mart. I had to laugh at the looks of our truck. I thought it was as full as it could possibly get when they left home, but now the tailgate was down and things were stacked on it and secured by a rope. There were even things being tied onto the outside of the truck. It looked like the Beverly Hillbilly's vehicle!
Jordan and I did some grocery shopping while Glenn took care of some hardware store business. One of the items he purchased was a 20 foot ladder, that was now added to the items tied to the top of the truck. We had brought a big cooler with us from home, so that is where we were able to put any items that needed to be kept cool. We then boarded the Inter-Island Ferry to the Prince of Wales Island and sailed at 3:30 p.m. It was a beautiful three hour trip. We arrived in Hollis at 6:30 p.m. We made one last stop in Klawock to shop for frozen food items, then started our drive to Whale Pass. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive over paved and dirt roads. 
By the time we got to Whale Pass it was dark so the first thing that needed to be taken care of was to turn on the electricity. Glenn had made arrangements before leaving home with the propane company and APT (Alaska Power & Telephone) to have them install the utilities they could without us being there. APT had taken care of the power to the house, we just needed to turn it on at the box outside on the pole. We unpacked the groceries and put the refrigerator and freezer items away. Next we needed to find our bedding so that we could make our beds and get some sleep. That was easy because Glenn and Jordan bought them at Wal Mart in Ketchikan, so they were not buried too deep.This was the year of function. Our main goal this year was to get the house operating with the basic necessities--electricity, heat, water, phone and to fix anything that needed immediate attention.
Glenn got up early the first morning to go look for sources of water. We are not on a water system in Whale Pass, so we have to find our own source. The previous owner got his water by running a pipe from a small stream quite a long way above us down to the house. Glenn was hoping to find another source, but was unable to. While on his trek, he did discover bear droppings on the road. Later in this posting, we will show you our solution to a source for water.
Another one of the top priorities was to get heat into the house. There was an old blue oil burning stove in the kitchen with a stove pipe that went up into the ceiling and through the roof. We had noticed some water damage on the ceiling when we came to look at the house in February, and discovered the damage was caused by water leaking in around the stove pipe opening in the roof.We decided we wanted a more efficient source for heating the house and because we were going to use propane for the clothes dryer and for cooking, we decided upon a propane heater. Glenn had made arrangements to have two propane tanks delivered to the house prior to our arrival.
A propane equipment installer arrived our first morning with the new heater. We chose to have the heater, which was vented through the wall to the outside, placed in the front room so it was more centrally located. The installer got the heater in and working. He connected the clothes dryer, which we brought with us, and the instantaneous water heater to the propane source and made sure it was working. 
The last thing he took care of was to connect the camping stove/oven we brought with us to the propane. He made sure all of these appliances were working properly and were safe.
That first morning we also got a visit from an APT (Alaska Power & Telephone) employee who installed our phone lines and tested them to make sure they were working. So by the end of our first day, we had electricity, phones, and heat. The water was a much bigger problem.
We had purchased six gallons of water in Klawock, so we had water to drink for a few days but nothing in which to bath. This now became our highest priority. The first two days after we arrived the weather was beautiful. However, rain was forecasted to come in for a number of days after that. Having not found a good water source near us, we decided we would collect rain water! There were already three 55 gallon water barrels on the premise which the previous owner had used to store water. Glenn and Jordan moved those barrels over by the propane tanks. We decided that the best way to collect the rain water was off the roof, but without rain gutters it would be hard to catch very much.
We knew we would need to make a trip to the hardware store in Craig, which was on the island, to pick up things that were needed. So after making a shopping list, we made the 2 1/2 hour trip. While there we went to lunch, visited the hardware store, the grocery store, and the boat store. Our trip to Craig took the good part of a day. When we got home late that afternoon, Glenn and Jordan removed the old oil burning stove in the kitchen, the stove pipe, and the cement board that was behind them. They took the stove out of the house and placed it in the yard. Deb thought she might make a planter box out of it. This now left a whole in the metal roofing as well as the plywood under it. Glenn had purchased a new panel of metal roofing when we went to Craig so that he could cover up the hole. He needed to take care of this before the rain started the next day. Glenn and Jordan got up on the roof and installed the new metal roof panel. They then installed the gutters on the house. This was a big job and it was already late in the day. They worked late into the evening. We thought it was amazing that it was not pitch dark. They were able to see fairly well. After finishing the rain gutters, Glenn created a down spout that could be used to direct the water from the gutter into a specific barrel. The rain came the next few days and we collected the water we needed to bath!
Glenn and I planned from the very beginning to make the storage room/meat locker/recreational vehicle garage into a bedroom for ourselves. So the next big project was to clean out the storage room. We hauled most of the stuff outside and then stacked the wood that was going to be used to finish off the room in a corner. Glenn and Jordan then built us a bed frame out of 2x4's and plywood. They did a wonderful job! One of the things Glenn brought from home was a queen-size memory foam mattress. It was great! The mattress was rolled up in a box. All we had to do was take it out and let it expand for a couple of days. We were now ready for Trevor, Angie, and Aspen to arrive.
Glenn, Jordan and I said, "It is good!!!
We had purchased six gallons of water in Klawock, so we had water to drink for a few days but nothing in which to bath. This now became our highest priority. The first two days after we arrived the weather was beautiful. However, rain was forecasted to come in for a number of days after that. Having not found a good water source near us, we decided we would collect rain water! There were already three 55 gallon water barrels on the premise which the previous owner had used to store water. Glenn and Jordan moved those barrels over by the propane tanks. We decided that the best way to collect the rain water was off the roof, but without rain gutters it would be hard to catch very much.
We knew we would need to make a trip to the hardware store in Craig, which was on the island, to pick up things that were needed. So after making a shopping list, we made the 2 1/2 hour trip. While there we went to lunch, visited the hardware store, the grocery store, and the boat store. Our trip to Craig took the good part of a day. When we got home late that afternoon, Glenn and Jordan removed the old oil burning stove in the kitchen, the stove pipe, and the cement board that was behind them. They took the stove out of the house and placed it in the yard. Deb thought she might make a planter box out of it. This now left a whole in the metal roofing as well as the plywood under it. Glenn had purchased a new panel of metal roofing when we went to Craig so that he could cover up the hole. He needed to take care of this before the rain started the next day. Glenn and Jordan got up on the roof and installed the new metal roof panel. They then installed the gutters on the house. This was a big job and it was already late in the day. They worked late into the evening. We thought it was amazing that it was not pitch dark. They were able to see fairly well. After finishing the rain gutters, Glenn created a down spout that could be used to direct the water from the gutter into a specific barrel. The rain came the next few days and we collected the water we needed to bath! 
Glenn and I planned from the very beginning to make the storage room/meat locker/recreational vehicle garage into a bedroom for ourselves. So the next big project was to clean out the storage room. We hauled most of the stuff outside and then stacked the wood that was going to be used to finish off the room in a corner. Glenn and Jordan then built us a bed frame out of 2x4's and plywood. They did a wonderful job! One of the things Glenn brought from home was a queen-size memory foam mattress. It was great! The mattress was rolled up in a box. All we had to do was take it out and let it expand for a couple of days. We were now ready for Trevor, Angie, and Aspen to arrive.
Glenn, Jordan and I said, "It is good!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment