At this point, it’s been over a month since we’ve been here. I feel like I need to go back in time to create a complete inventory of our time here to post. But I also know myself and am pretty sure that attempting that would only ensure that I never post again.  So perhaps I’ll become more topical in my posts?…we shall see.

In the meantime: once we crossed the border into Alaska (aside from long construction delays at the border, this quick and easy!), we spent the night in Tok, got a pizza and turned our phones back on!  The next day we met our landlord in Delta Junction to get our house keys…the Delta Junction visitors center is the home of the big ole mosquitoes:

…you’ll notice I love the group self-photos

And then onto Fairbanks…though our epic road trip adventure came to a close, we were glad to finally have our caravan arrive at its new home!

i think you can see the relief, exhaustion, and excitement

After unloading all of our stuff we hunkered in for the night…and began to settle in.  Thankfully the skies were clear for those days of unloading, unpacking and moving.  Soon though the air was thick with smoke, from a summer of wildfires in the area. Air advisories abounded, and trips into town for various & sundry were accented by the stench of fire.  I guess the upside was that we weren’t missing out on doing any outdoor activities, it just wouldn’t have been possible to breathe!

By the time B and I returned to work full-time the following week the air had cleared, and we decided to declare it “good enough”. Predictably, a month later, that’s still where things stand (though we’ve graduated from our air mattress that served us well for months).  Perhaps in the depth of the dark and never ending winter we’ll spend some more time on it…but it’s functional, home, & settled all the same.