The Adventure Has Begun!

I knew moving to Alaska would be an adventure, but I was not anticipating the crazy experience we had even before arriving here.  To start, the lady at the ticket counter at DFW airport almost didn't let us bring Max (my sweet, adorable cat who is loved by everyone) onto the plane.  I gave her the paperwork saying he was healthy and she kept going to the back and then telling us we needed a letter...finally she said a "letter of acclimation" stating the temperatures he can withstand and I politely pointed out that our vet had written at the bottom the range of temperature and it had his signature.  She once again went to the back to talk to the manager, and as the other people were checking in for the same flight to Denver that we were on, I heard that it had been delayed an hour.  This time the manager came out and explained that because it gets so hot they need a letter of acclimation stating which temperatures are ok for the animal, and I pointed to the numbers to which she was referring and then to the signature, and asked, "Is that not enough?"  And she thought about it and left, and we waited some more and finally they told us it was ok.  So after 30 minutes we we finally got our boarding passes, and Max got to go on the plane!  No animals are allowed in the cabin on Frontier airlines so he had to go with the luggage.  

When we got to the gate we found out that our flight was now delayed until 6 0' clock because of weather in Denver.  I looked on my handy-dandy iPhone and saw that there were three thunderstorm watches/warnings for the Denver area and one tornado watch.  They assured us that they had taken care of the connecting flights, and that the one from Denver to Anchorage was also delayed and they were probably going to hold it for us.  Well, at 4:30 or so, they push our departure time back to 7:10!  Isn't flying great?? :-)  At last the plane arrives and we board and as I was watching the men load the luggage onto the plane I see Max's crate!  He was put on the conveyer belt and I see his little head and he licks his nose, and I was very relieved to see that he was ok.

When we land in Denver we find out which gate we need to go to and as we're walking, they announce the final boarding call for our flight and even call our names, so my mom starts running so I do too, and we make it just in time.  This flight was about 5 and 1/2 hours long, and because of all the delays, we didn't get in until 1 AM Alaska time, which is 4 AM Dallas time.  Our bags were the last ones out, and we got a taxi to take us to the church where Tim had left his car for us, we make a stop at the grocery store for some essentials like kitty litter :-) and then go to Tim's apartment.  Tim lives on the 3rd floor, so lugging four suitcases (two of which weigh at least 50 pounds) in three trips up the stairs was a blast!  We get ready for bed, put our sleep masks on (it was dark but not completely by the time we got in bed, and I don't know when the sun came up, but it was as bright as midday when my phone rang at 8 this morning...thank you Melody, by the way ;-P ).  We got to sleep at about 3:30 (6:30 Central Time).  And so ends the first chapter of the Alaska experience.

Today is apartment hunting day!  Hopefully we'll find something soon and I can start moving in. Tim, ironically, is in Texas right now.  He took some of his high schoolers to Galveston for a mission trip to help with hurricane clean up.  He will be back tomorrow night, on the same flight from Denver we had, and hopefully will have better luck with the weather.

Well, time to go get ready for the day and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!