Happy birthday, Jim!

With a list of houses to look at, Jim booked a flight to Alaska. I couldn't go because I had work. So, Jim booked a ticket for one, and then waited to see if Mount Redoubt would allow him in. Stupid volcano. Right up until he left, the airlines were canceling and reinstating flights around the volcano's erratic ashy burps. We even had a little scare at the airport when the person in front of us in line was told his flight was canceled, but it turned out he was flying right over the volcano in the direction that the wind was blowing most of the ash, and Jim's flight was still (at the moment) scheduled to take off.

Once he got to Anchorage, however, the waiting began. He boarded the puddle jumper flight to Kenai but the plane turned back to Anchorage within sight of the Kenai airport, due to the ash cloud. Frustrated with the delay, Jim rented a car and rounded up as many other airport strays as he could fit into it, and they all drove to Kenai. [shaking head] The airport is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get. Fortunately, Jim picked up decent and helpful strays who were happy to share their stories about coming to Alaska, and how to cope with the changes involved in moving there.

However, the delay with the flights caused Jim to miss his appointment to see the Plan B house, so our realtor had to reschedule that. Jim looked at several other houses when he was in town, and they all had problems. Problems ranging from too big a house built on too flimsy a foundation, to walls too thin to efficiently heat during the winters. One homeowner said their house was messy and wouldn't let Jim view it, even though he would be out of town later on. They still said no. Evidently they weren't in a hurry to sell that one!

Jim called home after he'd seen the Plan B house. He said it was older than it looked in the pictures, but cuter than it looked in the pictures. None of the other houses could compare to it, though, and Jim and the realtors hacked out an agreement.

As of April 1 (no joke!) our offer on the Plan B house on Dossow Street in Nikiski has been accepted. YAY!!

Jim took a few photos of the house while he was there.

This is a cuter, snowier view of the back of the house than we had before:

This is the side of the house that you see when you drive down the road toward it:

This is the other side:

And this is from the dining area in the prow of the house looking towards the mud room at the front entry:

Click here to see where the house is located.

Since Jim was there over his birthday, it was a little sad for me and James left here at home without him.

Not at all sad for the Birthday Boy, though! Our neighbors on CharVic Lake kept Jim occupied all weekend, when he wasn't looking at houses. They took him on his first snow machine ride (do not say snowmobile when in Alaska) where he drove really fast, scraped up his shin when he crashed, and had the time of his life. Then they took him home and fed him prime rib. Thanks, Pete and Linda. Jim will never forget that birthday!