Snapped

Email...

2009-10-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Beck and I are doing away with our @wachel.net email addresses. Gmail is much more simple and free.

Beck: rebeccawachel "at" gmail dot com
Mike: michaelwachel "at" gmail dot com

Photo slide show of our ATV advetures in AK.

2009-10-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

Lions, Tigers, BEARS!

2009-06-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

It is wonderful outside so we decided to grill some burgers. It was so nice that we ate with the windows open and our table is right next to the open window. I heard some crunching in the woods behind our house and looked up, expecting to see a moose since they come by all the time. Well, when this black bear came walking out of the woods I just about fell over. As I stammered b-b-ear Beck didn't believe me at first. What a treat! Well, Beck didn't see it as a treat but Ash and I did! I LOVE ALASKA!

He was only 20 feet from our house and about 12 feet from our back fence! WOO HOO!

Day Trip...Seward, Alaska

2009-05-23T22:02:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a day trip to Seward, Alaska. It's about 130 miles from Anchorage and the drive is beautiful. While in Seward we went to the Alaska Marine Wildlife thingy. The kids loved it and we had a great time.

Chase loved running around looking at all of the fish.

Chase playing around. I LOVE this photo.

Chase and Ashlee hugging. How blessed am I?

Down With The Sickness

2009-04-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

Beck was all excited for this weekend. We were going to take a drive and see some more of AK. Well, last night she got slammed with the flu. Poor thing. No drive for her. Now, this afternoon, Ashlee has come down with it but she doesn't seem as bad...yet.

Chase and I are holding strong, for now.

We did manage to take a little drive because Beck wanted to see our new neighborhood again. We took the camera and took a couple of pics. Yes, all the units look the same. Yes, they are 4-plex town houses. And yes, we are excited! WOO HOO!

The road on the way to our place.

View entering our neighborhood.

AK Crazy People

2009-04-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

Fun day. This afternoon we were on our way to Chuck E Cheese to meet some friends and let the kids play. On the way, traffic slowed way down for a minute...yeah, some drunk guy parked his bicycle in middle of the lane and was staggering off. Seriously...parked it right in the middle of the street!

After Chuck E Cheese we headed to Wal Mart to look for some winter gear for the kids. While entering the parking lot we had to stop and wait for an AK Native holding two bottles of Sunny D above his head threatening to throw them at random people or cars as he walked in the middle of the road. Wal Mart security was driving behind him trying to get him off the property. Funny stuff right there.

On the way home after running our errands we were just driving down the street...we happened to look over on the sidewalk and there are two guys (one with no shirt) yelling and pushing each other. They were about to get in a scrap but there was no safe place to pull over and watch the entertainment. Oh well.

So, in the space of 3 hours we saw 4 crazy/drunk people. AK baby! Beck is probably wondering what the heck she got herself into. Me, I am just laughing my butt off! Great stuff right there.

Ashlee's First Day

2009-04-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

We just got back from dropping Ashlee off at her first day of school. Everyone from the principle to the gym and health teachers were wonderful in making her feel welcome. They had her laughing and joking in a matter of minutes. Good stuff. I feel comfortable with her at this school!

Compare what we saw in just 10 minutes versus what we saw in two years in Las Vegas...
-they are hatching quail eggs in the classroom!
-2 iMacs in the room
-worms and other creepy crawly stuff in the room for them to see
-a field trip to the zoo coming up (no field trips in Vegas)
-longer lunches (hey, Vegas was 30 minutes for lunch and recess COMBINED!)

Cons...22 kids in class here versus 16 in Vegas. Lunches cost $3.60 here versus $1.50 in Vegas.

On another note (a funny one) Beck is at a meeting for Chase's daycare stuff and he and I are hanging at the house. Well, he is running around the house with a Burger King crown on and eating a biscuit. Come on...that's funny stuff right there.

We are quite excited for her. Her face just lit up when she walked into her room and saw all the cool stuff. I could tell she was scared but keeping a brave face on. I am sure she will do well. I will post an update later on how her day went.

Checked in to work...

2009-04-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

I went and checked into the squadron today. Man, things have changed since last time I was here. It was nice to look around. Also, they gave me two free weeks off! I don't report to work until 27 April. Woo Hoo!

Ashlee is registered for school! Well, they get out for the summer on 21 May so she will only be there for a month. We have already found a summer camp for her as well! Chase is on the waiting list for the on base Child Development Center (day care and pre-school combined). We should hear back from them soon.

We are about to walk out the door to go over and get Chase registered into the military medical system. I think we are going to run some errands as well.

We are slowly getting into the swing of things. Beck was sad last night and missing Vegas. Yeah, I said the same thing..."Missing Vegas?" I guess I can see it though. You get used to something and then your whole world gets turned upside down. We don't have any kind of routine yet and no permanent house...once all that gets settled life will get easier. This little 2 bedroom, 1 bath house is not easy to live in with 2 wild kids. Doable but not optimal.

Okay...I'm out.

Easter!

2009-04-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Our Easter is a lot different than previous years. We let the kids hunt eggs in the house and the Bunny left baskets for them. We are headed to Church as well. That is going to be our Easter.

I did have to take an adventure this morning though. While starting to get ready for church I found that I didn't have any church clothes! The movers must have packed them. Off to Wal Mart to find some clothes to wear. Going out on Sunday isn't a good thing but not going to church is worse so...off to Wally World. I did see two moose in town eating. I love AK.

Okay, off to church.

First Day

2009-04-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today was our first full day in Anchorage. We were running around like crazy taking care of as much as we can today. Beck got to see some of the base and Anchorage. Tomorrow we will do more of a tour so she can get a better feel for the area.

Chase was an angel for the entire trip...as I have mentioned many times. Well, today he made up for it. Fit after fit after fit. Look at him wrong and he would be on the floor screaming, kicking, hitting and rolling everywhere. Joy. We managed to get stuff done but it wasn't nearly as easy with Chase going nuts.

Now it's time to relax for the night!

Anchorage, AK!!!

2009-04-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

We made it! Yes, we are here a day early. Today was supposed to be a stop in Tok but we got there at about 1pm. We just couldn't see stopping for the night when the sun doesn't set until about 9:30pm so we pushed on. We shaved a day off our trip that way but we drove for 14 hours today!

The plus was that the kids did not throw one fit or get upset one time...literally. They watched movies almost the whole time and slept the rest of the time. I don't expect that anyone will believe that a 2 and 6 year old can be that good in a car for 14 hours. It's true! We are just amazed.

We are in our temp housing on Elmendorf AFB and we are so excited! The to-do list tomorrow is long but it will feel good to get settled...or at least as much as we can in temp housing. Hopefully, we will get our permanent house within 30-40 days.

It's late and I am tired. More updates to follow. And yes...I will be posting some pics!

Liard Hot Springs and Whitehorse

2009-04-08T20:14:00.001-07:00

Not ignoring you guys! No update yesterday. We stopped at Liard Hot Springs Lodge for the night. No cell or internet. Updates...

Dawson Creek to Liard HS Lodge: The drive was great and the weather held out. We hit a couple of areas of snow but it was next to nothing. The drive was very uneventful and easy. Saw lots of Buffalo along side the road and some even hanging out on the shoulder of the highway. Kids and Wife loved it. Saw a moose (wife and kids first wild moose). No bears yet. One Coyote trotting along the side of the road. The Liard HS Lodge was okay...nothing special here. The room was barren...no phone, no clock and no tv. The parking lot was ankle deep slush and I needed 4x4 to get through it...not impressed with that. Dinner in the restaurant was spagetti...that's it. The only people working were the care takers...they were cooking, cleaning, waiting tables, pumping fuel, and anything else that needed to be done. Felt bad for them....they needed help in a bad way but they were very nice. I would probably not stay there again if I had the choice. The care takers said the place is for sale or lease so maybe that had something to do with it.

The hot springs were great though! The wife is freaked about bears so the entire walk to the springs she was looking everywhere. We all got in and it was wonderful. Only a few others there. We had the two year old and the 6 year old so we didn't go into the really hot parts...the guy said it was running extra hot that day anyway. We had a blast until we had to get out...kids weren't too happy about that but we got them dressed quickly and all was well.

Liard HS to Whitehorse. Today was the most scenic part of the drive so far. The drive today was a little more dramatic. About half of the drive was in snow. Early in the day the roads were snow covered and slick in areas. Luckly my truck has nice tires and we are loaded heavy so traction was never a problem and we never had to use 4x4. Able to safely maintain speeds of about 40-50 in the snowy sections (obviously slowing for turns). We did pass a Ford F150 that had slid and flipped. It was upright and the people were out and walking around. The police were already there so we kept going. Later we stopped for food in Teslin and the cops showed up and dropped off the two ladies from the accident. They were shaken up and quite upset...but alive and safe. The rest of the drive was great and the kids were the best that they have been the entire trip. Good stuff.

So here we are in Whitehorse. We found a room at the Best Western...a two bedroom suite. It's a decent room (or should I say apartment). It's not the most modern but it's clean and big. It really is the size of a two bedroom apartment along with the full size kitchen. We ate dinner at the Boston Pizza. It was a nice little place and the food was pretty good too. Service was slow but friendly.

Now we get to relax for the night.

Tomorrow we are off to Tok. It's tempting to try and make it to Achorage but that would just be too far in one day. I hope to find a place in Tok with internet so we can update again. Almost home!

Dawson Creek, BC

2009-04-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today was the shortest driving day since leaving LA. We only drove 289 miles and got in to Dawson Creek at about 2pm. We drove through town checking out the hotels and looking for a newer looking one. Found a Days Inn right across the street from a Walmart, A&W, and McDonalds. NICE place and it's pretty new. We got a room for $140 Canadian which comes out to about $120 US. Not bad for a one bedroom suite! We get to put Chase to bed at his normal time which will be a first for this entire trip.

Poor kid has been asking us to go to bed each night because he is so worn out! Tonight he goes to bed on time in his own room! WOO HOO! Ashlee has been worn out as well but she is holding up like a little trooper. We are blessed with the children that we have.

On a side note the internet and TV went out in our room as soon as we got here. No internet or TV for 3-4 hours! Man, that sucked. We took the kids to Micky D's and then went over to Wal Mart and walked around for a bit. Bought a few things that we needed. This is probably the last Wal Mart that we will see until Anchorage.

From here we will leave and actually be on the official ALCAN Highway (Alaskan Canadian Highway). We are expecting the road conditions to deteriorate quite a bit. Potholes, frost heaves and possible snow on the road. In case anyone is wondering what a frost heave is...the winters are so cold here that the roads can actually buckle a bit. These heaves can snap an axle or break a suspension spring if you hit them going too fast. Yes, they can be really nasty. We will take our time and go slow if needed.

More updates when able...

Prince George, Canada

2009-04-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

We made it. And just to put some irony in it all...we are staying at a casino. Yep. We move away from Las Vegas and end up in a Casino. Yes, Beck had to go gamble $20 of that pretend Canadian money! I don't blame her, I kinda want to as well.

I think Canada is fun. It is like being in America but not. Little things here are different so it is subtle. Signs, money, packaging on stuff, all different. So you feel like you are in the U.S. but then there are so many things that are different that you feel out of place. It's fun. Beck just wants to get back to the States.

Our Capital One card that we are using as our primary credit card got declined today. Fraud alert. Capital One is STUPID. We called them before our trip and told them exactly where we were going and what we were going to be doing. The lady on the other end of the line assured us that the card would not be turned off or declined. Yeah, sure. MORONS! I think Aim and James had the same problem with Capital One on a trip....it kept happening to them several times a day or something like that. I will loose my mind if this happens again.

The kids are STILL being wonderful little angels. Chase has his little outbursts now and then but who can blame the kid...8-12 hours in the car will drive you nuts. He has discovered DVD's but won't wear the headphones. So, yes, we are listening to DVD's much of the trip. Hey, these kids are being so good that we don't mind.

The weather has been fantastic with the exception of the headwinds on that first day. Yesterday and today have been great. The roads have been perfectly dry as well. The bad news is that pretty much the rest of the trip is supposed to be rain/snow. Joy. Luckily, instead of planning 550-600 miles a day we have scaled back and are now looking at about 250-350 each day from now on. That will give us lots of wiggle room for weather and letting the kids get out more. Also, we will be able to stop and take more photos since we have been slacking in that area with the crazy miles we are putting in.

We have been trying to update our Spot page to keep our location update for everyone.

Tomorrow's stop will be Dawson Creek, BC. Driving is supposed to only take about 4 hours or so. We might decide to keep going if the weather holds out. Otherwise we are looking at a VERY short day.

We will keep you all updated.

Everett, WA

2009-04-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

We are in Everett, WA. That is a town about 20 miles north of Seattle. Tomorrow we should be really smart because we are staying at a Holiday Inn Express. It's really nice! We got the 1 bedroom suite so we could put Chase to bed in the other room while we relax.

Today's drive was the longest of this trip (mileage wise). 621 miles today! The kids were great considering how long they were in the truck. Chase is an absolute wild man at night when we let him loose. Yelling, screaming and running everywhere. Can't blame him at all. Ashlee is a doll. She keeps herself busy in the truck watching movies, drawing, reading and playing with her toys. GREAT!!!!!!! Tomorrow will be another long day but then the rest are half days (mileage wise). Weather and roads could slow us down so we cut the miles in half each day during the second half of the trip. We are at 1412 miles so far! Our total at the end of this trip will be about 3700!

Tomorrow we cross the border into Canada. Beck is excited to see what we will discover. Ashlee and Chase are just along for the ride so they don't really seem to care.

Our cell phones will be limited for the next few days until we get into AK. I have changed my plan to allow me to make calls in Canada without roaming but I have shut off all texting until we get to AK....too expensive. So we will be on Facebook and Blogger as much as possible. You can still track us at http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ZElGxAKnjrViG09z3Po6JLiT9REEsSei

That little spot is great. Zoom in at #50. Use the satellite view...that is the exact parking spot we were in! That is accurate! We ate dinner at the restaurant on the corner and I hit the send button before we went in.

Okay, time to go relax.

Redding, CA

2009-04-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Redding, Commiefornia. 569 miles. We had an insane head wind the WHOLE trip. Seriously, 250 miles on 3/4 tank of fuel. The over all trip today wasn't that bad at all though. The kids were amazing! Beck got to work most of the day on her little netbook with the air card. Saves her a day of vacation. Good stuff.

The main thing is that we made it safe and sound. Also, today is my first day of active duty military service. I'm officially back in. WOO HOO!

Tomorrow we are going to try and head out early. We have a long day with close to 600 miles of driving to get to Seattle, WA.

This is only day one!

2009-04-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Okay...not really. We had a great day but this photo is funny.

Happiest Place on Earth

2009-04-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

We are at the happiest place on earth! Now be happy! We will have a great time.

What a day

2009-04-02T00:23:00.001-07:00

Today was crazy! We spent the day loading the truck and cleaning up the house a bit. Sid and Karen Pincock took us to lunch. What a nice break from the work.

We finally got everything squared away and ready to go. After some emotional walking through the house we got in the cars and headed out. Sad and exciting at the same time.

So, here we are at the Paradise Pier Resort at Disneyland. Tomorrow will be spent trying to ride stuff and have fun before we set off on our LOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGGG drive.

We are worn out...it's 12:30 am on Thursday. We have to be up in 6 hours to get tickets and have fun! WOO HOO!

Will update more tomorrow after we get back from Dinnyland!

Empty

2009-03-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Our stuff just rolled off on an 18 wheeler (actually, it was only 14 wheels).

We are now in an empty house. Well, the computer and a couple of desks are left but those are staying here.

We are going to have to get a hotel room tonight.

Almost empty

2009-03-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

The house is almost empty. They are still working like crazy. It's gross to see all the dust behind some of the furniture. We think that we are clean people but then when it is time to move....YUCK.

Beck has a headache...what a day to get one. I hope she feels better soon.

Crazy

2009-03-31T11:15:00.000-07:00

These guys are nuts. I am sick of hearing the sound of tape and boxes. Non-stop! We are debating if we should get a room at a local hotel tonight so we don't have to sleep on the floor.

Tomorrow will be spent packing the truck and I need to make a trip to REI to use the wonderful gift card that everyone from work gave me! WOO HOO!

Day 2

2009-03-31T08:56:00.000-07:00

Movers are back today. They will be done and loaded by this afternoon. We are going to be "camping" in our house tonight! WOO HOO!

Trip Tracker

2009-03-30T22:11:00.000-07:00

Follow us on our journey! The link is at the top of this page.

Bookmark it and follow our adventures. HERE

Should start being updated on Thursday sometime when we start driving. Updates should happen once or twice an hour.

Day is done...

2009-03-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

The day is done. It's 9:45pm and the house is bundled up. The movers worked so fast that they are now saying they will be done and the truck loaded by tomorrow afternoon. That means on Wed we will be sitting here in an empty house all day. What to do?

Chase came home today saying..."What happened?". Then he proceeded to play and have a great time. I don't think this move will bother him much. Ashlee, is still excited for the most part. Her pillow got packed and is now hidden in a box somewhere. Imagine the fight when it was time for bed and she wanted HER pillow! We have to try and remember this will be harder on her since she doesn't really get the concept of moving...for real....far away.

Well, tomorrow is another long day. Good night.

Movers are here

2009-03-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

The fun has begun! The packers arrived this morning at about 9am. They have been hard at work packing everything. We have to stay out of the way so we don't get packed in some random box!

So far so good. Things are going really fast. We will be sitting on the floor to eat dinner! We will also be eating off of paper plates since everything in the kitchen is packed up.

Beck is out picking up Ash and Chase right now. I can't wait to see Ashlee's face when she walks in. Chase will just be walking around babbling about stuff only he can understand. I am sure we will be entertained though.

We bought pizza and soda's for the movers. You always want to keep movers happy!

More updates later.

At the park

2009-03-01T00:37:00.000-08:00

Getting ready

2009-02-26T20:52:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that we only have 5 more weeks until we are on the road out of Las Vegas. There are things that I will miss, of course. Not many though.

-Being able to ride quads almost year round.
-Being close to family (in comparison)
-My job.
...yeah...that's about it.

I am going to take every Friday off of work until we leave. That will give me 3 day weekends! WOO HOO!

Twilight Zone Disneyland

2009-02-16T10:58:00.001-08:00

Sunglasses at night

2009-01-13T19:08:00.001-08:00

The Eyes Have It

2008-12-20T14:08:00.000-08:00

Old School

2008-12-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Flagstaff, AZ

2008-12-07T20:44:00.001-08:00

Little Man Chase

2008-11-26T23:02:00.000-08:00

Parents, Grand Parents, Great Grand Parents

2008-11-23T16:33:00.001-08:00

Sisters

2008-11-21T20:41:00.000-08:00

Mellow Monday

2008-11-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

Why black and white? Because the hat is Ashlee's and it's PINK. Yeah....black and white sounded good. The color version is in the 2008-11 gallery at wachel.smugmug.com

Sunday Cutie

2008-11-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

Ho Ho Ho

2008-11-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

Me

2008-11-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

Just me.

Abby & Alivia

2008-11-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, been lazy with the blog. I have been editing a little though. Here are the other two photos that I took when our friends were over. They were taken with my new flash and I bounced it off the wall. Thats it. I like the lighting it gave although I think that a reflector on the other side would have helped to fill in a little.

Aly

2008-11-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

I didn't post yesterday so today I will try and make up for it. We had some friends over and I snapped this quick photo.

We have prayed every night...

2008-11-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

Heavenly Father has answered:

Sad

2008-11-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

This photo makes me sad. Odd, he was happy and playing when I snapped this. I enjoyed processing it. Funny how stuff like that happens if you just catch the right moment in time.

Sunday Morning

2008-11-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

How do you not laugh when you go to get your kid out of bed and this is what you find?

Mad Little Girl

2008-11-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

You don't want to get on this little girl's bad side! Geez.

Okay

2008-11-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

I am finally going to get my photo blog rolling. I was tired of hosting my own site so now I am going to be using blogger like the rest of the world. Still under construction!