Sitka

Well....we are here!  After the longest transitional PCS of Travis' career we are finally settled and Sitka is now our home.  We traveled for 24 days, living without our goods for two months, moved into our house and have started to discover the ins and outs of this little Alaskan town.  Travis is settled at work, Travi has started with the swim team and Taylor and I are finding our way.  We have enjoyed getting comfortable with our boat up here and  I have started the demoralizing task of looking for a job too.
School will begin in about a month for the kids which I hope will help them form new friendships.

Its always very difficult to leave the comforts of a previous unit and start over.  Saying goodbye to friends, saying goodbye to our home and saying goodbye to the kids school and our life on the Cape in general was the most difficult as of yet.  We truly were settled into life there.  I guess I didn't realize how comfortable and settled we had become.  What I always seem to forget about starting another tour is that we loose that comfort.  Upon arriving in Sitka the questions begin.  Where is the grocery store?  Who should cut my hair?  What do people do for fun here?  Is it really cloudy and rainy this much? Its nothing but unknowns.

Sitka was everything that I anticipated it would be.  A sleepy "little" town nestled at the base of the mountains with expansive, spectacular views.  Sitka has truly earned its title as a "Coast Guard Town". Everyone is extremely friendly and supportive of the CG personnel and their families.

What I also knew in my mind but didn't begin to process until we got here was that this is a "little" town.  When your living in an area with a true 4 seasons, a Super Walmart, a Target and a mall its easy to blurt out the words, "Sitka only has 14 miles of paved road" or "it rains 300 days a year"!  Once you have to live those words is a bit shocking.  I am adjusting... clearing out the cob webs from my internet shopping skills and enjoying the fact that I only put 100 miles on my car in the last 7 weeks.  No traffic jams and being able to leave the house literally 5 minutes before I need to be somewhere has been nice.

We traded in our summer flip flops for water proof boots.  A necessity in Alaska!

The sun came out on this day so we dawned some tank tops and short sleeved shirts to enjoy the warmth of the day.

Our home in Sitka...more importantly Trav's new love, the boat.

A view of Sitka from Sandy Beach.

Yes, we are slowly finding our way here.......

I am looking forward to continuing to settle in.  Eventually this house will feel like our home.  The kids will have strong friendships and who knows, I might actually find a job.  We will grow to love living in Sitka just as we have every other unit.  I hope that when this tour ends and we move again we will look back so fondly with memories.  I have no doubt that we will.