...1.12...Over the last few days...

...I really don't have anything much to report since we got home last Wednesday...

...because...we have Covid...apparently the Nimbus variety with the excruciatingly painful razor-blade sore throat...I did have a sore throat at the airport on Tuesday/Wednesday...but no idea that it might be covid...

...I haven't done anything at all...my symptoms have been a little bit worse than the Man's although he's pretty sick as well...I think he may have had a better immune response to the latest vaccine that we both got last fall...

...these are the only photos on the camera...I think I've been sleeping about 20 hours a day...and when I think I'm awake watching tv...I find myself waking up to the clock screensaver on the screen and no idea how long I've been asleep...with my throat I've not been able to swallow much...I've been mostly subsisting on hot tea and protein drinks...trying hard to stay hydrated...

...so the Man made potato soup one night...

...and grits one night...

...and homemade cream of tomato one night...

...there's been no knitting/reading/craft/cleaning/anything really...and what I needed to be doing is crocheting Our Airman's Wife's birthday present...so I'm feeling behind on that...

...kiddos report that no one up there is sick (yet)...

...hoping you're all healthy out there...

~Have a lovely day!

...1.7...Back Home...

...my final snack before we left the Sky Club last night...

...we left Seattle about 10:30...flying back across the time zones to arrive in Atlanta at 6:30 AM...

...I only had my typical cranberry drink on this flight...they may have come by with snacks in the night but I must have been asleep...I can sleep pretty well on an airplane for some reason...haha...I actually can sleep pretty well anywhere...

...leaving Atlanta early in the morning...we're in a line of about 20 or so jets taxiing out to take off...

...nice and clear above the clouds...

...but rainy on the ground when we touched down...back home...

...our past selves thought we'd be getting home late Monday (about 8:30)...hungry and tired...so our past selves froze two containers of homemade soup and some bread for grilled cheeses...so that our future selves would have a quick supper option in a grocery-less house...so as soon as we got home I set those out on the counter to thaw...

...and after we carried everything inside...I made a quick fried cornbread to go with it...

...and split it in half...

...and then I made the grilled cheese sammies...

...and our present selves thanked our past selves for a yummy and quick late lunch...

...I unpacked the kiddos Christmas present...

...and set it up on the counter...we don't know how to use it yet...but it will be fun I'm sure...

...and then I emptied my purse to get all the tickets and luggage tags and such out...

...and found all these little love notes from our girlies...

...they are so sweet...

~Have a lovely day!

...1.6...Seattle...

...we're at the airport in Seattle...so we did make it out of Fairbanks on Alaska Airlines...and we sitting in the Delta Sky Club in Seattle...where we'll be until about 10 o'clock tonight...

...there's nothing really to report from yesterday...we were just cozy in our room...reading and watching tv...it was very restful after our busy week...

...the kiddos came by to say good bye...we showed them around the resort...there's actually a lot to do here...and Our Airman said it would be fun to come for the weekend...then we had lots of hugs and kisses...lots of I love yous and I'll miss yous...

...luckily there was a nice restaurant on site...I had a delicious veggie burger...

...LOVE ALASKA...

...after an early supper we tried to go to bed at about 6 PM...in order to get up at 2 AM and be at the airport by 3...we checked our bag which is also going to be sort of problem as we'll have to leave security in Seattle to retrieve it...check it in with Delta and then go back through security...we've got a 10 hour layover though so we should be able to accomplish that...haha...

...the folks at Alaska Airlines were so nice...the Man said that when we come in the winter we'll just book Delta to Seattle and then Alaska Air from there so hopefully this won't happen again...the Alaskans that we chatted with at the lodge chuckled and told us that this 'always' happens in winter and Alaska Air definitely has better cancellation rates...

...on the plane to Anchorage...

...getting de-iced...

...flying through the snowstorm...

...dawn over Anchorage...

...snacks on the Anchorage flight...

...and breakfast on the Seattle flight...sadly they had a vegan option...but by the time our flight was finalized it was too late to request a special meal...it would have been a Just Egg omelette...oh well...I'll probably get to try it on a future flight...so when I asked for a vegan breakfast...the flight attendant sweetly brought me everything he had that was vegan...I really enjoyed it too...it was a good breakfast...

...so now we're at the Delta Sky Club...having made it out of security and checked our bag and back through security...I love how Delta clearly labels all of their vegan food...black bean soup with cilantro rice...a salad...sautéed zucchini and a chickpea wrap...

...we got a nice seat by the window...

...there's oddly no one here...usually the Sky Club is pretty busy...

~Have a lovely day

...1.5...still Alaska...Day ELEVEN...

...OK...so you're probably wondering why we're still in Alaska...and you may also be wondering why the weather screen lists 'Badger' and not 'North Pole'...or 'Fairbanks'...I know I was...haha...well...Badger is a CDP...so of course I looked that up as I'd never heard of it before...Census Designated Places (CDPs) are unincorporated communities recognized for statistical purposes, whereas incorporated towns are legal municipal entities with self-governance and the authority to provide services and levy taxes...so there's that...and our flight got cancelled...more on that in a bit...also good that -55° feels like -55° and not any colder...haha...

...the moon has been beautiful...and you can see it for 20 or so hours....

...first thing yesterday morning we headed back to the airport to the rental car place...not because there is any problem with the nice new rental car but because (one of my long rambling stories is coming up) the girlies spent the night with us at the cabin Friday night...so we got up and had a cozy breakfast...and I packed up their things to go back home...I bundled up and carried one bag out to the rental car - still the old silver one with no heater...tossed it into the back and started the car...but it didn't start (you already knew that)...and in all of the hullabaloo that followed I forgot about the bag of toys...and it got towed away with the car...and none of us ever thought about through all of the busy day yesterday...until bedtime...when the toys were missing...oh NO!...

...well...I did not want to be the Grandmommy who had lost all of their toys...so I called the rental car company...and they said that the car had been towed to their cleaning station and we could come in the morning (that's yesterday morning now - I know this is confusing as it's always a day behind)...

...so we checked out of the AirBnb and headed through the ice fog...

...past Santa's House...and successfully retrieved the bag of toys...I was overjoyed...

...then we stopped at Taco Bell and got lunch...

...and took it back to Our Airman's squadron for a final afternoon of play...

...after lunch the Man played the guitar for the girls...they loved it...he taught them The Slithery D song...it was hilarious...

...then we went down to the squadron and ran around...skateboarded...played ball...chased each other...ran around with Dog...

...and pushed each other around on carts...it was great fun...

...then we drove around on base to see the static displays...we do this at every base...usually you see us underneath the aircraft looking at interesting things...

...but here they are in the snow...and we did not get out of our car...haha...

...one of the signs on base showed the temperature...-45°...so it's warmed up a few degrees...

...and we headed back across the frozen river to their home...intending to have dinner and head to the airport for our red-eye to Seattle...

...and while we were sitting cozily around with the girls watching Elio...the Man and I both received notification that our flight had been cancelled...

...it takes just a minute for that information to settle in...and all the chaos that's going to cause for you...you never plan to go on vacation and not be able to come home...because it wasn't just our flight...ALL Delta flights were cancelled out of Fairbanks...for the rest of the week...YIKES!...and you know that you're not alone...and now you're in competition with the 350 or so people who were on that flight with you to get an available seat on another flight...I think Delta only has one flight a day leaving Fairbanks...but still it's a lot of people...

...so the Man got on the phone with Delta...who initially said they could get us on a flight Wednesday...but no that one got cancelled too...so then he called Alaska Airlines...and finally got us on a flight leaving early (5 AM) Tuesday morning...but to Anchorage...and another Alaska flight from there to Seattle...so our remaining two legs of the Delta flight also had to be changed...meanwhile I called and got a couple more days on the rental car...and found a hotel near the airport for Sunday and Monday night... ...so we said a quick good bye...we're going to see them one more time tomorrow...Our Airman is flying to Anchorage tomorrowfor his work...earlier than us...and they'll stop by our hotel to say the real good bye...

...it's Pike's Landing...a quaint lodge-y hotel on the river...

...it's a nice room...

...and they have a nice guest libary...I got a book to read while I'm here...

~Have a lovely day!