Scott reached a major milestone in 2014 when he hit 25 years at the Fire District. This milestone meant that he had reached the point where he could retire. But what do you do if you retire at the age of 52? I was so worried that he would go stir crazy trying to find ways to keep busy. I stalled as long as I could. But at the beginning of 2015, we decided that he work one more year and then retire at the end of 2015.
As the reality of retirement got closer, we started talking about what our next steps would be. The kids have grown and moved to other states. We had no family left in the Klamath Falls area. The only thing keeping us there was our jobs. If Scott retired, that was one less connection. So the conversation came up about the possibly of finding another job in the fire service somewhere. The thing about this option was that it would most likely have to be a job outside the State of Oregon if Scott was going to collect his PERS retirement.
We researched different positions that were available at the time. Scott applied for a position with a department in Montana. He looked at job in Washington. Then one day I was reading through a list of job openings through an email that I received at work and I came across an opening for an Assistant Fire Chief in Ketchikan. I instantly texted Scott to let him know. It had been a year since we had visited Ketchikan on our cruise and we both knew that we would be happy back there.
Scott completed the online application on a Friday. The following Monday they called and said they would like to talk with him. I won't bore you with all the details, but there were several tests and written exercises he had to complete first. Then he had to put together a presentation and give it during a Skype interview. We quickly taught ourselves how to use Skype. He practiced and practiced, and practiced. Things happened so quickly that I don't think he had a lot of time to think about the consequences of this work.
The interview was a success and we were invited to fly up and interview in person with the department. The first part of October we flew up for a weekend to meet with the Chief and the department and visit the town. I had to leave to come home early and flying home by myself it hit me that this really could be happening.
You can probably guess that things went well, and that Scott was offered the job. I really don't think we ever sat down and actually talked about whether or not he should accept it. There was never a doubt in either of our minds. It was the time in our life to go out and have a grand adventure.
Scott gave notice of his pending retirement at the Fire District, signed all the papers with Ketchikan, and we were planning for a life change. Scott would begin work around the first of December, but I would not be going up until the middle of January. This wasn't the ideal plan, of course I wanted to go up when Scott did, but things were happening so fast that I would stay behind, finish out some things at work, spend the holidays with my family in Oregon, and work on selling our house.
Thankfully Scott would not have to make his trip alone. Scotty was able to take a couple of weeks off of work and come help us. The plan was to rent a small U-Haul and cram as much stuff in it as possible for Scott to take up to get started. We drove over to Medford to pick up Scotty at the airport and made a trip to Costco to stock up on as much non-pershisable items as possible. Everyone kept telling us how different it would be living on an island in Alaska and how it's wasn't going to be so easy to get everything that you need. This was by far the largest load we had ever bought at Costco!
We spent two days going through our house, figuring out what Scott would need to take to get started. It could be up to three months before our stuff would make the move. I was so impressed with how much these boys fit into this U-Haul.
Scott and Scotty's plan was to drive from Klamath Falls to Bellingham, Washington to catch the ferry to Ketchikan. The ferry only runs on Fridays out of Bellingham during the winter season. This made for a pretty tight travel timeframe. Scott's last day at the Fire District was on a Tuesday; he spent Wednesday packing the U-Haul; and we left Thursday morning to head towards the ferry.
The boys had to be at the ferry in the afternoon on Friday for their 6:00pm departure. Their ferry ride was 36 hours, which had them arriving in the early morning hours on Sunday (which was perfect timing since Scott's first day of work would be Monday!).
The ferry was fun for about the first hour, but then it got dark and the scenery disappeared. Being that the trip was 36 hours, covering two nights, the boys decided to get a cabin room to sleep in. Passengers aren't required to get a room. They can sleep pretty much anywhere on the boat. In the summer, some people pitch their tents on the top deck of the ferry and sleep outside for the duration of their trip.
The sailing on Saturday followed the coast line of British Columbia. Again, there isn't much to see along this route.
Then, in the early light of Sunday morning, while the moon was still in the sky, the lights of the town of Ketchikan appeared in the distance. Home was in sight.
We had rented a house sight unseen through an ad in the Ketchikan newspaper. The boys opted to have a quick breakfast before calling our new landlord at 6:00am on a Sunday morning. They also caught up with the Fire Chief so that Scott could get his department pickup for work the next day.
Scotty would stay through Thursday and help Scott get things unpacked and setup. I'm glad they had this adventure together. I know it made the travel a lot less stressful for Scott having a partner on trip.
Scott would only have one night to himself before I would come up for a visit. More on that later.
yay for blogging!!!! I miss you but am so excited to read all about your adventures!
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