North to Alaska, Once Again

Spending time with our extended family always seemed to go by so fast, because visits were few and far between. However, as the day grew closer to leave on our trip to Alaska, we said our goodbyes and finished all our needed tasks. We had bought a new car, a tan station wagon, and decided to drive up to Alaska, up the AlCan Highway. That is a 4,370+ mile trip from Pinehurst, NC to Anchorage. Going at that time of the year was actually better on your car because the AlCan was all gravel, and tended to beat cars up pretty bad. But with the snow cover, it was a lot easier. This journey took two weeks.

We went through a great many states and while doing so, we all got sick. This was the time that the Hong Kong flu was going around. We finally stopped in Great Falls, Montana, at the Air Force Base located there. They had just had a major car crash and some very serious injuries and didn’t have time to look at us so gave us some medication and sent us on our way. Unfortunately, the medicine had codeine in it and therefore, mom and dad couldn’t take it and drive.

Shortly after getting on the highway we slid into a ditch. Now this could be quite scary because you never knew how long it would be before another car would come along. We were very blessed though because within a very short time, a snow plow came around the corner and was able to help get us out. We continued to move toward Anchorage, although not as fast as any of us would have liked.

We had a guidebook called The Milepost that we used along the AlCan, that pointed out all kinds of neat features along this 1200-mile road. Most importantly, where the bathroom stops were. It also had major landmarks, points of interest, historic sites, restaurants, etc. If you ever make this journey, do not leave home without it. They are constantly updating it.

Texas is a big state and Alaska is even bigger. When you reach the border, you still have a very long distance to get to Anchorage.  You can see from the picture below just how large it is. A lot of it is beautiful wilderness and is still uninhabited. I hope it can always maintain those qualities. It is a gorgeous state and if you haven't been there, put it on your bucket list. The cruises along the Inland Passage are nice but you really need to go to Anchorage, Fairbanks and Denali to get a real feel for what Alaska is like.  It is a must see!

Alaska compared to the US as a whole.

By the time we got to Elmendorf AFB, the rest of the family had recovered but I was still sick. I was running a very high temperature and felt horrible. We had been on the road for two weeks, were trying to get checked into temporary quarters, I was sick, and if that was not enough to deal with, as soon as we checked in, my dad got a visit from someone telling him that my mom’s dad had passed away while we were traveling north. We didn’t have cell phones then, and we never knew where we were going to stop, so no one knew how to get ahold of us. Grandpa Garrison was buried by the time we got to Alaska. A sad time for all but a very difficult time for my mom. 

My parents made several phone calls to the doctor, about my fever. They suggested that they put me in a cold shower to bring it down. Cold showers are no fun!  I was feeling so bad and had to do them several times and they didn't do any good. I would get in and the fever would come down for a short time and then go back up again. So they finally took me to the hospital. I ended up having spinal meningitis and was in isolation for a week. Only my parents could come in and see me and then they would have to be covered from head to toe. It was very contagious. It was a scary experience. I had to have a spinal tap, which was terrible. The doctors told me that I had to lay perfectly still. Not one movement or I could have bad headaches for a long time. Little did I know that my first real sight of Alaska would be from a hospital bed.

I remember when I finally got to go home, I was still pretty sickly and my mom would have to get up several times during the night to give me medicine as well as throughout the day. It took a long time to recover fully. I remember sitting in the apartment, in Muldoon, and watching all the kids playing, sledding, etc. on the hill outside and wishing I could join them. One of the first things I did, when I was able to go out was slide down that hill.  I thought it was so huge but on a trip back there, many years later, I found that it wasn't near as big as I thought.  

Our apartment was on the second of three floors.  

I had my first close up encounter with a moose while we were still living in this apartment. I guess it was foraging for food because he came right up to the apartment building. He was huge and I remember that mom and dad said to stay away from him, even if he looked docile, because they could turn mean quick. Especially the momma's with their babies.

Our next-door neighbors in the apartment were the Gaffords. Tracy and I became good friends. We were in the same 5th grade class at Muldoon Elementary. She had two sisters, one of which was in the same school, so my brother and I walked with them to school each day, about a mile away, even in the snow.  I was fascinated with the fact that she played the drums. I had never seen a girl play the drums before. We are still friends with the Gaffords today.

We moved onto Elmendorf AFB in the summer of that year, 1969. We lived in another quad on Apricot Street, at the opposite end from where we lived the first time. I think the address was 21-632 Apricot, Apt. B. However, someone said it is no longer called Apricot Street. Lots of things have changed since we left. Yet much is still the same.

Today's Terri's Tidbit: Help out future generations who may be doing your family's genealogy. When cutting personal events out of the newspaper, (or other periodicals) make sure to have the source data, for the article, picture, memento, with it. Either write it all down and attach with the article or make sure to cut the name, date, page etc. from the top of the paper you are saving. It will make it so much easier to find out more information later, if you are careful to gather that information now.

Land of the Midnight Sun

There are so many memories of Alaska that it would be very hard to put them all into a blog. We were very fortunate to be stationed at Elmendorf AFB twice, and lots of memories were built both times. The first tour was from 1960-1964, so in today's blog I will share some of those highlights.

When we first moved up to Alaska, we lived in a trailer park in Muldoon, just outside the Anchorage city limits. This was a grand time in the lives of my brother and I. We learned all those fun winter activities, such as ice skating, sledding, building snowmen, igloos and forts. It really was a child’s winter wonderland. 

It was a very cold place to live in the winter, and required some actions that weren’t necessary at many of our other bases, such as plugging in your car at night to make sure it would start the next day. And something that was done a lot… shoveling, shoveling, and more shoveling. But it was also a place where you could make your own ice rink in the back yard and see the awesome Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).  During the winter months, darkness sets in and stays for the better part of the day.  It is very weird.  It feels like you are wandering around at dusk but all day long.  Then the opposite happens in the summer where you have daylight for long periods of time.  In June, the sun could still be up close to midnight. Because of the long hours of sun, flowers, vegetables and other things that grow in the summer, tend to get very large.  Our friends grew some zucchini one year that were like a foot and a half long.  They made lots of zucchini bread.

The Muldoon trailer park we lived in was Rangeview Trailer Park. It had a little stream that ran behind it. I can remember my parents warning us about the dangers of getting too close, falling in, going under the ice, and freezing from the cold water. Did we listen? Of course not, and one day we were down by the stream when my brother Kevin, fell in. Talk about a scary moment. I just knew that everything that mom and dad had told us was about to come true. However, he was pulled out and although cold and scared, was okay. I’m sure our parents were fit to be tied. Kind of like the time my mother looked out the front window and saw the two of us running across the roof of the neighbor’s trailer. 

Me in front of our Rangeview Trailer Park home

Oh it didn't stop there. The icing on the cake came the day that we went to run errands on the base with my mother.  It was at the time that people were getting off work. Traffic was usually quite heavy at this time, with everyone ready to get home. Mom stopped to fill up the car with gas and went in to pay for it. Famous last words, she told us to not get into the front seat while she was gone. That was the time when cars would go into gear without the brake being set. So, the minute mom was out of sight, my brother jumps into the front seat and hits the gearshift. We are now rolling into the road cutting off traffic at the stoplight. Mom came out and there was no car! Then turning around, she saw the car and figured out what had happened. She came running over, not sure what she would see but found us with no harm or injuries.  She said that when she came up to the car, there stood Kevin, at the wheel, with a big, proud smile on his face.  We had rolled right into a huge snowbank, cushioning our stop.  She was so furious, yet so relieved that we were okay. We had fun and lots of adventures while growing up.  

We eventually moved onto Elmendorf AFB and lived in an apartment type building on Apricot Street. Little did we know that our next time there, we would live on the same street, just at the opposite end.

Do you remember the show Mannix?  I don't remember it well, except maybe what I saw in reruns. Sometime while we were there, Mike Connors came up to Alaska and we were able to see him. Mom got dad to take a picture of her standing behind him.  Look at the smile on her face.  She was thrilled to see him in person.  

Mike Connors from the show Mannix
with mom and Kevin in the background.

My parents were very outdoorsy and loved to camp and fish. My brother and I were out camping with them from a very early age. We started out sleeping in tents and slowly moved up to a tiny little trailer just big enough for one person to turn around. But we thought it was heaven after sleeping in the tent. Mom and dad told us one time that they tied a rope around several trees and put us inside the rope and told us to stay and silly us…we did. During our four-year stay at Elmendorf, we made many trips to the woods. 

Me, Mom, Kevin and our little camping trailer

While at Elmendorf, we participated in our dear friends, Jim and Sandy Paxton’s, wedding. It was a real family affair. I was the flower girl. Kevin was the ring bearer and mom and dad stood up with them. We would later be stationed with them again in Alaska, and I would babysit their boys. To this day we are still great friends with these folks.  They have become part of the family. That happens a lot in the military. Those you are stationed with become like family. Many times, you are too far from your hometown and can’t get back often, especially from places like Alaska, so the people you are stationed with help you celebrate your holidays, birthdays, new babies, etc.  They become lifelong friends!

The Paxton's Wedding

Today's Terri's Tibit:  We became grandparents again last night at 6:57 pm, when our newest granddaughter was born.  Joleyna MaeEllen was 8 lbs 1 oz and 19 3/4 inches long.  She is an absolutely beautiful baby and all are doing well!  Congrats Stephanie (my daughter), Bobby and big sister Hannah! We love you!