The Cabin

Hello there!  Ginni here with today's post...  Sorry it's been so long since our last post.  We've been very busy working on getting the house in Florida prepared to put it on the market.  I've never actually sold a house before and it's been a VERY long time since Steve sold one.  So we are both in new territory with this whole thing!  LOL!  However, we're making progress and our plan is to have the house listed on Zillow by September 1st.  Anyone want a house in Sunny South Florida?  Seriously!!!

So what's happening in Alaska.  We hear that there's LOTS and LOTS of whales around!  And the weather's been quite typical of Southeast Alaska.  Sunny and beautiful one day, drizzling and dreary the next...  They've needed the rain so that's a good thing!

We wanted to share some more pictures of the property as it is now so you can see what we have to accomplish once we finally get up there...  Here's some views of why we can call it a jungle right now!  Remember, there hasn't been anyone really on this property except for a few trips in the 1980s when Steve and his brothers and their Dad built the cabin in a picture below.

This is one of the huge cedar trees on the property.  It would be awesome to look what historic events took place as this tree and its twin grew on this property!  Maybe someday we'll do that...

I mentioned a cabin earlier.  Here's some pictures of what it looks like now.  All of the cedar "shakes" (shingles to those who don't know) and all of the logs were hand cut from trees on the property by Steve, his Dad and his brothers back in the early 1980s!  Except for a tree having fallen on the door and breaking the window, the cabin is in EXCELLENT shape and is an amazing look at a moment in time because it looks just like it did the last time Steve remembers leaving it.

The mess in the picture on the far right is mostly because of the tree damage.  It knocked in part of the roof and part of a window which allowed water and dirt, etc. to come in.  That part of the floor is rotten and will need to be repaired.  But other than a few repairs and a good cleaning, it's in excellent shape!  We will be keeping "The Cabin" because it's such an awesome piece of the property's history and because it's in such great shape.  Plus it will be a great place for the grandkids to hang out in someday! 

And I just love the last picture because it's an over 30 year old moment in time!  Not many opportunities to get those!  :)

We hope you've enjoyed these pictures!  We appreciate all your kind comments and encouragement.  For those of you who have asked to be adopted or invited or whatever, our answer is YES!  We may have to charge a small booking fee for running a hotel, but we'll be kind to you all with a friends and family rate.  Hehehe!  We are really looking forward to sharing our beautiful land and our home with all of you and can't wait for everything to happen and for things to really get started!!!

Meanwhile, please be sure to "Follow" us here and on Facebook!  I'll add more pictures on the Facebook page now too so be sure to check there!  I'll even share the one of me imitating an upside down turtle ...(NOT on purpose on my part but a hilarious story!)

Have a FABULOUS rest of the summer everyone!  And again, if you know anyone who wants to move into South Florida, be sure to let them know we're ready to sell and move ASAP!!!  :)

Ginni and Steve

There's a TV Show On "Our Island"!!!

Our new FAVORITE TV SHOW!!!!! The new Port Protection show on the National Geographic Channel has only aired 2 episodes so far but OMG this is AMAZING! The community of Port Protection is located on the Northwest part of Prince of Wales Island which is the SAME ISLAND we'll be living on when we move to Alaska!!! We'll be on the southeast side and about 100 miles away so our weather will be MUCH more temperate than theirs. But the boats they use, the boardwalk sidewalks and docks, the things they hunt and fish for, etc. will all be very similar to what we'll be doing as well! We will also be on the road system which they are not. But still it's a little glimpse into a more remote and wild lifestyle than what we'll be living! CHECK IT OUT!!!  (It's a Facebook link because the show is so new they don't even have it on their website yet!)

https://www.facebook.com/natgeotvUS?pnref=story

The link wouldn't work so copy and paste the link into your browser page...  

And I promise more pictures of our property soon!  We've been concentrating on getting our Florida house ready to be put on the market.  Anyone want a house in Sunny South Florida??? :)  No seriously!  LOL!

Steve and Ginni

We're On Facebook!!!

We can share more pictures on Facebook and we have LOTS of friends and family on there too so we created a Facebook page!  Check it out here - Alaskan Jungle Chronicles Facebook and be sure to "Like" us!
And here are more pictures and an update on what happened next...  From 2007 until 2015 life was full of really big ups and downs.  The economy crashed just as we thought we were ready to sell the Florida house and move to Alaska.  Ginni's parents both got sick and died.  It was a tough time and we despaired that the dream would never happen.  We planned another trip to Alaska to visit family (most of Steve's family and all 3 of his sons live in Ketchkan) and to attend Steve's 40th high school reunion.  We booked the tickets and had no plans to even go to Prince of Wales Island at all.

Then 2 weeks before we left, Ginni's inheritance suddenly got released and we got a surprise homeowner's insurance refund and the next thing we knew we were buying the property from Steve's brother and we were making plans to go visit the property again!  We also knew we'd need to meet people who could help us get things started...  We stayed at a FABULOUS bed & breakfast in Klawock called the Trophy Inn.   And we spent a day tromping through the jungle!  (Having been there in winter the last time we forgot that things would be all grown up in the summer!)


There's at least 2 HUGE cedar trees on the property.  Steve had to cut a tree down to get me across a creek (which is good news because that means we have running water on the property!) We finally broke through the skunk cabbage and muskeg and arrived at the place where we decided would be the best place to build the house.  We even found a relative of Cousin It from the Addams Family!  LOL!

At last we broke through and arrived at the beach.  Oh what a BEAUTIFUL and peaceful spot!  There was a seal in the cove that we frightened when he realized we were there, there were eagles all over, there was deer sign all over the property, and we just sat down and enjoyed the property.  

Neither of us can wait to get back to this beautiful spot!  Oh and the water is a small inlet/cove that is salt water and just off the open ocean.  It's VERY protected in this area.  We will be able to fish, put out crab and shrimp pots, we could even take a boat to Ketchikan on a very calm day!!!

I'll wait a couple of days before I post more pictures and information.  We hope you're enjoying this blog!  Be sure to Like us on Facebook and to comment here please!

The Beginning of the Dream...

Steve and I have been married for 25 years in August 2015.  All that time Steve had been talking about this property in Hollis, Alaska that his Dad (Charlie) had won in a land lottery in the 1980s.  At some point Charlie, Steve and his 3 brothers began to go to the property and cut down trees, cut lumber and cedar shakes and built the cabin below.  Fast forward to 2006 and Steve keeps talking about leaving Florida and going back to Alaska and building a home on this property.  I had never even been to Prince of Wales Island so I had no clue what he was talking about.  So we planned a trip up there.  The only time we could get away was during the holiday season so off we went!

You can't drive to Prince of Wales Island.  It is only accessible by ferry (3 hours) or float plane (15 minutes) from Ketchikan where Steve and his family grew up.  The first time we went the weather had been horrible and being winter it was stormy.  Thankfully the day we took the ferry it was calmer because I tend to get seasick...  It was quite an experience for this city/suburban girl!  So this is the beginning...

Steve and I are Christians and we believe that Jesus has put it on our hearts to build on this land.  We don't know why, but we are trying to be obedient.  Since I'd never been there I told Steve "When I get on the property I will know if it's the right thing for us to do or not."  And I DID know!  I too fell in love with this beautiful piece of land of almost 3 acres in a community that currently has 125 residents!  Since that time we've known that somehow, some way, someday we'd be fulfilling that dream...

There is now a gravel road and electricity to the property!  That was all Steve needed to know to start really believing in his dream!

My very first view of the infamous cabin that Steve, his Dad and brothers built.  Unfortunately a couple of trees had come down near it and partially on it.  But it looked like it was still waterproof!

The Alaskan jungle in winter...  Isn't it beautiful???!!!

My first view of the small cove/inlet that the property sits on.  In another post I'll share the current views.

This is the sign you see when you come out of the ferry terminal parking lot.  Our property is less than a mile from here.

A Hollis traffic jam!  And look at that VIEW!  Grocery store in Klawock is only about 20 minutes away.

While we were driving around Craig (where we stayed on this visit) we saw this eagle sitting on a rock near the road.  I made Steve stop so I could take pictures and the eagle posed for me!  They do NOT sound like the sound you usually hear on the TV but rather have a beautiful sing-song call that I absolutely love and always miss when I don't hear it...

And so the dream began that day...  Unfortunately many things happened since then and it took us all this time to even begin to realize that the dream would finally come true.  We thank God for the opportunity to share our adventures with you, our readers, as we progress with building our dream in the Alaskan Jungle!

Please leave us a comment and tell us what you think!  Oh and I'm pretty new at designing blogs so bear with me while I play around with titles, etc.  LOL!  Blessings, Ginni