Monday morning 1-31 I headed for Anchorage to get my new leg. At Girdwood (about 50 miles south of Anchorage) road control was up. A number of avalanches were north of there. By the time I found all this out there were avalanches to the south also. It was snowing real heavy & I would be there till the roads were cleared.

In a 36 hour period the snow fall was 72 inches. Was able to get a handicap room at the Alyeska Princess Resort on the 6th floor. Nice room good view but no maid service. For a 5 star resort the food was not that good & very expensive. Very nice Lobby with a polar bear & scene behind it & at night the ceiling above looked like the northern lights. There is a pool & hot tub both with handicap lifts.

Tuesday it went from bad to worse. Rain & more avalanches. all 4 handicap parking spaces were taken up by non handicap cars that the hotel refused to move. That afternoon the snow started to fall off the roofs with lots of noise & shakes in the room. This went on through Thursday. Tuesday night went out to dinner a couple miles down the road.

Great food wonderful dinner. As I was finishing dinner a lady came in asking who owned the red Durango. (me) She had backed into my drivers side rear door. Dinner ended up in a snow bank. Wednesday afternoon decided to try the pool & hot tub. As I was getting ready to go buy a swim suit the power went out. No TV, no pool & only lights in the bathroom. The resort does have emergency power but it limits to power in the cafe bar front desk & 1 elevator at half speed, which they turn off after 11:00 PM till 7:00 AM.

Thursday morning called to see if we (myself & my son) could get a plane out. Was told we were #12 & 13 on the list & that they would call us. At 1:00 I called back & was told that that list had been thrown away & to get to the airport. Finally at 5:00 PM after raising a stink about the morning list we got on a 4 passenger plane & bounced our way to Anchorage. Both our Durango & Jeff's truck were left at the hotel. Jeff flew home & I spent the night.

I had a little shopping to do. New running shoes for the new leg, CD-R's etc. I am dealing with a open sore just below the knee in the back of my stump. It had gone from the size of a dime to a quarter. Friday morning I went to get the new leg & 2 hours later I walked out with the old leg in hand. Went to the airport & had the skycap take my bag, walker & "the Leg" to the ticket counter. Was worth seeing the looks from almost everyone at the airport. The ticket lady was very concerned & worried about "the Leg" hehe. You would think she thought it was made out of glass. She just had to find a box for it & did.

The plane was due to leave in half hour. Got to loading area & was told that we had to wait till a mechanic arrived with a part for another plane that was stuck in Kenia (nice warm fuzzy feelings)[NOT]. Home glad to be here & the new leg fits good. The 1st hour of putting it on is not great as the sore feels like there is a big hot poker against it. Then it settles down.

Sunday went to get the Durango. Got there & started to drive home 50 miles down the road the brake light & ABS light came on in the dash. No warning no noise nothing. Stopped, looked felt etc. Luckily the friend that had driven me up had stopped at the pass because he had been in front of me. Drove to a rest area about a 1/4 mile ahead, parked & locked up. We drove another 35 or 40 miles till the cell phone worked.

Called my wife who called Chrysler Roadside Service. They dispatched a tow truck from Anchorage but he would need the keys. Back to the Durango & left the keys. Monday morning a service writer called & said it was my fault that the brakes were out & it would be around $2000. Well after a few hours on the phone, service manager, general manager, sales manager, finance manager etc., kinda got it straight. The service writer is now unemployed.

Tuesday morning Margot said she would never trust the Durango again. About that time the service manager called to give me an update & I had him get me the sales manager. Tomorrow or Saturday our new 2000 Durango will be delivered to us here in Soldotna hehe. Of course our payments went up a little but the ashtrays are empty & clean hehe.

The stump: Now the sore is the size of a 50 cent piece & Steve said not to wear the leg for a week & half. Steve is here in Soldotna tomorrow & I will see him & he will take the leg back to Anchorage to put the cover on it. Then Fed-X it back Monday. The Moral of the story is never get stuck in an Avalanche & learn to laugh at everything.

Thor