Red River Flood

Since returning from visiting Kalen at ASBC, I have been dealing with icestorms, lots of snow and the flooding Red River! As of right now the University of North Dakota has been closed until Tuesday to allow students to help prepare for the flood. Right now, the river is pretty bad down in Fargo, being the Red flows north all of that water is going to be heading to Grand Forks later this week.

Last night, I went down town to look at the Red. This is the Sorlie Bridge (on Demers Ave), it was closed down yesterday morning. Across the river, the dikes have been put up and are being depended on to protect the town up to 60 feet of flooding. As of today, we are almost up to 50 feet and have been expected to crest around 54 feet next week. That was prior to getting almost a foot of snow in the last 48 hours!!

In a few minutes I will be going to help sandbag and hopefully work on building some dikes with a couple of guys from Air Force ROTC. Grand Forks is currently filling up as many sandbags as possible, because it is below freezing we can't put build the bags up because they will freeze. The city is working on having sandbagging go 24 hours a day, and have already set up a shelter at the Alerus Center. We have also been asked to try to conserve water over the next few days(which has been loaded with chlorine already to insure that it is safe to drink, yuck!)

My apartment is a ways away from the river, so I am not too worried about any flooding (even though I am on the bottom floor). Luckily, I have my parents pickup truck so if I need to leave town I will be able to pack up and head north to get around the river!

This is another picture from downtown. It is a marker along the Greenway that was built following the 1997 record flooding. The top line is where the river crested 13 years ago, we are expected to get close to passing that record this year. About half of the tower is already under water!

Please pray for this area, I am sure it is going to get much worse for Fargo and possibly Grand Forks.

Jenna

ASBC So Far...

It has been a long time since my last post, but I have been so busy since I arrived here at Maxwell AFB. So far my time here has been great. I've managed to play a few rounds of golf, take a trip to Georgia, and check out some of the local eating establishments.

Our days here are very busy. Usually we start class at 0730 and finish at 1630 (4:30). Since my job for my flight (think of a flight as a team) is the Academic Officer, I am responsible for making sure my flight has the materials they need to pass one of our two academic tests. That means I often have a lot of homework.

We do a lot of fun things here too. My favorite is a game called Icarus. The game involves a lot of strategy, and is kind of like dodgeball. It is based on a lot of the principles of airpower. My position on the field is Offensive Counter Air. That means I have to go into "enemy" territory and try to knock their cones down while their "Defensive Counter Air" throws "ordnance" (dodgeballs) at me to send me to the "Graveyard". Anyways, it is a really fun game, and our flight won our first campaign yesterday.

We also play some wargames on the computer that are a lot like video games. THey are also very fun. I got my first paycheck yesterday. It is nice to finally have some money now!

That's about all I have for now. I'll try to post on here more often if I get some time.

Exciting News!

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Tomorrow Kalen and I will become proud new owners of a 2008 Subaru Impreza! As of right now, we both have Jeeps. Unfortunately I spent a good about of time on Thursday getting mine towed and waiting at Sears Auto Center to get fixed. Luckily it was a quick (and cheep) fix, but I decided not to take the chance that my jeep would not make it across the country this summer! I had looked at this car last August, and because Superior does not have a big market for Subaru’s it was still for sale when I went to our friend’s car dealership on Friday.

After sleeping on it, a little wheeling and dealing, and a few test drives I settled at a price $2,000 less then the sticker price and will be getting a good trade in for the Jeep! As I mentioned, it is a 2008 Subaru Impreza with around 2400 miles. It is a black-ish gray, and very pretty!!

Jenna

Finally Here!

I finally made it to Maxwell AFB near Montgomery Alabama at about 10:00 A.M. yesterday. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to check into my room until 2:00 P.M., so I decided to play 9 holes of golf to fill some time.

After playing golf I had a quick bite to eat and then checked into my room. The room is nothing special, but I do have my own bathroom (where the faucet was leaking!). I managed to move all my stuff in just in time to go have a bite to eat at the DFAC (dining facility) and make it to my 7:00 P.M. meeting. After the meeting I was able to ask my commander, Captain Helton, about joint spouse issues (military spouse information). I received a lot of good info from him and the other officers around. Everyone has been really helpful so far.

Today we had a bunch of paperwork to do. We got done at 1:00 and I went to the grocery store to grab some snacks and needed items. Tonight I am going to go to the officer's club for free dinner with some of the guys I met.

Well, that's about everything I've done since I've gotten here. I'll write again in a couple days. Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!

Alabama or Bust - Day 2

Today I arrived safely in Paducah, KY. The trip was fairly uneventful, and driving through Illinois reminded me much of driving through North Dakota. The first 5 hours of the drive were boring, but the end of the drive actually wasn't too bad.

I am staying at the Holiday Inn again tonight, and since I am in the Holiday Inn "Priority Club" I got upgraded to a suite with a hot tub! I had a great dinner at the restaurant near the hotel - ribs and mashed potatoes. Tonight I plan on relaxing and watching the Biggest Loser. People in Kentucky seem nice so far, and I haven't seen anyone with missing teeth................yet.

Tomorrow I'll be going to Trussville, Alabama. It should be a shorter trip than the last couple days, so I might sleep in a little tomorrow. I miss everyone and will write again tomorrow to let you know how things are going.

Alabama or Bust - Day 1

I started my trip to Alabama early this morning from Hibbing. Eight hours and 450 miles later I have arrived in Beloit Wisconsin. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the Wisconsin region, Beloit lies on the southern border of Wisconsin - about 100 miles northwest of Chicago.

The trip went well for the first 6 hours. The last two hours were complete hell. I thought the trip would never end, and the best part is that I get to do it all over again tomorrow. After watching all the other drivers in the southern part of Wisconsin, I think that I might be the only person left on earth who actually drives the speed limit. On a brighter note, the drive was actually quite scenic. I would put a picture up, but the internet at the Holiday Inn Express leaves something to be desired.

I just got done eating at Applebees by myself. Eating by myself in public is one of those things that I hate doing, but I do it nonetheless. I think I memorized the drink and dessert menu at Applebees while waiting for my food. Luckily the food was pretty good for the price.

Well, that's about all I have for now. The destination for tomorrow............... Paducah Kentucky! Hopefully I'm not the only person there with teeth. I think I will relax for the rest of the night and maybe take in a movie. Check back tomorrow, I'll be writing again!