It says 40 below

Busy first day in Tok. Woke up to 40 degrees below. Moving van had a frozen engine so the movers were late getting to the house (ended up getting a heater and warming up the oil pan to get it started).

Fast Eddy's, Tok, Alaska

Went for breakfast at Fast Eddy’s but it was 11:30am and the kitchen had switched over to lunch. So had to get out of my “breakfast state of mind” and go for something else – salad bar. Then we headed to the grocery store – Three Bears Grocery – for eggs, milk, and such. All the cars and trucks were left running outside the store.

Three Bears, Tok, Alaska

We recently met the manager of the Costco on Dimond in Anchorage who said that Three Bears, by far, is their very best customer. We recognized many of the items on the shelves but not the prices. This isn’t your urban Costco, baby. Welcome to rural Alaska! Then it was to the Post Office to confirm our PO Box, get some change of address postcards (yes, I procrastinated on that one), and purchase some postcard stamps. Felt like we met half the town at the post office but that is pretty typical in a small town – everyone sees everyone at the post office.

Post Office, Tok, Alaska

And everyone sees everyone driving around town when they do get out of their houses and drive around. In fact, my husband’s friend who has lived in Tok for several years saw our truck at the post office and stopped in to say hello. Next we headed to the AP&T (Alaska Power and Telephone) offices to pick up my wireless modem for my DSL connection. Finally, we headed back to the house and it was already starting to get darker, and it wasn’t even 3pm.