In early February Christina and Ashley (two of my cousins) flew to Anchorage and we met up for a long weekend. We borrowed my friend’s car and drove to Aleyska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska. We spent a couple of days skiing and took a road trip to Seward. It was an absolutely WONDERFUL trip. Beautiful scenery and GREAT company! We had so much fun refreshing out skiing skills and Christina and Ashley even re-learned how to ride the chair lift. On our first ride up the mountain, we got half way up the lift and there was a little dock station with a sign that said half way there. We read the sign out loud and all of a sudden they said, “Should we get off here?!” I was like “NO, we’re only half way there!” But while I was responding Ashley already started to hop off (we were past the dock by this point so it was actually more like a fall) and then Christina jumped off close behind her. I remember looking down and seeing Christina just falling from the chair and Ashley sprawled out on the ground below her. They appeared to be ok and I could not contain my laughter! I laughed the whole rest of the way up the lift and back down the mountain where I met up with them. They were good sports about it and we then attempted the lift again with success.
The skiing was awesome and we had a blast. Friday night Chris flew into Anchorage and drove down to Aleyska to meet up with us for sushi. Ashley and Christina were the first family members who got to meet him and report back ;)
Due to sore bodies and a need to explore, we decided to take a road trip to Seward on Saturday. It was a beautiful drive but VERY cold. The car seemed to be acting up and the heat wasn’t working right… but still an enjoyable trip. Seward was SO COLD AND WINDY!!! We took lots of picture of the water and mountain and spent some time in town shopping. It was too cold to stay outside for long so we decided to drive back to the resort . At about 4 am the next morning we left the resort to drive to the airport so Ashley and Christina could catch their morning flight. We were driving along and the car still wasn’t quite right… but when you are in the middle of nowhere and need to catch a flight… what can you do? We kept driving and prayed we would make it in time. About halfway between Girdwood and Anchorage the car started faltering a little bit (we had just passed the avalanche area luckily) and there happened to be a driveway to the right (aren’t a lot of places to pull over on that road). I pulled over and as I did the car died and started smoking like I’ve never seen a car smoke before. We got out of the car, got out our luggage, and ran away from it thinking it may very well blow up! Christina called 911 before we even had time to make a plan, and they contacted the state troopers who hooked us up with a tow truck. We tried so hard to get to the airport in time for the flights… but the tow truck dropped the girls off about 4 minutes after their plane was scheduled for take off. They ended up having to stay at the airport about 24 hours but got their flights rebooked for the next morning. It was a stressful way to end the trip but all in all we had a blast and a very unforgettable trip!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A blizzard tragedy
I forgot to mention that there was a death in one of our neighboring villages, Kipnuk. Apparently a boy was out playing during the blizzard and got lost. Search and rescue couldn't find him in time... there is an article online about this tragedy...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41246763/
Today an elder came into my classroom to tell the students some safety tips. It snowed a lot last night/this morning... big fluffy snow. Apparently when it snows like this and there is any wind there are ALWAYS white out conditions where you can barely even see your own feet. He gave us tips on paying attention to the land so we can locate where we are in a white out and also to pay attention to the wind direction. If we do get lost we are supposed to stay exactly where we are. He also gave tips for if we are driving a vehicle (4-wheeler or snow machine) in that type of weather and if we get injured. His advice was all in Yugtun but Gideon wanted to translate it all for me since he knows that I drive around and walk around the village. I love how people always share their knowledge and give advice to the youngsters and how the kids REALLY listen to the advice and respect it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41246763/
Today an elder came into my classroom to tell the students some safety tips. It snowed a lot last night/this morning... big fluffy snow. Apparently when it snows like this and there is any wind there are ALWAYS white out conditions where you can barely even see your own feet. He gave us tips on paying attention to the land so we can locate where we are in a white out and also to pay attention to the wind direction. If we do get lost we are supposed to stay exactly where we are. He also gave tips for if we are driving a vehicle (4-wheeler or snow machine) in that type of weather and if we get injured. His advice was all in Yugtun but Gideon wanted to translate it all for me since he knows that I drive around and walk around the village. I love how people always share their knowledge and give advice to the youngsters and how the kids REALLY listen to the advice and respect it.
Just another day in the bush...
Had a crazy past couple of days again... ALWAYS something in Bush Alaska!
On Sunday evening we had a big dinner at Dustin's house. It was still blizzarding but Margaret and Oscar decided to come over to teacher housing for dinner. As soon as they got to our house it turned to a white out! They weren't able to go home until 11:30 PM when it just started to get a little bit better. The snow was blowing around so much that it piled up the side of our house and front door worse than before. We had to climb up a mountain of snow to get out of the house. The snow was also covering the exhaust for our house stove. This is apparently really dangerous and caused a mini 'explosion' in one of the other teacher's houses... NO ONE was hurt luckily. I guess it could cause carbon monoxide poisoning if all the fumes back up into the house. LUCKILY we have some pretty amazing neighbors up here.... Dustin and Kristina's husband kept coming over and checking it/shoveling it out/breaking the ice which formed around it. It was about 2 AM and someone was out there working on it for us. That felt pretty good to know what caring neighbors we have.
Yesterday we didn't have any kids at school due to 'mechanical failures'. Mechanical failures in Bush Alaska could mean many things but on this special occasion it meant that the pipes were frozen somewhere between the school and the old village area.... that's over a mile of insulated green piping!!! The sewage was beginning to drip out under the school and a pond of it was creeping closer to my house! EWWW! Teachers ended up having a work day (THANK GOODNESS!) and the problem was 'fixed' in the afternoon... for now at least!
TODAY we had a whole new situation! MY principal came in and let us know that we weren't allowed to send the kids outside (beautiful day) because there were concerns about one of the windmills.... WHAT?!?!?! These HUGE windmills are right behind the school and teacher housing. With the high wind gusts the other day I was becoming a little concerned when I thought about the possibilities that could happen if one of the windmills broke... and then on a nice day there were concerns?! It turned out that we let our kids out at the normal time but there were a lot of parents there to greet the kids today. I'm not sure what the problem was or if there was really a problem... but I don't like the sounds of it.
JUST ANOTHER DAY IN BUSH AK!
On Sunday evening we had a big dinner at Dustin's house. It was still blizzarding but Margaret and Oscar decided to come over to teacher housing for dinner. As soon as they got to our house it turned to a white out! They weren't able to go home until 11:30 PM when it just started to get a little bit better. The snow was blowing around so much that it piled up the side of our house and front door worse than before. We had to climb up a mountain of snow to get out of the house. The snow was also covering the exhaust for our house stove. This is apparently really dangerous and caused a mini 'explosion' in one of the other teacher's houses... NO ONE was hurt luckily. I guess it could cause carbon monoxide poisoning if all the fumes back up into the house. LUCKILY we have some pretty amazing neighbors up here.... Dustin and Kristina's husband kept coming over and checking it/shoveling it out/breaking the ice which formed around it. It was about 2 AM and someone was out there working on it for us. That felt pretty good to know what caring neighbors we have.
Yesterday we didn't have any kids at school due to 'mechanical failures'. Mechanical failures in Bush Alaska could mean many things but on this special occasion it meant that the pipes were frozen somewhere between the school and the old village area.... that's over a mile of insulated green piping!!! The sewage was beginning to drip out under the school and a pond of it was creeping closer to my house! EWWW! Teachers ended up having a work day (THANK GOODNESS!) and the problem was 'fixed' in the afternoon... for now at least!
TODAY we had a whole new situation! MY principal came in and let us know that we weren't allowed to send the kids outside (beautiful day) because there were concerns about one of the windmills.... WHAT?!?!?! These HUGE windmills are right behind the school and teacher housing. With the high wind gusts the other day I was becoming a little concerned when I thought about the possibilities that could happen if one of the windmills broke... and then on a nice day there were concerns?! It turned out that we let our kids out at the normal time but there were a lot of parents there to greet the kids today. I'm not sure what the problem was or if there was really a problem... but I don't like the sounds of it.
JUST ANOTHER DAY IN BUSH AK!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Blizzard in Kong!!!!!!!
As always things have been crazy here in Bush Alaska! For starters a week and a half ago we finally got out running water/flush toilet/shower/laundry back after 2 months of having none of it! We were SO EXCITED! A few days later however... all of the other teacher housing LOST their ability to have running water for a day. Luckily it was only a day...
Yesterday I got a phone call from my principal... "you guys need to limit the use of your water at home and at school as much as possible..." Apparently the pipe is frozen somewhere between the school and the plant... that's about a mile of insulated green pipe.... AGH it's a mess. I have no idea how they will go about fixing the problem... poor people who have to work on this mess! I noticed today that the puddle of sewage under the school has grown... and it's creeping closer to our house! GAH! SICK! There is a chance we won't have school tomorrow until it is fixed because every time the toilet flushes apparently it adds to this pile... only in Bush Alaska....
...so on top of the water/sewage issues we have a blizzard! I'm sitting in my classroom right now and unable to see the windmill out my back window which is only about 300 yards away... ridiculous. It has been 'blizzarding' as they call it here since about Wednesday. There isn't that much snow coming down from what I can tell but all the snow we did have seems to be blowing and drifting worst right around the teacher housing. Rachel thought she would be nice and shovel our stairs yesterday... yesterday was a nice day... today that was ALL filled in again! Kristina's husband shoveled a TON through the middle of a drift 2-3 times and it is all filled in again today... at least we got some awesome photos out of the deal! As I sit here blogging-- it's getting worse and worse outside... I may need to post more pictures again tomorrow!
Rachel's beautiful work yesterday...
and today...
He's wierd...
A view of the newer housing from the new school...
Mason's work... cleared yesterday
Mason's work today...
Our dogs are nuts... all like rolling around/burying their heads in the snow...
They LOVE playing out in the snow!
I'd like to think he loves me... even though I have to hold him in place for a picture with me...
Old but awesome pictures... I needed to post these...
These are older pictures that I got off of Rachel's camera...
This is a picture from our road trip to Kwig back before Christmas... I love the picture so I felt the need to post it :)
This is a picture from when Dustin caught a fox-- it followed him home so there is a good chance it was rabid...
This is a picture from our road trip to Kwig back before Christmas... I love the picture so I felt the need to post it :)
This is a picture from when Dustin caught a fox-- it followed him home so there is a good chance it was rabid...
Rachel's Birthday in Bethel!
Last weekend we went to Bethel to celebrate Rachel's Birthday(we celebrated it a week early because I planned things and of course I would manage to get the dates mixed up!!!). This was the first time in the past 2 years we have decided to leave the village to just go have fun! I didn't take many pictures but I did get pictures of her cake! I bought a little cake at AC in Bethel and Chris and I decorated it while Rachel was taking a nap. It is supposed to be a fish on the top... maybe my 4 years of art class didn't pay off so much for this cake decorating... but it was still delicious and had some pretty cool colored flame candles on it!
Colleen Came to Kong!
COLLEEN CAME TO KONG!! We flew from Indianapolis to Chicago to Anchorage and spent a day in Anchorage. The next morning we flew into Bethel and got weathered there for about 6 hours due to freezing rain in Kong. LUCKILY Chris picked us up at Alaska Air and took us all (Garnet and her sisters joined) on a little tour of Bethel, Alaska. We went on a drive around town and then to see the bunkers from the Cold War. He even managed to get us up in the air control tower. We had a sushi lunch and waited around for the call that planes would fly to Kong. Colleen flew out on her first small plane (she got a caravan on the way to Kong so it wasn't the smallest but on her way out of Kong she did get to ride in a little 207). When we got in we all just chilled out the first night and had some friends over (Margaret!). The next day Colleen experienced her first Slavik and I took her on a tour of Kong (she took most of the pictures while she was in town so sadly I don't have many to post... maybe she will share so I can post them).
Kong from above...
Margaret, Me, Dolly and Alexie at Slaviq
SO GLAD SHE CAME!
He's a goober...
We had fun...
When Colleen was in town we took a trip to the old school so she could compare what we used to have and what we have now! WOW was the old school a mess! Pipes froze so the entry way of the school is just pure ice. There was also a lot of junk left behind and some kids broke into the school and vandalized it a little bit back in November. As you can see in the pictures... the place is a mess...
On Colleen's last day in Kong we were invited to Liz and Margaret's house for Caribou Soup- SO DELICIOUS! After that Bertha had us over for Fried Bread, Salmon Cassarole, Akutaq and a STEAM! Colleen experienced her first Alaskan Steam! She was quite the trooper on this trip and I think she got to experience most of the ways of life in bush Alaska (including a honey bucket because out toilet still wasn't working)!
Kong from above...
Margaret, Me, Dolly and Alexie at Slaviq
SO GLAD SHE CAME!
He's a goober...
We had fun...
When Colleen was in town we took a trip to the old school so she could compare what we used to have and what we have now! WOW was the old school a mess! Pipes froze so the entry way of the school is just pure ice. There was also a lot of junk left behind and some kids broke into the school and vandalized it a little bit back in November. As you can see in the pictures... the place is a mess...
On Colleen's last day in Kong we were invited to Liz and Margaret's house for Caribou Soup- SO DELICIOUS! After that Bertha had us over for Fried Bread, Salmon Cassarole, Akutaq and a STEAM! Colleen experienced her first Alaskan Steam! She was quite the trooper on this trip and I think she got to experience most of the ways of life in bush Alaska (including a honey bucket because out toilet still wasn't working)!
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