Beautiful Boggy Alaska

Stephen made it back from Bethel at around 8:30 last night. Sorry to say, he missed Survivor since it comes on at 7pm here. We generally see TV airings at the "Central" time listing, which has taken some getting used to. We've actually missed shows we wanted to catch because we turned the TV on just in time to see the end credits scrolling.... I know, not a major life crisis, but still annoying.

Anyway... back to Bethel. This town sits near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River. The Kuskokwim flows into Kuskokwim Bay which is part of the Bering Sea. Of all the rivers in AK, I believe the Kuskokwim is 2nd largest after the Yukon which empties into the Bering Sea a little ways north of the Kuskokwim.

[Sidebar: The word Kuskokwim is cumbersome to type... Must practice: Kuskokwim, Kuskokwim, Kuskokwim. Nope... not helping.]

Stephen reports that the region around Bethel is very flat and full of wetlands. I believe, contrary to popular belief, a VERY large percentage of the state of Alaska looks just like that. Treeless, flat, boggy. Yes, we do have high mountains and wide rivers... but we have a lot of room up here and those mountainy features don't actually take up the majority of it.

When Stephen arrived home last night, he almost crawled up the stairs. Apparently, he'd thrown his back out as he was leaving the house (loading supplies into his truck). And he'd spent the whole day hobbling around in pain. Then his flight from Bethel was delayed, so he was pretty well whooped by the time he got to the house. Poor guy. :o(