North to Kotzebue

Stephen is boarding a flight for Kotzebue (KOT-sa-byoo) as I type. From there he'll transfer to a small plane operated by Bering Air and hop across Kotzebue Sound to the small village of Deering, pop. 136.

Kotzebue sits just north of the Arctic Circle, Deering is just south of it. So he'll cross the Arctic Circle briefly on both legs of the trip. He returns to Anchorage late tonight. Of course, it'll still be daylight for most of his trip.

He's going to Deering to survey a construction project where they're converting what was once the National Guard armory... then the Teen Center... into teacher housing.

I found this photo of Kotzebue on the web.

The populations of Kotzebue and Deering are largely Inupiat Eskimo.