The Kotzebue Report

Stephen made it safely back from Kotzebue this afternoon. He was able to get on the earlier, direct flight from Kotzebue to Anchorage via standby. He said the landing was pretty rough (on his head, not as in turbulence). And he's pretty worn out. Tomorrow, he's going to try to see a doctor and get some meds to knock out what's ailing him.

He was wishing he'd taken a gun with him to Kotzebue. Apparently, he was in the midst of the major caribou migration while he was up there. They were mostly on the frozen waters of Kotzebue Sound, but there were lots of them! Maybe next year...

Kotzebue sits about 20 miles above the Arctic Circle on the tip of a slim peninsula jutting into Kotzebue Sound on the northwest coast of Alaska. (Check it out on Google Earth or Google Maps.) It's not as far north as Barrow, but it's up there! The sun rose at around 10:45am and set at around 6:30pm. Stephen took a photo of the setting sun.

He and one of his colleagues lodged at the local hotel, I believe the only hotel in Kotzebue. It is the orange 2-story building in the photo. The other sign on the building reads "Arctic Chiropractic".

As you can see by the photos of the streets and buildings of Kotzebue, there is no point in trying to bury any powerlines. Permafrost.

I'm surprised by the number of cars and trucks there seem to be. Considering there's no place to drive to from there, just the streets within the village itself, there seem to be quite a few vehicles. Stephen says you can rent a car there for $145/day. Lots of folks use ATV's and snowmachines as well. This seems more logical.

As for other pricing, a gallon of milk was $9.95, a dozen eggs was $6.00. It was cheaper for people to fly to Anchorage, buy their groceries there in bulk (like twice a year) and mail it back to Kotzebue via the US Postal Service than to shop at the store in Kotzebue. Of course, for perishables like milk and eggs, there's little choice. The store in Kotzebue (as in almost all Alaska villages) is apparently owned and operated by Canadians. Hmmmm.

Stephen took a photo of this poster which was on the wall in one of the buildings he was inspecting. It shows the Inupiaq Alphabet. Here is the text that's displayed on it:

Thousands of years ago the Eskimo crossed the massive land bridge connecting the region now known as “Beringia.” Spreading eastward, Eskimos came to occupy an area stretching from Siberia to Greenland. Though relatively few in numbers, the indigenous home of the Eskimo groups now covers the largest geographical area of all of earth’s cultures.

In Alaska, the indigenous home of the Inupiaq people skirts Norton Sound, includes the Seward Peninsula, and arcs through the Northwest Arctic and the North Slope Boroughs.

Elders hold a special place in Inupiaq society. They are a source of wisdom, inspiration, and a living link to history and culture. Lessons are handed down from generations past through the story-telling of today’s elders. While it is rare today to hear a child speak fluent Inupiaq, elders have kept the Inupiaq language alive and interest in learning the language is growing. With guidance and support from elders the survival of culture and Inupiaq ways lives on.

Pretty interesting, huh?

Okay, well that's all for this episode. Tune in next time for another riveting adventure of "The Cold and The Dutiful".

Safe and almost sound

In case you were on the edge of your seat, Stephen made it safely to Kotzebue. He said the flight wasn't that bad. A little rough getting one ear to pop after the landing, but otherwise not unbearable.

He sounded very tired when we spoke to him on the phone. His work phone has reception, but not his personal cell phone.

Exploring Kotzebue

Stephen has just departed the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage en route to Kotzebue (kot-sa-byoo) in northwest Alaska. He'll be up there for about 3 days doing some inspection work on one of their buildings.

Next week he may be spending his birthday in Chefornak which is on the southwest coast of Alaska, much smaller than Kotzebue. There are no hotels in Chefornak or restaurants. He'll be sleeping in the school which is what he'll be going there to inspect.

These field trips would be much more enjoyable if he hadn't been very sick for the past 2 weeks. We think he probably has a sinus infection by now. And his head hurts considerably whenever he sneezes or coughs or moves. I hope the flight doesn't do him in... It's only an hour and a half flight to Kotzebue. And generally, it's the landing part that really bothers his head. He claims if he blows his nose continuously during the landing, it's better. Otherwise, it's excruciating.

If he takes any nice photos, I'll try and remember to post them to the blog.

Halloween Part 1

The Halloween festivities have begun!

This past week, Alicia has worn her costume for 4 separate events already. Dance class on Wednesday. School carnival on Thursday. Trick or Treat Town dance recital and a party at our house yesterday. This afternoon we're going to the church Harvest Festival where she'll be dressing up again...

It's no wonder Halloween is one of her favorite holidays. She loves to dress up and she loves candy!

Her official costume this year is a Princess Kitty. I made her a little collar with the name "Princess" embroidered onto it. And she wears a little tiara with her furry purple kitty costume. Living in Alaska, it's absolutely essential to have a warm costume for Halloween night. There's always at least a little snow around by then.

The problem is, many of the pre-Halloween events are held indoors. It turns out the kitty costume is sweltering hot! She wore it Wed and Thurs, burning up each time. And by the time Saturday rolled around, she boycotted the kitty costume and grabbed something out of her Disney princess dress-up box to wear instead!

So it was Snow White who performed on the stage at Trick or Treat Town in Anchorage. That's a fun activity held annually in the huge garage of a local phone company. Kids wear their costumes and go trick-or-treating through a maze of little storefronts with volunteers dressed in costumes handing out candy. There are a few food vendors, a stage with scheduled performances (including Alicia's dance studio), some bounce houses and other random entertainment. It's a great way to have some Halloween fun in a safe, warm environment.

After Trick or Treat Town, we had to bolt back to the house because we'd scheduled our October gathering of our Extended Family Group (EFG) from the church to be at our house from 3-6pm yesterday afternoon. Three other families with small children joined us with their costumes and some nibbles for some relaxing Halloween-inspired fun. Tess helped with face painting. Alicia went from Snow White to a pixie costume. The kids enjoyed playing with Alicia's toys. (It's always fun to play with someone else's toys!) And the house got clean! Yay!

From God's House to Ours

I've been looking for some new living room furniture for a long time, even before we bought the new house.

I knew the style and color scheme I wanted. But buying them from a store was always far down on the list of budgetary priorities. So I'd scour the craigslist and "leaving the state, can't take it with us" yard sales. But hadn't had much luck.

A couple weeks ago, I was scheduled to watch the 2-3 year olds during Sunday school in the newly renovated little-kid room at the church. In the room was a new couch and love seat. I complimented the pastor's wife, Judy, on how nice they were. She said someone had donated them to the church, but they weren't sure if they'd keep them in the toddler room or not. I told her if they chose to get rid of them, we'd buy them from the church.

The next Sunday, she asked if we were still interested. Absolutely! They were the exact style I'd been looking for and the perfect colors for our living room. As it turned out, the set also included a chair and ottoman. We offered her a price, she dropped the price by almost half and we now have an awesome new set of living room furniture for about 25% of what they'd have cost us at the store.

Ain't life grand?

Moving on up...

Donald turned 18 on Wednesday. So according to the records, he's now a "man". Hmmmm....

I started my new job on Monday and am loving it. I've got to run at the moment. But I've felt like I've been lagging on the blogging lately, so I wanted to put up a quick posting... More to follow!

How I Spent My Last Day Off

Things are going well here in Alaska.

Yesterday was my last day as an employee of the State of Alaska. On Monday, I start my new job with DOWL Engineers in Anchorage.

I had every other Friday off with the State, so yesterday was actually an "off-day" for me. I spent the day running errands and getting lots of things done which I probably won't have time to do once I start the new job.

My day began at the tire shop where I had intended to have my summer tires swapped out for my studded tires. Unfortunately, my studded tires didn't have enough remaining studs to get me through another winter. So I ended up buying some new Glacier Grips... Aren't they pretty?

I kept the old studded tires to use as next year's summer tires once we pull out the remaining studs.

Now that Tess has a car and a license, we need to put her on our auto insurance policy. I checked what the rate increase would be to add her to our existing Allstate policy. It was going to more than double our monthly rate and be more than $500/month! The kids are paying for their own vehicle expenses like insurance and gas. I can't imagine Tess trying to come up with more than $250/month... "Executive Secretary" position or not... And that $500+/month rate didn't even include Donald at all as he still doesn't have his license.

Needless to say, I spent part of yesterday shopping around for a better auto insurance deal. We ended up going with State Farm, with whom we had our existing homeowner's insurance for the AK house. Their rate was $303/month. Much better! They were lower than Geico also... Plus, they have a "Steer Clear" program of self-study for the teens. Once they watch a DVD and work through a driving log, the rate drops by another 15%. If you have young drivers, I highly recommend looking into State Farm.

In the afternoon, I picked up Tess from school and stopped into the office to pay for her parking permit for this semester.

Then we went to the brand, spanking-new, Target store in Anchorage. Folks around here have been salivating in anticipation of the Target store opening in Alaska. They opened one in Anchorage and one in Wasilla. These are the very first Target stores in Alaska.

Living here in Alaska, after having lived in the lower-48 means missing the franchises you left behind. While we have many of the biggest franchises here in AK (Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Mickey D's...), there are many favorites which are noticeably absent (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and until this week... Target).

Who says Palin doesn't have foreign policy experience? She's been dealing with foreign policy with the United States her whole life as a resident of the foreign country of Alaska.

Tess has joined the Cotillion Club at school. During the year, the Club has 5 dances at the Hilton in downtown Anchorage. You have to be invited to join and willing to abide by the rules. Basically, you have to act properly and wear appropriate attire. No jeans, no sneakers... Supposedly dresses must come to the knee (but they seemed to be lax on this rule).

The dance went from 8-11:30pm. That was a late commute for me. I'm not comfortable letting Tess drive on the Glenn Highway that late at night on her own.

This weekend, we hope to construct Alicia's play structure in the side yard and get the Christmas lights up before snow falls! The temperatures are up in the 40's, so at least it's warming up!