We flew in today on Alaska Air. This was on one of their "combi" aircraft -- part cargo and part passenger (rows 17-35). It starts off strangely because instead of going down the jetway, you have to go down the stairs and walk across the tarmac to the rear of the plane. The folks in wheelchairs who left the boarding area first ended up being the last people on the plane because the driver who could operate the lift to get them to the plane was late showing up.
We had clear air leaving Anchorage, so we got a great view of the Alaska range... saw some great glaciers. Once we cleared the ridge it clouded up, and I thought I wouldn't be able to see anything else. As we neared the coast, the clouds went away, so we could see the Yukon River... an impressive sight.
Coming across Norton Sound, I managed to get one shot. I was surprised by the amount of open water visible in some areas.
Nome sits right at the edge of the sound... in fact the mushers come up off the sea ice right onto Front Street.
It was cloudy as we came in... and the rest of the day. The temp when we arrived was 1 degree. (Considering that it was 30 below earlier in the week, we did not mind.) Here's the terminal in Nome.
I would have tried a selfie, but the tarmac was sheet ice and trying to balance the phone and the bag containing 10 dozen eggs was not something I wanted to do. We had one of the volunteers fall at Wendy's in Anchorage and break her wrist and another fell at the hotel injuring her foot... I didn't want to be the third to go down.
We are staying and working at the Methodist Church. When we got here today we discovered that the water pipes had frozen - no bathroom. The plumber did try to get things working... but as of this evening we are still waterless. Luckily tonight it is just the two of us and the pastor and his wife are letting us use the bathroom over in the parsonage.
We got in just before lunch, spent some time getting organized (cleaning out cupboards so we can fill them tomorrow when our food is delivered), and even managed to get the 10 cent tour of town as we took another of the volunteers out to the place she will be staying. We went out to the area where the musk ox herd is sometimes visible, but no oxen. I did see one of the gold dredges, the famous burled arch that is the finishing line for the Iditarod, and the infamous Nome National Forest. I will post the picture of that tomorrow. Today I only had my phone, and you can't even see the trees. More to come....
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