Flying Adventure

Every trip to Bush Alaska has it's own fine and pleasant misery. I left yesterday to overnight in Anchorage so I could make the early Bethel flight. I arrived at about 10 pm at the Comfort Suites and got a 4:45 am wakeup call. Yawn and a donut and shuttle to the airport at 5:15 for the 7 am departure.

No problem checking my bags of food, sleeping bag, clothes and educational materials all the way to Scammon Bay...Alaska Airlines and ERA Aviation are partners, after all. I checked in at the ERA/Frontier desk for the connecting flight to Scammon in Bethel because I had about 40 minutes between flights and they were about 1/2 miles of cold apart. Leisurely latte and Egg McMuffin. Hey, mentor Carol Jerue is sitting next to me. Right on.

The plane needed to be de-iced due to the 4 inches of snow and still accumulating. Closing the doors early? Alright! Early but couldn't be better! Waiting 7:00. Waiting 7:10. Still waiting 7:20. Finally leaving at 7:30. Bumpy due to 30-40 mph winds in Bethel.

I arrived in Bethel at 8:45 and the Scammon ERA flight is scheduled for 9:00 departure. I checked with the Alaska Airlines desk to make sure the bags would be transferred. "What? We don't transport bags!" I showed him the bag tags and he scoffed. "In Anchorage, they know we don't transport bags!" to which I replied that apparently they don't know any such things. I waited for my bags to make their way around the conveyor belt- finally they arrived. The Hageland van hadn't arrived yet so I called them and asked them to hold the plane. "I'll see what I can do" was the tentative response.

The van came, I re-checked in my bags (20, 23 and 14 pounds) The cheeky pilot said that he would always wait for me. Isaac Hill and I were the only passengers next to the mountain of pop(s) and canned goods. In Hooper Bay, the wind was really blowing and new passengers got on with rosy cheeks and face masks.

The views were breath-taking as usual with stone people grimly facing the frozen sea. The sea ice was frozen into place and only the pilot's navigational screen discriminated between land and sea. Scammon Bay was a welcome sight- tucked in out of the wind (today). The flag pole broken in two gave mute testimony to the fierce wind potential.

I'm hunkered down in the resource room with a shower/bathroom close by and an internet connection and iTunes' Bob Dylan. Back to a day of respite and hard work before renegotiating a trip between here and Hooper Bay because "routing will decide if you are going to get on". But, that's another day.

Shoutout to Chrystal for having Jean and I over for home-made chicken pot pie and cake with jam and Cool-Whip. Thanks!

Alaska teacher job openings (that I know about): Fairbanks- 4 month long-term sub for North Pole Middle School, pre-school/kindergarten liaison to live and work in Nunam Iqua and commute to Scammon Bay and Emmonak (on-going), after school program coordinator in Fairbanks- part-time for SESA for next school year. Anyone unemployed?