Barging In

A smaller barge that lives in Nanwalek.  It's owners also
own one of the stores so it makes a lot of grocery runs. 

The Helenka B fully loaded.  There's another small propane
truck hiding on the other side of the large truck.  You can also
see a semi-trailer behind the big propane truck (they used the
same truck to pull them both off).  And someone somewhere
just got a nice new minivan!

Anyone who followed our trip to Alaska several years ago is familiar with the Helenka B.  She's the former World War II minesweeper, turned commercial barging vessel I talked about in "De Barge, de Barge."  She's not, however, the only barge to service the community.  Being a community on the water, Nanwalek is very familiar with barges.  In fact, there are a couple who call Nanwalek home. They are much smaller than the Helenka B, but definitely have some advantages.  If you're bringing stuff over on the smaller barges, you pretty much only have to wait on the weather.  The drivers are pretty flexible and will usually make things work around your schedule when the weather allows them to.  The large barge (that's fun to say) doesn't have to wait on the weather, but it comes when it's ready.  If it doesn't have enough of a load for the owners to consider it worth the time and energy, it doesn't come, regardless of your sense of urgency.

They have to help the big trucks get up off of the beach.

The smaller barges can also be a little pricier, typically starting at $600 a trip and going up from there.  The same load may cost $1000 on the smaller barge and be as little as $200 on the large barge, but you have to be willing to work with its schedule.  Besides your sense of urgency, the size of your load will also determine which barge you choose.  If you're bringing over three propane trucks to fill up the propane farm, obviously you'll use the Helenka B.  She can hold all three propane trucks, another semi-truck trailer loaded down, the equipment necessary to pull those trucks off the boat and up the beach, and have room to spare for pallets of other miscellaneous freight.  She usually comes to the village about 3 or 4 times a year with the propane trucks and whatever else anyone has managed to add to the load.  Regardless of what it's bringing, it's always fun to watch.  

Kitty!!!

As you read in my previous post, I went 44 days without my kitty.  That . . . was . . . terrible.  Jesus only went 40 days without food.  I had hoped to have her flown up so that we could pick her up in Anchorage on our way from Missouri.  Shipping pets in the summer is easier said than done, though, so we weren't able to make that happen.  I just had to suffer through eternity without her.

Selfies in the hotel!  Can you tell I'm happy?

Getting her became an adventure in itself.  I tried to pack as light as possible because I would have the cat in a carry bag and the carrier she was shipped in to bring back with me.  I managed to get everything in my little Snoopy backpack except for the litter box and my little bag of kitty litter for the hotel.  Needless to say I had a few strange looks on my flight from Kenai to Anchorage.  I had about 5 hours to kill in the airport between my flight and her arrival.  Most of that time I spent working on more duckies and getting more strange looks as I carried around my kitty litter box and my Snoopy backpack.

After getting lost with the cab driver looking for the cargo facility, I had to explain that I had just taken my driver's test so I didn't actually have a valid ID with my address.  When I started pulling out my paperwork, they decided they were satisfied with my identification as it was.  We then went to the hotel to get settled in for the night, but Sunny was too stressed from the trip and I was too worried she wouldn't use the litter box to get much rest.  We might have been tempted to sleep on the plane but our flights were bumpy enough to keep us wide awake all the way home.  I spent a lot of time saying "Jesus, keep me safe." and I'm sure Sunny spent a lot of time thinking, "Mommy, I hate you."  All was forgiven as soon as we got home, though.  I don't know if she actually remembers being here before or not, but it was definitely familiar because she settled in almost immediately.  By the next day she was expecting salmon on demand and she has again resumed the never ending battle with her tail.  She is home.

Sea Lion Study

A couple weeks ago (I know I'm terribly behind) we got to watch as they did a sea lion study on the beach.  Alaska Fish and Game has created the Steller Sea Lion Research Project to collect data to aid to help the recovery of sea lion populations in Alaska.  Since sea lions are protected animals and typically cannot be hunted this can be difficult to do.  Alaska Natives, though, can hunt sea lions and other protected animals for a couple reasons.  First, there are many areas in Alaska that are so remote survival can depend on the hunting of protected animals.  It is also an important part of maintaining their cultural traditions.  Since members of the community can hunt sea lions, they work with the Research Project which enables the organization to gather information it otherwise wouldn't be able to get.  A couple weeks ago, a researcher from the Research Project was in the community, so one of the community members brought in a sea lion for her to collect data.  For each sea lion they take basic body measurements and then tissue samples to examine for evidence of environmental contaminants that could affect the animal's health.

Numbers

I've seen in magazines where they'll have a section titled numbers.  The section is exactly what it sounds like, numbers related to the main subject of the issue or numbers from the news of the week.  I thought it might be fun to have a numbers list for our trip from Missouri to Alaska.

4437.1-  miles driven to Anchorage
2 -  lakes of death
2 - cliffs of death
420 - gallons of gas to get to Anchorage
10.56 - average fuel mileage
27 - stops for fuel (we are deliberately not adding up the cost of those fuel stops)
$7.42 - highest fuel cost per gallon
12 - nights in a hotel
1 - night slept in the back of the truck
11 - pillows in our bunk in the back of the truck
5 - duckies embroidered along the trip
2 - trips taken by both the plane and the barge to get our stuff to Nanwalek

And the most important number of all . . .
44 - days without my kitty!!

I didn't think I could describe the duckies very well,
so I thought it best to include a few pictures.  Working
on these little guys kept me from falling asleep on
Mike too much while he drove.

The Evolution of Conversations of Jesus

Anyone who knows me, knows I start each plane ride with a little conversation with Jesus.  A couple weeks ago I had several plane rides to reflect on that little conversation and how it has evolved.  My first travel “conversation” happened on the back of a motorcycle on my first ride.  I did really well on our gravel road, but then we hit the pavement.  All I could think of was just how close that pavement was as it passed by at a rate of 60 miles an hour and “Please, God, don’t let me die today.” was born.  That little conversation carried me through many bumpy flights when we were up here before and every motorcycle ride I’ve ever been on.  Sometimes it became a conversation starter, “Wait, I can’t die today.  I don’t have a will made. . .Later, on another flight, it got even stickier.  “Please, God, don’t let me die. . . But what if we go down and it’s really bad?  I might rather die than live in that state.  So, don’t let me die unless I’ll be in really bad shape.  But where do we draw the line between the two? God, use your judgement, you know what’s best.  But . . . that’s still pretty tough.  Uh . .  . Jesus keep me safe.”  The evolution had begun.

Then, on the back of a motorcycle again, it got a little deep.  We were cruising along at a rate of speed faster than I cared for, but when you’re number two in a line of a dozen bikes, you can’t fall back and do your own thing.  As we sped by a rock face I felt was far too close, “No, really, God, I mean it, don’t let me die today.”  From there we launched into a pretty lengthy discussion about the faith of mustard seeds and whether that was a lesson in faith or if it was really just spiritual blackmail.  So my conversation became simple.  “Jesus, keep me safe.” and that was it.  I have faith so the conversation need be no longer.  Then, my last flight happened.  It was one of only three flights attempted that day because of the weather and one of those went back without trying to land because it was so bad.  As I’m staring at the floor and gripping the seat, all I’m thinking is “Jesus, keep me safe.  Jesus, keep me safe.  Jesus keep me safe. . .”  Obviously, I’m a work in progress and He still has much to do.

Salmonberries

Picked berries or "party in a bowl"

Being a country girl, I have spent plenty of time waging battle with vicious briars and risking the serious discomfort of chiggers for the yummy goodness to be found in blackberries.  I suppose I inherited the satisfaction that comes from bringing home treasures from nature since my dad was actually picking blackberries when I was born.  He simply enjoys the picking part, I on the other hand endure the picking part for the those little black bundles of goodness.  They are yummy in jelly, they are yummy in pie, and they are especially yummy with a little sugar on waffles.  This summer, however, I was a little dejected because I didn't get to pick any blackberries.  I didn't have the time to spare to pick them and was actually a little relieved it was too dry for them to be worth picking.

Little did I know, I had a little surprise waiting for me in Alaska:  salmonberries!  The plants and berries are very similar so they are clearly related to the blackberry.  Blackberries, though, have giant thorns that reach out and grab you, while the salmonberries have small stickers that I didn't really notice.  Salmonberries also come in two varieties with two different colors which can make determining ripeness a little challenging, but that brings the effect one website I ran across described as looking like a "party in a bowl".  You also don't have to worry about running across ticks, or chiggers, or snakes while picking them.  I kept finding myself stepping very slowly and looking in the bushes for snakes as I picked.  Then I would have to remind myself that I am in Alaska.  There are no snakes.  Only bears.  Then a really strong wind came through and stirred the bushes up while I was picking and gave me a moment of panic as I thought a bear might make me dinner.  Since there was not bear, I was able to make the berries my dinner.  They have a hint of a blackberry flavor to them with a mixture of a floral flavor as well making for a very yummy, and festive pie.

Salmonberry pie

And it's still festive

Technological Revolution

We have internet!!!  And telephone!! And TV!! Okay, that’s not really a technological revolution, but it definitely feels like one at this point.  Maybe I can be a little more regular in posting now that I don’t have to go to the school to get online.  Living in a remote location obviously complicates things.  We have to fit into the technicians’ schedules which can be challenging in itself.  Since it takes longer to get here and back, they really have to give an entire day of their schedule to the trip to leave room for unexpected delays.  Since they are losing an entire day to the job and will have to pay a decent chunk of money for transportation, being able to wait until there is more than one job to do while here is also beneficial.  Then, even if everything else has aligned itself perfectly, we still have to contend with the weather.  It doesn’t matter how perfectly everything is arranged if the winds are too sketchy for the planes to fly.  So getting it all in place has taken a little while, but now that it is here, we are celebrating!

Technology has also been the source of a serious internal struggle.  I have always taken a little bit of pleasure in not having a smart phone.  Anyone who knows me, knows I am certainly not glued to my cell phone.  I treasure the freedom to experience and enjoy the moment rather than missing out on something because I’m so busy trying to capture and share it.   To be honest, I may or may not even have my phone with me at any given time and whether or not it has been charged recently or turned back on after charging is equally questionable.  I do not need a smart phone.  I do not want a smart phone. . . I have a smart phone.  Now THAT is a technological revolution.  One I am not happy about, I might add.  I am nothing, if not practical, though, and it ended up being the most practical choice.  While it makes absolutely no sense, the cell plan is actually cheaper with a smart phone than a “basic service phone” (they seem to get a little offended if you call them dumb phones).  On top of that, with WiFi calling, I can use my cell phone in the village.  Apparently WiFi calling’s not a new thing, but I have never heard of this strange voodoo magic.  Who would have thought  living in the bush would force me to join the technology era, but irony has always been the story of my life.  I guess I shouldn’t expect that to change now.