The entire trip was an adventure. I had no idea that I would be boarding a plane with only 3 seats! Nor did I expect the passengers to be packages that were on their way to other villages. As I got on the plane the young looking pilot said, "You are wearing EMS clothes. Where are you from?" I replied "Vermont", expecting to get a shrug of the shoulders, but instead he replied with "No way! I am from Vermont as well!" The 15 minute flight to Shaktoolik was breathtaking. I could see the hills and mountains beyond Unalakleet, and we flew parallel to a rain storm which left a gorgeous rainbow cascading over a sunkissed valley.
When I got to the "airport" in Shaktoolik a taxi, I mean Kyle on a 4-wheeler, was waiting for me. We loaded my things onto the front and back of the 4-wheeler and held them down with bungee cords.
After about a mile or so we were at the school. I was greeted at the door by the principal Linda, who gave me a very warm welcome. After I unloaded my things in Kyle's apartment (conveniently located on the second floor of the school) I stopped by Linda and her husband Bud's apartment (also conveniently located on the second floor of the school), and gave them some horseradish sauce that their store in Shaktoolik did not carry. It turned out that my VT connection did not stop at the door of the plane. Linda and Bud have lived in VT for many years, and still return often to visit family.
That night there was a "meet and greet' at the school. Students and family members were encouraged to stop by and visit in a relaxed atmosphere before the first day of school. It was fun to mingle with everyone and try to help students as they participated in a teacher scavenger hunt. They had to find out what teachers matched up with the clues given to them. Some clues included barrel racing, bull fighting, and traveling to various countries.
I had an amazing 2.5 day visit with the students and staff. In addition,the villagers were extremely welcoming to me and I felt like it was my "home away from home". I definitely knew I was "in the bush" when students started saying "I joke" in replace of "I am just kidding", Kyle and I had salmon for dinner, the village had only one road and one store, and the only way in and out of the village was by aircraft.
Next adventure...Koyuk!
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2 comments:
Hello Solitude,
Wow! What a change from VT. Reading about you new adventures in AK is really cool. You made an awsome choice of location to begin your new career. Sounds like you having the time of your life. I have always wanted to fly to a remote location by bush plain. The blog site was a great idea, it looks really good.
Have a wonderful time,
Homebrew
of course about the bush pilot you would normally say maybe, "only in Vermont" or "only in New England" would you meet someone making the world such a small place... but I suppose "only in Alaska" would you meet someone else from VT on a small plane where you are trusting them with your life. I'd rather it be a Vermonter in that case.
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