Nome, Alaska

Sorry we have been absent for the last 2 weeks, we were in Alaska! It was so busy before our trip, I didn't get a chance to post much. Nathan and I have been planning to go to Alaska since the day we met. He has been there twice and loves it and I have always wanted to go. Nathan's Uncle Denis and Aunt Meana live in Anchorage. When I was pregnant with Leaf, Nathan interviewed for a job in Anchorage. If I hadn't been 8 months pregnant when we were going to move, we probably would have ended up in Alaska instead of Indiana. Our old roommate Doug, took a job in Nome, Alaska last June. As soon as he took the job, we knew we would be up for a visit. Doug is trying very hard to recruit Nathan to Nome. They have decided to write a grant together for now. We went to Nome to check out the program Doug is running. 

This is the NACTEC house (in Nome), where the students are housed while they take 2 week classes. It is beautiful inside.

The boys did well traveling, at least as well as can be expected for kids. We left from Chicago, luckily a friend had told us about park, sleep, fly. We stayed at the Crown Plaza (3 miles from the airport), a very nice hotel with a free 24 hour shuttle, and we got to park our car there free for 2 weeks...all for a whopping $85! Parking alone would have cost more than that. I highly recommend park, sleep, fly but make sure you read the reviews. We originally picked the Comfort Inn or something like it, but we read the reviews about the shuttle and changed our minds. The Crown Plaza had great shuttle reviews (and for us they proved to be true), a pool, fridge in the room, and places to eat within the hotel.

Nome from the south. It was cloudy and rainy the first 2 days we were there but still beautiful and fun.

Our trip out took over 12 hours: 4 hours from Chicago to Seattle, 4 hour layover in Seattle (which is a very nice airport- has a nice play area for kids and organic restaurants), then 4 1/2 hours to Anchorage. Nathan's uncle picked us up and we had dinner with them. They live in a beautiful area, and we got to eat lots of fresh seafood (Uncle Denis is an avid fisherman). Due to the time difference (Alaska is 4 hours different than Indiana), and the fact that it doesn't get dark in the summer, the boys went to bed around 1 am Indiana time-their typical bedtime is 8. We went to bed a few hours later. Again, because of the light and being excited Everest was up at 5am (9am Indiana time). 

Bearing Sea with a little ice still in the water.

We had to be back at the airport by 9 am to fly to Nome. Nome is a small town about 3000 people, but the only way to get there is by plane or, for a few months, barge. Everything there was much more expensive because it has to be flown in. There are only 3 main roads in Nome that go about 350 miles. The one thing Nome is missing is trees.  Nome is located on the Bering Sea and as we drove out of town, we found there was still ice in the water.

More ice in the water.

This was a group of fishing cabins to the south of Nome. Alaska, especially Nome, has a much slower pace of life and the people, Native and non, still depend on the land for a lot of their food and other resources.

We had so much fun in Alaska. I will share more soon.