The Alaskan Adventure

The Alaskan Adventure

The adventure is on!!!
Just as a way of introduction and explanation: our son Bob accepted a contract to be the vice principle in a school (K thru 12) in Emmonak, Alaska. His wife Jodi was subsequently offered a teaching position in the same school. The only problem was who would care for their 2 year old son Lucas? That is where Evie and I came in the equation. Not wanting to see them pass up a good opportunity, we volunteered to move up with them and care for our grandson. Since I have had experience teaching (Univeristy of Mass) I offered to do any substitute teaching if the the opportunity was available. That offer was excepted, so off to Alaska we went. On Monday the 27th we went to diner with our dear friends Barb & Dean and Deb & Steve. One of the parting gifts we received was a cute Boyd's Collection Moose. I thought it would be cute to "follow the moose" in his travel adventures to Alaska. So let's follow Mr Moose.

Looks like Mr Moose was thinking of traveling somewhere other than Alaska...

It wasn't until we notice the Chugach Mountain Range that Mr Moose realized he was heading north and not south.

Anchorage Airport greeted us with what else but rain and a celebration banner honoring Alaska's 50th Year of statehood.

Mr Moose quickly found his old friends and felt right at home again.

Mr Moose was hungry so off to his favorite place to eat. So we had a great Alaskan breakfast at Gwennie's Old Alaska Restaurant.

It has been 40 years since we lived in Anchorage, so Mr. Moose purchased a map to help us get around the city. We only had a day and a half to shop and get stuff shipped out to Emmonak, so time was an issue.

Mr. Moose explored a couple of options on how to get to Emmonak from Anchorage and decided air was the best way to go.

It was a tight squeeze but it was better than the dog sled option.

Emmonak is located on the Yukon Delta, so the area is basically low land tundra and void of any mountains.

We finally arrived in Emmonak. Notice the tarmac and the terminal. When I asked where athe men's restroom was, I was directed to a field location behind the building!! welcome to the Alaskan bush..... As you can see, the super highway from the air strip to our new home was anthing but smooth or super.

Our home in the bush!! We live on the left side. It is a 3 bedroom unit with one bath and is only bout 40 yards from the front door of the school. But first we had to unpack the containers we sent ahead and start cleaning the place.

The following pictures will give you a flavor of village life in rural Alaska. We have two stores in town one located at either end of the village (AC - Alaska Commercial and the Yukon Delta Fish Marketing Co-op ie Company store). As you can see, inside the company store looks like any grocery store, but the prices are thru the roof!!! Inside the company store there is a deli where one can purchase things like deep fried stuff ie fries, chicken etc. The per capita income of Emmonak is $9069. so the village like most is on welfare. Most of the natives purchases that I have noticed are via their welfare credit cards.

The red building is the local Alaska State troopers. We have two assigned to Emmonak but are usually flying around to other villages escorting the bad guys to Bethel or Anchorage. Also pictured is the local jail (brown building) which is just around the corner from our house, the local Catholic Church and the only restaurant in town which is open from 4pm to 2am daily and on weekends from 4pm to 4am. I guess this town never sleeps.

We are fortunate to have a very nice clinic in Emmonak that treats everyone and not just the local natives like what you would find in most of the villages (last picture). Also pictured is the Post Office, the Village Business Office and the top picture the Village Center.

Here is the local laundry mat and typical homes in Emmonak. Notice that all the plumbing etc is above ground. The villages are designed for handing the cold winters and permafrost so the plumbing is above ground in heated lines. The sewage is moved along via a vacuum type pump system which seems pretty efficient but a bit noisy. The homes are also build several feet above the ground to protect from flooding etc.

Emmonak School from the front steps of our house. These pictures were actually taken around midnight! I guess that is why they call Alaska the "land of the midnight sun".

On Tuesday the 11th, I had the opportunity to take a river boat trip to two village school locations along the Yukon. My travel companions were Hank (independent contract plumber) and Ray our school's head maintenance guy. He owns two boats that he uses mostly for fishing during the summer and boat trips like our for the local teachers and district administrators. He told me he averages about $50K during the summer months doing commercial fishing. He has lived in Emmonak all his life so he really knows the river and where you need to go for their annual subsistence type fishing and hunting.

On the way out of Emmonak, you can see the fish processing barges. At the end of September, they shut down operations and move the barges for winter storage.

The local K-12 school in Alakanuk. Notice the large play porch for the kids during bad weather.

The HUD housing built for the local natives and trailer type housing for the teachers.