Alaska Trip - Day 1 and 2

Can't sleep. It's 11:30pm here and I'm exhausted, but there is way too much on my mind to get rest. Plus, it is still very bright out here.

DAY ONE

Where to begin? We woke up at 4:50am two days ago, and James picked us up and brought us to the airport for our flight leaving at 7:30. Fifteen hours later, we were finally in Bethel, exhausted. The low point of the trip was holding Sam in between two sleeping men, one friendly, the other anti-kid, while Sam attempted to "share" every single snack with them. The high point was when we finally landed in Anchorage, after seemingly-twelve-hour-but-really-just-three-and-a-half-hour flight and yelled, "We're at ALASKA!" The rest of the day was bearable. A few tips for traveling with two young children:
- Book your tickets early so that you never have to be separated.
- 3 year olds can not chew gum for more than 5 minutes before swallowing, so don't give them any until the plane actually leaves the ground.
- Sit across from friendly high school-age girls that can entertain your 3 year olds for hours. Thank you, Lord, for that God-send of a girl!
- Never. Ever. No matter how fast you need to exit the plane, think that silly putty should be put in your pocket.
- Don't book a hotel in Bethel that is $50 cheaper than all the rest, and expect it to be clean and user-friendly.

DAY TWO


We woke in Bethel. I crammed next to Ben on the floor on a twin mattress, Nate in a spacious king with Sam. Whatever worked to keep them happy! We hussled to pack up our gear and get to the Grant Aviation air terminal at 7:30. When we arrived, there was nobody there for the first 5 minutes. Then, two people showed up without a key. We waited 15 more minutes before the other employees showed up. Needless to say, we had forgotten we are in the Bush. If they say "check-in at 7:30", that really means "think about waking up at about 7:30". Dang it we forgot about that.

We finally took off on a little Navajo (8-seater) plane. Sam's face was priceless. Ben wanted to color?! They both fell asleep on the plane, as did I, that is until the pilot wrote something down on his flight log. "Low Fuel Injector light keeps coming on. (some other technical term) dial unreadable." Then, he left it open lying on the seat, apparently forgetting that a mother with her two babies was sitting right behind him, able to read the whole thing! After that I was sitting upright and praying like a madwoman. I didn't even tell Nate because 1) I had to turn way around and possibly wake my exhausted one-year-old and 2) you can't even hear your own voice on a Navajo. Well, the fuel injected far enough to get us to Chevak, but I really think we were carried by my prayers!

When the plane coasted to a stop, there was not a soul at the air strip. I tried not to panic, and soon enough we saw the four-wheelers and school truck come barreling down the road. Vinnie (the school janitor) and Leo came to see us! What a big hug I gave Vinnie! We drove through town, and had to keep pinching ourselves because we could not believe we were there.

(Day Two Continued Here)