Lynnae and I finally made it to Koyuk this evening! We departed Anchorage at about 2:15, arrived in Unalakleet around 3:45, then Koyuk around 5:00. I've started a photo album on Google+ and the link should be able to take you straight to it.
Koyuk Web Album
Below are the lessons that I have learned (so far) from our journey:
1. Checking bags early is totally not necessary on a bush flight. Your plane boards at 2:00 and departs at 1:40? Pfft, no worries. Show up at 1:00 to check your bags (although really, this is still a bit early) and don't expect to even think about boarding until at least 2:00.
2. The complimentary sugar cookies (made with 50% Splenda and 50% granulated sugar) on Hageland flights are delicious.
3. Alaskan scenery is unbelievable and indescribable. Truly. (This one I already knew, but I like the frequent reminders while being in an airplane).
4. Unalakleet ain't half-bad! It has a lovely beach (with sweet rocks) and a nice view.
5. No matter how much of a rugged, lifelong, non-materialistic/anti-reality TV show Alaskan I may consider myself, I still got pretty giddy when Ariel Tweto was our pilot - and I flew in the copilot seat. (However, I didn't take a picture because I don't want to support her unnecessary popularity from being portrayed as a ditzy, but admittedly cute, Alaskan chick. Really, I think I'm just jealous that she's cooler than me because she can fly a plane and her Carhartt's weren't holey like mine. Reckon I oughta work on that).
6. Koyuk ain't half-bad! Lynnae and I have it pretty good. We are set up in the school (video tour forthcoming) and are sleeping on real mattresses. (I can hear the mass of gasps from here). However, the mattresses are in random classrooms and we have to pick them up every day, but whatever, it's better than nothing, especially since I decided to opt out of bringing a sleeping pad.
7. It doesn't feel very "rural" when I have the ability to text, make phone calls, and update my blog/website from anywhere in the community. This place has better service than my house for goodness sake!
8. Koyukians (Koyukins? Koyans? Whatever) DO NOT need gifts of food or school supplies. Lynnae and I both felt like turds when we were escorted (by two kids we met on the road) to the grocery store which held, more or less, anything anyone could need. It wasn't like a Fred Meyer, but was more stocked than Chena Hot Springs Gas (minus the booze, of course - dry community and all) or a Gasline store, at least in terms of variety. I'm so glad that I carried a bag of strawberries and grapes around with me for 4 days, only to see them on a shelf at the local grocer.
9. Most of the kids want to know your name, but other than that, don't really care to a) give you their name or b) say anything more. Many of the kids I met while wandering about by myself did this, while a few others carried on conversations. Two of the girls loved the concept that Lynnae and I are sleeping in their classrooms. One girl said she was going to wake me up in the morning and steal my phone. Note to self: Hide phone...and don't sleep in.
10. It's kind of cool and kind of spooky to hang out in an empty school at night. Lynnae and I have a key to open every room in the place, which is sort of empowering, but I feel sort of guilty wandering about the place. However, I am looking forward to breaking into the gym later and running lines (thanks Sean for inadvertently reminding me to bring my running shoes!)
Most rural communities have fair to middlin' stores, but the prices are anything but. Bringing your own fruit works as long as you don't have to store it for days first.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to have the world at your fingertips via internet connections, but many villages put serious restrictions on things like FB etc.
So you peaked my curiosity and I googled Ariel Tweto. She has quite a web presence. I'm sure the family story is interesting.
ReplyDeleteDid they tell you about the ghosts that wander the school at night? I hear if you wear garlic they'll leave you alone.