We left on our trek Aug. 30th about mid day from my folks house near Seattle and arrived in the village of Nenana (knee-nana) on Friday Spet 4th about midnight. If there is one thing I learned from this trip, it is to FLY! Those of you who know me know that flying and I do not mix. However, after several days of driving through the crap hole we call Canada, I would have given my right arm to be on a plane and have gotten it over with in 6 hours. And I'm not just saying this because I'm pregnant and didn't want to be traveling. I'm saying this because of the sub standard of living and eating that I experience a long the way. No woman, pregnant or not, wants to stop after 13 hours in a car to eat at a bad cafe and stay in a hotel that was once an old brothel and now houses cockroaches. We stayed in the nicest place in each town and that's what we got. BUT, if you are ever in Price George, I have to recommend the Four Points by Sheridan. The ONLY hotel along the way that even came close to American standards!
Once we got here we found out our UHaul, (driven for us by awesome pastor Clyde Andrews who did it because he 'thought it would be fun') had hit a deer. Everyone and just about everything was ok (Clyde and our belongings, not the truck), and Clyde being the trooper he is didn't let it phase him. He made the 2300 mile drive in just under 3 days. Thanks Clyde!!!!!
So we are here and unpacking. The baby is doing well and while I was VERY tired from the trip, I seem to be bouncing back faster than I had anticipated! The weather is wonderful because its fall already and the air has a freshness to it that you rarely get in the lower 48. The people in the village have also been wonderful, but none so nice as Jerry's folks who let us crash in their guest room the first few days we were here so we could recover. I will post more as the weeks go on, hope everyone is well!
This is a picture we took on our last visit to Nenana, it is the train station in the snow. It was the end of the rail way back when and (if you've ever seen the Disney movie Balto) then you know that this is where the sled dogs took the medicine from the train and mushed it to Nome, saving a town from dying of disease. True story.
This is the Tripod! Its put out on the river every winter and the whole town takes bets on when the ice will melt and it will fall in. Winner gets a prize. Usually one would think that the time would be predictable, but when you are a river thawing from a winter where its 65 below, the thawing could take awhile....
Our names were too long to fit on the staff board, so we are just 'The Thompsons' in 218. But we really are here, we have this board to prove it!
This is the Living Center where we are housed. Nenana being a fishing village there aren't exactly apartments to rent, so the school district built a building with apartments to house the staff! So nice of them!
I guess the plates made it real. We are really here. Watching the Wa plates come off was bitter sweet. (pardon all the dead bugs, it is the wilderness of AK and there is only so much you can do before surrendering to the carnage on your car. I give up, its their final resting place.)
This is what welcomes you to the village! If you look closely you can note the grass growing on the roof. In Wa someone would have called another someone to get it removed, but up here, no one seems to mind nature all that much. It takes over and they are ok with it.
Ok, this pic was supposed to be a cute couples shot of us by a river somewhere in the Yukon Territory. Its just Jerry because what you can't see are the thousands of bugs that are swarming! I stayed in the nice enclosed car and snapped the pic.
This fella here was on the side of the road hangin out in the Yukon. We didn't take it with a zoom, we really are that close and he really didn't care. After several minutes of harassment it was clear he wasn't going to look up for a decent pic. Guess he's used to the stupid tourists.
Just a random pic of the country side. I don't know where we were.....
