Road Trip with Mom

When mom came to visit, we left Nome and headed out on an 8 day adventure. Zondra let us borrow her car, so off we went. First stop was Valdez, 6 hours from Anchorage. The drive was like driving through Colorado but on a 2 land highway. I think we only passed 5 cars the whole way down. We also visited the North Pole, Fairbanks, Denali Park, Seward and Anchorage. Blogger only lets me post a few pictures at a time, so each of the other places will be posted individually.




A road side picture stop outside Palmer.



















Once in Valdez, we took a 9 hour cruise from a Stan Stevens. The cruise took us to Columbia and Meares Glacier and stopped for the wild life along the way. The also fed us lunch, snacks and soup. All in all, not a bad deal!

On board this 9 hour journey you will have a chance to view ice calving from Meares Glacier as well as the huge icebergs at Columbia Glacier. Enroute you will view the wildlife of the Sound including Bull Head Sea Lion haulout. Learn about the mining, oil, earthquake, and fishing history and hear stories about the first people to explore and live in the Sound. On board lunch and an afternoon snack is served.



Seals on the ice along the way.

Mom with Columbia Glacier in the background.

Mom tasting Glacier ice.
















Me with Columbia Glaier in the background



















in Valdez, the salmon run was just finishing. These are the dead salmon in a net so they don't pollute the rivers

Mom comes to Alaska!

In August (I know I am late in posting this....) Mom came to Alaska for about 2 weeks. She started here trip by visiting me up here in Nome for 4 days. After that, we went to Anchorage and traveled around the state. With me having to work for part of the time she was here, I directed mom out into town, armed with her camera, for a few days of site seeing and fun. I also booked her a flight with Bering Air (the same company that we use for a medevacs) so she could see some of the villages and the surrounding areas.
One other day I sent her out with Richard, our local tour guide, for a trip around town and out onto the tundra. Richard has lived in Nome almost 15 years, coming from a back ground as a Broadway singer. Richard is very knowledgeable about Nome, the history and the local flora and fauna. If I had only known how much fun they were going to have, I would have gone along!

Nome from the air, mom took the picture as she landed after her trip up the coast.

The local sign in town. Look how far away Denver is...

The welcome to Nome sign by the Bering Sea.

Up on the hill, outside of town, there is a place called Anvil Mountain. These are structures left over from WWII. This part of Alaska was used as a monitoring site for the Russians.

The dredges in town. These were used to find gold in the old days as well as moving sand around to make the sound.

Iditarod dogs in there homes. Most racers have up to 50 dogs at a time. When people in town talk about “head” of animals, they are not talking about live stock, they are referring to dogs.

Mom next to the Bering Sea. We walked on the beach every day she was here.

Mom at the Safety Roadhouse. This is a bar about 17 mile out side of town. It is in the town of Safety, which is the last check point for the Iditarod race before the racers get into Nome. The bar is run by Tom and his wife and is usually only open in the summer and for Iditarod.

Notice they sell Coors.....

Dollars at the Safety road house. Now everyone who stops by will know mom was in town.

Sculpture along the Safety road. The boat represents one of the old skin boats that are still used today.

The church across the street from my office.

Me on the grass but the beach. This is the only grass in the area!

the "milk run" goes from Nome down the coast hitting White Mountain, Koyuk, Elim, Golovin, Shaktoolik, and Unalakleet. Bering Air runs mail, food and people everday. Cliff was the pilot.

On the milk run, this is the coast by Koyuk. It is very green this time of year. I wish there were roads down here so I could walk on this beach!

Trees by Golovin. The shadow is the plane mom was in....

Coast line along the "milk run".

Coast near White Mountain.

Out of Unalakleet. I like the river and all the trees! I wish there were trees in Nome....

Alaskan swamp land south of Nome. This is still tundra.

Nome Eskimo Dance Contest

Last week there was a native dance contest here in town. We went to see a friend's daughter dance and compete in the fashion contest. Here are a few photos of the native kids in native clothes.

A Fish Story

I went out fishing to the Penny River on Tuesday, to try and catch what would be my first salmon of the season. Everyone else I hang out with had to work, so I went off by myself.

Here is the story:

1. See the fish



Here we see the Humpies or Pink Salmon swiming up stream. It is kind of cool to watch them swim. With there hump, the look like small sharks coming up the river.


More fish joining in. Once I saw them, I knew I had to catch them.

When the fish are running to spawn, they don't normally feed. To get them to bit the lure, you have to bug them, pester them and generally piss them off until they get mad enough to bit at the lure. It took about an hour and a half, but I am good at pestering things so...







2. Catch the fish


Here is the one I finally caught! He (the females do not have the hump) got pissed off enought that when he did bit the lure, there was no letting go!

These fish normally get between 2-4 lbs on the river I was fishing. This one ended up weighing in at 5 lbs.








Because I was out fishing alone, I had to go back to the office to have my picture taken with my fish.














3. Eat the fish

I also caught Dolly Varden trout with the salmon. The Dollies sit behind the spawning salmon and when the eggs are laided, they eat the eggs. At this point in time, the dollies are really agressive and easy to catch. This the the cooked up dolly.

We also cooked the salmon on the grill. As soon as I opened the tinfoil, I knew it was not going to be good eating. The fish had a strange smell and a really bad taste.

Point to remember, do not eat salmon when they are at the end of their spawn cycle....




Eating the Dolly.






4. Drink beer and tell fish stories!

Kicking back on the back porch, drinking beer, full of fish, in the sun at 10:30 at night!

What a day off!

Biking to Pilgrim Hotsprings

On Saturday June 30th a few of us rode our bikes 61 miles on dirt road to Pilgrim Hotsprings. The first 3 miles were on paved road but we did climb out of town. It took 7 hours of riding, with a lot of stops to see the wild life, drink from the natural spring, do pushups every 10 miles and to just enjoy being out of town. Total ride distance 61 miles; Elevation gain 3200 feet; started at sea level; total off road miles: 58; total trail miles, 11. Noone fell off, noone left behind.



Start of the ride. The day was nice and cool, overcast.
















Doing pushups ever 10 miles to make sure we kept the upper body in shape as we went.


















Salmon Lake. They just painted the sign.
















The final crew! This is the sign up to the hotsprings. The final 11 miles were off road on trail. Although we were tired, this was the best part of the ride.

Random Animal Pictures

Just saw the reindeer crossing the road. They do get in really close...





Crossing the road














The reindeer herd.

















The grelying fish we keep catching. The water is SO clear...

Midnight Sun Fest and Polar Bear Swim

On June 21st, the summer solstice, the town has a parade, mock bank robbery, and polar bear swim in the Bering Sea. The parade has all of 10 vehicles in it but it was fun to watch the kids get candy.





Starting banner for the parade....















The main section. There was no marching band, no horses and no midnight sun queen... Just a bunch of town people walking down the middle of the street, throwing candy for the kids.










The bank robbery is done in front of Wells Fargo Bank and is done old west style.








The girls running out of the bar, telling everyone the "bad guys" are in town.











The "bad guys". All dressed up with people lining the streets.
















Holding up the guys from the bank.

















The sharp shooters on the roof.














The polar bear swim had about 300 people show up. There was a bonfire on the beach so you could warm up after the swim. I stayed in the longest and went in the most number of times. Water temp 43 degrees, Air temp 43 degrees…

The polar bear crew! From left to right: me, Peter, Mee, Chuck's wife, Thomas, Johnathan.

The crown enters the water. When the gun goes off, we all run for the water. It felt like the start of an open water swim.

As you can see, I am the last one in the water...

Me and Mee coming out.... At least we are still smiling...

Peter adn myself coming out of the water for the 3rd time....


















Warming up by the fire after.

I can finally say I have been in the water in AK and Antarctica. Now all I have to do is get into the water above the artic circle.... I feel a trip coming on :)