Hi from Unalakleet

Training is going great here at the BSSD headquarters in Unalakleet. It's been a very full 5 days since I left Washington. In Anchorage I stayed with Laura and her family, and they were totally awesome! They took me to see the wild moose that lives in their backyard (he is HUGE), and they shuffled me around Anchorage to do all of my errands. After spending 600 dollars at Fred Meyer, I left on Monday morning for Shaktoolik.

The flight from Anchorage to Nome was spectacular! The glaciers and mountains were truly majestic. I met up with some fellow BSSD teachers in Nome and the wonderful Sandy of Koyuk gave me a tour. I got my last burger at Fat Freddie's in Nome and took off for "Shak," my home village.

I was so nervous upon pulling into Shaktoolik that I didn't even notice how the airplane seemed like it was rattling apart. I was more concerned with how I would be greeted and accepted by the local people.

Goodbye Washington, Hello Anchorage!

After a thrilling 8-day motorcycle ride to Eureka, California, I feel like I got in enough biking to last me through the Alaskan winter. The wickedly windy roads of Oregon and northern California treated us well and and with favorable weather I camped nearly every day. The redwoods were truly majestic and I loved riding through those twisty forest roads. My last week with everyone FLEW by, but I feel like I got to say all of my goodbyes. The scavenged, hand-me-down winter gear is shipped and I leave tonight. I'm very lucky because my aunt's best friend in Anchorage has agreed to put me up for a few days and drive me around.

The airline tickets are printed and I'm just putting the finishing touches on my huge shopping list. I've never purchased such a massive quantity of food, but I've heard the stores in Anchorage are well suited to meet the needs of bush teachers. They even have a "bush department" where you give them your shopping cart full of food and they pack it, then ship it right to your door! I've attached the shopping list to the blog. I'll have to work some numbers a little more because 180 cups of flour seems like a lot! Or does it seem like not enough? Hmmm......

Shipping and Moving Costs

Shipping ~35 lb boxes (10) at $30 each = $300 dollars

Note: If a box weighs over 30 lbs there is a $3 surcharge, so if you're going to send a box more than 30 lbs, you might as well make it the max of 70!

One-way plane tickets: Seattle to Anchorage = $210
Anchorage to Nome = $200
Nome to Shaktoolik = $190

Total = $600

Note: I purchased my plane tickets about 1 month in advance while purchasing a round trip ticket from Anchorage to Seattle 5 months from now (Christmas!) costs $377, so that's not too bad.

$900 is pretty cheap considering I'm moving over 2000 miles away to a remote area. The only major purchases I have left are food and a new laptop (the ol' PC isn't going to cut up in the AK). I'm currently developing a very intense shopping list and hope to have it posted in the next 2 weeks. I'm buying consumables frontier style in Anchorage in bulk by determining my daily caloric needs. Underestimation could prove disastrous. 19 days left here in Washington!