Bethel Bound

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It's important to note that the trip from Anchorage to Kotzebue to Nome and back to Anchorage is one flight number with the same crew. We got to know the flight attendants, Gwen and Stacy, pretty well and they checked in on our progress every day. After we landed in Anchorage on the way back from Kotzebue, we bade them farewell and we had 2 hours to kill prior to the next flight to Bethel. Being the true computer nerds we are, we found a couple of outlets, plugged our computers and boosted the wireless signal there for a while to catch up with the real world. We boarded the plane, which was only half full, and started on our way.

Steve, the hacker...I mean Security Specialist, was sitting next a very young Russian Orthodox priest and they struck up a conversation. I, of course, missed this all because I went to sleep on the flight as I am prone to do. When we arrived in Bethel and went to baggage claim, he continued his conversation with Steve and included me as well. Steve naively asked, "What's there to do in Bethel?" and the priest said, "I hope you packed a bottle in your suitcase because that's all there is to do." We had been warned previously that it was pretty desolate but no one expected a priest to tell us to get drunk. We hadn't packed appropriately for the journey (the flasks were empty) as the priest had advised but we were determined to make the most of it. Eric, the ex-military guy in Nome, told us that there was a "beautiful woman behind every tree in Bethel." We did not know that what he really meant was that there were no trees at all, and certainly no beautiful women behind them. He got one over on us.

It was too late in the day to get started at work as all the government people go home by 4:30 -- Your tax dollars at work. We drove around town until we bumped into our bed and breakfast. It was a truly shabby looking ice blue dilapidated building on the riverfront. We were scared that we had chosen poorly. Regardless, we got checked in and went to our rooms knowing that we would find nothing better. To our surprise it was very nice and clean inside. The place had been recently remodeled and looked it...that's a big change for us. The rooms were tiny and barely had enough room for a bed and a bathroom, but they were clean, heated and the plumbing worked so we were thrilled. We all ended up hanging out in the community kitchen which had substantially more room and allowed us to collaborate.

We had some time so we tooled around town in the rental car (although calling it a jalopy would be extremely generous) getting the lay of the land. We drove to the end of all the roads which took less than 30 minutes and surmised that there is absolutely nothing to see or do in Bethel as we had been warned. It was about dinner time so we went to the only restaurant that had been recommended to us and it was decent at best.

We ended up chatting with the B&B maintenance guy, George, who had come up from Palm Springs to make a lot of money so he could enjoy his retirement. He was about 50 and was offered a job taking care of the property up in Bethel for a couple of years. His lodging and utilities are free since he lives at the B&B and he works 7 days a week for 8 weeks and then takes a week off and leaves Bethel. He expects more than six figures every year and be able to fully retire in 2-3 years.

He warned us about the snowmobile (although they call them "snow machines" up here) gangs that had been robbing people in town. I guess you'd have to come here to appreciate it but it's really bad in Bethel. He even told us that if another "snow machine" approached him when he was out for a ride, he would take out his Colt 45 and fire warning shots into the air. That seemed to work for him but is very Wild West in my opinion. Unfortunately, we were not packing. The gun laws for residents here are pretty wide open so you can carry a concealed weapon without a permit almost anywhere except federal buildings. You can even take it into a bank...is this really a US state? Different country up here.

Once we finished eating, we went back to the B&B and got to bed so we would be ready for our early morning. The next day we packed up again and went to the main guesthouse for breakfast. It was a good breakfast and a nice change from the fare we had been consuming. After checkout, we went to the tower and started work. Once that was done we were playing a waiting game. We decided to foray back outside to see if we could find something redeeming in Bethel.

Stopping at every shop, store, and sight along the way didn't take us very long so we went down to the river. The river is frozen over and is the main thoroughfare to the outlying villages. The roads don't go out to the villages so even in summer your stuck on the river. In the winter they drive down river and up river to get where they want. In the summer they have to take boats to get there but having visited Bethel I cannot imagine what could possibly be interesting in the villages except that it would be a change of scenery. It is a very busy thoroughfare and at any one time you can expect to see 5 or 6 cars speeding their way up or down river.

We took a break from our explorations, had a "so-so" lunch and went back to finish up our work. If our recent luck held out we would be back in Anchorage by the end of the day where they have modern conveniences like cell phone service, stoplights, and edible food. We worked most of the afternoon and then headed to the airport. We checked in for our flight and waited and waited in what must be the most uncomfortable airport seating area I've ever seen. Even in Rwanda and Uganda they had better seating, it was sub-standard to say the least. The plane landed and we began to board the plane with the "security on the fly" method we had used in Barrow, Kotzebue, Nome, and now Bethel. That's where you can't go through security until boarding begins and each passenger is screened right before getting on the plane. It takes much longer (almost an hour for a 60-passenger plane) to get through this way but the area beyond the security checkpoint only has enough room to allow two people at a time to gather their things, put their shoes back on and board the plane.

Landing in Anchorage almost felt like going home. It had all the modern conveniences as was seen as a payback for having to go to all the remote sites. We checked into the Marriott downtown (again) where they all know us by name. We unloaded, grabbed dinner, and went to bed. The next morning Steve and I rented a car and went down to the city of Girdwood. Girdwood is located at the bottom of the Alyeska Ski Resort about 40 miles South of Anchorage. We had committed to going snowboarding on Saturday and were going to do it. The lift lines were pretty short and it had snowed about 4 inches the night before so the entire slope had a slight dusting of new snow on every run. It was magnificent. Because of the daylight hours here the resort doesn't open until 10:30 (sun comes up around 9:45 AM) so we had time to get breakfast, rent equipment and be in the first group on the slopes. We took quite a few pictures but not with a digital camera so we'll have to wait until we can get those developed.

It was a lot of fun and incredibly tiring...I'm really out of shape...but the weather wasn't too bad and the slopes were in good condition. We snowboarded there all day and then took the hour drive back to Anchorage. When we got back to the hotel and got out of the car we could feel all the stiffness, pain, and sore muscles from the outing. We figured tomorrow and the next day we would feel the real pain as it often takes a day or two to set in. The Jacuzzi was broken since a bunch of high school kids attending a regional competition had put shampoo in it, so that was out. The next best choice was a bath and that's exactly what I did. I must have soaked in the tub for over an hour and then showered, got dressed and went to dinner with Steve (our team lead was nowhere to be found). Went to bed right after dinner and slept in for a change. At 1100 AM we went to a Laundromat to get all our clothes clean. It took about 2 hours, we drove back to the hotel, packed up and checked out.

Back to the airport for our flight to Kodiak. We checked in, dropped off our bags, and went to the gate. Because this is such a small airplane operated by a small airline (Era Aviation) we went to a gate downstairs instead of with the main gates. To our shock and amazement there was no security checkpoint. Apparently it's not required for these airlines. That was a nice change from taking off the 4 layers of clothes, the parka and the cold weather boots but obviously left us quite a bit of extra time. We caught up on some e-mail and then boarded the little two-prop puddle jumper.

Next episode...Kodiak.

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Photos

Trees?
"A beautiful girl behind every tree"

Trees, please
Anyone, anyone see a tree? Bueller, Bueller?

Porter Bed & Breakfast
This was our B&B. It's not much to look at from the outside but was very nice inside.

No Wake Zone
This is the boat launch otherwise known as the on-ramp to the ice highway.

Saville Row
Nice housing. These are shacks 3, 4 and 5, respectively