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Published: March 16th 2013
Yesterday was, as expected, a very long day of travel. I had not slept the night before, which ended up working in my favor because I basically slept on all of the flights.
Coming in for a landing in Anchorage was very memorable. As we broke through the clouds on our descent I saw Alaska for the first time. Snowy hills as far as the eye could see, almost blindingly white. It was beautiful.
The final flight from Anchorage to Nome by way of Kotzebue was definitely the most exciting. The weather was impeccably clear as we made our way into Kotzebue. One moment all you could see was snowy tundra, and then out of nowhere the landing strip appears and you realize the cluster of buildings next to the runway IS the city, and it feels so small and remote.
As we landed in Kotzebue, reports came that the weather had worsened in Nome, leading us to sit on the tarmac for an hour until there was a small break in the fog and snow and they felt we could make it into town. We were lucky to get in last night, as we had to attempt
the landing a few times due to poor visibility. If the weather had been slightly worse I am sure the flight would have been cancelled, and we would have been sent back to Anchorage for the night.
14 hours after taking off from Los Angeles, I could not have been happier to set foot in Nome.
It was surreal to finally be here in the city. Because Nome is so small, you deplane right onto the tarmac. As I walked out into the wind and snow, it literally was so cold it took my breath away- and I was very happy to have my down jacket with me. Immediately from the airport, we headed to Airport Pizza for dinner and beers. Even though it was almost 10 o'clock Alaska time, and I was exhausted, it was fun to finally have the full team together. All of the guys are really fun and friendly and when you are living on top of each other for a month solid, you typically end up becoming a family.
Finally, I got home and unpacked, then crawled into bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
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