Winter is almost here

All the signs are there.  The wind is picking up and coming more out of the north, we regularly have to scrap our car windows in the morning before work, thin sheets of ice are forming on the tundra ponds, ravens are quickly becoming the only birds left, and the sun is finally setting at a reasonable time.  

I often wonder how this winter will be for us.  Not only have I heard murmurs of a longer colder winter than last year, but last year everyday was a novelty.  Our first ALASKAN winter!  It was easy to laugh at -55 degrees when you had never before experienced anything that cold.  This year however... it's old news.  (Not to mention, this year I may not be able to zip my coat over my belly.)  

Regardless of all the things there are to dread about winter here (and their are many) I'm still excited.  How in the world could I possibly be excited about only 4 hours of sun light, temperatures so cold your eyelashes freeze and snow drifts that can swallow a car whole?  Easy.  Winter is the only time of year that I get the chance to view the most amazing light show on earth!  There is just something about the Aurora Borealis that fascinates me.  I don't know if it's my desire to get that perfect Northern Lights picture, or if it's just the simple fact that rainbows can streak across the night sky, but I can't get enough of them.  

Last night my longing for the darkness of winter was renewed.  Completely unexpected, as I drove home from work a little after 11:00pm I noticed a strange grey to part of the sky.  Once I parked my car and my eyes adjusted to the dark it hit me that I was looking at the Northern Lights.  At the time they weren't doing much and didn't have much color to them.  But as I walked out into the dark tundra, away from the house lights and street lights the colors became more visible.  The longer I waited the more active they became.  It was totally worth it to stand out in the cold wind with nothing but a pair of scrubs on and a thin jacket.  Last year we only saw the lights in Bethel once, and only green.  Last night however, the show included not just the typical greens, but reds as well!  It was beautiful!  Time again to freshen up my review of how to photograph the Northern Lights and work on getting that perfect picture!

Babies in the YK Delta

Expectations for pregnant women living in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta are above and beyond anything I have ever come across in the lower 48.  But that shouldn't surprise anybody who has been reading this blog and has even the slightest understanding of how different medical care out here can be.  Most pregnant women anywhere have their ideal birth plan.  For some it's a scheduled induction with an epidural surrounded by their closest family.  For others it's a natural birth, dad holding her hand speaking words of encouragement, and family and friends waiting close by for news of when they can see mom and meet baby.  Most women fall somewhere in between the above two scenarios.  Never though, have I met a pregnant woman (although I'm sure a few are out there) who said her ideal birth plan is to be alone in a strange town miles away from family and friends, with a doctor and staff they have never met.  But that's the reality for pregnant women living in one of our 58 villages.  As Bethel is the only hospital within a 58,000 square mile area, it is the safest place to deliver a baby.  Now I know some of you are thinking, why not use midwives?  Believe me, I am all for midwives.  Having had my second child delivered in a birthing center by a midwife, I think the profession is very valuable.  However, I was only minutes away from a hospital.  If, God forbid, something had started to go wrong with my labor and delivery I would have been whisked away to the hospital and the more advanced medical care I was in need of.  But out here, for most of the villages, Bethel (the nearest hospital) is hours away, days if the weather is bad and the planes aren't flying; when minutes can sometimes mean the difference between life and death of mom and baby, it's just not worth taking the chance.  So every pregnant woman at her first prenatal appointment is asked to sign the "Be in Bethel" paperwork.  This is an agreement between the hospital and mom that she will leave her home, other children, husband and support system, travel to Bethel at 36 weeks and remain here till she delivers her baby.  Wow!  I couldn't imagine if my doctor told me that a month before my baby was even due I had to leave my entire comfort zone and support system, and live in a hotel in a strange city until I had my baby.  On top of that, I couldn't imagine my husband not being there to witness the birth of his child.  But that's how it is out here, and for good reason.  Moms and babies who tried to stay home and deliver in their village have suffered terrible consequences.  In fact, the "Be in Bethel" agreement came into effect some 40 years ago when a mom started having complications during delivery in a village.  The health aide (who was trained in child birth) needed more advanced medical help.  A medevac team with a labor and delivery nurse was sent to bring mom to Bethel.  Sadly the plane crashed and all on board were killed.  

The hospital here is set up to act more like a birthing center.  Perhaps the main difference is that epidurals are NOT offered.  That's right, unless an emergency c-section is needed, all our women deliver their babies naturally.  Women who strongly desire an epidural must pay their own way to Anchorage and deliver there.  As a result, our nurses are excellent in helping women work through the pain of labor, rather than so many other labor and delivery nurses I have met who are quick to offer epidurals or other pain medications.

You may be wondering where all this talk of babies is coming from.  Why write about this now?  Although I will thankfully not have to experience leaving my family and traveling to another city; I will get to experience having a baby in Bethel.  We are expecting our third little bundle of joy March 30th 2014.  

 

Home

Kids with Grandma and
Great Granddaddy

A couple weeks ago we all went home for the first time since moving to Alaska.  It was really nice being back home, even though it was a very short trip (4 days of travel for 4 days of home time).  It was great getting to see family we haven’t seen since our move, and it was such a pleasure getting Chick-fil-A (3 times!!).  We learned a lot from this trip though, and will most definitely do things a little different next time.

Mark and Gianna with his
brother and dad

Lesson 1:

Alaska Airline is the ONLY airline worth flying.  I have flown a lot over this last year and each time was with a different airline.  This trip we flew mostly Delta, which I thought would be fine.  In the past I remembered having good experiences on Delta.  But… in the past I didn't fly with kids.  The customer service and courtesy with Alaska just can’t be touched by these other airlines.  When did every other airline stop boarding families traveling with small children first?!  I know not everyone would find this a big deal, but we do, and on the days we were flying, so did everyone around us!

Luke helping himself before the
party starts

Lesson 2:

NEVER sit in the row in front of the exit row!  Those seats don’t recline.  Imagine, seat pockets are full of sippy cups, coloring books, games and other various items of entertainment bulging them forward to their max, a baby on your lap and then the lady in front of you reclines all the way back.  My knees were practically bruised by the end of the flight and I think if I had hit my forehead on the back of her seat leaning forward to talk to Mark or Luke one more time I was going to scream.

Little Miss Thing with her cookie

Lesson 3:

The more lay overs the better!  This lesson I wasn't expecting.  On our way over we went from Anchorage to Portland, Portland to LA, LA to Nashville.  The longest leg was 3 and half hours.  On the way back we flew from Atlanta to Anchorage, 7 and half hours (which by the way is when we learned lesson 2).  I thought for sure they would offer an in flight meal (they did on our 7 ½ hour flight to Ireland), but I was wrong.  The only food they had was one expensive packaged sandwich and some little snacks.  Of course Luke had no interest in the sandwich, so all we heard for the last 3 hours of the flight was about how hungry he was. 

Lesson 4:  The most important lesson

Stay longer!  4 days was just nowhere near enough time to truly relax and enjoy our family and friends.  We should have stayed at least twice as long as that.  And it wasn't just the relaxation factor, I was not expecting it to be as hard as it was to say good bye to everyone again.  Some will come visit us up here, others we won’t see till our next trip home.  It actually made me tearful to say goodbye again, which was strange for me as I've never been the type to get homesick. 

Catching a nap with Uncle Quint

Daddy and his little girl

Ketchikan and British Victoria

After leaving Glacier Bay National Park we set our course for Ketchikan Alaska.  We were only in Ketchikan for a little over 4 hours, which I hadn't realized when I signed us all up for a 4 hour excursion.  Needless to say we didn't have any time to just explore the "salmon capital of the world".

We began our time in Ketchikan at Totem Bight State Park.  The totem poles were amazing.  Some were so tall I couldn't fit the whole pole in one picture no matter how far back I stood.  Each totem pole told a different story, a different legend of the native people.  I thought the totem poles were very interesting... Luke and Gianna didn't quite agree.  While the tour guide tried to tell each pole's story to the attentive group, Luke and Gianna were intent on seeing how far they could push our patience.  Finally, we gave up trying to hear the stories of the poles and fell back away from the group to let the kids run around.

Following the totem poles we moved onto the Lumberjack show.  Gianna fell blissfully asleep on the way there and stayed that way through most of the show.  Luke was in seventh heaven when we gave him his own bag of popcorn.  The show was neat, a little corny at times, but Luke enjoyed it and that's why we went.  Immediately following the show we had to race to the ship or risk being left behind.  No time for pictures, no time for shopping.

The next evening we arrived at our last port of call, Victoria, British Columbia.  This stop was another 4 hour call.  Since we didn't arrive until 7:30 PM, Mark and I decided not to sign up for any excursions.  Instead, we ate dinner on the ship and then took a double decker bus (a huge hit with Luke) into town.  We spent the next hour and a half just wandering the town.  Victoria is a beautiful, wealthy town.  Ultimately we spent more money at this port than any other port.

The cruise overall was a lot of fun.  Would I do it again with 2 toddlers... probably not.  But I'm still glad we tried it.  It was so good seeing so many family members.  After the cruise, mom and Alisha came back to Bethel with us for a week.  It was nice to have them here, I just wish the weather would have cooperated a little more.  I think the sun finally came out the day they left!

Skagway and Glacier Bay National Park

"The Golden Staircase" - Chilkoot Trail

Following Juneau we headed to Skagway, Alaska.  Skagway is THE picturesque Alaskan town, with the water on one side and the White Mountains on the other.  Interestingly enough Skagway is actually on the road system.  Not even our capital can boast that!  For all intensive purposes, Skagway exists today because the Klondike Gold Rush existed.  Although inhabited by the Tlingit people prior to the Gold Rush, few natives still live in the area.  Skagway sort of served as the base camp for gold rushers going to the Yukon.  Two trails worked their way through the White Mountains into Canada, the White Pass and the Chilkoot.  The White Pass became known as Dead Horse Trail as more than 3,000 horses lost their lives to the heavy loads, inexperienced travelers and rough terrain.  Today the Chilkoot trail is still actively hiked by backpackers and has definitely been added to Mark and I's bucket list!    
Skagway was the only port 
that our whole group took the same excursion.  We started out on a tour bus and drove into the mountains.  Our guide filled our heads with all kinds of facts about the gold rush and the two trails.  We made several picture stops along the way before arriving in Carcross, Yukon.  Carcross was by far the highlight of the excursion for the kids.  There was a little petting zoo and both Luke and Gianna thought the goats and puppies were there just for them.  As for me, Carcross was some of the most beautiful scenery.  The mouth of the Yukon river, the same Yukon river that runs near Bethel, begins in Carcross between two gorgeous mountains.  

The next part of our excursion was the return to Skagway trip on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad.  Although we were essentially returning the same way we came up, we were away from the road enough that we got a whole new perspective of the White Mountains.

Mouth of the Yukon River

Once back in Skagway, Mark and I enjoyed a beer at the Skagway brewing company, did a bit of shopping then returned to the ship for dinner. 
The following day was spent on the cruise ship touring Glacier Bay National Park.  Praise God the weather was beautiful!  The ship moved slowly through the park and sat for a while in front of each of the glaciers.  Park rangers boarded the ship early and were there for most of the day to answer peoples questions.  Margerie Glacier was my favorite.  Not only was it beautiful, but we got to see several small ice calves.  
At the end of our time in Glacier Bay National Park we saw more sea life than on any other part of our trip.  We saw otters, sea lions and lots and lots of whales!  We saw whales eating and even saw 2 whales breach!!  They were pretty far in the distance, but close enough to see with the naked eye that a giant animal just jumped clear out of the water.   
I loved the time we spent in Glacier Bay, but it was frustrating at the same time.  For some reason Luke and Gianna just weren't very interested in glaciers...   
 

Cruise - All Aboard!

July has been a busy month with a fair amount of time spent outside of Bethel, but not outside of Alaska.  Just before the 4th we set off to meet with my family for an Alaskan cruise, something I have always wanted to do, just never thought I would do it while living in Alaska.  The cruise set off from Seattle... that's right, we flew from Alaska to Seattle to get on a boat and come back to Alaska...  We met up with my parents, sister and several of my aunts and uncles.  It was great seeing everyone!  Some I had not seen in years!  We were however, the only crazies in the group to bring two children under the age of 4.
After setting off Saturday afternoon from Seattle we spent the whole next day at sea.  "Great!" we thought, "We'll take the kids swimming" (Swimming is a luxury for our kids.  There are no pools in Bethel, so the only chances they get to swim is when we stay in a hotel or, in this case, go on a cruise.)  Luke and Gianna loved every minute of the few that they got to spend in the pool.  It was only a few minutes, because not long after they got in and really got playing, the pool police told us Gianna wasn't allowed to be in the water on account of her still being in diapers.  They didn't care that she had a diaper on specifically made for swimming.  So sad to have access to so many pools for a whole week and not be able to let them go in.

Our first port of call was Juneau.  I was so excited about this port because Mark and I had an excursion set up for just the two of us.  My parents were going to take the kids and go to a salmon bake while Mark and I went whale watching and to Mendenhall Glacier.  Our excursion was specifically geared toward amateur photographers.  Our tour guide was a professional photographer who had been shooting in the Juneau area for almost 30 years.   I had my camera ready with fully charged batteries, extra memory cards and all my lenses.  The weather called for beautiful partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 70s.  Then we disembarked and my heart sank as we stepped out into rain and a heavy fog.  I tried not to let it get me down too much.  I live in Alaska, I know first hand how fickle the weather here is.

Bald eagle

True to Alaska the weather did improve, only to get bad again, only to improve.  I guess the whales must have known that the weather was crummy because they weren't doing much of anything other than coming up for air.  We did get impressively close however to a mother and her calf, but no matter how much I willed the whales to leap out of the water, none did.

Our first view of the glacier... no really... it's there,
look close at the left side of the photo

By the time we got off the boat it was absolutely pouring.  We drove out to Mendenhall where we were then supposed to take a trail that would bring us to the glacier.  It was still pouring rain.  Even though Mark and I both came prepared with out rain coats we still grabbed one of the ponchos the guide offered us.  The ponchos over our rain jackets did well to keep my camera and top half dry, but from our knees down we were soaked.  I couldn't have been more wet if I had waded through knee deep water.  
After a very cold and wet hike we finally made it to our first view of the glacier.  Only problem was you couldn't see the glacier through the fog!!  We hiked on to the visitor's center and slowly the rain started to subside and the fog started to lift.  The beautiful blues of the glacier ice started to show themselves.  I was just starting to think about all the nice pictures I was going to take on the trail as we hiked back to the bus when the tour guide said we would meet at the parking lot around the corner in 5 minutes.  I just stared at him.  We hiked in the pouring, freezing rain for 30 minutes when we could have driven straight to the glacier!
Once the excursion was finally over Mark and I went back to the ship to change and warm up.  We did get out and about in downtown Juneau for roughly an hour, had a couple of drinks at the Red Dog Saloon and stopped in a couple of shops.  Juneau is beautiful.  Maybe next time we will fly straight there and spend a long weekend traveling at our own pace.