Another Trip to Bethel

I don't know why we went... I needed out of the house and the Mister will be busy with basketball until March and I knew if we didn't go yesterday we might not....

So, when the game was over he and I loaded the snow-go and took off to Bethel. We left the house about 1:00pm. The ride was good to town. The sun was still low and the sky couldn't decide if it was clearing or getting worse. We got to town and ate at the Chinese place across the street from AC ---- one of the larger groceries in town. Oh, the snow-go did get hot about 2 blocks from the restaurant. Actually, we don't know how long it ran hot as the Mister didn't realize he wasn't getting a clear look at the light.

We bought groceries and warmed up at the same time. There were no bananas, oranges, potatoes, lettuce --- well, some leaf --- there were a few carrots, onions, about 6 yellow peppers. They were really cleaned out. Cake mix was $3.00 and we paid $7.65 for a bag of Doritos. Background ---- Bethel (and us) have had crazy weather these last 2 weeks. Two weeks ago we were freezing way down below 0 with windchills in the 40's. This week has been warm and Anchorage even hit 42 on Friday morning. Anyway, snow turned to rain and rain to ice -- so much so that Bethel's airport was closed for 2 days. So, no planes, no food. I wouldn't have gone if I had put some thought into it. Live and learn.

The trip back was another story. We left town with about $750 worth of food on a $300 plastic sled. We went a little ways and had to stop to pack snow --- the snow-go is water cooled and the trail was icy, not snowy. Two guys went by with sleds and since they weren't traveling at breakneck speeds, we stayed right behind them. THEN, (I didn't see them until we were right on top of them!) we went by a group of people just standing around their snow-goes. We were in some hills and bandits have been known to stop people traveling around there. I leaned up to the Mister and yelled that I didn't care if it got hot ---- JUST KEEP GOING!!! Well, the other two guys we were following went a ways and then pulled over. We went soaring past and waved thanks. A while later we had to pull over for more snow. The mister got off and got the small shovel and put some in on the right side, then walked behind me and put some on the left side. Then he walked back behind me to put up the shovel and he said, "Our sled is gone!" We decided that we had to go back --- yes, we discussed it --- it was cold! He told me that if we went to 24 on the odometer we'd gone too far. At 25 , he stopped. We could see Bethel lights. He asked and I said go on. We went just a little farther and there it was. Those people hadn't bothered it or anything. Then (((read this quietly --- we had to pee))))) and I was hurrying to get dressed and lights came over the hill. I about died. There I wasn't quite finished dressing and the bandits were coming and I was sure we'd lose it all and get killed, too! BUT, it was a man who serves on our school board. His headlight was a great help and soon we were on our way. It was 9:15 when we walked in the house. We were exhausted and slept until 10:30 this morning.

Yep...we'll go again.

New Year's in Anchorage

2009....Who knew that nearly a decade could go by so fast? I have moved more times and more miles than I ever dreamed....I've been self-employed in a job I swore I would NEVER do when I was growing up and my parents MADE me take piano lessons (thanks Dad, I appreciate them now that I've grown up a bit)....I've been a minister's wife and a substitute teacher --- NEVER planned on those two....and now I've moved to a fly-in only village in a state that really made Texas mad about 50 years ago.... Wonder what the next ten years will bring....

Our family spent Christmas at home this year. We went to the Moravian Church across the river on Christmas Eve. It was beautiful. The Mister got the snow-go out and hooked up the sled. We put on the clothes we could possibly find and then.... just as I headed out the door.... it started snowing. What more could we ask? By the time the service was over it was like an Oklahoma blizzard. We raced home and opened the gifts from the community gift exchange. It snowed all night and day on Christmas Day, which was truly wonderful as we were getting rather short on snow around the village.

I fixed turkey and dressing for lunch and another teacher came to eat with us. We had invited V. from across the river but the white-out conditions made it impossible for her to come over. After eating, we played CLUE - the DVD version. The Boy got it from his grandparents for Christmas. He LOVES to play Clue and this version was a lot of fun. We played again on Saturday since we couldn't get to Bethel due to blowing snow.

Blowing snow --- ice fog ---- strong winds --- these are the things that shape our lives. We finally got out of the village on Sunday morning. Up here you just have to live with it... no reason to fuss.... you can't control it.... however, I'm not so sure that there's not a weatherman somewhere who just likes to tick us off!

Anchorage is gorgeous this year. There is WAY more snow this year as compared to last year. The trees look like they've been painted in icing. The mountains have been out everyday but yesterday -- the day we took off driving. I will miss the trees and the mountains next week. But the tundra has its own beauty.... you just have to look a little harder for it!

We've seen Twilight, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Valkyrie and something else.... actually parents saw two and kids saw two..... none are worth seeing again but most were entertaining at the time.

This post is becoming sort of a menagerie of stuff. So what does the new year bring to our family? The Mister and I have 3 classes to finish this semester. The Mister will begin classes in May for Site Administrator certification (lower 48 principal certificate). The Girl is working on finishing phases in Reading and Writing so she can take college classes next year. She and her dad will be busy with basketball until March, as well. I have to get jr. high Pentathlon together. The Boy has purchased so many video game and books that I doubt we will see him before the snow thaws. I have started a Christmas quilt that I promised to finish before class begins on the 14th and I've bought fabric for a quilt for our bedroom that will keep me busy for a while. The girl wants to get started on her quilt, too. We'll see....

Happy New Year to all. Come see us when you can......I know..... you're really busy...... :)