Greetings,
Well, after several traveling events, Ben and I are finally sitting in Dennis and Kathy's beautiful new home with the fire going and the Vikings game on. Life is good here. Let me tell you a little bit about our adventure home. It started on Friday at around 2:25 when our home school coordinator came into our rooms and told us no planes were landing in Mountain and that if we wanted to make it we would have to snow machine to St.Mary's which is about 20 miles away. So, we announced over the VHF system that there were teachers who needed to get to St. Mary's within an hour. We went outside and there were several snow machines waiting to load up teachers. I was taken back and almost got teary eyed to see the support from the people in Mountain. Ben and I weren't flying out of Anchorage until Monday morning and so we offered our snow machine spots to other teachers who had connecting flights. So, we kind of sadly and slowly walked home and figured we would ride down to the store. I called my mom and told her we wouldn't be leaving Mountain on Friday. About 10 minutes later, Ben comes running in saying, "Anne get your gear on, a plane is landing!" I didn't know whether or not to believe him, but I started getting ready anyways. There were four teachers who were already on their way to St. Mary's via snow machine on the great Yukon River. Two other teachers were at the "gas station" and heard the plane was coming as well and so they went to the airport. Long story short, a plane ended up coming and we flew to St. Mary's and everyone was ready to catch the plane to Bethel. Ben and I got put on the second plane which ended up going back to Mountain, then to Bethel. Ben and I always like to say, "only in the bush." I must say that I really enjoy bush planes and the pilots.
Well, all the teachers made it to Bethel where we enjoyed some takeout food for the first time in 4 months. I had chicken and Ben had a burger. It was delightful. Everyone made it to Anchorage and I must say...it was kind of a culture shock. There were people everywhere, cars, billboards, etc. We took a cab to The Burkels house where they had a real Christmas tree in their house. It was truly delightful to walk into their house. We stayed there Saturday night and on Sunday after church we devoted the day to Christmas shopping. Family, you have some Alaskan themed gifts coming to you this year! :)
So, here Ben and I sit comfortably at home in the lower 48. These next couple of weeks will be spent with family, friends, eating out, and shopping. :) We want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!! Thanks for reading.
Ben and Anne:)
