Robbin and Chris's Alaska

Greetings from the sunny north!! I mean sunny!! Summer's here and above the Arctic Circle the sun won't set for a month or more. Yes, please notice the new address and phone number, Ambler, north of the Arctic Circle.

The past two months have been busy for us. School ended in Sleetmute on May 15 the day after the river in Sleetmute broke-up. Break-up was amazing. The Kuskokwim river had about four feet of ice on it this winter and Sleetmute had about four feet of snow. That's a lot of snow and ice or tons of frozen water. Spring was wet, all two weeks of it. Temperatures got up into the 60s during the days, but in the morning there was ice on the puddles. The snow melted rather quickly, but everyone was nervously watching the river. They were all worried about a flood because of the thick ice and all the run-off from the snow. So around 11 one night the ice started moving. It just didn't go down river though, it rose up the banks too. The water rose about two feet in less than a minute. Water is a powerful thing. Tons of ice ran up on the banks forming huge mountains of ice. Then everything stopped, the ice had jammed. The next morning everyone got out early and started preparing for a flood, very few kids went to school. That afternoon the ice started moving again and the river rose higher. Huge chunks of ice went rolling by all afternoon. By late evening the ice in the river was small chunks. The river continued to rise, there was a ice jam up river and an ice jam down river. Water had started to flow across the road.. That was the last night Chris and I stayed in our house by the river. The following morning the water was in Susan's (the other teacher) front yard and rising. The water wasn't near the top of our bank yet, but Chris and I finished moving all of our thing out of the house and to the school. Chris put on some shorts and waded to the other end of town. The water in the road got up to his waist. Everyone else who wanted to go to the other end of town took a boat, which had been tied up to everyone's doors in anticipation of a flood. As the water climbed, people started to leave their houses for higher ground. One family moved across to the river, boating between the ice floes to a higher house. We had a barbecue with Susan's family and the store owner as the water rose closer and closer to the grill. Just as the water was beginning to spill into the yard of our house, the down river ice went out, and the water receded. Only one house in Sleetmute was low enough to receive water damage in the flood, but it was still exciting.

We left Sleetmute the week following the flood. It took us about a month and a half to move. First we had to pack all our things in boxes and mail them four boxes at a time (four boxes was about the capacity of the post office per day) to Ambler. We started doing this about three weeks prior to leaving, the rest of our things we somehow got on the plane. We stayed overnight with a friend in Aniak and then headed to Fairbanks. We intended to stay with friends in Fairbanks for a week and then head to Ambler, but silly us didn't get plane reservations early enough and had to scramble to get out here before the first of June. Chris came to Ambler on the 29 by himself on a larger commercial flight. I came on Memorial day with my computer, the dog, my plant, the vegetables, and two bikes. The plane was a little crowded so the dog kennel and the bikes stayed behind in Fairbanks. If you ever travel with dogs I suggest going without a kennel sometime, it makes the flight interesting. Henry, the dog, sat on the floor between the pilot's daughter and myself. As soon as the plane started taxing he jumped into my lap (this is a dog who'd never even seen a car until two weeks before). Now Henry isn't a huge dog, but 55 pounds isn't that light. Luckily for me he eventually got back on the floor and I got to spend the rest of the flight worrying that he would bite someone or chew on the seats. He did try to bolt when we landed, but otherwise was pretty good.

We live in Ambler now, well above the Arctic Circle. We have a beautifully huge house. The windows are whole, the door closes tightly, the roof does leak a little but only by the stove pipe and it is clean. Still no running water, but that's to be expected. The house belongs to Nick Jans, a rather infamous Alaskan writer. If your interested in learning more about Ambler and the Arctic pick up one of his books you'll learn quite a bit.

We're taking the summer off, just hiking and fishing. Chris will be teaching junior high come August and I will once again start my campaign to bring affordable Internet to the bush (well mainly to me). Anyone is welcome to come visit us, we have a group of 7 coming around July 13 but other than that we're free. Ambler is just one short plane ride from Fairbanks, just give me a call I'll help arrange any travel you need. And remember to bring industrial strength insect repellent, lots of it.
 

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