Stuck in Nome

Early early early morning today! Our flight to Nome was crazy early, so we had to get to the Anchorage airport even earlier. Upside: security through Anchorage was quick and painless.

The plane to Nome was a big plane; half was reserved for passengers and half was for cargo (it would be bad business to reserve a huge plane for only passengers . . . not THAT many people want to go to Nome at the same time). We got on the plane 1950s style and walked out on the tarmac, then up the stairs and onto the plane. Rumors were floating around that we may not get out of Nome today because of the wildfire smoke coming from the Interior. We hoped for the best, but started mentally preparing for a night in Nome.

We made a stop above the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, and then turned south to Nome.



And Nome is where it all went down.




First, Frontier (our little airline that flies the tiny bush planes around the Bering Strait region) took a stand on carryon baggage for the first time in a long time . Here is the policy on carryons: you cannot have them. Nothing. Not even a thousand dollar laptop (be it issued by the district or personal). This is apparently according to FAA regulations, but it was news to everyone going through there today. Needless to say, we had to repack and put our laptops in our baggage (a scary thing) and we had to pay some serious overweight fees. Moral of the Story is don’t’ buy a lot of meat in ANC at Costco if you are going through Nome later on; the money you might have saved on shipping comes out later. If your hub is UNK, then maybe you still save money by taking a cooler of meat with you to the village.

We were feeling frustrated about that for much of the day, but we at least had plenty of time to ‘see’ all that is Nome and visit a few people. And of course, no stop to Nome is complete without a stop at Airport Pizza. We passed the Nome Nugget office, which houses the oldest newspaper in Alaska. I took the obligatory picture underneath the Iditarod Finish Line posts (which they just keep out in the open during the year), and that was Nome. I bet it has a totally different feel in March.






We went back to the airport, and soon found out that fog was holding Gambell hostage for the time being. All planes were flying despite the smoke, but Gambell was being choked by fog. Fog! As a newbie, I don’t really know the area very well and so I was nervous about spending a night in unfamiliar Nome and unsure as to how the whole bush flying system actually worked. It turned out perfectly fine, though, as I am staying with a friend of a friend in Nome for the night. The general rule of the bush is ‘Pay it forward,’ which means if you can ever help another you do it because you never know when you’ll need a similar favor.

So, in the morning I pray that the fog has left the island and try to hop on a plane to Gambell. As much fun as I have had with new friends and as apprehensive as I am, I just want to get there finally!

-Megan