No Place Like Nome

By Tracy Sachs & Meg Thomsen

Here we are in the Anchorage airport waiting for our flight to Nome. In Nome we will dine on the freshest of Alaskan King Crab legs at the Polar Cafe on the Bering Sea before taking our charter flight to Shishmaref.

The flight to Anchorage from Boston was long and very crowded. Just when Tracy thought she'd had it with the flight, she looked out the window and saw mountains, glaciers and ice fields which literally took her breath away. At that very same moment, Meg, Heather and Carmen were walking though the aisles of the Anchorage farmers' market selecting the finest lettuce, zucchini, and squash to bring up to Shishmaref.

Seeing the entire group at dinner last night was an incredible feeling -- so thankful that all 18 made it safe and sound. Dinner went until about 9:30PM, and the beautiful sunset over Cook Inlet made for a fine ending to the evening. We tried to go to a higher floor in the hotel but a frowning hostess denied us our view. Oh well, we were weary from the day. No big kinks so far -- a couple people forgot their sleeping bags but a last minute trip to REI solved that easily.

This morning we were on the Magic Bus by 7:40AM and ready to roll. Lots of laughter, cinnamon bun munching and a palpable feeling of excitement and adventure for the day.

It is a privilege to be here.