Alaska - Day 8

Saturday, August 23, 2008:

I slept in quite late this morning, until about 10:00, which was slightly nuts because I went to bed at about 9. Dad tried to make it until sunset last night, which would have been close to midnight, but he couldn't make it either. It would have been neat to watch a midnight sunset, as our room had a perfect view of it (and the ocean), but we were both too exhausted. I woke up and could tell my cold was already worse, despite drinking OJ, a Naked Vitamin C drink, and water. I had to run around to get ready, as the check out time was early (flight wasn't until 8:00 pm though). I was happy to leave the stinky hotel (I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but we stayed at the Top of the World hotel, and our room smelled like feet - yuck), but we weren't sure what we would do, as we had the tour on Friday. We went down to the lobby and decided to sit there for a few minutes, and we met a wonderful couple from Australia. We talked to them for a long time, and they were really interesting folks. We've been lucky to meet some fantastic people on this trip!

After that, Dad and I set off to walk around Barrow. The bus tour made it seem so much bigger, but it really was pretty small. The horrible quality of the housing really struck me as we walked around. I honestly have no idea how people live in them, especially through winter. Along the way, we stopped at a store and got some meds and cough drops for me, and the cough drops helped tremendously.

We continued on, and as we were walking, a guy on an ATV pulled up next to us and told us to be careful, as we were approaching a polar bear. I said," seriously?", and he said, "yes, seriously." Dad and I thought he might have been playing a joke on us, but we kept walking and noticed that tons of people were gathering around. We walked on, met up with the Aussies again, and found the spot. It turns out the guy WASN'T joking, and there really was a polar bear swimming in the lake in town! He was really far away, but we could see him. A woman lent us her binoculars, and then we had a great view. Awesome! My camera couldn't capture the bear (it's a little black spot in my pics), but we did see it. The locals were VERY concerned, and kept telling everyone to stay back. Polar bears are quite dangerous I guess, but right now, most of them just want a nap on the beach, as the ice is really far out and they've been swimming for many miles. I felt very lucky to see one, and I was glad it was at a distance. To get where s/he was, the bear would have walked through town...running into a polar bear on your morning jog would be quite a shock! Yikes!

Speaking of polar bears, the Aussies were on a private tour on Friday night, and they saw a polar bear. Suddenly, as they were watching it, some young men pulled up, pulled out a gun, and shot it five times. The poor thing still wasn't dead, so they had to go up and shoot it again. Now, hunting is part of the native culture, and they will utilize every part of the bear, but the Aussie gentleman, an outdoorsman, said the bear could have been killed in a much more humane way (better gun/better shot). He didn't mind the hunting - he just hated that it was done poorly. I guess some woman on the tour was quite distraught, and the Aussies said it was quite sad too. I'm glad I didn't see that, but I kept thinking someone might shoot the bear we were viewing in town. I'm glad they didn't!

Before the bear sighting, we walked along the Arctic ocean for part of the morning, hoping to maybe see a whale, but we didn't have any luck. The Aussies and another pair of people we met did see one, right along the beach. That's the only wildlife I'm sad I missed, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a big deal.

After the bear, we walked back toward the hotel to have lunch at a place called Osaka, a Japanese restaurant with a huge menu. Being wusses, Dad and I both ordered American food. Everything was quite expensive, but we had a pretty good meal. Even the pie was good! Beth had told me that Osaka had the best ratings, and she was right - definitely better than Pepe's. The town also had an Arctic pizza joint; I think it would have been cool to try that too. Just not enough time or money!

We finished eating and decided to stop back in the hotel lobby for a bit. Ran into two other women from our tour on Friday, and we wound up talking to them for a couple of hours! Eventually the Aussies came back too, and we all had a nice time chatting. The women were mother/daughter, and the daughter lives in Lenox, MA, which isn't too far from where Sarah lives. The mom has traveled the world, including to Antartica and Siberia - cool. The Aussies are on a 3 month trip, going through AK, Canada, and a huge part of the US. All of them were quite nice, very intelligent, and easy to talk to, and it was an excellent way to spend the afternoon.

Eventually, our shuttle driver picked us up, and we were on the way to the tiny Barrow airport. As we waited to board, the Barrow football team arrived home. They have to fly to every game, which is absolutely insane. I think that's a total waste of money, but it's their choice. Anyway, the place was filled with the players' family/friends/fans, and they cheered loudly as the players entered the airport. I guess they beat a team they never beat before. Pretty fun to watch - I imagine small town Texas is like that. I just don't get caring about high school football so much, but everyone is different, and like I said, it was neat to witness it.

Our flights to Fairbanks and then Anchorage went smoothly, and we were met by a coach at the baggage claim. We were at the Anchorage hotel (Clarion Suites, which I highly recommend) by midnight - not too shabby! Anchorage seemed like civilization, which is odd, since it's not that big, but I guess everything is relative! Looking forward to being home tomorrow - yay!