Baby Alaska: We are Alaskan Women!

Sunday I went on a girls adventure with some super fun gals: Kayla, Carol, and Lilianne. We drove a few hours back around the mountain sides through Dexter (where Wyatt Earp’s house is) and through nameless communities past Dorothy Falls, past Salmon Lake and the Boy Scout Camp, all the way to Pilgrim Springs. The road was crazy once we turned off “the highway” that leads to Council. It was a one lane road built of what looked like railroad rock. Parts of the road had sunken back into the tundra (which by the way is very squishy and spongy like moss and really fun to jump around on) so it is flooded with muddy water. 4 girls in a 4x4 Jeep driving through waist deep muddy water! “We are Alaskan women!!” we were yelling as we bumped along. At the end of the road there is a super cute pink one holer and you park your car to walk a mile through marsh and tundra. All along the way there are little pools of bubbling water. The hot springs are everywhere behind mountains and you wouldn’t know they were there unless a native showed you or you knew someone who was shown. We ended our hike at an 8 foot tall wooden basin that is surrounded by a very unsteady deck. You climb up the steps, strip down to bathing suits or whatever you’ve got, and jump in! You end up in a wooden basin that is filled with 110 degree water that flows in through pvc from the springs near by. There are no seats so you either float or try and touch the bottom. I was in for 5 minutes before I started to boil so I climbed on out only to be eaten by Alaskan Mosquitoes! They are the worst kind of skeeters I’ve ever encountered. They are tiny itty bitty little obnoxious things that leave enormous welts all over your body. So I had to get in, get out, get in, get out while we all shared stories.

On the way back to Nome we stopped to walk around on the tundra and pick blue berries, cranberries, blackberries, and crowberries. We also stopped on the side of the road where fresh clean freezing cold spring water shoots out the mountainside. We filled our water bottles with the coldest and freshest water I have ever tasted. I drank right from the mountain! Don’t worry, I didn’t poop my pants or anything. It was great!

We went to dinner and got a $14 BBQ burger then went to Lilianne’s apartment in town to read Tarot Cards. I’ve never done it, but when in Nome! From what my cards said I believe that I am in the right place. My cards were all about listening to my inner spirit and following the path that it tells me to go while ignoring the negative outside influences. They said that it was time for me to stand strong on my own ground and not be afraid of making difficult decisions because I will make the right ones if I listen to my inner whisper. I guess it was time for me to take the leap and make my own way in the world, and I landed in Nome! I love and miss everyone from back home. I know I was so lucky to have the family that I do to take care of me for so long. Without my family I would have been lost. They push me when I need to be pushed and keep me sheltered when I need to be sheltered. I know there are many many people that aren’t as lucky as I am, even though life definitely hasn’t been easy. I am still battling this uphill climb, but I’ve got a smile on my face and a bounce in my step!