I had plenty of down time today in Kotzebue, where I am resting and preparing for my radio interview. After getting up with the team at 7 a.m. each day for the last two weeks and then working hard all day, I went ahead and slept in this morning. It felt so good! Luckily Steve from the BLM supplied the Kotzebue bunkhouse where I am staying with plenty of food. I had a breakfast of cereal and tea and started on my TO-DO list.
First off, I wanted to go check in at the radio station and make sure everything was still looking good. KOTZ radio plays on 720 a.m. here in Kotzebue. I walked through town, being passed by lots of folks on roaring four-wheelers, heading toward the radio towers. I walked inside and met Irena, the DJ. It was neat to see local people come in with written announcements about garage sales or funerals which Irena read. They also play National Public Radio and great music. Irena called her boss and they decided my interview should be on Monday when more people are listening, so I'm all set to be interviewed the morning of the day I fly home to Colorado. I walked to the store and bought some postcards to send home, then did a little laundry back a the BLM bunkhouse.
Having gotten my work done, I went for a walk on the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day and children were playing in the water. Walking along the beach was interesting because you can stumble on the strangest things. I found many bones and some old car parts. I saw an airplane like the one we flew back from Red Dog Mine in, but this one was missing its engines and nose cone. There was a seal flipper laying on the beach - that's something I don't see everyday! Farther down the beach I spotted an old shipwreck and had to go explore it. It looked like a World War II-era landing craft - the kind they'd use to put troops and tanks on the beach.
I had fun exploring this rusty hulk. Dr. Rasic back in camp had said you can flint knapp blades from the base of broken bottles and I found several there to try this on. I'll work on them more when I have the right tools. Walking back the road crosses directly over the runway we landed on. There is a sign advising you to look both ways before crossing. Now I'll go back to the BLM bunkhouse to prepare for my interview on July 2nd.
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