7 June 2018 Home Sweet Home

Journal

This is Ukpik Nest 2 (or "The Nest") where I am staying this week. From the outside, it looks a bit like storage containers on stilts. On the inside, it's quite nice. Here's a quick tour. I have a room that I don't spend a lot of time in.

Because I haven't totally acclimated to Alaska time yet, I'm up before anyone else and have first dibs on the showers. I'm enjoying them now because at Toolik, this will be no more! The bathrooms are modular with a shower, toilet, and sink in each room.

Shower rooms in the nest — This is our bathroom. There are four for the women and four for the men.

We make all our meals. There is a grocery store in Utqiagvik ($18 apples and oranges anyone?) where we can get anything from produce to ATV's.

AC apples and oranges — Some things are priced like the lower 48, but most are not!

We also cook all our own meals and share a common dining hall.

Nest Dining Hall — The dining hall at the nest.

The nest kitchen — The very large kitchen.

pantry at the nest — Each group has an assigned refrigerator and pantry space.

The Adventures Of Flat Cat

Wait...There's A Prize?

Starting on today's post, you will find pictures of Piedmont, Oklahoma's school mascot, the Wildcat. To all the upcoming 6th grade students in Piedmont, print out the travel log and find the Flat Cat in each journal entry. Record the journal date, title of the journal, and location or activity of the Flat Cat. The first student to turn a correctly filled in log to me in August will get an Arctic prize! Woo hoo!