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December 1, 2013

He's Gone

Well, after a stressful few weeks, Joshua has finally left Newtok and made his journey to the Southcentral portion of this great state.

He was scheduled to leave on the morning (11 am) flight out of Newtok on Friday, November 29th, but because of weather, he and the Portie family didn't leave until one-ish.

Before his departure, we had a few errands to run, including sending another round of totes. Will the packing of totes ever end?!


 Of course, zip ties had to be used again!
If you notice this time, we didn't have a drill to use so we had to make due with a knife.

So after packing all of Josh's clothes, and some supplies, we finally got everything packed and ready to go. 
Yes, my house does feel empty now with all of his stuff missing. It made our little house a little bit bigger!

So to send his tubs we had to pack up the sled. I was not going to carry these tubs all the way to the post office. You know, because it is sooo far away.
But really, the snow with these heavy totes, it would've seemed like a long journey!
But, I did realized you know you live in an Alaskan village when you can use the school's snow machine and sled to transfer your mail easier from your house to the post office.
And this also meant I finally got to ride my first snow machine!




I know this is weird to Josh's family and friends up north that I have not been on one or to be honest ever really seen a snow machine but to my friends and family down south, it makes complete sense.
I now get why Joshua likes them so much. They are so fun to ride and an easier ride for sure than a four-wheeler. 
We may just have to get one.. in a long, long, long time:)

We were outside running errands since around 8 am that morning. It is definitely still dark at this hour, but the sunrise was beautiful when it finally started to come up around 10 am. (It doesn't fully come up until 10:30.)
And I actually got to appreciate it outside, since I am usually teaching at this time of day.
But the multi-colored sky before the sun actually came up was the coolest part. It had pinks, oranges, and blues all at once. I will never tire of seeing this!





But before we brought the tubs to the post office, we had to go get cash from the store.
We decided to take a walk, since this would be the last time Joshua would walk to village for awhile.
I also knew we had both grown somewhat accustomed to the weather in Alaska when it was only 3 degrees that morning and we both thought it was perfectly acceptable to go walking and not even worry about being cold. 
When did this happen?!

But walking back from the store, we went a different way than we usually do.
I know, seems impossible. Like how many ways is there to go?!
But we did, and we discovered something I did not think existed here in Newtok… a speed limit!


Since the snow has been on the ground for a few weeks now, I guess the village thought it necessary to make a speed limit for the "snow machiners" to follow! Better safe than sorry, I guess!

And since this was Josh's last time in Newtok, I thought it necessary to take a few photos of us with the scenery of our first home as a married couple.



And yes, that now includes a photo on a snow machine. You know you live in Alaska when…

And so we finally got the call that the plane was only 20 minutes away. The Portie family loaded up the sled and Joshua and I decided to walk up there. A few photos from the scenic walk:



And like I said, it was chilly that morning. Enough so, that there was a little moisture/frozen ice on Josh's mustache when we got up to the airport.
If you look closely on the right side, you can see it. And if you know Joshua, he was proud of it for sure.

And twenty minutes later, Joshua got on the plane and finally left me for his new adventure in Seward. So proud of him!


But I'm glad to say that Joshua arrived safely and we have gotten everything figured out.
He is still in Anchorage and will head to Seward tomorrow after he talks to the insurance agency about our new GMC truck.
Yes, Joshua won that coin toss to get a truck instead of an SUV :)

So now it's just two more weeks until I can finally be with him in our new home!

2 comments:

  1. Emily - Exciting news about Josh's new job. Having to stay behind is not the best case scenario, but while you are teaching, the time will go quickly. We will keep you in our prayers. We have booked an Alaskan Cruise for this summer, but of course, Newtok is not one of the ports. lol Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving. May God watch over you and bless you both. Through Him, all things are possible! Darlene and Pat

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  2. ok so I'm going to admit I've never been to Alaska... but I have a huge craving to go! so lovely! :)

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