Back to Nome!

So, after a separation of 369 days, I will be returning to Nome as of the 4th f next month. ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

I got the call on Tuesday evening from my boss in Nome that they were desperate for help and I agreed to an 8 week assignment. I am nonetheless thrilled as I can be to go back, as I miss my friends, the people, the bars, the hospital and coworkers, the snow, and of course the Northern Lights.

So, after the passed few days, a few things have occurred to me. I have been reminded of things from a year ago that I had forgotten about. Here are some examples...

1)Remembering phone numbers is easy. You need some one's number? Only need the last 4 digits, as there is only one prefix in town. If it's a home number, that'll be 443. Cell? No prob. It's 304.

2)Airport Pizza! Not only is it the best eatery in town, it's pretty much the best pizza I have ever had in my life. P'izza Chicago in Silicon Valley rates a close second with it's Great Chicago Fire pizza. Yummy, I miss both.

3)Sushi at Milano's! An Italian restaurant that serves pizza, pasta, sushi and other Japanese fare, run by Koreans...

4)Waiting for what movies are coming out that week.... 2 movies, both showing at the same 2 time slots, to be viewed via the back door of the Subway, and always listed on the 3rd page of the Nome Nugget when it comes out on Wednesdays.

5)The Nome Nugget. The town paper. Published every day except Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and the last week of the year. I shit you not, it's printed every week in the paper. Look it up online. In town, it'll cost you 50 cents. And more than likely, after you looked at the movie listings, you are reading the Seawall, Trooper Beat, and Legals section to see if anyone you know got busted from the Nome PD. Nurses always look to see who we are going to get a break from seeing at the hospital that week since we know they were booked into AMMC. (the prison)

6)Sadly, there will be no 3 o'clock runs to the Glue Pot, as it has been closed down. No more fried mushrooms or pretzels before driving out to the Dexter Roadhouse for more drinking until 5 AM.

7)My friends pretty much live next door! Missy, Doug, Carmen and Jerry all inhabit the 14 plex (where I pray they let me stay again), and I am eager to hear window tapping from Carmen to ask me outside for smoke breaks. Not to mention Bridgett and Scotty live across the street! And Remmington, their kick-ass black lab.

8)Carmen and Jerry still have my cooler and my RED ab machine. Need to get those back.

9)The ANB and Breakers Bar. ANB meaning the Arctic Native Brotherhood, for which I am a member. Always the first stop or the night out before heading to Breakers. If not Breakers, it the Bearing Sea Saloon for karaoke, then of course after they close, it's off to the BOT (aka, Board of Trade, or bottom of the toilet, depends on who you ask....)

10)Parties at Neal's house. I need not say anything more. Anyone who has ever been knows what's up. Fun had by all. Can't wait for the Halloween party :)

11)The sun. It doesn't hang around much in the winter, but the rise and set will knock any one's socks off, not to mention the Northern Lights. The snow, the chilly crisp clean air...

12)Shopping at Maruskya's. More money I plan to spend....

13)The beach! Yeah, so the water will be cold and unswimmable. No biggie. At least I can go, collect shells and beach glass, and chill out listening to the waves. I can't wait.

There are a few things however, that I never got the chance to do,even though I was there last time for almost a year.

*Train to Nowhere. Was a good idea, but they just quit. It's pretty neat, look it up on the net. I went, but I didn't get pics as my camera battery died :(
*Need to go to Council at least once. It's a camping 'town' about 70 miles away, and I never went. I'm gonna try real hard to go this time around.
*Teller. It's the only village accessible by car to got to from Nome. Would like to say that I have been to one of the villages at least once before the Nome-Teller HWY gets closed for the winter.
*Snow machining and dog sledding. 2 things I never got to do the first time. Self explanatory.

Repeats of things I would like to do again are definitely going atop Anvil Mountain to get the awesome view of all of Nome and the Bering Sea. Gotta get back to Salmon Lake and maybe Pilgrim Hot Springs again too.

I cannot contain myself for all the excitement I am trying to keep under control. I am really happy I will be seeing all of my friends again, and making new ones as well.

Until then, I am taxed with trying to save $215 for my AK license renewal, and some CEU's for my license as well. Yay.