TO THE FROZEN TUNDRA & BACK!

THE REAL ALASKA:
So I went on a mission trip to Alaska just a few weeks ago--to the real Alaska. We did get to stop in "tourist Alaska" on the way home for a few hours (Anchorage), but we went to a small Eskimo fishing village that is 3 miles north of the Arctic Circle. We actually stopped in another village that is even further north of the Arctic Circle. It was a work and ministry trip. Our team worked on the new property that the missionaries just acquired, and we also put on a 3-day retreat for the ladies of the village, a mother/daughter banquet, a men's prayer breakfast & skeet-shoot activity, a boys fishing getaway, and we took over the preaching & music for all of the church services. It was a great trip, but it went by way too fast! It was definitely an experience we will never forget. I didn't bring my pro camera because it would have been kind of difficult, and we had pretty strict weight restrictions, etc. But...we had several little point & shoot cameras with us, and they did the job I guess. Here's just a brief picture show:

Flying over the mountains--BREATHTAKING!

One of the little planes we took to fly into the village. It took 4 flights to get there, ending with this one:

Shot of the village from the air (yes...it's in the middle of nowhere):

Village is along the river (well...one of the rivers):
BOARDWALKS:

It's a village of boardwalks; there are no roads. They ride ATVs on them in the summer, and they use snowmobiles in the winter. You basically have to look down at all times when walking; otherwise, you might trip or fall through one of the big cracks or holes!

THE CHURCH:

CITY HALL, THE DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY & THE FIRE STATION:

THE GAS STATION:

Antlers are everywhere:

Kids & dogs are everywhere too! :D

SNOWMOBILE ON WATER:

They ride snowmobiles across the river. I never did get to see how they get a running start to get onto the water because it will definitely sink in a hurry if it's not going way fast!

This is the "new" property we worked on:

Lots of cleanup (these are old toilets just sitting around the property):

More cleanup (I could show a ton of pictures of all the cleaup work):
The current house they're moving out of:

THE REAL TUNDRA:

This is what real tundra looks like. It may seem like no big deal, but try walking on it! I know Lambeau Field is called the frozen tundra, but there is no way you could play football on real tundra! There are like squishy mounds that move when you step on them; I totally fell down! It's very easy to twist your ankles & fall flat on your face!

MOSQUITO MADNESS!

The mosquitos out on the tundra are the worst I've ever seen! You can see them in this shot, but they are seriously way worse than they look here:

STILL SOME ICE ON THE WATER IN JUNE:

THEY HAVE BIG FISH

(this one is less than 1/4 the size of the largest on record of this species):

AUTHENTIC ESKIMO FISH CAMP

(they catch & dry fish in the summer to store food for the winter):

A MOOSE IN THE WILD WHILE WE WERE ON THE BOAT:

CARIBOU IN THE WATER:

The Eskimos actually call them "Reinbou" because the reindeer & caribou inter-breed, so it's basically a "reinbou." A couple of these poor little guys became dinner! :)

THE MIDNIGHT SUN:

We were there during the season of 24-hour daylight. It starts to seem weird by about day 3 because you feel like you've been in the same day for a very long time! They get the opposite though too-24 hours of darkness, and it's FREEZING! (Sometimes actual temperature is like 63 below! YIKES!)

THE BEAUTY OF GOD'S CREATION: