I made it 100 days!! It’s been an amazing adventure! The past couple weeks I’ve been missing my family and friends back home. I also miss WA and the amazing summers we have. After being gone this long, I gave myself some personal leave days. I bought a plane ticket home and surprised my niece for her 18th birthday! I’ll tell you this much, after being on an island isolated and in the rain for nearly 2 weeks, I was looking forward to getting off the island. Then I get to the airport, where I’ve spent a lot of my adult life, and it seemed to be going well. Then I boarded the plane, sat in my seat and for the first time anxiety consumed me. A stranger sitting uncomfortably close to me and so many other strangers surrounding me. That was the beginning… The “noise” was freaking me out! I felt extremely claustrophobic. I literally almost had to get off the plane. In that moment, all I wanted to do was get back to the island. Crazy right? I’ve literally flown 100,000’s of miles all over the world many times and this was the first time I’ve felt this way. I had just come from a complete world of peace and this loud, obnoxious, confined space with the 21st century technologies surrounding me about gave me a heart attack, literally. Wow, didn’t see that one coming. A total surprise and shock!
Speaking of surprises and shocks, I was able to surprise everyone in my family. And my niece, Kylie, was enjoying her 18th bday and I got video of her! I got video of everyone but hers is super special! She had just returned from sky diving! I was able to spend the evening with my entire family! Such a major blessing!! My dream came true! We even went back to my parents and all us kids went night swimming! It was even better than I had been dreaming of on the island and dealing with the plane ride seemed well worth it! It’s so nice to be home! Not only for the best home cooked meals and my family and friends, but I got to see stars in the sky for the first time in a long time! I love a star filled sky on a warm summer night (75). Another thing that brought me quickly back to the sense of home was the fluttering sound of sprinklers. It may seem weird to everyone, but I love that sound and it screams “summer” to me! I dearly love Alaska and I’m also finding how much I love home. I’ll be back in AK soon and I’ll have 6 more weeks. I’ll say that even if it’s short lived, getting some WA summer in, is amazing!!! Love seeing my family and friends more than anything!!
Nate's Alaskan adventure 