Patty flew back up for the Labor Day weekend to help me finish packing and clean the apartment. We had hoped to get out once more but it took us longer to clean and pack than anticipated. We only had a couple of hours on Monday before Patty's flight out to ride down the beach and walk the tundra one last time. God was with us and the weather was as pretty as it gets in Kotzebue.
On Friday the 5th the hospital did the usual going away party for not only myself but for the departing Medical Director and his wife. That night one of the doctors and her roommate who Cathy and Gary are real close to threw a going away party for us all at their house on Front Street.
September Sixth
My day of departure after almost five and a half years in Kotzebue has arrived. I was scheduled out on the middle jet but when we awoke that morning the town was socked in with fog. John picked me up for the flight and we got to the airport just in time to hear the jet approach then crank up it's engines to climb away. When it's foggy they will attempt the landing but if they reach 1000 feet and cannot see the runway they pull up. I could just make out the shadow of the jet in the fog as it roared away. The fog cleared shortly after the jet departed of course.
John got permission from the Chief and picked my up in Engine 7 for the ride to the airport for the late flight. I have to say I was choked up when he pulled up in the big fire truck to give me a lift for my flight out.
Goodbye to Kotzebue and the fine people who live there. It has been an experience we do not regret a moment of!
We will never forget you.
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Last updated:
09/18/08
.JPG "They are finally rebuilding the museum and hopefully next summer the touist trade will pick up.")
.JPG "Crossing the end of the runway")
.JPG "Patty fishing on the beach")
.JPG "Carlo also tries his luck")
.JPG "A jelly fish in the soon to be frozen sea")
.JPG "It was a beautiful day.")
.JPG "Us on the beach")
.JPG "The sun sparkling off the sound")
.JPG "Kotzebue once again looking so small from a distance")
.JPG "The cranberries are ripe")
.JPG "Us on the tundra")
.JPG "Patty's jet back to Anchorage. I have 5 more days to wait to join her")
.JPG "At Aucha and Dr. Zent's going away party")
.JPG "The lighter going out for another load from the big barge way offshore.")
.JPG "Heading out into the sunshine")
.JPG "A mixed group of well wishers")
.JPG "Aucha and Dr. Zent")
.JPG "Another beautiful day along Front Street looking across Kotzebue Sound")
.JPG "Looking towards the south")
.JPG "Their new house and the balcony the pictures were taken from")
.JPG "Getting ready to bring my fire department equipment back to the fire hall")
.JPG "The last remaing items to pack.")
.JPG "The morning fog")
.JPG "I dropped off my equiment and left the fine staff and volunteers of the Kotzebue Fire Department a note of thanks")
.JPG "The patch collection")
.JPG "Inside the hall looking at Airboat one and the rescue sled")
.JPG "Medic one")
.JPG "Snapshots of the hall")
.JPG "A man fishing along front street. Note you cannot make out the water")
.JPG "The fog at noon")
.JPG "Bayside Restaurant where I just had breakfast")
.JPG "Looking out at what used to be our two snowmachines and one of our old 4 wheelers")
.JPG "The fog lifted and folks started heading out")
.JPG "A typical scene in Kotzebue")
.JPG "Cemetary hill")
.JPG "My ride arrives")
.JPG "Thank you John!")
.JPG "Dr Gibson and Sheila his wife who had offered me a ride to the airport but I got to tell them I had a better offer! I did thank them though.")
.JPG "Thanks again John.")
.JPG "The terminal in Kotzebue")
.JPG "My ride to Anchorage")
.JPG "Goodbye Kotzebue.")
.JPG "Coming into Nome on the way to Anchorage.")
.JPG "Nome......can't you read?")