No “Road Rage” here.

I used to be pretty envious of Michele’s commute back in her CMJTS days.  She drove regularly on I35 down to Forest Lake. She had frequent trips to Monticello, and spent time in the Twin Cities often for training. I rarely left a 20-mile radius of Pine City. There were times that if I wanted to spice up my commute, I’d take Highway 61 instead of the 10 miles on I35 to Rush City. My world shrank to a pretty small bubble sometimes.

These days my daily commute is a crunchy, 25 yards or less. The nearest entrance to the school is so close to my trailer house that I have “ran home real quick” to grab something and been back in my classroom in less than 2 minutes.

But my commute for work does take me new places from time to time.

This week I got off the ROCK for the first time since school began 5 weeks ago. I got to fly to Kotzebue for a two-day coaches training. The workshop was useful and energizing.  Seeing good friends was refreshing. Seeing vehicles and stop signs, pavement and police cars reminded me of the world I once knew. But the thing that made me happiest was my time in the Air.

I love to Fly.

I have loved to fly for a long time. My time sitting along side Fuzz LePage when I was a little boy, flying above Lake of the Woods on Mail Runs to the Northwest Angle was the stuff that Dreams are made of.

And now that I am officially a coach – I can take to the winds again. My travel itinerary is set. In the next few months I will get to fly to the villages of Noatak, Deering, Noorvik and Buckland. I am excited with anticipation. No camera could ever do it justice. I’ll share a few obligatory pictures and tell you about the view someday over a campfire….until then ENJOY. It’s time for me to hit the rack for the night. I’m tired from my first day of coaching Volleyball.  (PS – I kinda thought my Volleyball Coaching News would be Open Game for a funny/sarcastic entry from my wife.)

No named river on the way to Noatak.
Flying at about 1500 ft. w/ a heavy cargo load. 

First trip to Red Dog Mine - Zinc & Lead mine.
World's largest producer of a Zinc concentrate.
(Big Bucks)

Banking a hard left out of Red Dog w/ snow on the mountain tops - right at your fingertips.
2nd flight with Elaine from Ravn Air.

Tundra between Red Dog and Kivalina.
(Scouting for Caribou)

Approaching KIVLs from the East. 

"Requesting permission to Buzz the Tower."