Written by Nancy Duresky

Wednesday March 18, 2009 Pt. Two

Even before you get to Nome, you know this whole shooting match is going to be different.  In Anchorage, you board a modified plane.  There is passenger seating in the rear of the plane.  There are 18 rows of seats, and then a wall, I guess it’s called a bulkhead. There is a huge cargo bay.  Cargo is loaded from the middle of the plane to the cockpit.  There are no roads to Nome.  Every chair in every house, every head of lettuce, tube of toothpaste or hospital X-ray machine, every Christmas present, has to either be barged in over summer or flown in Air Freight.  There are many small towns in Alaska where this is the case.  And many smaller villages where the residents snowmobile to Nome, pick up their packages and snowmobile home. 

As soon as I land in Nome, I know it is different here. The plane pulls up to a small, small block building.  This is the airport. All the passengers enter a small waiting room.  As you enter the building, you leave the TSA security area. This room has a luggage delivery area, a check in area and 3 doors: one to the ladies, one to the gents and one through security to an even smaller waiting room.

The walk from the rear of the plane to the building is cold.  Really cold.  I am wearing tennis shoes with mesh.  The wind whips off of the Bering Sea and through my shoes. My feet get cold fast. The cold scrapes the inside of my lungs and makes my eyes water – it’s just a 25-step walk. 

The parking lot is right up against the airport building and there are one or two cabs waiting.  As many people as possible are waiting for customers.  A trip into Nome is $6, $5 if you are a senior.  The trip to town takes 8-9 minutes and several stops are made on the way.  There are 3,500 people living in Nome. During the Iditarod, that number doubles.  Many of the people who come to Nome are volunteers like me.  About 1,800 people volunteered to work for the Iditarod this year.  Those that come from far places, LA for me, fund this trip themselves. 

Tomorrow morning, I’ll jump into the swing of things. 

Stay tuned for more from Nancy, including pictures!