On December 26th I took Josh to the airport so he could catch his flight to Anchorage, AK. We are so sad he will be leaving us for six weeks, but I'm really glad he was here to celebrate Christmas with us!
It was a seven hour flight to Anchorage and he got there and checked into his hotel without any issues.
[Keeping an eye on him!]
The next day he went shopping for a few last minute things (apparently a lot of guys are sick at the man camp) and then he caught his flight to Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope.
Josh got to see one more sunrise in Anchorage before his plane left. The sun won't rise up there until January 17th!
[Flying over the high mountains of the Alaska Range]
After a two hour flight, Josh landed on the North Slope and it was COLD!
[Those are ambient temperatures, not wind chill]
[-45 wind chill! Good thing his clothes go down to -80!]
[Tiny airport at Purdhoe Bay]
After landing they loaded up into buses and headed two hours west. The driver had to stay between the lights on the slippery ice roads!
Josh is literally at the top of the world! It's pretty wild! There's a little lake close to his camp that looks like a giant's footprint. Are they helping to build the pipeline?!
Josh will be living in a man camp. He shares a room with a guy who is on the day shift so they rarely in the room at the same time.
[I bought Josh a light box that should help him cope during the Polar Nights]
There are laundry facilities,
a hangout room,
and a large mess hall with plenty of food!
[Learning the local language]
[The sun still gets close to the horizon during the day, but it won't break the horizon until January 17th]
Josh got settled in and then went out for the night shift with his buddy, Lucas. Nothing like -54 wind chill to welcome you to the North Slope.
He did get to see the Northern Lights though, so I'm sure it's worth it!
[Josh has his own truck]
You can't have your skin exposed for too long or else you'll get frostbite!
Do you think he can get a picture like this?!
There was a solar storm on New Years Eve and that put on quite a show for the guys up there!
Josh said that there are arctic foxes everywhere, but they are hard to get photos of. His roommate caught this one on video:
They are cute, but they have rabies so it's best to keep your distance! Josh is also in Polar Bear territory, but most of them are tracked and there are sensors in the area that will alert the guys if anything is approaching. It would be cool to see a Polar Bear, but only if it's really far away!
So far Josh has been able to call us every night before Theo goes to bed. We miss him so much and we are so grateful that he is willing to do whatever he can to provide for our family!
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