Two in the Bush: Nashville Take 2

I recently had a chance to get out of the village and even out of Alaska for a few short days. The trip wasn’t planned and certainly wasn’t on my list of reasons to leave Alaska. We got a phone call on Sunday afternoon that my Papa Hughes wasn’t doing well and then again later that evening to say that he had passed. Immediately, we began looking into flight info and car rentals trying to find the most economical way to travel down states at the last minute. (along with school details of writing sub plans and making copies for a week without me!)

What Goodnews looked like when I left

We decided that I would leave on Tuesday morning, which would have me arriving in Nashville, TN on Wednesday evening with a 2 hour drive the rest of the way to Granny & Papa’s house.

So, I left Goodnews on Tuesday morning on the first flight to Bethel even though my flight to Anchorage wasn’t until 9:12 PM; you never take chances on the weather when you need to get out. Always, always, always take the first possible plane you see out of the village. I arrived in Bethel somewhere around 12:30 PM and just sat around at the Bethel airport until time to board the flight. I met another new teacher from Lower Yukon who was also traveling home for a funeral. We spent some time talking in the airport about teaching in Alaska.

Dinner in Bethel

Choosing a flight plan is always key to smooth traveling. The east coast was slated to get hit with quite a storm during the time that I was traveling, so I opted for staying away from the east coast in order to avoid delayed or cancelled flights. This means that I had several connections on my way.

A row to myself on one of my longest flights, yes please!

What jetliner windows look like at an ambient temp of -27

I finally arrived in Nashville, TN around 5:30 on Wednesday afternoon. Cory and Amanda, my brother and sister, were both flying into Nashville and riding with me to the house. After I found Cory and got my bags we headed to pick up the rental car, grab some dinner and then come back for Amanda. We finally arrived in GA sometime around 11:30 PM Wednesday evening. To say it was a long two days of flying and driving is an understatement.

A nice greeting in Nashville: the US Airways Steelers plane!

Dad, Brandi and Granny posing after the family dinner.

Cory, Me, Tony and Amanda in the family car.

I had a great time catching up with and spending time with family. This is the first time in at least five years that all of the siblings have been together. We spent most of our time hanging out at Granny's house and getting everyone's fill of favorite southern foods from BBQ to Krystal gut bombs. I even squeezed in a shopping trip to Target, Walmart and Sam’s Club! One simply does not travel to the lower 48 and bring nothing back. I filled a blue tub and a small cooler with things that have been on our want list.