9am flight back to Kotzebue. 30 minutes to enjoy the scenery at 6,500ft. After dropping our bags at the hotel we walked to the dental clinic to debrief with the other dentists, DHAT's and the clinic director Kirk. We also met a doc who just arrived from Arizona and was on the way out to Selawik for another week. And, we talked to Monica, Gloria's initial contact for this adventure.
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| Lots of freight coming in on our flight including 6 pizzas! |
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| Our final view of Selawik. |
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| Aboard the Cessna Caravan 208B |
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| Coming into Kotzebue. The large green-roofed building is the hospital. On the top, the airport runway. |
We celebrated our success by eating out in the hotel restaurant. After dinner, we headed out over the ice-covered channel to watch people ice fish, learned the ice on the Chukchi Sea is still 4 feet thick. They were jigging little Pacific Tomcod for fun. The big Sheefish are further out in the channel, most people wait till summer to head out to catch them. We did talk to one of the fishermen. Friendly guy. He owns a local shipping company, flies everything in and out of Kotzebue. Busy with freight and mail for Kotzebue as well as the military and mining industry. He also told us that his uncle, John Baker, won the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in 2011. The first native Alaskan to win the race in 45 years. He retired a couple of years ago selling his 152 dogs!
So, we committed to returning in July for another 2-week rotation in Selawik. The people, both colleagues and patients, are great. The dentistry is challenging but it does keep our skills sharp. It is a good gig. Summer will be a whole new experience. The ice will be gone but the '747' mosquitoes will be the next challenge. We work indoors so that helps. Alaska will cool us down from a hot California summer. And, maybe some Sheefish fishing!
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