Togiak & Aleknagik

Taking a trip down memory lane...well, just back to mid-August when summer still reigned the seasons. I took back-to-back site visits to two wonderful villages in Southwest AK. The trips to my Members were so positive, friendly and just a great time to see their homes and service. The fishing village of Togiak really reminded me of Nome in some ways....the open tundra and hills behind the community, and along the ocean with pockets of beach grass framing the other end. I felt very comfortable there...and in the physical sense too because I stayed in my own apartment at the Fish Processing Plant. Nice digs!

Doesn't that look like it could just be off the Nome Bypass Road? Then, along a beach walk during some down time, I found young girls playing in the sand, fishermen doing their gill-netting and lots of boats out on the water.In Aleknagik I attended and helped out with my Member's community Wellness Conference. What nice people and an incredibly beautiful place. I was picked up at the Dillingham airport, driven about 20 miles and then boated over part of Lake Aleknagik to the village. Can't beat the view from their landfill!It was strange that I had cell phone service there. But then, this is the community closest to the tragic Senator Ted Stevens plane crash, just a week after the accident. I think cell phone towers expanded coverage for the investigators. From what I've heard, cell phone coverage is pulled back again. Make of that what you will....

I had the pleasure to spend time with Earl Polk who shared with me such incredible stories. His reputation lived up! And boy, the food and coffee bestowed upon me---what a generous place!

Don't know when my next site visits will happen and most likely they could be around Southeast AK. Always new territory to discover, wonderful new people to meet and experiences to be had around the State!

*Amy