Friday, July 14, 2006

Wow-- another interesting day! Garry had the airplane all loaded and fueled yesterday, so he didn't need to leave for work until nearly 6:30 this morning. He was in the air a little after 7:00, headed to one of our tribal locations to pick up 4 passengers and bring them back to town. A simple, straightforward day. Or so it seemed!

When Garry arrived there the winds were so strong that he could only take off with half the cargo he had anticipated, meaning he needed to shuttle half the passengers to a longer airstrip. He took out two teenagers and returned for their moms (just the 4 of them were in the tribe). However, when he returned to the station the winds were so strong and gusty that he could not land. He headed back to the second location, to find there was a big storm passing through-- he couldn't even see it! Since he didn't have closer options he was thankful to come back home-- a 45 minute flight.

He arrived at the hangar in town around noon and waited for a good weather report. Things didn't look too good, so the teens hopped on a van that would bring them the 5-hour trip to town. By 2:30 things were looking better, so Garry headed back south to pick up the other two passengers. Kevin was glad to hear there was actually room for him to ride along... I'm wondering how the trip was after all the bad weather this morning, not that he would have cared! They arrived in town around 5 p.m., and their teens should be here around 6 p.m. We are thankful everyone is "where they belong" and are ready for a quiet evening!

PS The young boy is a tribal boy in the station Garry visited today, and Kaleb and I are standing by a tribal house in another location.

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