MY COMMUTE

After spending two months sunning myself in lovely Italy like sunburnt lizard I finally went back to work.  When most people are asked “how did you get to work?” they answer with the traffic report or the back roads they used or which bridge was faster. Not me! When I get asked how did I get to work the answer is 2 cars, 5 planes, 6 buses, and 4 days. 

So starting with leaving our apartment at 6:20 in the morning, it’s a 45 minute drivein the rental car to the airport. The madness of an Italian airport! Nine hours and 15 minutes in the air on Plane number 1. Then a 5 hour layover at Airport number 2. Then Plane number 2 for another 6 and half hours. Family pickup!  Then I get a wonderful two day layover.  I get to repack my life into one bag 50 pounds. Family drop-off back at Airport 3. On to Plane number 3 with a short flight time of 3 hours and 15 minutes. Up to now has all been normal commercial flights. At this point I’m in Anchorage, AK. It’s snowing, it’s about 28⁰F outside, it’s Christmas Eve and I have to be back in the airport in 15 hours. A shuttle ride to my hotel where my new uniform is waiting for me. a side detour in the snow with a helpful uber to go to church. back to the hotel and listen to the 15 kids in the other room scream. In the morning its a 4am wake up call and the shuttle back to the airport. At the airport the snow has mostly stopped the temp has dropped but not by much. Still on the plus side of zero. This is when the fun begins.

At the very far end of the Anchorage airport there are a few little airlines. The kind that run little planes all over the state of Alaska. Way down at the last ticket counter there is an airline with a familiar name, but not one you think of when you think planes. The oil company has its own airline! Yeah it’s weird! Not all logos should have wings on top.  They have one flight a day up and one flight a day down; to and from the “North Slope”. It’s to this ticket counter I go.  This ticket counter takes my bag and asks which rig is my final destination. Then the normal airport stuff over to the gate, where I meet my coworker for the first time. After exchanging pleasantries we board the 737, Plane number 4 for me. Only the window and aisle seats are filled so no one has to sit in the middle. Off we go! The cabin is dark and the sky outside is darker. Its 8 in the morning but still completely dark. When we land in the north, they tell us to make sure we have our gloves on for the short walk from the plane to the waiting bus. The wind-chill is -60! After a short bus ride over to the camp (short as in not even 5 minutes we could walk but its cold), we layover to wait until they call for our flight. With a well-stocked snack room and warm dining hall the time passes quickly. An hour and a half later the speakers crackle to life and call us back to the bus. This time it takes us back to the air field but beyond the waiting jet to Plane number 5, a tiny two prop plane with 12 seats.  It’s a full flight and we all clamor on. Elbow to elbow we hunker down as we hope the rubber bands have enough torque to make it airborne.  It’s a short flight, not even an hour long and takes us farther west. Why fly and not bus, you ask? Well simple, the plane is cheaper than the road. And there is no bridge over the river yet (the ice bridge will be done in a month or so) so there is no other way to go. The landscape is flat and dark but you can see the lights of camps and rigs on the tundra. As we land the soft blue light that passes for daylight shows more of our surroundings. After collecting our bags we are on the bus to the camp.  From the camp you can see the rig, it glows bright in the half twilight of noon. A quick bag drop in my room and it’s time to put on the full uniform and head out to the office. My new uniform is stiff with starch  but my bomber jacket is warm. I’ve always wanted a bomber jacket and now I have one to go with my new black hardhat! 

So there you have it. Twenty-two and half hours in the air and 13 transports just to get to my new job! But it’s so worth it. The job is awesome! Right now its warmed up and is -28⁰F with minimal blowing snow. We followed Santa’s tracks on our trek north but didn’t see the big man himself.