Wainwright Day One

Last night I ate caribou stew. Two whole helpings. I like it, but I didn't like the mooseberries. They were too sour.

This morning we got on a small plane patched together with tape and glue and flew to Wainwright.

There are no trees...and the ocean is FROZEN. There are dried up star fish washed up on the beach.

I might really stink by the time I get out of here. We have a bathtub but no shower curtain, and NO washing machine to wash our clothes in. Grandma says she'll have to do our laundry in the sink! No only do we not have a shower curtain, or a washing machine, we don't have a TV, or a car. And no internet access here at our house. Even Grandma says she wants a TV.

Grandpa says the villiage has already caught two whales and that we'll be here for the big celebration.

Fallen into the Black Hole of NO ACCESS

The last communication I had from Layni was last night at 12:09 AM...our time. She was in Barrow, Alaska, and was at the home of a family friend, Rex and Leona Okakok. She could NOT believe that they had a TV, an XBox and Guitar Hero!!

She told me that it was cold, and that it snowed a few snowflakes as they got off the plane.

Today, however, they took the small bush plane to Wainwright....and hence, she's fallen into the black hole of ....??? What did we do BEFORE cell phones and texting??? Will I have to resort to WRITING a letter?

Please Internet Access gods....please send her some connectivity. I've not gone 2 hours without a text message from Layni since she got her phone!

You Tube of the Downstairs Composting toilet

This is the builder explaining how he built the composting toilet.

The Recycling Toilets

You will never believe me if I told you. Cindee's house is weird when it comes to the bathrooms! The top floor bathroom you pull the lid up until it touches the button, then the toilet makes this changing cat litter sound. The weirdest part is once your hiney touches the seat the thing inside the toilet opens.If you do number 2 in the upstairs toilet you have to clean it out.{ basically the toilets are porta-potties} Once you put the lid off the button the toilet makes the cat litter sound again which means its spinning the wee wee out .{ the top floor only allows pee}.

The bottom bathroom is another story. If you need to go number 1, you have to sit close to the edge of the seat if you have to do more than that, you have to put your whole bottom on the seat. {after you do your job, you have to scoop svagnumos (Sphagnum Moss) it adds bacteria that breaks down the solids... its also worm food}Also all the food scraps go down the toilet.

(The picture to the left was added by my mom...and no it's not really what the toilet looks like....it's the 1876 rendition of the same thing)...

It's Time to do Something Different

We've been part-time residents of the Bolivar Penninsula for 13 years now. Much longer than I'd say quite a few of the now residents of CB.



For those that know me, I'm not one to really tell you what I think, unless asked, but also know that I stand up for what I believe in. So...

To all of you who visit the Bolivar Texas beaches....both visitors and property owners:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Manners your mother obviously never taught you.

1. Clean up after yourself.
   
2. Throw all of your trash in the TRASH can.
   
3. When you borrow something, return it in the same condition.
   
4. Nothing comes for free. Someone ultimately pays for it.
   
5. Don't take advantage of the system. That's just UNFAIR.

Two years ago, my daughters and I chronicled the various sand castles that were built on our beach during the summer of 2006. This year, we think we're going to chronicle something much different. The BIGGEST MESSES left on our Beach, 2008.

Today, after the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend, it was clear that CB came through and emptied our beach trash cans over night, in anticipation for the new crowd that would stake out the beach today. In just the few minutes that I was on the beach looking at the leftover devastation from the visitors yesterday, three golf carts circled three different trash cans, BRINGING their trash generated at THEIR BEACH HOUSE to the BEACH!! What does this matter, you may ask? Well, one gentleman had 5 bags of trash, of which 2 fit in the trash can. The other 3 were left on the ground. This was at 8:15 AM. Where is the rest of the trash going to go during the course of the day for the new batch of beach goers? You guessed it. ON THE GROUND.

My message is...follow the rules your mother SHOULD have taught you. PLEASE. If you own property, PAY for GARBAGE PICK UP. If you are going to borrow our beaches, CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF.

LaM's First Post

I'm going to Wainwright, AK. Keep up with my adventures here.