Yakutat, Alaska

Tom spent the last two days in Yakutat, Alaska, doing a site survey for the FAA.



He got to ride around in a helicopter taking aerial photos of the spot where they want to build a radar tower. He watched as a backhoe dug through the snow to find the frozen ground beneath. They needed soil samples to figure out what they'll be putting the foundation on. Apparently it is all sand and gravel.
Tom said there were moose footprints in the snow, everywhere, but they didn't see any moose. It is beautiful there, mountains surrounding the town on three sides, with the ocean on the 4th side. No way in except by air or water. It started to snow on Saturday before they left. One of the locals commented, "We had 80 inches last year." Steve, Tom's co-worker said, "That's not so much." The guy looked at him and said, "That was just for March." BRRRRRR!

It looks like Tom might be working on this project for the next two years. When the boss asked Steve to take another fellow along, Steve said he wanted Tom instead, "in case something goes wrong, I want Tom there to fix it!" Unfortunately, this isn't a trip I can accompany him on, like the trips to Oregon--but on the bright side, I've been wanting to paint some of the rooms in our house and Tom hates the smell of fresh paint. I kind of need to get him out of here... This would do it!