Nome, AK part 2

Happy Mother's Day to you all  I hope you had a wonderful day.  Today in Anchorage it was 63 and very very sunny.  My friends and I went on a 6 mile hike up Dew Mountain.  My triathlon is next Sunday, May 15 and I am training for these last few days. 

While I was in Nome, there was a 9 hole golf course tournament.  Town people from Nome plant their exhausted Christmas trees in the snow covered Bering Sea.  The tournament required a three person team to use three clubs, driver, and two pitching wedges.  The snow was about 8 feet deep and they placed indoor/outdoor green carpet for the putting green.  My three friends won Second Place.  They had a stroke penalty because someone grounded their club in the hazard.

Here are some of the sights from downtown Nome The welcome sign is an old Gold Pan,.

  The church has been renovated about 2 years ago. Nome has so many churches and then a whole lot of bars.

  Here is the famous Gold Nugget Hotel. It cost $240 a night at the Gold Nugget during the finish of the Iditarod  Otherwise the cost is $80 per night. 

My favorite is the Bar/Laundry Mat. It is called Soap and Suds.  What a cleaver idea and how multitasking friendly!

I want to show a few more pictures of my Nome, Alaska pictures 

This is the City of Nome seal. I love it because it has the bears, gold diggers, and the never ending sun in the sun.

This is me and Martin Buser. He has won the race several times but this year he fell asleep several times on the trail. He came in 18th this year.

Here is the first lodging in Nome.

This is the bus stop. Notice how tall the fire hydrant is above ground.  This bus stop is so necessary because the winds off the Bering Sea is ferocious.  The town has only a few paved roads and most everyone lives in town but the high school and grade school is the farthest point from central downtown. 

This is this the mural on the outside of the high school.  Inside the school there are so many beaded bears hanging all over the school. The Natives have perfected the art and skill of beading.  The bears banners are about 12 feet wide at the top, according to a teacher.

This is John Baker, the first Western Native to win the Iditarod.  John finished this year's race of 1049 miles from Anchorage to Nome in record time: 8 days, 18 hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds!





Nome is a cozy but very very cold town because the house I stayed at was 3 feet from the Bering Sea.   I can't wait to go back next year.

One of my sunsets from my porch.

My next blog will be about Safety, AK.  It is the last checkpoint before the end of the race.  I am loving Anchorage this time of year.  We have a bright sun by 4:35 am and the sunsets about 11:30 pm.  It doesn't really get dark now but more of a dusk light as we move closer and closer to 24 hours of sunlight.  I would suggest if you are a golfer Anchorage would be a great place to play golf. Think how many rounds of golf you can get in from early morning until late at night.  We have nice golf courses here but you do have to take some delays to let the wildlife (moose, fox, eagles, wolves) take their time crossing the fairways.
I hope everyone stays dry in Memphis as the BBQ Fest begins real soon.
Until my next post.
Sheryl the Nanuq of the North.