On Thursday, my friend Bree and I took a little trip to Noorvik ourselves. We had a basketball game at 4:00 p.m. and Noorvik is about 50 miles away. Keep in mind, the last time Bree took her snowmachine out, it took her 8 hours to go round trip to Noorvik and back. I think the last time I went, it took about an hour and a half, since I was riding a 4-wheeler!!!
Not so this time. We had to wait for the jet to leave at 3:05 p.m. to get the oil for my snowmachine (Dean's MXZ 550) and Bree was riding Derek's F6... For those of you who don't know...those are racing machines. And furthermore, for those of you who don't know, Bree and I are NOT racers!
Man, she's fast!Anyway, we got there in an hour. We took the portage trail once we left the vast and cold Kobuk Lake. The trail is relatively smooth, and fast. But, Kobuk Lake makes you feel all alone in a large world... There is nothing in front of you, and nothing behind you... This is all you see.
I was very happy to get to the portage trail and begin our way to Noorvik. Once I started to see trees, I was very happy! Trees mean its warmer...and trees are a blocker of wind!
We arrived a little late for our game, but our other players were happy to have subs. Our team lost by six points, but my excuse is that I was still extremely dizzy, and we were still shaky from the quick ride. We stayed a bit afterward to fuel ourselves up with five dollar sandwiches and two dollar sodas!
Then we went to the village Native store and bought gas. You have to go to the store, pay for your gas, and then drive to the gas pump about a quarter mile away, so you had better have enough gas to bring you to the store and back to the pump!!!
These groceries cost the elderly lady $414.56, Seriously
(See that yellow one, that's mine! Notice the non-existent wind shield...yeah that was my face.)Bree and I left a little bit after Suzy and Jamie & Gladys left.
Suzy on hers, and Jamie and Gladys double riding a trail machine.One the way, about 25 miles into the trip, we noticed someone on the river just standing there next to their rig...we drove up and saw Jamie and Gladys looking a little perplexed. They said the snowmachine just stopped. I guess it was tired of going and decided to stop. We did everything girls know how to do, changed spark plugs, checked the belt, looked at the oil, cooled off the muffler...and nothing. So, we decided to leave it there and just go on. It belongs to my friend Cathy (www.tundratantrum.blogspot.com) and my Ila Victor, so we knew he'd go get it and fix it right away!
Bree took Jamie on her rig and I took Gladys. Don't forget, our snowmachines are for racing, not for double riding...so it was quite a tight fit! Even though Gladys is like a hundred pounds soaking wet, it was still a tight squeeze to fit on the seat!!!
Once we made it back home, everyone was happy, especially me! I drove up to the house and was greeted by hugs and kisses and just a very loving husband. I thought I had forgotten my birthday or something...but it turns out, he was deathly worried about me! He said to me over and over, "Babe, I love you, I will never again be late when I tell you I'm going hunting... I'll always be on time. Now I know how you feel when I don't come home on time..."
I thought..."How strange, it couldn't have taken us that long to get home." We told them we'd be home at 8:30 and I thought maybe it was around nine. TEN O'CLOCK! P.M.!!! An hour and a half later than we said. It takes an average of an hour and a half to get to Noorvik, so they were really worried that we left at around seven and got home at TEN!
Hehe...I'll take the loving anyday, but I'm glad we made it back in one piece! I can't wait until MY snowmachine is fixed so we can do the trail ride, at a comfortable 40 miles per hour!
I think Bree should race this weekend...She's a crazy girl! Although I KNOW she's my friend because while driving sixty miles per hour (on uneven SNOW with a crotch rocket and no helmet) she would stand up, keep full throttle and look back at me to see if I was still behind her. That's friendship!!! A couple of times I saw her waver a bit and it scared me, but I didn't say anything...didn't want to scare her! haha. Thanks Bree!
The Kotzebue Sound Racing Association is hosting their first annual Women's Snowmachine Race tomorrow, April 18th. its a 120 mile race to Noorvik and back. Here is the Roster with the crazy chicks who are racing... (Notice I'm not one of them!)
