DAY 53 JULY 9 FORT YUKON TOUR

Day 53. We woke up to much cooler, almost chilly, weather in Fort Yukon. A cold front came through overnight with much rain. The high today we in the mid 60's and there was a stiff southerly wind. We were bothered by no bugs on our afternoon walk because of the wind. Very nice. This evening we were given a driving tour of Fort Yukon by Bentley Solomon, son of Rev. Mardo Solomon, who arranged the tour. For a bush community with no roads to the outside world, Fort Yukon has an incredible number of roads. Miles and miles of roads. The town is actually spread out quite a bit. Every native family has an outer allotment of 160 acres from which they cut firewood for the winter. In addition, they have a smaller parcel of land in town available to them to build a house (usually log). There is, of course, an airport (which is slated for a $15 million expansion to begin next week). There is a power plant, sewer (about half the town is on city sewer with more every month), and water works. Only one store, though, one convenience store with gas, and one post office. All gravel roads. But miles and miles of roads. Before coming we wondered if people had vehicles, this being a bush community. Everyone has vehicles, be they ATV's or cars/trucks. Many have boats. It is a bustling community, just one a different pace from what we're used to.
Today is our last post for the week, with the Tribal Office closed for the weekend. We will make our last post from Fort Yukon on Monday, because we leave Tuesday morning at 8:50 a.m. for Fairbanks. We will be in Fairbanks Tuesday and Wednesday next week before starting the trip home on Thursday. Have a relaxing summer weekend and uplifting worship. The Lord be with you!