My boss, Bobbi, and I recently traveled to Unalakleet and Nome for a Girl Scout Retreat and a CPR Training for our leaders. The two cities are located off the Norton Sound in the Bering Sea.

In Unalakleet, we ran an annual retreat for girls ages 11- 15. The town has a population of about 800, and there are three churches, two stores, and one school.

About 15 girls came to our retreat (some girls who aren't girl scouts heard about the retreat and showed up at the school where we were having the retreat. Things in rural villages in Alaska are informal, and we invited them to have dinner and play games with us).
We attended a church service on Sunday, and the entire Girl Scout troop, myself included, joined the volunteer choir on the altar. Although we hardly slept at the retreat, it was a success. The kids in Unalakleet are very sweet, and I enjoyed my first visit to a rural village.


In Nome, we attended a Girl Scout ceremony during which we handed out awards and enjoyed the highly coveted Samoa cookie (In Fairbanks we have girl scout cookies all over the office, but never the Samoas.)
We also walked the beach, taught a CPR class, visited the museum, attended a Rotary meeting, had a live interview over the local radio, drove out to see the location of our summer camp, and checked out the shops.

I think I offended a local shop owner when I asked if he was open year-round. I was just making small-talk, but then he asked where I was from and inquired if stores in Chicago close for part of the year. Worse, I didn't buy anything from him. I guess I'm not a model tourist.

Next week I'm house-sitting for a llama, so check back soon for more photos:)