The days were getting shorter as the hard winter was coming on fast. It was starting to get colder and colder the more it got dark and closer to the end of the year. The barges have all been unloaded and the tugs and barges all headed south so the ice pack coming back in wouldn't crush them. The ice pack is like a glacier moving with the tide and winds, it will move anything that gets in its path. The past year the ice pack came in too soon and crushed a lot of barges and a few tugs. (Picture of a tug with a couple of crushed barges, look at the ice chunks) But a lot of the tugs dumped the big barges and took off as fast as they could travel so they could get around the tip of Alaska and head south. A lot of times they brought in icebreakers to help them make it back.

     Later that winter we started to work out side making shelters for the pipefitter's and electricians so they can make their penetrations under the modular buildings. As the time went on I was so thankful they made us buy the arctic gear before we came up to work, It was freezing cold and this body of mine still was used to Arizona and not an ice box. We started enclosing the bottoms of the buildings and also huge shelters over the pipe rack. This was where the fitters were getting ready to weld the pipe that would send the oil from the oil fields to the gathering center, and the pipe that would carry they cleaned up oil to pump station 1 down the road. One of the prettiest sights I saw that first winter was the northern lights, they seemed to dance and wiggle across the entire sky. When we got away from the activity to where it was real quiet we could hear static electricity snapping as the northern lights crossed over head.

      Another thing was we never shut off the vehicles because they would freeze up and crack the engines if they got shut off. When they needed maintenance they brought the vehicle into a heated workshop. There were men called oiler's who come by every day to fuel up the generators, trucks, and anything else that needed to be kept running. When we had to work out away from the main job they sent a bus with us so we could warm up in them. They always had places for the men to come in and warm up and dry out their clothing, gloves, and so on. Most the places had hot coffee, chocolate or tea, some had soup too so you could get something warm into your body. The bunny boots as they call them were the best investment a person could buy, as nothing else would keep your feet warm in the extreme temperatures. Bunny boots were all white rubber with an air valve on the side to open up if you were in an airplane. They had a huge felt bottom formed between two pieces of rubber so you did not have the cold coming up and freezing your feet. The sides being 2 pieces of rubber with air in the middle caused some friction when you moved so as to keep the sides of your feet all warm. My feet never did get cold with them on. But they were so big; we called them our clown shoes. When you walked on a hard surface it felt as if you would bounce.

     As it got closer to the end of the year it kept getting darker and darker and finally it was dark 24 hours a day. I had a friend take a picture of me at high noon on the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year. It was pitch black, as we did not even have twilight in the dead of winter. My first year I had to work through Christmas as I did not have enough hours in to be eligible for my R&R, I had to wait until the end of January to go home. It was so cold then too we had lots of days where the temperature was 50 and 60 below zero actual, and the wind never did stop blowing. The wind chills went to 100 below at times and that was really cold, the coldest day I experienced was a wind chill of 127 below, the actual temperature was around 80 some below. (Look at the Picture with all the ice on my eyelashes and eyebrows) White outs from the huge windstorms were common, along with the Ice Fog from the extreme cold that was another wild experience. Building the pipeline and the gathering centers was not an easy task but in spite of everything we did it anyway. It was tough while we were doing it but once we got done it didn't seem that bad, we was just happy it was over.

     Staying through Christmas that year was pretty hard as I missed my wife and 2 very young children at home in Arizona. But they had a good Christmas and my wife was going to leave the tree up till I got home so we would all have another Christmas together. That Christmas the camp was pretty empty as a lot of the crew went home, we did have Christmas carols playing and a small tree. The camp cooks made a special dinner for all of us and we just sat around that night and listened to the songs and some even sang along. They also had a special Christmas move too, I didn't go as I was to lonesome and I went to bed early. Our General Foreman stayed with us that year too, as we had to have someone in supervision to watch over the workers and give us our assignments. Working in conditions like this and staying with each other we all became like a big family and watched out for each other. After being with these men for almost 3 years we made life long friendships. A few of my real close friends have died now, as it has been a while since we were all up there. I was the youngest one of the group being almost thirty when we were building the gathering center.

     My time for R & R came due about the 28th of January so I got my plane ticket and flew all the way to Arizona to have my first reunion with my family in a long time. The temperature when I left was 72 below with the wind chill, when I landed in Phoenix it was 62 degree above, what a change. I had 2 weeks of enjoying my family before I had to go back. It had been about 7 months since I was last home and that R&R went by way to fast. We celebrated Christmas with my presents under the tree they left up for me. I brought my presents back from Alaska and they had mine waiting for me. It had been a long time since I saw my family and the kids had grown so much I hardly believed it. The 2 weeks went by so fast, it seemed like I had just arrived and now it was time to go back. At the airport seeing them crying, going back was the hardest thing I have ever done. Leaving them once more and going back to Alaska was rough but there was no work in Phoenix at that time and the economy was still real bad. After I was in the air they were all I could think about, but once I got back to the job site I started to get my mind off of being home again and back on the job.