One perk of being old and cute is you don't mind asking questions. We wondered aloud how Barrow got its name. Mary, our young and pretty waitress, volunteered, "Barrow takes its modern name from Point Barrow, named in 1825 by Captain Beechey of the Royal Navy for Sir John Barrow of the British admiralty. We also learned from Mary that there are 4,429 residents here; 60% are Inupiat Eskimo. Even though Barrow is a modern community, people still count on hunting fishing and whaling for some of their food. Some of the people here work for oil companies. Mary was our persoal walking library. For a few days it will be 29 and windy. Beanie and I were wondering about seeing things by foot. Mary suggested that she call her boyfriend, a cab driver from Peru to drive us around. So Juan entered our lives. He is 22 and here because he can earn three times as much driving a cab here than he could elsewhere. We hired him for two long days. Keep in mind that on my rocking chair trips, money is no object EVER!! Here is the town...we drove up and down many of the roads. Remember there are no paved roads, so they can get kind of muddy.Here is a front yard with a dead seal!!
Juan explained the wooden houses are built on pilings so they won't melt the permafrost. We asked, "What is permafrost?"
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Juan explained: The area is entirely covered in permafrost, a condition where the soil two feet down from the surface remains permanently frozen. So there are no paved roads in or around Barrow!! So if a house melts the permafrost it would sink.
We also saw this canoe with seal skin by the WHALE BONE ARCH!!
Back to Pepe's for lunch. Between Mary and Juan we were well covered. Yay! Juan ate with us and told us many interesting facts about Barrow. He has obviously spent time studying. And to think he is from Peru!! He said that the miliary played an influential role in the area. Of course Beanie's husband was in the Coast Guard there. Construction of the DEW LINE & exploration in the National Petroleum Reserve brought new people to the region. Beanie opened up to them and told her sad story as to why she came here...and got cold feet and is scared to leave. They were so sweet to her and gave us both hugs.
Pics below are of the airport and memorial to Will Rogers and Wiley Post who died in a plane crash near here in 1935.
There is a pic of the plane Beanie won't get back on.
And there is a picture of the high school football field with artificial turf. The main excitement in town is an upcoming game and spirit week!!
Then I leave you with pics of Arctic Ocean, which we seem to be seeing all the time!!!
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Thought you would like to know that Mary and Juan became friends of ours. They still are!!
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