Flying to Tunt

I arrived in Tunt on Thursday night around 8 PM Alaska time. I took one of the smallest planes I've ever seen to the village. The airport I had to go to was downright bizarre to me. There was a small, dingy room for passengers to wait for there names to be called. I felt like I was waiting for my car's oil to be changed. The airline "agents" were young girls in jeans and Aeropostale hoodies. There was no TSA agent to be found. No need to worry about how big your tube of toothpaste is here. Have a gun with you? No problem. You can bring that on the plane too.

Instead of walking through a terminal, you walk right on the runway. I shook hands with the pilot who told me I'd be riding "shotgun" with him. He dryly muttered there was only one rule for riding shotgun, "don't touch anything." I told him that wouldn't be a problem and hopped in with four other passengers, the max capacity of the plane.

It was raining hard outside and was quite cloudy. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared to board that plane. The ride was a little shaky, but not as bad as people told me it would be. I can now see why some people want to become bush pilots. There's definitely a rush when you're up there in the sky. That rush must be magnified as the pilot.