I meant to post these photos last week on my flight back from Alaska, but I feel asleep on the plane shortly after snapping this image of Mt. McKinley, which is pretty unusual, given the fact that it’s normally shrouded in mist and clouds. I slept the whole flight, got stupidly busy the moment I landed, and stayed that way for the next two weeks. Consequently, I forgot to thank everyone in Alaska for making me feel so welcome up on the Last Frontier.
I’m exaggerating, of course. I didn’t meet everybody in Alaska. I only met everybody in Homer and Fairbanks, two cities I was delighted to finally visit. I also got to meet Governor Mike Dunleavy and Senator Dan Sullivan, two politicians who I affirmatively do not disdain, and hang out with my friends from Wells Fargo, who have done more to support the skilled trades and my foundation than any other bank in the country.
Governor Dunleavy met me in Homer, at an amazing family business called Bay Weld Boats. These guys make all types of aluminum boats, and as you might imagine, they have more work than they can 
possibly complete. Alaska is bordered by two oceans and three seas. It also has 12,000 rivers, and over 3 million lakes. There is an astonishing amount of water up there, and the aluminum boat business is booming.
Anyway, I was there because Bay Weld Boats has hired a number of welders from a vocational school called AVTEC, which my foundation supports. Welding aluminum is very tricky and requires highly skilled tradespeople. Bay Weld Boats is always hiring, and AVTEC is doing all they can to train the next generation of Alaskan welders. In fact, we’ve had a handful of people apply for scholarships to this school, and all have gone on to do great things. For that reason, Wells Fargo donated $250,000 to AVTEC and asked if I’d present the check on their behalf, along with the Governor, who really does give a damn about his state, and the people in it.
Then it was up to Fairbanks, to visit another terrific trade school – The Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center. Actually, it was a pretty close call, getting out of Homer. For reasons that were never
made clear, they canceled the only flight to Fairbanks that day. It’s a eleven-hour bus ride to Fairbanks from Homer, and I was scheduled to meet Senator Sullivan three hours hence. Happily, everyone in Homer has a pilot’s license, and something resembling a plane, usually parked in the backyard. We found one such pilot, and one such plane, and got there just in time to eat lunch with the Senator, take an extensive tour of the facility, and present another fat check to another great school, courtesy of Wells Fargo.
What makes The Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center so great? Well, for starters, they train pipeline workers, one of 
the most essential jobs in America. Thanks to the shale revolution, the Lower 48 are not as reliant on the North Slope as we once were, but the folks in California, Hawaii, and Washington would be absolutely screwed without that pipeline, and the workers who keep the oil flowing. I’m telling you, those men and women are unexampled in their
skill, worth ethic, and pure grit. As one instructor put it, “Yeah, we’ve seen you hanging out with the fisherman on the Bering Sea. That’s a Garden Party. Come on up to the Slope, where it’s 30 below and dark all day. You’ll love it!”
After we presented the training facility with another check for $250,000, Senator Sullivan led a panel discussion that reinforced a simple truth I’d learned a long time ago, when I first 
started filming in Alaska. We are blessed – profoundly blessed – to have such an incredible resource as part of these United States. The entire state has a population about that of San Franciso, but is larger than Texas, Montana, and California
combined. Just magnificent.
Big thanks to the Governor and the Senator for making time to support the trades, and an even bigger thanks to Wells Fargo for showing up where they actually do 
business, and putting their money where their mouth is. As for the rest of you, mikeroweWORKS is currently accepting applications for the next round of work ethic scholarships. AVTEC and the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Facility are both supported. Apply at mikeroweWORKS.org.