December 2012

Me and Lianne on the ice road near Inuvik.

Brightes and most active Northern Lights I have ever seen.  It helps when you have a good camera. 

Inuvik to Peace River

Photo of and Inuvik sunrise above the blueberry patch.

Josh's #1 partner, Jordan.  I think this is the only photo of the two of them together.  

 Here are several photos of our latest adventure from Inuvik to Peace River.  We thought it would take us only two days... as it turns out, it is winter in the Rockies and driving conditions were sometimes challenging.

Car packed to the rafters, we didn't plan on wearing matching hoodies!

The Peel river ferry crossing... I'd say we were lucky to make it across.  The 10 yr average of this ferry closing, Oct 24th.  Notice the date.

Official cheesy Arctic Circle photo.  

Dempster Hwy

Oh the energy drinks we drank!

Alaska Hwy

Day 2 of driving... nice sunny day!

BC mountains

Herd of Elk-ibou.  We also saw an owl, ptarmigan, grouse, foxes, golden eagle, moose and a sasquatch.

Buffalo at night.  Sorry for the blurry shot.

More Caribou.

Josh's attempt at artsy photography.  BC mountains.

More windy roads, and beautiful mountains.

At last we arrive to our new "home" province. The weather was AWEFUL, the roads were crappy, but the town of Peace River is beautiful.  

Judy would be proud...

HappyThanksgiving!

This little project started out as an idea late one night while working with my good friend Leah.  We dreamed of wowing our friends with a cake so spectactular that some may confuse if for the real thing.  It took a little while cooking cake in a variety of metal shaped containers, a few ice cream cones and a huge batch of fondant.  (Apparently butter pecan cake looks a lot like real turkey stuffing).

After apporximately an hour of colouring and roll our huge ball of fondant into dozens of baby sized carrots and tiny peas we were almost done.  (Getting just the right colour using food colouring was just an acciden)t.  Our final product was a turkey that was fit to be confused for the real thing.  Thanks to our cake expert, Josh, we were able to create a brown glaze to paint on our roasted turkey cake that rivaled the real thing.  In the end, one of our friends mistook this for the real turkey dinner.

Mission accomplished!!!

This is the cake that Leah and I made for dessert for thanksgiving dinner.  Peas and carrots made of fondant.  Brown glaze was made of food coloring and sugar water.  Impressed?

Fall In Inuvik

I am back, after having my internet and tv cut off where I used to live.  Yes, I paid all of my bills on time.  There is so much to post from this summer that I think I will just skip over it and go righ to the end of September. 

A few weeks ago Josh and I went hunting and camping with our favorite Captain at the Fire Dept., John Ritchie.  We didn't see a caribou or a moose, but I did get to shoot my new gun for the first time.  Here are a few photos....  Hopefully I'll get back on the blogging train over the next few months.  Stay tuned...

Josh and I driving down the Dempster Hwy.

Josh starting our morning fire with our tent in the background.  You can't quite make it out, but there was snow on the ground.  Was a coooold night!

John and Josh preparing breakfast.  Fall is pretty much done at Rock River Yukon.

And notice the snow not only on the mountain tops.

Andrea and her Remington 870.  Has some pretty good kick.  Unfortunately the only thing I killed this weekend was a bottle of red wine.  Haha.

Josh's Birthday and weekend in Yellowknife

Josh in Bullock's Bistro.

Bullock's Bistro from the outside.

The end of May was a fun time.  Josh and I travelled to Yellowknife with no plans in mind, ended up going for the best fish and chips in the world, saw a mediocre movie and walked down Ragged Ass Road.  A few photos to appease the families...



View of the kitchen where the best local fish was pan fried friend and served.

Self explanitory, and a very hard road to find.

I even convinced Josh to pose for this photo.  What a catch!

Back in Inuvik celebrating with the Birthday boy and all of our friends at Shivers.

We went for a few good hikes around town, and ended up on our last day, walking around Frame Lake.  Unfortunately, you'll have to ask Josh for the pictures since they are on his camera. 

Bye for now!

Fire and Ice Fireman's Ball

This past weekend we had a great time at the annual fireman's ball. First time in history we sold out for attendance. The room looked great, the food was delicious, the comedians were hilariously crass and everyone looked wonderful. Enjoy the photos.

Ice inukshuk made by Leah's boyfriend... one of the main attractions.

Life sized photo background of a firefighter putting out a fire and the stream of water is frozen.

View of the frosty and flamey room from a distance.

The award presentation..... AWKWARD!



Brian, FF of the year; Leah, boner award of the year; Josh, rookie FF of the year.  Congrats.

Our hosts John and Paul.

IVFD departmental photo.

Helga and the fire Chief.

Cheezy!

Josh and I   :)

Eagle Plains - Day 2

A caribou stands in the corner of the bar at Eagle Plains

For the first time in many many many years, I successfully did nothing for an entire day.  I went out for two dog walks, sat in the lobby for a few hours, sat in the bar for dinner and a few hours, layed in my room Skyping people for a few hours and then updated my blog.  I'm certain I cannot do this for another day.  We'll see how tomorrow goes!!!

the bar dinning room





view from our bedroom window

Trip down to Whitehorse

At first glance this trip looks like it should have been the greatest adventure ever.

Corin and I at the Arctic Circle\

We made it to Whitehorse in record time.  We made it in only 13 hours...  saw a fox, bald eagle, two deer, a baby linx, ptarmigan (which had a literal run in with my windshield), and a rabbit.

We headed back on Friday after a few days of shopping, relaxing, fine dining and massages.  We were making record time once again when we arrived at Eagle Plains. 

Let me tell you  a bit about Eagle Plains...  It has a sign that says population 9 which is crossed out and the number 8 replaces it.  The "town" consists of a gas station, tire repair shop, motel and that's it.  All of the town dwellers live and work at the motel/gas statioin/tire shop year round.  They are an interesting bunch of people, and a bit odd, as they have chosen to live just south of the Arctic circle in a motel.  Have you ever seen the movie with the Bates motel?  That is very close to what this place looks like. 

I say this place, because I am still here.  Road closed on Friday the 13th... and still hasn't opened yet.  The weather is beautiful, the sun is shinning, but the wind is 110km/hr.  When the wind gets this bad, the passes near the Richardson Mountain range get blown over with snow.  Like 10 feet of snow.  So here I am.  Stuck in Eagle Plains for an indefinite amount of time.  Paying $150/night.  Eating greasy spoon meals.  In a dog/smoking room (cause that's how it goes with the damn dog).  With not even a book to entertain myself (so glad I brought my computer).  It is official, the road will not open until the earliest at noon tomorrow, and then we'll all wait around again to see if it will open long enough for us to pass. 

Rukus just chilling out during our trip.  Notice how loaded the back of my car is with purchases from Whitehorse.  Included in this load is a wedding dress.  No, not mine.  Nice try.

My project for tonight... to take as many photos as I can of this lovely place so that you can really see what I'm dealing with here.  A taxidermists dream.  I'll post these photos as soon as I can.  Anyone wanting to skype me can try to find me online, no cell service here.

(Hi Judy)