Playing Hookie

An Extra Day in Whitehorse, YK

When Greg woke up this morning he had a pinched nerve in his neck.  I was having gas pain and neither of us could even fathom the idea of driving to Dawson today.  Ugh.  We were grouchy as we checked out of our hotel and tired because it seems to be a hotel policy up there that all thermostats are controlled by the hotel, which means they run on high!  It was SO hot last night and even though we could open our window, it was still terrible.  We did our grocery shopping and other necessary shopping, and then, drudgingly, dragged ourselves to the van. After a moment or two sitting in the Canadian Tire parking lot, we decided we just couldn't face another day on the road and a little hooky was in order. (No, not nookie...remember this is a family blog....)

Steve's plane.

At first we wondered if our poor moods and disgruntled behaviour were due to the heat in the rooms, and then, as we drove by the airport in Whitehorse, we saw an enormous Government of Canada plane which we knew was unusual.  After double checking online we realized that Steve, our illustrious Prime Minister of Canada, was doing his annual courtesy journey to the North, and had spent the night in Whitehorse in order to tour the college this morning and announce some funding to a new program to create jobs in the north.  (That would explain the lack of availability of hotel rooms last night in Whitehorse!).  Later on in the day, we saw Steve's plane take off and head for parts east.  Apparently the Conservative Party was hosting a soiree for over 3,000 people from the area in an 'undisclosed location'.  People were supposed to meet at an old abandoned gas station and they would be shuttled to the soiree from there.  That sounds way too fishy to me!  Would you get all dressed up for a political fundraiser and then drive out to an old abandoned gas station to wait for some kind of transit to take you to God knows where?  I wouldn't do it even if it were another political party leader for whom I have more respect!  Enough ranting about politics for now.  Suffice to say we saw Steve's airplane.  It was cool.

Greg called around and made sure that we could change our rooms and adjusted our arrival time in Tuk from Friday to Saturday.  The woman who is in charge of booking flights for all new hires at the school doesn't book them until we arrive in Inuvik anyway.  It could be that we won't arrive in Inuvik until Monday but that would be okay, too.  We heard from our mover, and our 2,600 lbs will be delivered via chartered airplane next Thursday, so the fewer days we are there without our stuff the better.

Anyway, we spent the day playing hookie in a park by the Yukon river.  The kids ran around and played outside all day, Greg laid on the grass and slept and I worked on some long range Brownie plans for Charlotte and myself.  She is going to be a 2nd Year Brownie as a Lone, which is girl who doesn't have a unit of her own for meetings due to distance or health.  Since I am a qualified Guider with the Girl Guides of Canada, we have been given permission for me to be Char's leader and she my Brownie.  I was working out what she had left to work on based on her service record which I received from her previous Brown Owl and my dear friend Julie, and I have her on track to finish the program (and ALL the badges, which is her goal) by the end of April.  Let's see what we can accomplish!

We also had the chance to meet with Rebecca, the woman whose house we are renting while she is in Whitehorse going to school to be a teacher.  It was very neat to meet her, her kids and friend Millie and chat a while in the park, and she gave us lots of great advice about driving the Dempster Highway and its current conditions, as well as some other last minute information.  We are both every excited for each other - each beginning new chapters in our lives! Incidentally, her husband is working in construction on the permanent road that is going to link Inuvik to Tuk.

Now that our day of relaxation has come to an end, we are feeling much better.  We also did a little exploring and went to a cavern with a pedestrian bridge spanning the gap with walking trails

The Yukon River

Charlotte and Greg exploring

throughout.  The boys and I took the easy one and saw the Yukon river turning a corner and then rushing down and through the cavern.  The water was just a lovely shade of forest green...it looked so lovely and clean!  Greg and Charlotte crossed the bridge and headed out on the paths on the other side of the cavern and they did some exploring.  They had a great time and came back energized.  I enjoyed hanging with the boys and watching them throw rocks down into the cavern.
Downriver, there is a hydroelectric dam that is used to power a great deal of Whitehorse's electricity.  We saw the dam later, too.  It was neat seeing people out on the river waterskiing, boating and enjoying the day.  Locals have been telling us that this was the nicest day of the whole summer!  It most certainly was, too, for here we are above the 60th parallel in shorts and t-shirts, enjoying the greenery, the breeze, the sun and the clear blue skies.  We all got some sun and we all feel much better for it, too.

Hi James!

 It's going to be a l-o-n-g time before we are able to play hookie again, and so today was an extra special treat.  For those of you who are following our trip, we are headed to Dawson tomorrow, and hope to arrive in time for lunch, and then it's onto the Dempster Highway we go!  Tomorrow night we are staying in Eagle Plains, which is approximately the halfway point of the Dempster.  The population of Eagle Plains is 5, based on the family who own and operate the hotel.  Thanks to my Aunt Jean, we understand that there is a reputable restaurant there and so we will be able to look forward to a great meal in the middle of....well.......nowhere.  That's a relief!

There will probably be no internet for us tomorrow night either, or if there is, it may not be very good. This means that you can look for the next blog when we arrive in Inuvik.  So.....take a deep breath and pray for us!!  The drive up the Dempster Highway is one that Greg and I have been the most worried about, and when I type to you next we will have been up all 700 kms of it, for better or for worse!  We have been told to take it at 70 km/hr, avoid the potholes and slow down when we see a transport barreling down the road.  Even though they don't slow down, if we do that decreases the chances of a projectile doing more damage to our window.  I think a family rosary in St. Christopher's name will be in order tomorrow upon our entry!  Thanks to Elaine, Greg's great friend from the Sault, who loaned us her father's St. Christopher medal to keep us safe on our journey.

See you on the other side! xo xo xo xo xo