Yukon Trip - Part II - Liard Hot Springs!

Stephen took a few days off for us to be able to explore a little further around the area.  We set off on Tuesday morning for a trip to Liard Hot Springs in northern British Columbia. 
Between Whitehorse and the Hot Springs lay 6 hours of highway and amazing scenery.  .

Our first stop was Watson Lake, Yukon....signs from all around the world were posted here.  We took some time to explore.  There was no way to see all of them but we did find some familiar ones.

This was close to where we
use to live.

Prince Albert is 3 1/2 hours from us.

After a stroll through the thousands of signs we started south to our destination and were amazed at all of the wild buffalo along the side of the road.  At one time we counted 32 in a herd and the scenery was spectacular or as Ron would say "spec."

 

We arrived late afternoon at the Hot Springs and checked into the lodge.  We strolled down the boardwalk through the woods, bathing suits and flashlight in hand.  It was the most rustic hot springs I had ever seen.  We changed quickly in the unheated change rooms and rushed to the spring.  The area were the water comes in is around 40 degrees Celsius.  The further way you move from there the cooler it gets.  I moved to my perfect temperature and relaxed on a bench in the water enjoying the soothing feeling and the nature all around us.  It was really "spec."

 After a evening of board games at the lodge, another soak in the springs in the morning we set off towards Whitehorse.  We found more amazing views and lots of chances to photograph wildlife.

Stephen insisted that he could get a better picture from
below and so he slid down an embankment, ran to the edge,
took the pictures and climbed back up panting and puffing.
I will stick to my long lens!

While looking for a deer in the woods, this one ran in front of us.

A Yukon Wolf let us follow him down the road
while his pack called to him.  We were in the vehicle!

Reindeer (or you can call them Caribou) but it is close to Christmas.

This beautiful little fox was hunting.

Please join me tomorrow for Part III. 

Yukon...Part I

Catching up with Natalie

I will need to divide our Yukon trip in pieces as there was so much to see and I want to share some thoughts and pictures.  After Ron finished working nights on Halloween night we left the next morning to travel 5 hours to Saskatoon.  We stayed overnight there and went to the airport on Saturday morning.  We had a long wait there due to a storm that rolled into Calgary and that was where the plane
was coming from to pick us up and where we were headed for our next part of the trip.  We
were just getting a snack when up strolled a girl that I had taught in Sunday School back in Ontario.  She is now a young married lady and works as an medevac pilot....very impressive.  She was flying from Saskatoon to Edmonton.

Once we finally boarded we flew to Calgary, circled in the sky a few times waiting for the runways to open due to the storm and landed there.  From there we flew to Vancouver where we had a long wait and then flew north to Whitehorse arriving just before midnight.



Stephen picked us up at the airport and we got settled in for a holiday.
  Curley was not really interested but was happy to find a resting place close by.



Stephen's Place

The next morning (Sunday) Stephen had to go to work but before he did he took us for a little drive around Whitehorse so that we could understand a little better where we were located.  Since he is so close to his work he can walk and so after we went to a great church service in the morning we were able to drive around and see some sights.



Stephen's work vehicle

Part II tomorrow....Trip to Liard Hot Springs

Mixed Emotions

I received a phone call from my Dad tonight to tell me that my uncle had passed away...one of his brothers.  It was so hard to hear and harder knowing that once again my family will join together at a difficult time and I won't be there.

This seems to be the week of emotion...

• nerves over exams (one down and one to go)
• excitement about flying to see Stephen in the Yukon
• grief over the lost of another uncle and family time

I guess that is life....

Happy Birthday to Two Special Ladies!

October 28th ... is a special day!  Two amazing ladies were born on this day and on the same year!


Howard and "Ha" with Jenn & Stephen



Howard and Hilda with Sarah (our granddaughter)

Hilda is a wonderful friend.  She came into my life 24 years ago when Ron was the assistant pastor in the church that her and her family attended.  Our daughter, Jenn immediately took to Hilda as a special friend and constantly wanted to be with "Ha."  A year and half later she was with Ron and I in a delivery room coaching Stephen into the world.  Hilda was a nurse and she had the best bedside manner.  Stephen gave Hilda a new name...she was known as "Big Girl."  Hilda is tall and I think he thought of her as a girl because she brought so much fun with her.  She loved to play with the kids.

Hilda has been a faithful friend through the years.  She is so special to me and she is not only loved by our children but now our grandchildren.



Mom & Dad

My mom was also born on this day...same year as Hilda!  I cannot say enough about my mom.  When I was young I loved our shopping or baking days.  She loved to read to us and has continued that tradition to my children and grandchildren.

Mom & Dad with my two sisters
and two oldest grandsons

Mom & Dad in Bon Echo

Later after I was married one of my favourite times with my mom was to go away for a weekend to shop and eat.  It was always a relaxing time and fun to spend time with just mom.

Mom and our middle grandchild

I wish I had more time to sit and have tea with my mom!




Hilda and Mom have some things in common:

• both great moms
• both are loved by their grandchildren
• both are women of faith
• both are eager and willing to help people
• both are very special to me.

Happy Birthday Hilda and Mom!  You are loved!

Hibernatation

The forecast for the next couple of days:
Today woke up to a dusting of snow

Saturday - 75% of rain or SNOW

Sunday - high of 0 degrees Celsius

Monday - SNOW

 

 

 

 

 

 

Definition for Hibernation according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

 

1.  to pass the winter in a torpid or resting state

2.  to be or become inactive or dormant

 

I am thinking that hibernation sounds pretty good.  I bought a little partner from a local carver to help me with the process.  Bears seem to have the winter months figured out perfectly.

I also decided that the best thing to do on a dark, dismal day is to make some homemade soup, grab an extra sweater and turn up the heat....sounds like hibernation to me.

 

 

And for the rest of the winter months:

 

 

 I've got yarn!

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was a tradition.  It was a must.  For many years Thanksgiving was about going to my Dad's Hunting camp with my family.  It wasn't much of a building to go to but it was surrounded by the most amazing colours.

It wasn't about the turkey dinners because many times we had hamburgers.

It wasn't about the fancy place setting because the setting was pretty rustic.

But it was about family and friends getting together and enjoying the beauty around us.

For some of us it was about walking miles through the trails.  There is nothing like feeling the fall leaves crunch under your feet or running to try and catch one of the many falling leaves.  I loved walking with my mom and visiting with her and then getting back to the camp to enjoy a cup of tea made on the old wood stove.

Of course not everyone liked to walk.

Over the years there were different 4 wheelers, different dirt bikes, different friends that came with us but we always enjoyed lots of fresh air and fun.


The last time we went to the hunting camp was in 2008 and then we moved two provinces away and haven't been back over Thanksgiving since.  This year my dad and his brothers-in-laws sold the hunting camp.  Now it is just a wonderful memory of many happy times.

This year my mom will be hosting Thanksgiving at her house.  I won't be there.  Ron's mom will be hosting at her apartment as well and we will miss that too.  We will be having 7 around our table, no family, but we will still enjoy some laughs and hopefully some good food.

It's times like these that I do miss home!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody and especially to Mom and Dad, my mother-in-law, Donna and to Jenn and her family and Stephen.

We love you and miss you!

Culture Days

Ron and I went for a bear-free walk this morning and found out the schools were hosting culture days.

We thought we would check it out and I also thought that it would be interesting if I could research a little bit about where we live. 

We currently live on a Cree Reserve.  The Cree are one of the largest First Nations People in North America with over 200,000 members living in Canada.  There are 7 very large Cree Communities throughout Canada and the United States with many bands in each area.  We live in the Woodland Cree Community.

Their history is based on being hunters/gatherers.  This group of young people were experiencing the after effects of hunting.  They were busy plucking feathers off of ducks for a feast that they would enjoy later.

From Wikipedia:


The basic unit of organization for Cree peoples were the lodge, a group of perhaps eight or a dozen people, usually the families of two separate but related married couples, who lived together in the same wigwam (domed tent) or teepee (conical tent), and the band, a group of lodges who moved and hunted together. In the case of disagreement lodges could leave bands, and bands could be formed and dissolved with relative ease, but as there is safety in numbers, all families would want to be part of some band, and banishment was considered a very serious punishment. Bands would usually have strong ties to their neighbours through intermarriage and would assemble together at different parts of the year to hunt and socialize together.

Inside the high school the culture of the people is portrayed on the walls and for this day it was in every classroom with paddle making, jigging, bead making and other stations to reinforce their culture.

Super quiet in this classroom as they concentrated
on the art of bead making.

 From Wikipedia:
Given the traditional Cree opening to mixed marriages,...bands are ultimately of mixed heritage and multilingualism and multiculturalism was the norm.  In recent years, as indigenous languages have declined across western Canada where there were once three languages spoken on a given reserve, there may now only be one. This has led to a simplification of identity, and it has become "fashionable" for bands in many parts of Saskatchewan to identify as "Plains Cree" at the expense of a mixed Cree-Salteaux history. There is also a tendency for bands to recategorize themselves as "Plains Cree" instead of Woods Cree or Swampy Cree.

 

So there you have your history and geography lesson for the day.