Meanwhile on Maui.....: Aloha from Yellowknife

Tuesday, August 21

Hard to believe I haven’t written a new blog post for 12 days, so sit back and get ready for a marathon if you have the time.

We camped in Lamont, Alberta, on the 9^th and enjoyed another thunderstorm so typical of the prairies. From there we bootered north to Athabasca and camped for the weekend at a lovely private campground called Blueberry Hill. The town is situated on the banks of the Athabasca River and reminded us a lot of towns along the Columbia River in Oregon: easy to bicycle, easy to find your way around. We toured the university campus (closed for the summer), shopped at the farmer’s market and thrift shop and took three whole days to get a feel for the area.

On Monday night we camped in the provincial park at Lesser Slave Lake and had a great campfire in the pine trees while the sun set over the lake. The shoreline was white sand with waves lapping along its length, driftwood and seagulls, and a fabulous sunset. The results of the horrendous forest fire that burned one-third of the town last summer are almost gone. The areas that burned have been rebuilt and the only way to tell is that the landscaping is new, with young trees and fewer gardens. Remarkable.

Tuesday we were in Peace River at the Lions Club campground overlooking – what else? – the mighty Peace. The campground is on a barren plateau that, until a few years ago, was a lovely forested site. Then the pine beetles arrived and all the trees had to be chopped down. Still, we enjoyed the open view and the many trains that passed by all night, hooting their way out of town.

It was at this point we made our final decision as to our destination. My cousin Brian and his wife, Hazel, have lived in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, for the past 30-odd years and no one from the family has visited them despite annual invitations. It meant a detour of about 2000 km (1200 miles) round-trip but what the heck, who knows when we’d be back this way, right? So, we said see you soon, Brian sent us directions – “turn right at Peace River, turn left at Enterprise and drive to the end of the road.” So off we went. And here we are.

The Mackenzie Highway is blacktop or paved all the way and, except for the 50-mile stretch immediately before Yellowknife, it’s darn good, wide and easy driving. We stopped overnight in High Level, again in Hay River on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, and a third night in Ft. Providence (oh my, the black flies were amazing) before making the final 170-mile stretch to the city. Going from Hay River to Ft. Providence we crossed the Mackenzie River on the ferry while looking up at the new and not-so-popular Mackenzie Bridge now (and forever, it seems) under construction. We had worried a little about gas but it turns out it isn’t a problem, at least this time of year. Gas stations are located at least every 150 miles and that handles even old rigs like ours that get 8-9 mpg at the best of time. The highest price we paid was in Enterprise where a liter is $1.49 ($5.62/gallon in US dollars). We were warned to watch out for buffalo on the highway as we were traveling through the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary, but saw nothing but a black bear, a wolf, a sandhill crane and oodles of Canada geese.

The only road mishap we’ve had is a random rock smashing into our windshield just north of Twin Lakes, courtesy of a passing truck. This is our 8^th summer RV trip without major window smacks so I guess we were due. On the way back south we’ll stop in High Level where a new windshield will be installed.

Brian and Hazel have a lovely home at the edge of the old part of Yellowknife and, having lived here so many years, know the lay of the land intimately. And they shared it with us. We’ve had guided tours of the city, the old gold mines, and a special trip to – literally – the end of the road where there’s a giant stop sign and, unless you have a canoe in the summer or are prepared to travel the ice road in the winter, you go no farther. The ice roads lead to the famous diamond mines, located hundreds of miles from town. We’ve visited incredible northern lakes, viewed ice-cold waterfalls and rapids, and almost reached the northern tree line where the pines and firs are stunted and old. We've seen gigantic jaw-dropping displays of the Northern Lights covering the whole sky all night long. Yellowknife is the center of the Aurora universe, boasting more displays per year than anywhere else on earth and they're year-round when it's dark enough to see them.

Last night we met their son Tim and his wife Laura for the first time. Tim is a meat-cutter and treated us to huge Alberta beef steaks cooked to perfection. Laura was born in Inuvik on the Arctic Ocean, which leads me to our Big News:

On Thursday Hazel, Jim and I are flying to Inuvik and staying a night! Hazel works for the airline that makes the daily flight and arranged our trip including the hotel room and rental car. She has been there many times teaching quilting arts and also in her previous capacity, head of the Girl Scouts in the Northwest Territories. She’s the perfect tour guide for this trip-of-a-lifetime. So, on Thursday night, you can picture us well above the Arctic Circle. In a week or so I’ll post real pictures to this blog.

Meantime, stay well and stay in touch.