The Lost Months - Part 1

Where oh where to begin?

Morro Bay, California

I'll start this off with a warning - I have no idea where this post is going to end up. 

I now have literally months to catch up on.  We were out for a family vacation for the month of October and had a wonderful time.  We made lots of memories, captured many wonderful moments on camera and were able to see and experience so many great things all while spending time with family and friends. 

We flew back to home on Halloween and I had great intentions of actually posting about our vacation which I haven't done in the past.  I figured since this has turned into my somewhat public diary this would be an easy way for me to write down my favourite moments and be able to share them with family and friends at the same time.

It wasn't meant to be.

The computer started smoking. 

Nope - not a good sign.  Of course there is not an electronics store or computer repair store in town so we had to ship it off to the computer doctor.  That didn't happen easily though.  Initially the computer doctors told us we had to order a new charger for the computer first to see if that was the problem.  Of course it wasn't so after waiting a few weeks for the charger to arrive in the mail we then had to ship it off to a friend who could download our photos in case the hard drive was erased.  Add another couple of weeks for this.  Then the computer doctors fixed it up and sent it back to us with a courier company that doesn't come here.....ahhh, because no courier company comes here.  It was sent across the country twice.  So - if you are still following all of this computer drama - we finally received it back last week.  Oh happy day!!!

Okay - I think I have decided how I am going to do this.  I'm going to go through my 700 pictures and pick my favourite 20.  That's it.  Okay - now that I have a plan in place let's get this together.

.......................................this space represents 45 minutes looking at pictures.................................. 

Here's the latest play by play.  Twenty pictures is not going to cut it.  I went through our October vacation pictures and I have 21.  Then that still leaves 4.5 months to catch up on.  Although many of January's pictures are of the same thing.  The SUN!  I swear that the week the sun came back I took a couple hundred pictures of it.  It was just such a welcome sight after it's two month absence I just couldn't help myself.  I think I essentially have a play by play for the week of the sun. 

What was I thinking?!?  Twenty pictures.  In addition to the 21 that I want to add from our October vacation there are also 32 from our winter so far in Paulatuk.  So that means the count is at 53....20 huh.  Insert snark here ; )

So lets begin this little journey.

I left town a week earlier than R did.  So N and I went on a bit of milk run to get back to Nova Scotia.  Our first day was Paulatuk to Inuvik.  We spent a night there.  N saw the trees - being close to the tree line they are small.  We don't have any trees so any tree is big to N.  He saw them and said, "Wow, big, tall, trees"  Once at the hotel there was some grass still showing.  He got down and rubbed his cheek against it and said "soft, cuddly, grass"  Oh man. 

From Inuvik we went to Edmonton for a night.  Then finally to Halifax the next day. 

The weather in Halifax was great.  We were able to experience fall all over again.  We went from hats and snow suites to t-shirts and sandals.  It was wonderful.

We had a wonderful, warm week with family. 

Blissful.

 

 

 

 

Once R arrived a week later we headed down to where his parents live to visit.  The weather stayed beautiful and our wonderful vacation continued.

 

I spent an awesome day with L, my friend since kindergarten.  I have pictures of us with our socks pulled up to our knees, hair in pig tails and various class pictures over playground equipment.  As you can imagine we have lots of fun memories and this day was another one to add to the many wonderful ones we already share.

 

We went on a wine tasting tour in Gaspereau Valley, NS.  We rode on a pink double decker bus and toured 3 different places.  Seriously - the pink double decker bus would have been fun on it's own, but add wine into the equation....we had a really fun day.



 

 

 

 

 

The pictures kind of tell the story on their own.  The Nova Scotia part of vacation we spent with family and friends exploring our own backyard.  Well, our parents own backyards.

 

We spent afternoons hiking down old railroad tracks, flying kites, having picnics in sod fields, rolling down hills, visiting museums and just spending time with the people we don't get to see as often as we'd like.

 

As always, we ran out of time.  I had great plans to visit more people, more often.  Things just never seem to work out that way.  Time seems to slip away while your busy exploring.

 

 

Next Stop

 

California

 

Well Hello again San Francisco

 

Oh, how we missed you!

 

 

 

A few years ago R and I travelled to California with another couple and had a great time.  We knew we would come back as soon as we could.  

 

There were so many things to be explored and and things to see.  We loved it all.  My favourite part was Napa.  Not only because of the obvious reason - the wine, but I just loved the over all feeling that I got while I was there.  It's country.  There are fields and fields of vines and amongst them all there are wonderful tasting rooms that you can pop into and visit, talk with not only the servers, but also the wine makers and often the owner is lingering not too far away. 

 

There is also a wonderful river front town that has small shops lining the streets and award winning restaurants tucked in with all this greatness. 

 

Wine, Country, Shops and Restaurants, what's not to love?

 

We made a deal that we would not open the last bottle of wine we bought in Napa until we had booked a return visit.

 

We came back with four bottles.  I accidentally opened one a few months after we came home.  It was the same brand as another bottle we had, but a different type and year.  I opened it and R asked me what the special occasion was.....um, Thursday? 

 

 Opps. 

 

We opened the second bottle when we sold our house in Yellowknife and we still have two bottle in storage.  They both have special occasions waiting for them, but they haven't happened yet, and we didn't want to wait much longer to return.

 

With a little encouragement from friends - we booked another trip.  An epic road trip.

 

We started out in San Francisco and ended up in San Diego 2 weeks later.  We went from San Francisco - Napa - Oakland - Morro Bay - Malibu - Santa Monica - Anaheim - San Diego.  Anaheim didn't start out in our plans.  We added it in as a late addition because we figured if we were so close it would be a shame not to visit for at least a day.  So that's what we did - Disney in a day.  After all we were travelling with a 3 yr old and a 10 month old.  Yup, you read that right, 2 couples, 1 mini van, 3 yr old and a 10 month old. 

 

It's also worth mentioning that during our first trip R and I were cruising around in a black Mustang convertible.....and this time a silver mini van.  As far as mini vans go though - this one ended up being pretty swanky, leather and a dvd player. 

 

There were some seriously funny moments and some that I'm sure we all want to forget, but can't because those too are a little funny, now that they are over.

 

One of the most classic road trip moments was travelling down Hwy 1.  This road goes by a few different names.  Hwy 1, Cabrillo Hwy, The Coastal Hwy - all the same road.  It is the main road that runs down the coast. It is two lanes, one in each direction and you drive along steep cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There are beautiful views and lots and lots...and few more twists and turns.

 

Little Miss P (the 10 month old) had a tough time with the twists and turns.  She was after all safely strapped into her car seat, facing backwards.  I think I may have felt the same as her in the same situation.

 

The inevitable happened. 

 

Everyone in the van had a different reaction but the award for the funniest reaction (after the fact) goes to R.  He was driving and was pretty concerned that the van might start filling up with the smell that comes along with it.  I'm happy to report that we all survived and once the twists and turns came to an end, Miss P returned to her regular rock star self.

 

 

 

Epic California Road Trip

 



 I only see the sky - what is Alcatraz?

 

 

N loved this - it took us at least an hour to find this playground,

but this smile made it all worth it. 

 

 

 A park overlooking The Golden Gate Bridge

 

 

Driving Across The Golden Gate Bridge

 

 

 Muir Woods

Giant Redwood Tree's

 

 

 Napa - I love Napa! 

These are the little cottages we stayed in.

Have I mentioned I love Napa? 

 

Bachelor Ben.

Yes, it's true.  Two grown, adult women hunted

Bachelor Ben's winery down in Sonoma just to meet him.

.....and we were a little giddy about it.......

 

 

The sole reason M wanted to come to California

To go to an Oakland game

It is fun to watch dreams come true

 

 

 N and I went to Disney on Ice across the parking lot from the stadium. 

By the looks of the photo's they showed me - they

had fantastic seats.  Home team won, icing on the cake. 

 

 

 

 Morro Bay

This little town was an unexpected surprise.  We used it as a halfway point for our drive down the coast but if I ever get the chance to drive the coast again I would stop into this quaint town.

 

 

 

Santa Monica Pier

 

 

We spent an afternoon on Santa Monica Pier.  I can't help but start singing the song whenever I say that.  I wish we had more time to spend there.  There is a huge beach on each side of the pier that was almost begging us to lounge around on.  We had just come from Malibu and naturally had to spend some time playing on the beach there.  So after Malibu and Santa Monica we were Anaheim bound.  We tried to get out of Santa Monica in time to beat rush hour going through Los Angelos....but we didn't make it out in time.

 

LA traffic is INSANE. 

 

Initially the GPS told us we'd be at our destination in 40 minutes.  2+ hours later we arrived.  However we did get the chance to see some fun things along the way and maybe if we had of actually been moving on the road instead of at an essential stand still we would have missed.  We saw THE Hollywood sign, we saw The Staples Centre and we followed a car down the parking lot...I mean 6 lane highway, who's license plate was "ORLXPRT".  Ahum.  So of course we tried to give the driver the benefit of the doubt and said they must be a dentist......nope, not dentist.  Her Mom must be proud ; )

 

Disneyland

I took a picture of the $20.00 picture

they were trying to sell us.  I love that

R and I are smiling and almost everyone else is

freaking out

 

 

San Diego

 

 

Because we added Anaheim into our plans we only had 1 full day in San Diego.  We went to the Zoo.  It was another fun day.  San Diego looked like a wonderful city and from all the research I did I know there is a lot for kids to do.  Who knows...maybe another California trip is in our future.

 

A girl can dream can't she.

 



 

Before we returned to the Arctic we stayed a few days in Canmore and Banff with our friends that we first visited California with.  They have welcomed a beautiful little girl to their their family since the last time we were with them so we also had the chance to meet her.  She is beautiful and has wonderful parents to call Mom and Dad. 

 

Here we are after an afternoon walk in the mountains around Canmore, Alberta

 

 

 

There is going to be a part two to the entry.  I just have too much to catch up on and I don't want to just skim over it leave things out just to cut down things down.  So, "The Lost Months Part 2" will be

coming soon.

 

I promise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye bye summer

Well I've done it again.

Here it is mid September and the list of pictures to upload just keeps getting longer, which makes me want to upload them even less.  See the problem.

I just finished looking over the last post to see where I left off last time.  Oh gosh, I'm definitely waaaayyy behind.  It's a bit daunting, but I seem to say this every time I start off but once I get started it all seems to come together.

We had some really great experiences during the past month and a bit.  Some things you wouldn't believe unless you saw it yourself, like the beluga harvest last month, hundreds of geese flying over town heading South, our mini snow storm last week or the Northern lights last night.

So here it is - August and the first half of September......

Our little community hosted Ocean's Day this year.  Nineteen people came to town on a big 'ol chartered air plane and set up a fair of sorts in town for the day.  It was really fun.  There was drum dancing, harpoon throwing competitions (yes, I tried.....no, nobody should rely on my harpoon throwing skills for any sort of purpose), an obstacle course for kids, a bbq, tug of war for kids and adults, face painting and lots of crafts.  Fun fun fun. 

A friend took this picture me right before I sampled my first little piece of muktuk.  Yes, beluga whale.  I expected the worse....the very worse, but I was surprised that I actually liked it.  I expected it to taste really fishy, but it didn't.  I'm not sure how to describe but I'm glad I tried it.


The drum dancers and singers put on another amazing show.  Every time I see one of their shows it makes me appreciate it even more. 

 

 

Kids tug of war.....

 

 

 

We spent a fair amount of time this summer at different beaches.  The early part of the summer we spent over by "the point" but the Arctic Turns chased us away.  Then we started hanging out at "sand beach"  I don't know what to technically call it, but the name fits, so I'm sticking with it.

 

 

 This year's beluga whale hunt was late.  I guess the whales were late coming through this year.  I learnt a few neat beluga facts that I'll share because if I don't write it down....I'll forget it.  The Mom's and their calves travel first and then the rest come through.  I guess this year there were a couple different pods, one with around 100 whales, one with 30 ish and another with 7 or 8.  That's the last I heard but that doesn't mean there weren't more.  Baby beluga's (starting singing the song here) are grey.  The whales that the men got this year were around 16' long and I asked how old they were, nobody really answered me so I said "are they around ten?" and the said they would be older than that. 

 

I do have a few pictures of the men cutting up the whales.  I asked before taking them and was told it was ok as long as I don't post them on facebook or send them to Green Peace.  I had no intention of doing either, I really just wanted them so we can have them for the future.  It really was something to see.  Last year I think it would have really bothered me to see it but this year it didn't.  I'm not sure why but I think it is because I feel more in tune with the community now and know that getting a whale really is a special thing and really excites everyone.  It's not another every day event.  The whale is respected, appreciated and celebrated. 

 

Watching the men butcher the whale really was a sight to be seen.  They know what they doing.  They don't mess around.  While we there there were two whales being butchered and two groups of men working on them.  There were a few 10 - 14 year olds around watching their Dad's, Grandad's and Uncles work on the whales. 

 

I'll do my best to describe the process.  The men cut large 2' x 2' square pieces and then about 3" from one side put a slit in it and use this as a handle.  Then they pull up and over and use their knife to cut the blubber away from the muscle.  Beluga whale meat is black.  Who knew?  Some of this is harvested and taken back to town in the boat.  Mostly it is just the elders who enjoy this, and it is dried, like dry meat, or dry fish....kind of like beef jerky only less additives.  The whole process is down to a science.  Once the whole 2' x 2' piece is cut free it's placed in the Ocean and a rope is put through the slit to tie it to the other pieces.   The whole whale was cut up in this manner and the then dragged back to town behind a boat.

 

Once back to town the women take over.  The women take the big squares and cut them up into little squares with ulu's, but the piece ends up being like a rope.   Once this is done the muktuk is hung up for 24 hours.  Then the majority is frozen to be enjoyed during the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The above picture is one of my favourites because it just says "North" all over it.  Mountain, lakes, muktuk and bear dogs out guarding it for the night.

 

 

Bear Tracks

 

 

 

 

We spent many afternoons this summer on the quad.  We found a few new favourite places to go and one of them is down along "sand beach" all the way up to where you have to cut up on the land.  Every time we went out we saw bear tracks.  At first it freaked me out.  I was on high alert all the time looking for "the bear" who I just knew was scoping us out.  I started to feel a little bit like Man Tracker because I was trying to figure out how old the tracks were. 

 

We did see a few grizzly's so far this summer/fall,   Two were at the dump, one was during a quad adventure to Billy Lake (2 hrs ride away), he was a ways away, but close enough.   The other one was during an evening trip to "sand beach".  A few of us were playing in the sand on the banks when R came on the radio and asked where we were.  We told him we were on the beach below the dump.  He came back on and said to come up because he was at the dump and there was a bear there. 

 

You want to know a great way to get two Moms and a 2 little kids packed up quickly.....that's it.  We were up and and out of there on the quads in seconds.  Up to the dump we went to see the bear.  He was a pretty big one.  I think he was a bit ticked off that we were ruining his supper, but eventually he took off up over the hills.

 

 

 





 N and I chilling on the hills during a quad trip in August

 

 

 

 

I think this one is funny because N and the plane match ; ) 

 

 

 

 

There was a search and rescue during August.  A group of boaters that left Tuk were a few days overdue so the troops were sent out.  This plane came to town to refuel.  One of the missing boaters was actually a teenage girl from town.  They were found, and were thankful to be found because they were in trouble (mechanical issues) floating in the Ocean North of Tuk.  Brrrrrr.

 

 

 

Another little quad adventure

 

 

 

Check out that fog. 

 Craziest thing.

Our side of town was sunny.

The other was not. 

The plane was cancelled this day.

 

Somebody had a Birthday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

R and I had bought a few gifts we were really excited about giving him.  Like really excited.  We were both a little giddy the night before with anticipation.  Our presents were a flop.  His favourite "gifts" were balloons, party hats and band-aids.  The band aids were a joke gift because I mentioned to a friend that our supply was low because N raided the stash and apparently had about 30 boo boo's because he covered himself and the bathroom with band aids. 

 

You can't really see his party hat in this picture, but it's Hannah Montana.  I had a birthday party supply stash but I forgot hats.  Whenever I mentioned his upcoming Birthday he'd say "party hats" so I knew I had to get some.  Problem was there were none at our one and only store.  Luckily a friend was flying into Inuvik and back a few days before his party so I asked him to get some party hats.  He searched Inuvik high and low, and the only hats in all of town was Hannah Montana.  Cracks me up.  N was beyond thrilled with his party hats and for the week following his Birthday asked for a party hat at every meal.

 

 

 

I take hundreds of pictures during the span of a month. 

Out of at least 300 hundred pictures I have 1 family picture.

Here it is for the month

 



 





 

 

 

I guess if shadows count, this month I had two family pictures

 

 

 

Beyond the obvious rainbow in this picture there's a story.  We were out for a walk this evening up to the water shed about 1 km out of town.  On the way out I noticed a few kids playing in a trench by the ball field.  On the way back it started to sprinkle a little and a truck going by stopped to ask if we wanted a ride.  We passed but said "thanks" and continued on our way.  A few minutes later the truck was out by the water shed and we heard screaming and they were honking their horn.  We figured that they were looking for the kids that had been playing and carried on our way back.

 

The truck came back past a few minutes later.  Stopped and asked us if we had seen the bear.

 

Uh NO!

 

Turns out the screaming and honking was for us to get going because a bear was running down the hill towards us.  I don't know how close it was, but I do know that we saw the dog come back into town that was "playing" with the bear".  I don't know what happened to the bear.  He must have taken off back up the hill.  I think it's best I didn't see a thing because I might turn into the hermit in town, either that or I would have passed out cold. 

 

 

The barge came!

 



 

 

 

 

The view from our house just sucks.....

 

 

Hi ho hi ho it's off to the river we go

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup - this happened.

 

September 13th

 

 

At least somebody was happy about it.

 

 

 

It's all gone now, but you can still some

 at the top of the hills in this picture.

 

 

A little Friday night bon fire by the Arctic Ocean

No trees, so we burnt pallets

 

 

Last weekend we quaded out to Fred Matthews

It was an 8 hour day and we all

loved every single second of it.

 

Whale

 

 

Haha - we were meeting up with L's parents out on the land

Here's how we do our tundra searching.  Get to high ground

or on top of a quad and just look.  As luck would have it we did

all end up meeting up.

 

Cranberries!

So far I've added them to a fruit crisp and tomorrow

they are muffin bound.

YUM!

 

Me and Magoo

 

 

He told me "just one" picture.

He was quite the berry picker....and berry swiper.

 

During our 2 hr trek home.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy trails.