July Visitors Part 2

We flew up to Dawson City.  They wanted to have a true taste of 1898 and the Gold Panning experience.

Dawson City.  It is so worth a trip every once in a while.  The buildings are just as colourful as ever.  The sun is hotter than Whitehorse.  And even though the town doubles in size with the tourists, it still seems quite empty.

Some of the buildings still need to be renovated.  The City will soon be working on the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the building that Robert Service worked in.

While Hilary and Rebecca went on to a Gold Panning Tour I shopped then toured the Commissioner's House and had tea on the porch.  (It was a beautiful house and I would have loved to live in it).  The travellers returned with one small speck of gold between them.   Then it was off to Klondike Kate's to eat.

After dinner Hilary had a Sour Toe Cocktail.  Above is the toe that was used, just as ugly and yucky as always.  They now have a $2500.00 fine for swallowing the toe so you must be very careful when allowing the "toe to touch your lip".  

Back in Whitehorse we enjoyed a birthday dinner with Brooke and family.  Happy Birthday Brooke!!

And I got my yearly fill of the Frantic Follies, excellent as usual.  We visited many of the Whitehorse and area tourist sites, the Wildlife Preserve, the Beringia Centre etc and the shops, then it was time for them to return back to England.  I had a great time and I hope they did too.

July Visitors Part 1

Been entertaining my guests for the past while.  It was a holiday for them and for me also.

Our first stop on their arrival was the cabin.  I wanted to show them the real Yukon.  It was fun having dinner with the family.

We went to Skagway for the 4th of July.  We participated in the Egg Toss.  It was once in the Guiness Book of World Records for the longest egg toss in the world.  I believe they now do not include that category but Skagway keeps the toss going every 4th of July.

We tossed it for quite a while before it was dropped!  There was a hot dog eating contest that we watched.  The old record was 10 hot dogs (including the bun).  They were trying to beat that record this year and did - by one -- even though they ran out of hot dogs and had to revamp the contest.  And there was lots of music and rubber duckie river run ... lots of fun.  

There was a day at Mukluk Kennels for Rebecca who was Rookie for a Day.  That was an experience.

Then Hilary treated us all to a true Yukon dinner there which included caribou, elk, candied salmon, and fish.  The food was excellent.

Frank and Anne were good hosts and we had a good visit with them, something that was long overdue considering we are related.

A Carcross Day

Started off the day thinking we were going to the Carcross Cut-off to lunch.  The girls who owned Burnt Toast Cafe had opened a restaurant there according to an article in the newspaper in March.  It was that or the Wolf's Den, although neither of us preferred eating meat loaf with a fried egg for lunch.  We arrived at the Cut-off and the place was boarded up.  Hmmm ... this was suppose to be Helen's 85th Birthday Lunch.  So, off to Carcross we went.

Of course, we stopped at Emerald Lake.  I always stop at Emerald Lake it is so beautiful.  I talked Helen into taking her picture there even though she kept walking fathter and father away.

Carcross is such a pleasant place to visit now that they have added the restaurants and pods for shops.  We had a lovely lunch at the little restaurant/coffee shop and walked around.  Helen did some Christmas shopping ( I love shopping with her, she alway finds something to buy!!) , then we went for an Ice Cream at Matthew Watson's General Store.  As you can see the weather was a bit cool.   Really not cool, but the wind, which was great, was chilly, and it threatened rain, but did not rain at all!

All in all, an unexpected fun day in Carcross.  

Happy Birthday Helen (aka Gramma)!

Wolf Creek

Todays hike was at Wolf Creek Campground.  I have partied at the Wolf Creek campground in the past, but never hiked its trails.  

My companions on today's hike, including Ice who is black and in the shade, so is a little difficult to see.

The trail took us along the Yukon River.  The view makes one want a canoe.

Trails with lookouts are always welcome.  It is a beautiful day, warm and sun-shiny.  This is the first time I have run into mosquitoes ... not a lot, but just enough to swat away.

Family photo

Just a quick family photo to enter on this blog.Taken June 18, 2016.

Happy Birthday to You

Getting ready for her party Alanna had to wear the party hat she found on the table.

Of course if Alanna has a hat Emerson needs one also.

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You ...

Happy Second Birthday Dear Emerson and Alanna

Happy Birthday to you!!!!

After cake it was time to open gifts.  They opened a few then had gift overload.  The rest they will open tomorrow.

Took them a while to unwind at bedtime, but eventually they both settled for a good nights sleep.

Gunnar Nilsson Research Forest

Today Nesta, our leader, took us to the Gunnar Nilsson Research Forest.  I have never been here before.  In fact, I didn't think we were allowed at the research facility but we are encouraged and there are well marked trails and and a wonderful lookout as well.  Behind the sign, from the parking lot is a great kids playground.  Think I'll be coming here again.

Here were my walking partners today.  The route was about 4.8 kilometres today but considering we took a wrong turn, I'm sure we stretched it to an even 5 k.

Much of the trail walking was fairly easy and well marked.  And after three days of rain, the weather was beautiful - hot(ish) and sunny.  And the trails were dry despite all the rain we received.

Here I am on the trail to the lookout.

From the lookout the view was spectacular.  It was a lovely place to stop, sip some water and take in the view and chat with the others at this point.  That is the Tahini River in the above photo.

And this is Oxbow Lake.

I did say the trails were easy walking and well marked - EXCEPT for this one pictured above.  It was so overgrown we thought surely Nesta wouldn't have picked this as a trail, so we back-tracked.  Wrong.  We returned to bushwhack our way through to follow the map.  Thank heavens there are no snakes in the Yukon as this would have been prime land for the reptiles.  And we lived to tell the tale!

Yukon Wildlife Preserve

Yukoner's Appreciation Day - remember that Kristin??  When I went with you we hung with my "old" friends (aged 80 to 92).  If you came with me today you would have hung with my little friends (aged just under 2).  I thought it was going rain but instead was just overcast with a bit of a strong wind at times.

As you can see, the clouds threatened rain but held off.  It was actually great weather for walking.

Daddy was handy for raising the kids to a level above the crowds.  This is where they were releasing a young bald eagle that they nursed back to health.  The release was anticlimactic.  They opened the cage in the bison pen.  The eagle, instead of soaring to great heights, hopped onto the ground then hopped around for a long long time.  Like Emerson said, "all done" then he turned and left.  He was much more interested in collecting the rocks on the road and trail than viewing any animals.

We walked with the kids for quite a while but the going was   s - l - o - w .   We finally coaxed them into the stroller and headed back to the main area for hot dogs.

Brooke was volunteering at the check in so we hot-dogged with her.  She said that about 800 Yukon's took advantage of the free day.  We Yukon's love free things!

A Dogtown Evening

Was treated to a local play, Dogtown: A Musical.  It was held in the Roundhouse where the trolley rests.  Only sits 60 so it is quite intimate.  The story is about Trevor the Dog - a famous (infamous) story here in Whitehorse.  If you don't know it, here is Trevor's story:  TREVOR THE DOG

It was very entertaining, and very well done.  I especially liked the ravens who made me laugh throughout the play.

The theatre was tiny so of course there was no room for a bar, so, at intermission, we went up the street to another (in)famous icon of Whitehorse - THE 98 bar!!  Now, I have only ever been in this bar once before many many many many years ago.  I was in it just to say I went to the 98.  So this is 98 x 2.  Intermission is short and that didn't give me time to sip a glass of wine, so we ordered "a quick shot".  And what better to drink but Yukon Jack - another first for me.

And this photo is just to prove we actually were there!

Sunday with the kids

After Sunday dinner Brooke was having fun with a photo app on her phone.  I was having fun taking photos of the whole family together.

June 8

Went to visit my old neighbour Helen today.  She has now finished planting her flowers and vegetables and is just waiting for things to grow big now.  Walter's potatoes are starting to show.  Always makes me think of the potato growing contests we used to have.

I found her weed-eating in the corner of the lawn.  The grass is next on her list to care for.

We had a good chat then visited Dusty.  Dusty is now 37 years old and still going strong.  Dusty was my neighbour from 1988 to 2005.  I used to feed him the grass clippings when I was mowing my lawn.  As we approached him, he thought he was going to be fed, so Helen did give him a snack to eat.

I didn't even know I took this photo - me and my big fat fingers, but it turned out not too bad so decided to include it here.  Helen's birthday is coming up soon so maybe I can get a snap or two on her birthday.  

I left with 3 tomato plants and a bunch of flowers.  She certainly has a green thumb!

Orienteering Day

A view of Whitehorse from the Chadburn Lake Road (that is the road just before the Fish Ladder).  Our route was Miles Canyon today.

Here is the map we followed.

Most of the trail followed Miles Canyon.  Right on the edge of the cliff of Miles Canyon I must add.  The scenery was beautiful but our eyes, most of the time, were on focussed on the roots and stones along the trail.  One small misstep and it is into the canyon you go.

The water was that beautiful green blue colour.  Our turn-around point was close to the suspension bridge, which we are nearing in the photo above.

Then it was onto a wider trail and if you fell you didn't end up in the water.  Our quick little walks in the bushes in the Whitehorse area are fun.

Orienteering

Joined the Orienteering group.  Once a week in the afternoon we grab a map and attempt to follow it. As it is for seniors, it is not very difficult to follow (to be truthful) but it does ensure a pleasant walk in (sometimes) a new area with friends.  This particular day we walked the trails by Yukon College.  I didn't even realize there were so many trails there.  I am looking forward to the next walk.

Middle of May

Spent the afternoon with the kiddos while Brooke planted some flowers/veggies/herbs.  It was another beautiful day.  As Siri said when I asked her what the weather was going to be like today she said SUN SUN SUN.  (She is so smart).  So, I put a little water in the pool and the kids got in.  The water was freezing cold but they didn't mind.  They were slipping and sliding and falling and getting up and doing it all over again and loving it.

They also helped Mom with the planting.  

Then came that very interesting garden hose.  They drank from it; they sprayed each other with it; they couldn't keep their little hands off of it.  SUMMER!  I hope this is just the beginning and that it won't end in a week, like it did last year.