Hey everyone! We are in Inuvik, and today is my birthday!! Yah! We went to the family fun centre, which had a realy cool 190 foot slide, a lazy river, these forts that float, a vollyball court, and a water basketball hoop! We had a lot of fun and then we went to The Roost, the local pizza place. I got to go to Borael Books, and got the book, Artemis Fowl:Arctic Incident.

The next day, there was a civic holiday, because it was the 50th anniversary for Inuvik. There were lots of festivities, and a big feast! All in all, Inuvik is a nice little town worth driving on the dempster (when the dempster is dry, at least).

7.17.08

Guess what?  Today we're in Inuvik and it’s my brother’s b-day!   I gave him a card and a book- my sister and I split the cost.  The Northern Arts Festival was so fun!  We bought a polar bear made out soapstone and a bowl made out of wood .We used the bowl to put m&ms in-that tasted good!

Then we went to the family fun center and we went swimming.  The swimming pool had a big slide-you go really fast!  There was also a lazy river that’s fun to go through with noodles.  They had a volleyball net that we played with- the pool was a BLAST!

July 19, 2008

• Got up late
• Went to the pool-lots of fun. Our friend Jase was there and we played with him. We also went on the very fast 190 foot waterslide and floated down the lazy river. My mom went down the slide!!
• We went to Northern images and the woman there was very nice. There were also lots of beautiful things.
• I thought this was funny. When we read a small town newspaper and they would say things like this: Jean said there were less salmon in the stream this year than last year.

“There are less salmon this year than last year” said Jean.

I found this very funny. It was as if they were just trying to fill up space in the newspaper.

• We left the campground and drove 200 km. down the Dempster highway. For those of you who don’t know what the Dempster is, it is a 456 mile road that is all gravel and had lots of potholes. It is the only way to reach Inuvik and it is not crowded.

July 18, 2008

• We didn’t wake up until 11:00!
• We went over and saw the parade for Inuvik’s 50^th anniversary-it was very cute. There were fire trucks and about 3 floats and a bunch of people dressed up in a mascot costume such as a chicken, gorilla, or bear.
• We got a tour of the igloo church. That was very cool and we were able to go up to the very top!
• We walked around the town. It was very cold and we had about 4 layers on.
• We listened to the speeches and then went back to the camper
• We went to the park where they had a feast that was free. It was very good. They had some traditional food like baking soda bread (very good), duck (not my favorite), and a fried bread that was good. While we ate we listened to a rock & roll band.

July 17, 2008

• Charles’s Birthday-Happy birthday!!
• Went to a hardware shop and a book store
• Went to the Great Northern Lights festival. It was a lot of fun. There were paintings and people all over doing different types of art, such as sewing beads on moose hide, sculpting rocks, and making canoes. I thought it was cool that there was a large area marked off where there were a lot of big rocks, and the sculptor would come, pick out the rock, and then go back outside to make whatever they wanted.
• After the arts festival, we went to the Inuvik family center. There they had a little lazy river, a swimming pool with volleyball nets in it, fake palm trees, a basketball net, and cool float toys. They also had a 190 foot waterslide. It was sooo fun, and went really fast!
• That night, we went out for pizza. It was really good and different. We ordered a ham & pepperoni pizza, and instead of putting slices of ham & pepperoni on our pizza, they had the crust, then a layer of ham, then a layer of pepperoni, and then cheese on top. I thought that was really cool.

P.S. If there is a day where I don't have information about what I did, you can see my mom's blog and she will probably have it.

Mom's Blog:

www.travbuddy/TessaHill.com

July 16, 2008

• Drove the dempster and made it up to Inuvik
• We went on 2 ferries across some rivers-it was cool but load, and the whole ship vibrated because of the engine
• We met a guy from at the visitor center who went lived around here and went to Whitehorse by dogsled when he was younger. He had lots of good stories to tell.
• We crossed into the Arctic Circle!-Yea. That is sooo cool, really, it was chilly.
• When we got to a paved road, it was so wonderful I thought I would cry
• Arrived at campground and we were assigned a spot, but someone had taken the spot and the person who worked there forgot to put it in the computer, so then we got another spot and someone was in that spot because the spots were not labeled very well, so then we got another spot, but it was so small we couldn’t fit in it, so someone was very nice and let us share a spot with them.

Today was Inuvik’s 50^th Anniversary Celebration!  There was a parade at 1:00 pm, which involved the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, fire trucks, some homemade floats, and enthusiastic, smiling people waving and throwing candy.  We thought it interesting that many people came to the parade and parked so they could enjoy it from their cars- they know how to behave when it’s cold. 

And cold it is!  No sooner than I said we were hot, a front blew through, and it has been in the 50’s today and yesterday.  It is also overcast and a bit rainy, but it didn’t dampen spirits any.  We registered and got nametags (and our names went into the time capsule that was buried today), enjoyed the ceremony where the leaders of the area and legislative representatives and even our friend from the Visitor’s Center south of here spoke. 

At the ceremony, we sat by Tom, one of the mechanics at the place were I took Ciao Baby yesterday for her brakes.  He was very helpful in understanding the Northern culture and the people, as his wife is Inuvialuit.  He said that the three groups of people intermingle and get along harmoniously.  Inuvik has had many international people visit over the years and they speak of their acceptance of other cultures.

A statue of the 3 groups dancing together was repaired and unveiled at the ceremony.  The prayer was also given in 3 languages.

While Ruby, the Teacher, does not have the need of a car, Tom likes his truck, ski do, boat and other “toys” as he called them.  “Everyone lives in town,” he said, as there is nothing outside of town.  They are working on a pipeline and trying to decide whether it goes down the McKenzie River (cheaper option) or connects to the Alaskan pipeline.  He said one of the few reserves of oil is near here and production is about to boost. 

Also, diamonds in the area are a huge commodity, with as many as a third of the world’s diamonds mined here.  Tom said the polar bear is often etched on the local diamonds so that they are not confused with the ones from the South African mines.  I thought one of those would make a terrific souvenir!

We’ve been told by 3 sources to go by the Northern Lites Arts & Crafts store when it opens tomorrow to see their terrific art work by local artists.  I tried to buy Gregory’s polar bear earrings tonight, but they had been sold at the Arts Festival. 

The Great Northern Art Festival is held in the Community and Family Center in town.  There is little fanfare around it and you must ask to find it.  But inside, there are the artists and their work, workshops, a souvenir section with t-shirts and caps, and a concession area.  It is small, but well-done, and we really enjoyed it.

Everyone has been kind to us and we read in the June 5^th local paper in the library where they pointed out, “be sure to welcome our visitors, take time to chat with them and answer their questions they may have about Inuvik.”  They welcome visitors during their speeches as well, although there are probably only a couple dozen of us at most.  Of those visitors, most have lived here previously and have returned for the “Homecoming.”  

Locals are really curious as to why we would make a point to come here.  But they are very nice and genuine, patiently answering our questions.  One curious young lady innocently asked if Americans were friendly, because she’d been told we were not.  That is a little disheartening and I hope we Americans can show kindness and compassion for visitors to our country. 

We’re impressed with how relaxed and content most people seem.  They are not particularly jolly (as it is a rather rugged existence up here), but they are quick with a return smile.  It is wonderful to watch the people interact with warmth and caring for each other.  The children seem well-behaved and well-loved.  Ruby said that family is the center of their value system.

We take our shoes off in public places!  The library requires shoe removal and so did the pool area, well outside the changing rooms.  There is usually wet snow or mud around, so it keeps the floors cleaner.  I remember doing similarly in people’s houses in New Hampshire. 

We were very happy to get a tour of the Inuvik Church, the Notre Dame of the North, Our Lady of Victory Church by Sister Mary Jo.  It is a famous symbol of Inuvik as it is built in the shape of an igloo, as are both the baptismal font and the alter archway.  We climbed the stairs to the top of the dome and see the wood framing inside.  Five years after the church was built, the government wanted to see the blueprints and they finally had to hire a draftsman to create some so that the government would not lock the door. 

Another interesting church fact was that the wood was so scarce (there are few trees for lumber here) that a few hockey sticks were used in the framing as additional wood.  It is built on a special air pocket above a dish of concrete, with the air pocket continuing into the double roof and out.  The permafrost requires special building methods, as those built directly on the ground may fall when the ground thaws and freezes.  The hospital is the only other building in town which is not built on 2’ pilings, as it has a ground refrigeration system beneath it.  That reminds me of the engineering feat to create the SkyTrain track into Tibet.

We spoke briefly with author Dick Hill – we’d missed his new book launch signing in the library yesterday by a couple hours.  He’s donated many items to the library and we’d like to get his new book.  He also spoke at the celebration.

A local rock band of three played in the school auditorium, which we enjoyed as we ate.

The town had a celebration barbeque on the lawn in front of the school, where the festivities were held today.  It was all free and included local traditional specialties like goose soup, carp (fish), roasted duck, a special bread made of baking soda and flour, and the usual hot dogs, roast beef with gravy, potato salad, etc.  Volunteers have been meeting for a year to plan the celebration and they were happy to hear that we were most impressed with their town and enjoying our visit.  They certainly seem to have a warm-hearted, generous, caring spirit in this town.

We returned today to the grocery store -got a half-gallon of milk for $6.29!  We visited the fruit man’s truck which was like a grocery store inside.  We bought a block of cheddar cheese for $15, a 2-pack of sandwich ham for $12, and a head of romaine lettuce for $2.19.  There are 2 stores in town that sell various items:  the Home Hardware store and the Mart. The Mart sells everything you’d need to set up house, dress your family, and take care of your household, complete with pharmacy. 

The only American franchise in town is the Pizza Hut Express in the Mart.  Inuvik appears to have a café, two pizza/Chinese places, a restaurant in the McKenzie Hotel, the few grocery places, 2 service stations with gas, the schools, a couple gift shops, four churches, and a bank.  The Gwich’in First Nations Headquarters is in town too, as well at the Inuvialuit’s.  I love this town! 

Instead of dog sled teams, in the winter, people get around with skidoos.  Signs indicate where there are no bikes or skidoos allowed.  Cars and trucks go on the ice roads, which are frozen rivers.

We tried to use our bank card at 2 ATM’s but because it was not in the network, we could not get any cash.  I think we’ll be fine though.

During Ice Breakup time in the spring, and when it freezes in the fall, there are no barges bringing supplies on the McKenzie River and no traveling on the Dempster Highway.  So all supplies must be flown in on planes, and prices escalate for those several weeks’ time.  Annual supplies are shipped on barges.  People go all the way down to Whitehorse to buy school supplies at the Wal-Mart.  That is a LONG journey down there, requiring several (3-4?) days of driving in each direction.

The Librarian we met is going to Disney World next week.  She’ll drive to Whitehorse and then fly to Calgary, Vancouver, and finally Orlando.

It would be a really fascinating town in which to spend a year, to experience the seasons and learn in-depth about Northern cultures.

Inuvik was founded 50 years ago when the town was moved from Aklivuk, as they thought the McKenzie Delta would flood it and it would fall into sea, but a few hardy souls still live there and it has not yet had the feared issues. 

We’ll plan to spend one more day exploring the town since more will be open tomorrow.  The 50^th Anniversary Celebration will continue with activities and dances.  Hopefully the sun will shine so we can see the Midnight Sun from our RV roof before we leave.  The kids want to return to the indoor community swim center for fun. 

It’s nice sleeping late and really getting to enjoy a location too.  Then we’ll brave the Dempster Highway again to begin our journey across the Top of the World Highway into Alaska.

7.17.08

Happy 12^th Birthday, Charles! 

We really enjoyed the small town of Inuvik today.  With about 3500 residents, this Festival and the 50^th Anniversary of the town is exciting. 

We’re now card-carrying members of the Inuvik Centennial Library (www.inuvik.net/icl) – for $15 we get temporary membership and Charles was thrilled to find “The Final Warning” by James Patterson in there.  We’d checked at the bookstore, but their focus was “northern” books and literature.  Also, we checked out some movies and plan to return on Saturday. 

Friday is a “civic holiday” because of the Anniversary celebration and there is a parade on Friday with a schedule of activities.  We’re hoping to tour the “only Canadian hospital North of 60”.  We looked at a map yesterday and there are not many locations north of 66.

Here are some of the things we did:

Great Northern Arts Festival:  met Gregory (polar bear claw necklace), bought bowl, polar bear, and print that artist signed, t-shirts, hat; workshops going on for (see paper)

RV:  car wash ($1/minute self-spray), gas ($1.70/liter full service), brake check (fine)

Swim at the Community center- met Ruby

Laundry

Groceries:  $10 for box of Rice Crispies, $6.79/kg for bananas, $2 per orange (B.C. man in truck comes every 3 weeks to take fruit to the more northern territories because it is even more expensive there), $3.76 M&M’s, $4.50 per head of small iceberg lettuce, $8 for salad-in-a-bag regular size

Pizza ($30 for large pizza)

Few things learned about the area:

Ice road is built when the river starts to freeze. They drill through the top layer of ice until ice so that the water will flood over the top of it and then that water freezes until the layer is 6’ thick.  Then small cars are allowed on it and when safe, eighteen wheelers can use it.  Even the fruit truck man said that he uses the ice road in the winter to haul produce to the outer regions.  Right now, there is no road there.

Community clean-up:  Once a year in the spring, everyone in the community participates in cleaning up garbage and tidying up the area.  Groups will take a certain part of town and there will be postings of dates and times.  Tom said that his family keeps the park in front of their house tidy.

Ice break up date- guess the date correctly and get $100 from Recreation Dept and name on plaque with plaque to take home

Fishing- Alaska taking all the salmon.  There’s an agreement where they are to allow 33,000 to 43,000 salmon through on the run and that didn’t happen last year.  The Yukon didn’t get any of the fish.  The First Nations people could not get their sustenance fish, nor did the sport or recreation fish get , and none of the commercial fisheries were able to open.  This year the Alaskans are more sensitive and are trying to allow more fish upstream.  The fish have gotten smaller over the years as the big fish with good genetics have been killed before they can make it to the cool Yukon waters to spawn.  This year, we’re told that a pitifully low number of 31 salmon is the quota for Alaska fish and the season is now closed. Fishermen in Alaska said in the article that they were afraid that if they missed the run, it would be over before they could begin, that trying to get a numbers count and time the run meant they might miss it altogether.  Yukon fishermen feel like they are making the salmon so the United States can catch them all, mainly by commercial fisheries.  A joint council meets annually (since 2002?) to talk to both Canadian and U.S. Scientists to discuss the current year’s timing and quotas, although some numbers are guaranteed by a joint agreement.

Utilities:  Water and sewer lines are run above-ground and housed in corrugated, painted metal boxes behind the houses and buildings so that they won’t freeze.  Power is supplied by a local power plant, although it is rather undependable and may be out “one day a week”.  Our 30 amp power in the campground is probably half that.

First Nations (Indian) and Inuvialuit (Eskimo) groups each have settled land right claims with the Canadian government.  There is a large building in town called the Inuvialuit Corporate Headquarters.  The settlement of hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested over the years and people of that group receive 15% of the annual profits in a once a year payment of varying amounts.  The situation is the same for the First Nations people.  Both groups also have the right to free medical care, prescription drugs, and higher education throughout Canada.  It sounds like a situation similar to that of the Cherokee Indians we met last summer.  Given the way these groups were treated, their land taken and ruined, their existence threatened, I think it begins to be fair.

Ft. McPherson – first baseball league just started this spring

Hunting and camp cabins are a way of life for food rather than for sport.

Inuvik- 1673 Miles from Dawson Creek

My oh my- that Dempster Hwy is an adventure unto itself!  The road surface is a form of gravel, dirt, or solid rock for 99% of the nearly 500 miles.  It changes without warning and can be fine for speeds of about 55, or maybe even 65 mph, and then become suddenly full of potholes, washboard sections, gravel a foot thick, etc.  When we finally arrived in Inuvik and got on real pavement, we thought we were floating on a cloud-  What a weird sensation!

There are no edge lines painted on the outside of the lanes.  In fact, there are no guardrails; the road sloped away from the center line, and typically, there’s no center line.  You just use the entire road surface, as needed, to dodge potholes and then move over only when another car approaches (which is rarely). 

Another idea for our movie, “RV 2- We’re Living It!”:  A video game similar to Guitar Hero II, entitled, “RV Pothole Dodging” where they come at you in double rows and you have to swerve like a mad person to avoid them with all 6 wheels.  I should achieve “expert” status soon!

Interestingly, everyone waves at other drivers on the Dempster, probably because they haven’t seen anyone else for the last hour.  Or maybe they know that you’re their only emergency help, should they need it.  And if you don’t need repair or recovery service after driving this crazy, beautiful, jarring, spectacular, white-knuckle driving road, you’re doing great!  I cannot believe how well Ciao Baby held up.

We do need to have Ciao Baby’s rear brakes adjusted as they must have bounced out of position- the brake pedal sinks way too far now- it would be scary going over the mountains, although I use a lowered gear that helps.  But I do want it fixed before we head back.

Our RV is filthy!  Dust that blew up on the gravel roads seeped in through the weep holes and we spent time cleaning up.  Everyone’s RV’s here are filthy.  It is hilarious!  I’m going to take a picture- it looks like the rigs have been in mud fights (and lost).

Fort McPherson offered the only gas stop today- Charles was disappointed that we didn’t find the Fort itself, but I forgot to look for it, so we’ll try to find it on the trip back down the Dempster.  It was a major action location in his book.

A highlight of the day came unexpectedly.  We'd emerged from the first ferry to the invitation of an older gentleman to visit the Visitor's Center up the road.  We thought he might be selling something, but he seemed so nice that we thought we might just buy it if it were food!  So we went and were so glad that we did.  He showed us old pictures, the displays were fabulous, we were given more Arctic Circle Certificates, we had a wonderful time talking with him, and I think he would have been very lonely today had we not come in.  He had just gone to the ferry to socialize until a second vehicle arrived for the day- no tour busses today, he said.  He's a grandfather who has lived all his life in the area.  We were very grateful for his gift of sharing with us. 

I cannot imagine living here and the Dempster Highway being my only road egress.  I bet some island fever would emerge.  It is a magnificent road, but I would be really careful what kind of vehicle I drove on it.  The pickup trucks seemed to do the best, or something with 4-wheel drive for the gravel (we were sliding a bit).

We’re so looking forward to exploring Inuvik (pronounced “i NEW vik” with a short i at the beginning) tomorrow.  There are folks at the campground who lived in Inuvik many years ago- the town Homecoming is to celebrate their 50th anniversary.  

We really enjoyed our first ferry rides with the RV!  They just waved to us to drive up to the edge, lowered the ramp, we drove on, got out of the rig and socialized, then hopped back in and drove off when we reached the shore and they lowered the ramp.  It was much easier than I had thought.

We got hot today!  It was 81 degrees outside at 9:30 pm in Inuvik!  What’s up with that?  I’m in the Artic Circle for goodness sake!  Really it was beautiful and this is pretty typical apparently.  We’ll switch to wearing our shorts tomorrow.  There was a cold wind blowing this morning, as soon as we entered the Northwest Territories (and changed our watches forward- now we’re back to one our behind Texas time).

Gelukkig konden we vandaag weer onze weg vervolgen want de weg was gerepareerd. Onderweg zijn we vandaag de poolcirkel gepasseerd en kwamen we in Northern Territory. We moesten ook nog twee rivieren oversteken en dat ging met kleine pontjes die van de ene zand/grintbak naar de andere vaarden.

Vandaag hadden we een rustdag in Inuvik. We hebben hier maar eens een internetmogelijkheid gezocht om het thuisfront op de hoogte te brengen van onze ervaringen. Verder was het een echte rustday.

Jeff and I decided to do a road trip through the Canadian North the year after I got back from backpacking around the world. I had run out of money, had one year left on my dissertation and had decided I should try being responsible. Settled into a couple of part time jobs (including one where I was working the graveyard shift phones as a telephone psychic), and taught English to the young fresh-faced university students at York durning the day while I pretended to write. The trip to Inuvik and then up to Tuktuiktuk was my treat for trying.

(in progress... a basic run down to come)

I'm writing about my home town as I hope many people get a chance to visit the north in their lifetime. Not many chose it as a vacation destination and although there aren't your typical 'tourist attractions', it is a magical place with much to offer to the person in love with nature! Yellowknife is the capital city of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The winters are extremely cold, long and dark. Typical winter temperature in Yellowknife are -20 to -40, and colder with the wind chill. Make sure you bring the warmest coat and ski pants you can find as well as good boots. If you are into snowshoeing, skidooing, cross country skiing, dog sleding or ice fishing then this is the place to do it! But the icing on the cake is the northern lights! Yellowknife is a most excellent place to view them and it is an unforgettable experience, although a cold one! Yellowknife is a very popular destination for people from Japan to go aurora viewing and they can be recognised by their big red snowgoose parkas all over town! March is a good time to visit as there is Caribou Carnival out on the frozen lake which includes fireworks, snow sculture competitions, dog sled and skidoo races, big air skidoo competition, ugly truck and dog contest, etc. Also be sure to visit the Snow King's Ice Castle where you can see art displayed on the walls of snow, short film viewings, fireworks, puppet shows - all in the bay on great slave lake. Remember to check out the house boats! I definatly recommend visiting Yellowknife in the summer though. The weather is typically beautiful and sunny. They don't call it the Land of the Midnight Sun for nothin! It is light out well into the early morning and there are times when the sun never fully sets. The land is very unique, mostly rock with small trees. Huge blue skies! There are no sky scrapers here. Nothing to obstruct views of the breath taking sunsets! There is abundant wildlife and plantlife in the area. A short walk takes you from the city to the wilderness! Fishing and camping are typical summer activities. There is a golf course (which is really one big sand trap!) Be sure to check out Old Town where all of the towns wonderful character is. If you are lucky enough, try to get a ride on a float plane. Don't miss the Wildcat Cafe, Bullocks Bistro for the best fish and chips, the Woodyard, Pilot's Monument and Giant Mine. June and July offer Raven Madd Daze when the streets are full of people and entertainment (a very busy night for the bars) and Folk on the Rocks, a must see outdoor music festival beside a lake which attracts acts from around the world! Yellowknife is an easy place to meet cool friendly people who are more than eager to include newcomers in whatever they are doing. Check out the Black Night Pub for a good place to mingle with the locals, devour a great burger and down an ice-cold Keiths! Your stay will be memorable and dont forget your camera!!