Summer in Yellowknife

Hi Everyone:

Hope this finds you all well. I can not believe it's been a year since we started this Yellowknife adventure!  Whenever I talk to a new military spouse, about her first posting away from home, I always tell them to give it a year before you begin to feel at home in your new location.  We are definitely feeling at home here!

I've had an employment change since I last blogged.  Now working at the MFRC (Military Family Resource Center), as the Information and Referral Coordinator.  Basically, my job is to get information about programs, education, and community activities offered in Yellowknife, and get that information to the military families.  We also do a lot of socializing with families that are here on house hunting trips, and then again when they move here.  I love it!  I feel like I'm putting my 30 years of  experience being a Military spouse to good use!

Summer in Yellowknife is great!  OK, we have had a bit of smoke from local forest fires, but not that much, (everyone tells me it is so much better than last year).  It never gets too, too hot, (good thing, as there are not many air conditioned places in Yellowknife), but it's warm and comfortable, and sunny. June 21st was the longest day of the year with almost 24 hours of daylight. Black-out blinds and curtains are a must for the bedrooms.  It's great after all those months of darkness to go out after supper, return home and it's still daylight.

Rick and Matt have become fisherman.  Rick bought a boat in June, and they have spent many weekends out on the many lakes in the area.  The size of the fish is amazing!  A lot bigger than the little ones Rick and I use to catch in rivers in NS.

Lots of activities around to keep us busy.  Every Tuesday at 5:15 - during the summer months - there is a Farmers Market held down at the Somba K'e Park, (an outdoor area located beside city hall, by the water).  There are always a lot of people and lots of venders.  Matt and I usually go and buy supper. There are places to sit, and watch some local entertainment.  You usually run into someone you know. I've attached a picture of the Mobile ATM machine that is there to use, as the venders only accept cash. This area is also used for other community activities.  There was lots to see on Aboriginal Day,

and Canada Day. I love that it is just a 10 min. walk from where we live. Don't have to worry about parking.  Canada Day is different here, as there is no point to having fireworks - never gets dark enough.  There is a parade, and a gathering at the Somba K'e, and everything is done by 3pm.

Rick and I spent a week in Ontario.  It was great to see friends and family.  While flying back we flew to Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.  Really neat to see the scenery from the airplane (happy I had a window seat).

I hope in the past year, I've given you a bit of an idea of what our life here is like.  The rest of the summer is certainly going to go by quickly.  I'm taking a class next month on how to make porcupine earrings, and a glass workshop in September to make stenciled and sand-blasted glass pieces.  I've also taken a paddle boarding class.  Trying to take advantage of every new opportunity available.

This may be the last blog for awhile, as I think I've pretty much covered a year of life in Yellowknife.  Feel free to send me a note if you have any questions.  Take care, Joanne

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter from Yellowknife!  Well, it looks like we might have survived our first winter in the Great White North. Although it's April, it still looks like winter outside my window.  There is definitely less snow, (Rick has a hard time getting to the snowmobile trails), as the roads are pretty much clear.  We had a warm spell last week, but this week the temps have gone back down to the -20's. Hoping for a warm up soon.  We have for sure had some cold days, but honestly it wasn't that bad.  Especially compared to the snow amounts that my friends and family have had in the Maritimes.

As I've mentioned in previous blogs, we have never had such a busy social life!  I've attended a fancy Italian dinner, with opera singing between courses, a mixed dining-mess dinner and dance, numerous TGIF's, game nights at friends, and birthday events.  Still trying to get to the gym as often as possible, and have joined the MFRC (Military Family Resource Center), Advisory committee, where we help make decisions about activities that help and improve the Yellowknife experience of military families.  Plus I had a wonderful week away in Mexico to visit my Parents..  It was a nice getaway from the cold.

We got the opportunity to go dog sledding.  Really cool, (and cold).  I went on a traditional sled with 4 other people.  Rick and Matt did the U-drive, where one drives and the other sits, and then half way around the lake, they trade places.  My sled was pulled by 14 dogs. You can tell they love getting the opportunity to run like crazy.  There are many dogs at Becks Kennels, so they have lots of rest time, before heading out again.  It was funny to watch the dogs scoop up snow as they are running to get a drink.

Another event we went to was the Long John Jamboree.  This was held the last weekend of March.  A fairly new event - this was the forth year.  It is held on Great Slave Lake.  The "Snow King" and friends start building an ice castle in January.  It's really something to see.  They charge $5 to go inside.  There are rooms, a stage where bands perform, a "chapel area", where couples can get married and an area to buy hot chocolate and snacks. This year you could also go upstairs and slide down to the bottom.  There are ice-sculpting competitions, various contests, food tents, and local arts and crafts.  Matt and I checked it out on the Saturday afternoon.  The weather was beautiful, but the snow had melted quite a bit around the Jamboree area.  Everyone was walking very carefully, as it was clear ice.  Very cool looking straight down into the clear lake ice.  Later Sat. night, we all went to see the big bonfire on the ice, fire eaters, and fireworks.  I think almost everyone in Yellowknife was there.  Hard to recognize people though, with everyone bundled up.  There was a girl on the other side of the bonfire wearing a tank top and no jacket. Crazy!

I'm still working at the Co-operators.  Some days are good, some aren't, but I'm never bored. Have made some great friends.  Speaking of friends, we have been invited out for Easter dinner to the Rowlandsons.

 They have for sure helped make our Yellowknife experience more enjoyable.

I've attached some pictures of the Long John Jamboree, and Dog sledding.  Hoping for you all to have a wonderful weekend, and take care of yourselves.

 

Merry Christmas from the Great White North!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I'm betting that Christmas here was whiter and colder than wherever you are.  It was -37 yesterday. Winter only officially started 4 days ago, but it feels like it's been here for awhile already! Winter in Yellowknife, (although cold), is beautiful.  The hoar frost (as it's called) covers everything in thick white crystals.  It is stunningly pretty. Especially with the sun shinning on it.  I've taken some pictures, but it somehow doesn't seem to portray what it looks like in person. I'm amazed by the amount of Christmas lights.  Considering how cold it is, you wouldn't believe the work that goes into the home and business decorations.  Very festive. Not a lot of daylight hours right now.  Sunrise is about 10:30, sunset around 3:00. The shortest day was Dec.21st, so now the days will begin to get longer.

We have had a busy few months.  Matthew started working for DT Electric here in Yellowknife and loves it.  He works a lot of overtime, but it keeps him busy and he learning a lot about becoming an electrician.

We participated in the Remembrance Day ceremony.  Watched the military and RCMP members march through Yellowknife and went to the ceremony inside a packed school gym.   Rick was in the Santa Claus parade mid November.  We went to some fun Christmas parties. The 440 sqn party was great.  Rick and I won the grande prize of 2 tickets wherever "Canadian North Airlines" flies.  I'm thinking my friends and family in ON may be seeing us this summer! The holiday was really different this year.  We are missing our two daughters, but were invited for Christmas dinner to a friends home, and had a wonderful time.

 I'm still working full time.  Haven't decided yet if the insurance business is what I want to do for the next 3 years. It's definitely been interesting.  Still getting to the gym 3 times a week.  With all the eating and drinking up here, it's a good thing, or I'd weigh a lot more!  Learning how to play squash.  Not very good at it, but it's fun.  The days just seem to fly by.  Looking forward to a trip to Mexico to visit my parents in February.  I'm sure I'll be ready for some warm weather by then.

Traveling around here in the winter is interesting.  The roads are very icy.  Packed down snow and ice.  They do throw gravel on it from time to time, explaining the amount of cracked windshields.  Snowmobilers can travel on the roads and on all the lakes, which are very frozen now.  Rick has decided to join the majority and invest in a sled.  I've been feeling the peer pressure to try my hand at it as well.  Haven't decided if I'm snowmobiler yet. Really don't like to be out in the cold.  That could be a problem. Time will tell.  Maybe by next year, I'll be posting pictures of my new ride.

I've added pictures of the winter scenery, RCMP marchers on Remembrance Day, Rick's float in the parade, what I look like heading out into the cold, and some Christmas lights.

Happy New Year to everyone.  Hope you all have a healthy and happy 2015.  I'll keep you posted, as the adventure continues.

Happy Thanksgiving

Can't believe it's October already!  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

We have been keeping busy since I did my last blog.  Our son Matt arrived at the end of August.  We are happy to have him here with us to share our Yellowknife adventure.

Matt and I have both been busy job hunting.  I started working full-time on Sept19th at the Co-Operators insurance company.  My title is "Agent Support Representative".  I answer the phone, take payments, do filing, other office duties, and try to answer questions, that I'm still finding out the answers to. I still have lots to learn. It's a busy office and I work with 4 other great women. I've included a picture of the outside of the building.  Like a lot of buildings here, it doesn't look very exciting from outside, but is nice inside.  Also happy to report that Matt starts his new job with D.T. Electric tomorrow.  Will let you know how he's enjoying that job in my next blog.

We certainly have a busier social life here than any other place we have lived.  Wednesday night is wing night in Yellowknife.  All the restaurants here have deals on wings.  We usual meet up at a different restaurant each week with some members of Rick's sqn.  Have a beer or 2 and socialize.  The mess here is fantastic. There are usually a couple TGIF's or TGIT's a month.  There's food, and again a chance to chat and have a few drinks.  We have also participated in a car rally, and went to a fun Oktoberfest dinner and dance. We are never bored!  I've also started attending exercise classes on Monday and Thursday nights, (thanks to my friend Charlene).  As well as going to the gym with friends on Sunday mornings. We have a great rec membership associated with the military, so trying to take advantage of it.

The weather is definitely getting cooler here.  Usually around 0 degrees in the mornings and around 5 degrees by the afternoon.  The leaves turned yellow, (no red or orange here), and quickly fell off the trees.  We've had some snow flurries, but nothing that has stayed.

Still haven't seen any Northern Lights, although there has been some, I seem to miss them, (guess I'm not staying up late enough to see them).  It's getting darker earlier - around 7:30pm now, and I've noticed that it stays darker for longer in the morning.  I hear that by Dec.21st there will only be about 4 hours of daylight a day.

I've attached a picture of our house and a picture of the backyard.  As you can see the backyard is mostly rock.  Won't have to worry about too much lawn mowing. It's a big backyard with a shed, which is great.
Also check out our cool polar bear license plate.

To wrap-up, I guess we are settling in fine.  Miss our old friends, but making new ones.  Miss our Daughters, but chat with them when we can.  Some things are more expensive, but not too bad.  Learning where to get the best deal on a haircut ($38.50), which I hear is quite reasonable for here.  Learning to look at the expiry date on any pkg of food I buy, as I've noticed sometimes items have expired or are about to. Learning that if you see something you want, buy it, before it disappears.

Still enjoying the Yellowknife Adventure.  Take care, until we chat again.

We Have Arrived!

Well, we reached our destination and have been in Yellowknife for just over 2 weeks now.  Still a few more boxes to unpack, but beginning to feel settled in our new home.

Last I blogged, we were in Swift Current, Sk.  I'm happy to report that the trip continued to go smoothly.  Stops were made in Calgary, Edmonton, (got to see another old friend), Grimshaw and High Level AB.  We went through towns named: Honey Bunny, PiaPot and Sunshine.  I think Sunshine would be a wonderful place to live!

Throughout our trip we were constantly monitoring highway 3, which is the highway between Fort Providence and Yellowknife.  Because of forest fires, the highway had been closed on and off for a month before we arrived.  We were hearing lots of stories of people being stuck in Fort Providence for days at a time, waiting for the highway to open.  We left High Level early in the morning because we had noticed that the highway seemed to be closed by mid afternoon most days.  Very strange leaving High Level.  Travelled for an hour before we even saw another vehicle.  Just trees.  Lots and lots of trees.  I kept thinking we really didn't want to have a break down here.  Luckily, when we got to Fort Providence the highway was open, so we were able to drive right through.  It was a strange drive.  The forest was black from fires on both sides of the highway.  It was very smoky!  Every once in awhile you could see small fires burning.  It felt like we were driving through a forest fire.  We saw lots of bison.  Some by themselves and some in groups.  We made good time and arrived in Yellowknife on Sunday Aug.10th at 2:00.

We got the keys to our new home the next day.  We are very lucky to have a four bedroom, detached house, with a shed and a good size backyard.  During our house hunting trip we were told we would be getting a 3 bedroom townhouse.  So when we found out two weeks before we left Barrie that we were getting this house, we were thrilled.  All the townhouses only have one parking spot.  Our driveway has room for both of our vehicles. 

We spent the next few days getting to know Yellowknife. as we arranged for internet/cable/phone service,and our quest for window coverings.  Our furniture arrived on Thursday.  It all went well.     The next week was spent unpacking and figuring out where to put things.

Yellowknife has almost a Maritime feel to it.  Things move at a slower pace.  People are very friendly.  Have noticed there are lots of people from the Maritimes

living in Yellowknife.  Lots of rocks, water and pine trees.  Looks like what I imagine parts of Newfoundland would look like.  There is lots of road construction going on around the city.  I guess they are trying to get things done before the cold weather starts.  It's already beginning to feel like Fall here.  A few warm days, but mostly around 14-17 degrees.  Single digits in the mornings.

My next Yellowknife adventure is to try and get a job!  Stay tuned.  Hopefully in my next blog, I'll be able to tell you all about my new job, and a bit more about where we are living.

On The Road Again.......

Hi Everyone:  I'm typing this from a hotel room as we travel across Canada on our way to Yellowknife.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks!   Last days at work, lots of good byes, pre-pack day, pack day, moving van day, cleaning day, and finally heading out on the open road day.

So far, so good, (knock on wood).  The gang at Sears took me out for supper.  They are a wonderful group of people, and I will miss them. This crazy way of life really makes you apprecite the friends you meet at every posting.  You never forget them as you move onto the new place to make new friends.

My Aunt and Uncle had us over for an afternoon of drinks, food and great company. Nice to see my cousins again.

The last weeks have flown by.  During the pre-pack they packed the entire kitchen, which threw me a bit.  Hadn't planned on that, but was very thankful the next day when the packers were all done by 4:00. Then we were off to the hotel.  The moving van showed up the next day, and I must admit I was a bit nervous to see these 3 young guys - all looked like teenagers get off the truck.  They were fantastic!  Worked really hard all day and were finished by 5. Believe me whe I say I know how fortunate we are to have packers and movers do all the heavy lifting.

The last day we spent cleaning.  We always leave our homes cleaner than when we got them.  Really glad we have room service for the next 10 days of travel.  Tired of cleaning!

My brother David had us over for a great BBQ supper on our last night.  It has been so nice living by him for the last 3 years.  You don't know how much you miss not having family around, until you don't.

So, Friday, Aug.1st we hit the road.  Two adults and one cat (a cat that hates to be in a vehicle), She meowed for the first 15 min., and then surprisingly she calmed down.  After 7.5 hours we arrived at our first stop, Sault Ste. Marie.  The next day was a longer drive to Thunder Bay. Stayed at a great hotel with a beautiful pool and a nice restaurant.  Kenora was the next stop. Found a place to do some laundry. There was some festival going on, and it was busy everywhere. Went for a walk that night and saw a fantastic fireworks show.  Also watched a mother deer and 2 babies cross the road at the lights. Cars all stopped as they wondered through like it was a daily occurance.

Yesterday, August 4th we finally crossed into Manitoba.  You really don't ralize how huge Ontario is until you drive through it. Stopped to visit some friends in Portage La Prairie, and then drove here to Brandon.  It's early morning as I write.  Rick is snoring and Snickers,  (the cat) is happily curled up next to me.  Next stop Swift Current, Sk.!

HHT (House Hunting trip for all you non-military people)

I hope you all enjoyed my first blog.  I'm quickly learning that the hardest part about writing a blog is finding the time to write.  Very busy around my place these days.  I can not believe it's July already!

When a military member gets a posting message, (and the shock has warn off a bit), the next thing to think about is housing.  After lots of discussion and looking at real estate prices in Yellowknife, (and the price of heating those houses), we decided that we were going to life in Gov't housing during our posting.  They are basically PMQ's, but called gov't housing because anyone who works for the gov't are entitled to live in them.

We were still entitled to go on a HHT, even though we would be renting. We were allowed to see a few places available, and hopefully find something.  We picked a date in the second week of June, and decided 4 days would be enough time to see the few places that were available.

The trip up was fine.  We travelled on Air Canada and had a stop in Calgary on the way up, and we would be stopping in Edmonton on the way back.  The flight to Calgary took about 5 hours and then we transfered to a small 50 seat aircraft to Yellowknife.

Arriving at the Yellowknife airport, the first thing you notice is that it isn't
 very big or busy.  You get off on the runway and walk to the building.  I imagine it would be a cold walk in the winter.  Walking into the building the first thing you see is a huge taxidermy of a polar bear chasing a seal.  I'll attach a picture.

We were met by Glenn, (he and Rick will be working together in 440 sqn which is located in another hanger really close to the airport).  Certainly easier to find your way around this airport conpared to Toronto Pearson.  During the process of getting our rental car, I met the first person I had ever talked to that hated Yellowknife.  A young girl who had lived there all her life and couldn' t wait to leave!  Still to this date the only person I've met who lived there and didn't like it.

Leaving the airport, the view is spectacular!  Blue lakes, trees, rocks.  Beautiful.  The city is small, and not too hard to figure out, (after a few days).  That first night Glenn and his wife Charlene took us for a drive and out for supper.  They were great answering questions.  It was a long day and Rick and I were glad to get back to the hotel.  We quickly noticed that it wasn't even beginning to get dark even at midnight! It kind of throws you off a bit. You know it's late, but the sun is still bright.  Of course all of the hotels have black-out curtains so you can create the illusion of darkness.

The next morning we met with a lady who was going to show us some gov't housing.  We quickly learned from her, that there were places we could look at to get an idea of where we wanted to live, but we would not be taking possesion of any place on this trip, as there were none available.  We would be going on a waiting list, hoping that something becomes available before we move.

There are basically 3 locations were we might be living.  Rat Lake, Sisson, and Lanky Court.  We were able to see places in Rat Lake and Sisson.  Glenn and Charlene live in Lanky and were nice enough to invite us for supper on the night before we left, so we could check out their place.  They are honestly not much to look at.  Older townhouse like homes. Not much space. No basement, little storage.  Only one parking spot per home.  We are planning to bring 2 vechicles.  When we asked where people park a 2nd car we were told, you had to move it around from the visitor spots to the roadside and hope you don't get towed away.  We decided we liked Rat Lake (seemed to be more spots for parking and quieter).  That was our first choice, but who knows, we will probably end up wherever one becomes available.

We had a great evening out with some members of 440 sqn, and their wives one night.  Everyone told us that you have to "get over" the housing and remember you are there for the experience, and enjoy all that Yellowknife has to offer.  Great advice.  Everyone there that night loves living there.  It is a very close knit group and they plan many activities that include spouses and families.  The families posted out of Yellowknife are upset to be leaving.  It is certainly going to be an adventure!

I got a chance to check out a grocery store.  Prices are higher than in ON, but not too bad.  Everything costs a bit more, (even a double, double at Timmys was about .20 cents more). But it is nice they don't have provincial sales tax.  They only pay gst.  There is 1 Tim Hortons, 2 McDonalds, a small Wal-Mart, a nice big new Canadian Tire, The Brick, Sears appliance store with a catalogue outlet, and a few more stores.  More than what I was expecting.

Before we knew it, it was time to head for home.  We are now on a waiting list for a house.  Everyone keep your fingers crossed that we will get one before we head out at the end of July.  The moving adventure continues!  The next blog will probably be from the road.