Day 96 - Tuesday August 22/17 (Written, formatted with photos, and posted on Wednesday September 6th at Prince Albert, SK)

We woke at a "normal" time and breakfasted on granola. Nancy seems to be worn out by all the good visiting and took a mid-morning nap. We made a few preparations for tonight’s barbeque like slicing tomatoes, onions and cheese and making the coleslaw before lunch at the trailer.

This afternoon we went downtown to do some souvenir shopping. A NWT flag to add to our flag collection representing all the places we have visited, a blue and white polar bear NWT license plate and a tie-dye tee-shirt were on our list. We found all but the latter. We walked around downtown trying to find the tourist information centre that would give out the free Yellowknife pin we had read about (Michael has a collection of enamelled pins on his Tilly hat). We tried several locations, being redirected each time. We finally had some success at city hall. It was actually a good way to see the heart of the city. The problems of homelessness, youth unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse were unfortunately evident as we walked around. What is the solution for this situation? We wish we had some answers.

A rainbow crosswalk at Yellowknife City Hall

Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Yellowknife
No clergy person's name - maybe they have a vacancy???

The creation of Yellowknife "New Town" to
bring order out of chaos!

Back at the trailer we set up tables and chairs, finished preparations and waited for the gang to arrive. Fortunately the skies had cleared so we were able to be outdoors. Michael barbequed up a storm and Nancy kept on eye on everyone’s needs. The food disappeared and the people stayed around so we think it was a fine get together. Nick Jackson (Emily’s son) brought his guitar and provided some terrific entertainment to round out the evening. (FYI if you Google Nick Jackson Yellowknife you can find some of his songs on YouTube.)

Photos of the BBQ we hosted:

Eliza very happy with Stephanie

Hailey and Shirley listening to the songs

Jammin'

Early childhood education

Hailey, Emily and Nancy getting a little chilly

Lance, Kari and Shirley - our hosts

The whole crew (except Nicole who had to leave early)

Day 95 - Monday August 20/17 (Written, formatted with photos, and posted on Wednesday September 6th at Prince Albert, SK)

An alarm at 6:30 started our day. We had the Ram to Aurora Dodge by 8am for an oil change, multi-point inspection, and several other servicings of fluid changes that were long-overdue, and then went to McDonalds for breakfast. Kari has loaned us her car while the truck is in the shop. Another example of the hospitality we received from this wonderful family. As we have arranged to have the whole extended family for a barbeque hosted by us but held at Kari and Lance’s on Tuesday night, we shopped for the hamburgers, hotdogs, salad and desserts. Then went back to the trailer for lunch.

Kari and Lance took us downtown to a jewelers because Nancy was hoping to buy a pair of NWT diamond stud earrings. She saw some she liked but wanted to consider the price before buying. We regrouped at Kari’s where Emily joined us and then along with Kari and Lance’s kids, headed out for an afternoon of fishing on Prosperous Lake near Lance’s family cottage. There were a few sprinkles of rain as we got into the boat. But slowly the skies began to clear. There were eight of us in the boat – Lance, Kari, Kaitlin, Tanner, Emily, Michael and Nancy, as well as Harley the rottweiler! Lance had fishing equipment for all of us. 

We went first to the rapids where the Yellowknife River leaves the lake. We fished for whitefish, casting out into the current. Quite a lineup of fishers! It was Nancy’s first ever attempt at fishing with a spinning reel, and she acquitted herself quite well - although it was 10 year old Tanner who was the star of the day when he caught and landed his first whitefish. We were pleased to be able to taste it later in the week.(photos)

Tanner with the catch of the day

A further bonus to our stop at the rapids was sighting two bald eagles up in the treetops not far away (photos)

Eagle flexing it's wings at top of tree centre-left

Lance then took us to the best spot for trout in the lake – a deeper hole. He gave us different rods with shiny lures and showed us how to jerk the line every so often. Unfortunately no one had luck in catching a trout. 

Michael makes a friend!

Trout fishin'

We headed back to shore and after loading the boat back on the trailer we drove to Shirley’s place where she had prepared a prime rib dinner for us and some other family members who had also arrived. We were truly "fêted and feasted" on several occasions while in Yellowknife.

(l to r): Emily, Auntie Ruth, Michael, Nancy, Alex (Lance's dad), Lance, Tanner

There was one dark cloud on the day - and not one in the sky. While we were having dinner Michael got a call from the Dodge dealership telling him that the Ram needed some serious repairs. The front brakes needed to be replaced and some of the bolts holding the exhaust manifolds in place had been sheared off. They needed to be drilled out and replaced. The cost was in the thousands of dollars and it would take a couple of days to complete the work. But what choice did we have? 

Prosperous Lake, from the beach at Shirley's

Kari and Lance immediately welcomed us to stay camped at their place, and Kari extended the use of her car, for as long as we needed it. At least if we had to be stranded somewhere it was so good to have family around to take care of us. We went to bed that night grateful for that care – and for credit cards. Nancy was also pleased she had delayed the earring purchase.

Day 94 - Sunday August 20/17 (Written on Tuesday September 5th; formatted with photos, and published on Wednesday September 6th; at Prince Albert, SK)

Our first morning in Yellowknife! The warm welcome continued with Lance’s mom Shirley making pancakes (from scratch) with bacon! We had breakfast with Shirley, and Kari and Lance, and with their two children Kaitlin and Tanner - whom we had only met briefly on Saturday night. We all lingered over breakfast, visiting until about 11am.

Lancer and Kari

Lance and his mom Shirley

We then went to meet Nancy’s cousin Emily at the Old Town Glassworks where she works.

Old Town Glassworks is an eco-friendly cooperative whose members use recycled glass containers to create art! (Anecdotally interesting is that Old Town Glassworks is housed in the very same old historic cabin where Emily’s brother (Nancy’s cousin) Nick lived when he first moved to Yellowknife some 32 years ago!). Emily had arranged for us to be part of a 2-hour workshop, to learn the art of sand-etching the recycled glass. What a great learning experience, and a lot of fun! We got to choose our own pre-cut glassware and stencils, and made our own sand-etched pieces - a pair of water glasses for our table at home. Nancy chose fireweed, and Michael chose many of the wild animals we have seen on our travels (photos of us doing sand etching!)

While we were at the Glassworks, cousin Nick dropped by for a brief visit as well(photo)

The cousins - Nick, Nancy and Emily

After our workshop we went to the historic Wildcat Café, housed in an old log cabin (that was one of the earliest buildings in Yellowknife) that has been fully dismantled, refurbished and reconstructed on a new foundation We shared a whitefish and chips lunch, and had a great chat with a couple from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta who had been on a fly-in fishing trip.(photos)

After lunch we went up to the the lookout on “The Rock”, where there is a memorial to bush aviators. The weather had cleared, and we had great views of the city and Great Slave Lake (photos)

We then went back to the Glassworks - which also operates Old Town Bike Works, where they recycle and refurbish old bicycles as well as do bicycle repairs. We borrowed two electric-assist bicycles and went for a tour around Old Town and the island connected to it by a short bridge. Unfortunately, the batteries on the bikes were not very well-charged, and the electric assists disn’t work too well, so we were pooped out after a half hour or so of riding up and down hills on the craggy island.

We went back to Kari & Lance’s with Emily for an hour or so, and then went over to Nick’s son Jeremy’s and his wife Hailey’s house for a pre-arranged BBQ supper of steak and grilled corn-on-the-cob. Many members of the family were there, including Jeremy and Hailey and their 6-month old daughter Eliza Jane, Nick’s daughter Nicole, ‘big’ Nick, ‘little’ Nick Jackson (Emily's son) and his fiancée Stephanie, Emily, and us. In part the supper was a birthday celebration for ‘big’ Nick, and we all had cupcakes and ice cream. What a great ‘getting to know you’ time!(photos)

Nancy with Eliza Jane

(l to r) Nicole, Emily, little Nick, Stephanie

Jeremy (left) and 'little' Nick (right)

Nicole

Hailey

Stephanie

Big Nick

After supper, Nicole and Nick led us back to Kari and Lance’s. We had showers, started laundry, visited for a short while, and fell into bed around 11pm after a very full day!