Vegas

To my three faithful readers - sorry for the extreme slacking! The main highlight of the past month has nothing to do with Fort Mac, but I'll post it anyway. Vegas baby!!
Kirt was going for the Construction Expo, so I got to tag along (since it coincided with my 29th birthday, he pretty much had to take me.) And what a birthday it was. It started with a helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon - I highly recommend this if you ever go. Forget driving, helicopter is the way to see it! It was so beautiful and our pilot was excellent - he really seemed to know what he was doing and explained all sorts of interesting stuff as we flew over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. We landed in the bottom of the Canyon, on a ledge just above the river, and were served a lovely picnic lunch and champagne. After toasting to good friends and happy birthday, Kirt (who had been hovering around me very suspiciously for the last half an hour) says "I might have something else we can toast to..." and got down on one knee and pulled a beautiful diamond ring out of his pocket!! I said yes of course, and after a few more toasts and photos, we flew back to Vegas to enjoy the rest of the week. It was a very unforgettable and probably impossible to top birthday!

Hoover Dam

The reenactment

The Ft.Mac group - Kirt & myself, Krystal & Kyle, Kelly & Debbie.

Ice Road Wildlife

The highlight of the ice road drive was the wildlife along the way. I only wish I had faster fingers and a better camera!

3 moose

Fox

What is that...?

Lynx!

Another one! There were 5 in total, I think it was a mom and kittens.

Kitten walking along the side of the road. So neat!

Ice Road Truckers

Today for excitement we decided to drive up the ice-road to Fort Chipewyan. I had never been and always wanted to, and since it's getting warmer it was pretty much now or never. The ice road is about 200km long and goes mostly over sand and muskeg, but also a few rivers, lakes and 7 ice bridges.
It's the only road to Ft.Chip and only open from Dec-March. The rest of the year, people (and goods) can only get there by boat or plane. Translation: stuff in Ft.Chip is expensive. $14 for a jug of milk, $30 for a large pack of toilet paper, $70 for a case of beer. And people complain that Fort McMurray is expensive!

The drive was about 3 hours each way and pretty rough. The road was really slippery and heaved - not a drive for those who dislike rollercoasters! Once in Ft.Chip, there wasn't a whole lot to do (more if you went in the summer maybe) so basically we did the loop around town, stopped at the local museum, then turned around and headed home. The best part of the trip was the wildlife along the way -- photos coming in the next post!

This is what an ice road looks like

Crossing a river. Note the big crack! I was a wee bit nervous here.

 

And, we're back in Ft.Mac!

Mush, mush!

Yesterday the Three Forts Dog Sled Race began. It's a 4 day, 176 mile race which started in Ft.Mac and ends in Ft.Chip on Sunday (on the way, they'll pass through Ft.McKay - hence the "3 Forts"). There are 14 mushers competing from all over Canada and even one from Scotland. All of the mushers are men, except for one - a real estate agent from Ft.Mac! I'm rooting for her to win the $30,000 prize.

Here's a few pics from the start of the race.

This is the same route they used to take to deliver mail to Fort Chip. Can you imagine? Brrrrrrrrr. What a long, cold way to spend the weekend. But really, I suppose this is nothing compared to the Iditarod, which starts this weekend in Alaska. (1,150 miles!)

WinterPlay

The annual WinterPLAY carnival is 10 days of community events celebrating the "climate, culture and people" of Wood Buffalo. I guess if it's going to be cold and snowy anyway, you might as well just embrace it! Events include a sno-pitch tournament, dog sled races, pond hocky tournament, a winter village, ice-fishing derby and the part I'm looking forward to most - the Coors Chalet Cabaret. So if you find yourself in Ft.Mac this weekend, come check it out!
Here's a few pics from the ice carving event.

Projects Galore

Now that I'm finished school and currently unemployed, I have been filling my time with house beautification projects. Project one - to convert six pink and green Navajo patterned chairs into something slightly less ugmo.

Project two - to paint interior of house. Choosing the colours was the hardest part, so for this I consulted the Huckster, who chose "rocky road" and "desert moonlight", or in guy terms as Kirt would say, "tan and purplish-brown". And frankly, it turned out great!

Huckster doing her best Debbie Travis impression

Future projects: add tiled backsplash to kitchen area, paint bathrooms and build a gutter garden. (How neat is that?)

Repurposing the Golf Course

This is from a few weeks ago - when it wasn't quite so cold. But still pretty cold.

Special K on the 4th hole