gone north

3 for the road...

2008-01-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

hey folks, for those of you who still bother to check this antiquated blog thingy, we are happy to announce to the internet world that our family of 2 is scheduled to become a family of 3 towards the end of July 2008. we are expecting a bambino to arrive sometime around that date!

Spring?

2007-03-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well it's now nearly the end of another Yukon winter and spring is nowhere in sight. We have lots and lots of snow. It is the snowiest winter on record! The Canada Winter Games have come and gone and everyone else in the country is stuck with our northern tv advertisements while we are stuck with lots of orange jackets. All the volunteers were given orange jackets to wear during the games. a pretty good deal as these are heavy duty gore tex jackets!

We escaped the games for a week and went to do some surfing and wave watching in Tofino. Unfortuntely we brought the snow with us and were nearly stranded on vancouver island after a snow storm on the pass between Tofino and Port Alberni. That sloppy coastal snow is no fun to drive in!

There was lots happening after we returned from the south including a (free!) great cultral festival with everything from rap to fiddle music to northern inuit throat singers.

The infamous burning away the winter blues festival (you can watch this event LIVE on the web!!) is on Saturday March 24th at 8:30pm and it looks as though this year we'll have to have quite the bonfire to melt all the snow. The river is still frozen over and it was -25 this morning. At this rate ski season will last until sometime in August. We are going up on the roof tomorrow night to shovel it off as a few of the pipes have actually been covered completely by snow and we have large icicles forming the attic!

On the bright side (the yukon spring is literally nice and bright) with daylight lasting until about 8:30pm we can get out for some longer skis after work and even after dinner.

Enjoy the rain in vancouver and elsewhere and here's to hoping that we emerge from our winter hibernation with at least a small remnant of our european sunburns/tans from last summer!

WE FRIED A RAVEN!

2007-02-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

No, this is not some Rendezvous tradition. It's exactly what it sounds like. WE had a short power outage due to the unfortunate death of a raven, our territorial bird. It happened right behind our house! What an exciting weekend we had!

Well, now that we have solved the power outage problem, we are trying to dog ourselves out of the snow. We are burried in 3 feet of snow. It just keeps coming, just in time for the Canada Games. We are all getting ready for a mass exodus because , in a few days, all the athletes will be here and our tiny little city will be overrunned by tourists...outsiders!!! The good news is that the days are getting longer and longer and before we know it, we will be in to 24 hours of daylight!

We enjoyed our busy visit with Aaron, Jen and Tatum. They did so much in so little time! They went sledding and cross country skiing and snowmobiling and skating and dogsledding and shopping. WE had great weather, with the exception of the cold day for the start of the Yukon Quest Dogsled race. What excitement! Tee only thing they didn't get to do was see the Northern lights. And, yes, they do exist, we just can't manage to get them to appear for our visitors!

Two more days until break and I can't wait..... hope all of you are well.

All Northern Pond Hockey

2006-11-26T11:59:00.000-08:00

For the second year, Whitehorse played host to the all northern pond hockey tournament at chadburn lake. And for the sencond year the temperatures were below -30 C. This year, almost 40 teams braved -40 (!) temperatures to pit their pond hockey skills against one another for yukon pond hockey supremacy.

This year, our valiant team of super heroes (which included superman/woman, flash gordon, a large stuffed dinosaur and a brown M&M - how can you top talent like that!?) made it to the quarterfinals only to lose in a close fought game. Good times were had by all. Despite superman's cape continually getting in the way, flash gordon's bummed knee and rastaman being far to laid back the team had a great goals for/against ratio. Only one toe was lost to frostibite, that being the big toe of the flash.

The mother of all pond hockey tournaments is in Plaster Rosk New Brunswick, World Pond Hockey Champioships, in February. Perhaps one day the Yukon champion can travel to NB much like to Dawson City Nuggets of old to play against southern foes.

Well, it's still -43 here so no one's going outside today despite the sun.

Current Weather Conditions...

2006-11-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

wishing it were fall. Due to Jole's lack of blogittment, the Gone North presence in the blogosphere has turned into a Sarah-only project for the past 12 months, but I am ready to reclaim cyberspace.

Lots has happened, including autumn. It lasted for...about a week. Actually, that's not true, we had an amazing fall and were out on the roadbikes and mtn bikes until the third week of october. We had snow for halloween and it is currently very cold and very snowy. As a result of said snow, ski season has started and we managed to make use of our passes once so far as we braved the -35 degrees with windchild last night.

Jole just returned from Indianapolis where he attended the International Dyslexia Association Conference. It was a very good conference and in between hearing highly educated people give workshops, jole even got to experience all the americana that the middle-american city had to offer including the meals with choices that included red meat, red meat and red meat. The meat hangover is still lingering.

Other highlights included the restaurant/bar/arcade/dance club/bowling alley - 3 floors of pure enjoyment - and the "mall". Hanging out in droves at the mall were literally hundreds of highschol students who were visiting Indianapolis for the Bands of America High School Marching Band Grand National Championships.

This was simply one of the most interstingly bizarre things I have ever seen. The event took place inside the 70,000 seat RCA dome (Like BC Place) and saw dozens of 200-300 student marching bands strut their stuff with trombones, tubas, saxaphones, flutes, trumpets, flags, dancers, rifle twirlers and drummers in highly choreographed routines that amazed and dazzled the accumulated throngs of spectators. It was truly an experience from another planet. The costumes, the makeup, the hair, the white gloves...wow.

Another highlight was the the Eiteljorg (pronounced eye-tell-j-org...???) Museum of American Indians and Western art. Hmmm...a "cowboys and indians" museum...the irony is far too tempting.

All in all the midwest was an experience that was pleasantly surprising. I was blown away by how friendly people were. It was almost creepy friendly. almost. But the funny accent made me chuckle to myself before I could be creeped out. And then there were the people who asked me if i had problems with polar bears in my front yard...

here are some photos too - we missed the polar bears , they were grazing a few hours before we took these shots. One is Sarah in the leaves, one is Todd Cunningham and I shooting the "Gums of Death" rapids (Class 3 eh!!) on the Takhini River and one shot is our uncompleted (at the time) shed. Enjoy rainy November for those of you in Vancouver. We'll be down at Chirstmas and hope to see all of you then.

Let it snow!

2006-11-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

It's quite strange and disturbing how the snow falling has set us at ease. Winter is here, with snow and -30C windchill to boot! Why are we welcoming the snow so much this year?

As soon as the snow starting falling on Joel's birthday, all we could think about was cross country skiing. It's now the first week of November, and we are still waiting for just the right amount of snow.....but we feel so much better now that it's here. We feel so much better despite having to pull out the heavy winter boots and parkas!

Jole is preparing for a trip to Indianapolis next week and I am working on report cards and our mosaic course homework. (Joel signed us up for a course to learn how to do mosaic tiling so we can finally finish our bar top. We are trying to create one piece of art together while all the ladies in the class complete their art piece. We can be quite entertaining at times.....) Claire is busy playing with our power tools. Time is flying and pretty soon we'll be down in Vancouver for Christmas! Can't wait.

Have to run....Hope everyone is well!

Sarah

">Link

one teacher, one carpenter and a monkey in a pear tree!

2006-09-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... Fall!

Greetings everyone...sorry for the long delay in updating the blog. We are just having too much with the wonderful Fall we are having this year.
It was such a busy summer with our trip to Europe, Joel's Ironman, Ronnie's visit, Anne's visit and Mirna and Jon's visit that we are just now taking the time to enjoy the Yukon again. This has been the most beautiful fall since we've been here.

A quick update: Our trip to Europe was great, even though our bags got stolen in Croatia! Joel completed another Ironman and still has the sunburn lines to prove it. Our deck, built by Ronnie, is still standing even though part of it had to be dismantled to retrieve the spooked cat. Claire has started her carpentry course and can now plane - We've already put in our order for end tables and new kitchen cabinets. I have almosted completed my first month of teaching grade one and I'm absolutely exhausted! These kids are demanding. We are busy planning our visit to Vancouver for Christmas and February break and we are very excited. The Canada Games are here in February/March so the schools get almost 3 weeks off and instead of volunteering for the games, we are planning our exit!

Will try to get some photos from our Europe trip and everyone's Yukon visit posted on our photo album website soon. Hope everyone is well!

SPRING is HERE!

2006-05-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone! Hope you are all doing well. We are all well here. Claire finally has a means of transportation, other than her feet. She bought a bike to get around town and complete the bike relay from Haines Junction to Haines, Alaska. Joel is also preparing for this bike race. I am preparing for the Mayo Midnight Run, on that same weekend. That's right , we are starting the run just before midnight. It is very bright now....those above 2 photos of us were taken just before midnight!

On the May long weekend, we went to Kathleen Lake to camp. As you can see, the lake was still frozen and the mountains were covered in snow. However, we both managed to get a sunburn. The rest of the weekend was spent with report cards and bike rides. Joel has pretty much dropped of the face of the earth right now with his training....hence, all the recent entries posted by me!

Not too much new here.....I am now truly into the 21st century-Joel gave me an ipod for our anniversary. (I don't know how to use it yet.) There's less than a month to go until we are off to Europe. Claire has survived her first winter here, but sometimes it still feels like winter! It remains to be seen if she will stay for another. Ronnie is days away from joining us here in the Yukon. He will be just in time for the bugs! We are really looking forward to his visit. Hopefully he can do some relaxing and get himself on Yukon time or he won't last too long in the big city here. I have a job for next year teaching grade 1- should be great fun.

Not much else to udpate on. I hope to have time to update once more before we go, but if not, I hope everyone has a great summer and our thoughts are with all those expectant friends!

Take Care,
Sarah

Happy Easter!

2006-04-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Here we are in the middle of the April. Two days ago we were out on our bikes and enjoying the running trails in the wonderful sun. We awoke to this at 730am and it is now 9pm (still bright out) and it hasn't stopped snowing. The worse part of it is that this is wet snow. Yuck. Joel has slipped into weather depression and I almost got pulled into it with him. However, I am, instead going to pull out my skis and go for a ski tomorrow. Can't wait! There will be plenty of time to ride and run this summer!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend.

An Update from the NORTH!

2006-04-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

Greetings Everyone!

Now that we are all back on the healthy track, it's time for an update. However, I am not feeling all that motivated to sit inside and type when it is so beautiful outside. Can you blame me? After six months of the weather above (Claire after a run), I am excited to see the sun and not have to dress up in 10 layers before going outside!
I am off for another ski. The spring skiing is wonderful this year and the increase in daylight is doing wonders for the city's spirits.

Check out some of our winter photos at the link below in the album winter 2006.
http://photos.yahoo.com/yukonmacht

PS- Our tickets to Europe are booked and I am just counting the days now!

Yukonitis Strikes Again!

2006-02-05T20:54:00.000-08:00

Well folks,

Yukonitis is at it again. We will update once we've recovered! Hope all of you are well.

Sarah

Happy New Year!

2005-12-31T10:40:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

We hope that your holiday season was safe and happy.

Check out our Christmas photos in the album "dec 2005" and our trip to Haines in the album "haines alaska". Click here:

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/yukonmacht/my_photos

The yukon christmas was a nice treat although we weren't treated to any fresh snow on christmas morning. the weather for the Woods' visit was pleasant (i.e. not too cold) and alas, they won't have any stories about wild polar tempertures and blizzards and such. It was very enjoyable to have guests from the south who regaled us with stories of deluges of rain, warm tempertures and greenness.

However we did get to take in many yukon adventures including dogsledding, the takhini hotsprings, the inn on the lake, and the longest night festival on December 21, when we experienced about 18.5 hours of darkness. Curiously, this induced an urge to consume copious amounts of baked goods, cheeses, meats, stuffed mushroom caps, beer, wine, egg nog and honey garlic chicken wings.

We also were fortunate enough to go deep into the forest to slay a christmas tree. we selected one that smelled like cat pee when we got it into the house. Interestingly, an unbeknownst trait of white spruce trees...the smell dissipated after a day or so.

much merriment ensued and we ate our roast beast and sent the guests off on their way on boxing day, hopefully to be back sometime when the days are a lot longer and you don't need to put on five layers of fleece, down and goretex prior to venturing outside. But it's all part of the fun!

Sounds like Canada in the Yukon

2005-12-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

If you want to discover more about life in the Yukon, tune in to CBC Radio 1 this week from 10am -1pm. Shelagh Rogers, host of Sounds Like Canada is broadcasting from Whitehorse all week and will be talking to, hearing from and listening to yukoners of all sorts including poets musicians, normal people, goldminers (yes, I'm insinuating that gold miners aren't normal).

AM 690 for those of your from the lower mainland

cheers,
joel

From Report Cards to Christmas Concerts!

2005-11-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone!

I hope you are all well. Joel, on the other hand, is feeling a little hard-done-by because he feels that no one appreciates, or reads, his blog entries. All I can say is - keep the comments coming because I can't put up with him anymore! Sometimes, it is nice to hear from people because it can get a little lonely up here....

I am now walking to and from work in the dark. There was a ton of snow but some strange warming phenomenom hit and we are feeling a lot like Vancouver. We've had rain, sleet and sheets of ice on the road. These Northerners are discovering the sacred winter secret of Vancouverites- it is difficult to drive in wet snow! Even our pond hockey tourney was cancelled because of the warm weather!

Yes, that's right, pond hockey, and no, I don't know how to play, or skate, for that matter. I bought hockey skates and a junior hockey stick and practiced last week to gear up for the tourney. I already have the nickname, U-turn Sarah, because I can't stop, only turn around and around in circles. I must agree with my wise sister - hockey skates are much easier to skate with than figure skates. I'll will let you know how it goes on Dec.3rd, the new date for the tourney.

I finally got to Haines, Alaska for my birthday last weekend. The town itself is a dive but the sights are amazing! The eagle fest was on and there were over 2000 eagles on the Chilkat river in one week. We were able to watch eagles rip salmon after salmon apart and eat their fill. There were so many eagles, you could see black dots in every tree. I rememer when I used to get excited over 1 soaring eagle. We also saw seals and elk. Did you know that elk make a really funny squeaking sound? We stopped on the road, with a group of elk on either side of the car and enjoyed the elk calls.

The renovations are...coming along. We've painted the living room and dining room and Joel has "completed" fixing the hole in the wall. We have a basement filled with Tom and Karen's stuff. (They moved to Ottawa last week!) Stella especially likes this because she can spend hours chewing and pulling on their taped up boxes.

I completed my report cards before the long weekend and was the first teacher to get them done! Some brownie points were earned, but these points are now going down the gutter as I am falling behind with my Christmas concert and Pasoda celebration stuff. I'm not going to let this stuff break my Christmas spirit because I am really looking forward to having mom and dad w. up here for Christmas.

We are definitely going to Europe this summer because Jole has officially registered for Ironman Switzerland. The painful reminder hangs on our fridge. After weeks of deliberation over Joel's ironman written proposal and addendum, I finally "agreed" that it was "okay" for Jole to do the race. To quote Joel, it truly is " a chance of a lifetime" (yuck!). Joel has a new job starting in January - Executive Director of the Learning Disabilities Association. So, between his new job and the training schedule, I will never see Joel again. (That isn't always a bad thing!)

That's all that's new up here in the great white north. As soon as I down load our Haines photos, I will post the link.

Sarah

2005-10-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

the slick, new, high-powered olsen BML-80 super furnace. sounds like a Boeing 747 taking off in the basement.

2005-10-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

the haul of wild blueberries from white pass summit

there's a blog entry in this somewhere...

2005-10-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

well we are beginning to realize the perils of owning your own home...in the yukon. We've been in our new place for about 4 months now. We have managed to spruce it up a bit, mowed the lawn, chopped a hole in the wall and so on.

When we got the place inspected before we purchased, we were informed that the furnace was the original (~30yrs) so we were anticipating that over the next couple years, we would have to replace it. What we weren't anticipating was that we would have to replace it this year.

Now, as with living in any region of the country, there are times when you love it and times when you curse it. And indeed, living in a city 2500km from the nearest large canadian city has perks and it's drawbacks. one of the drawbacks is that getting someone to look at your furnace isn't as easy as selecting at random from the several dozen "furnace/heating" listings in the yellow pages. In whitehorse, there are a grand total of about 4 furnace/heating places in the yellow pages.

Now, this all goes back about 2 months when we called one of the smaller outfits to come by and clean our ducts (the ducts in the house that is). He kindly informed us that he was quite busy and that it would be about 3 weeks or so until he got to us. 5 weeks later, we haven't heard from him so we decided to call him to see where we are on the list. Sure enough, we're the "next" house on the list...but oops, mr. furnace cleaner has to go to Pelly Crossing for "work" for a week and won't be back in whitehorse until next tuesday. Now, if you look at Pelly Crossing on the map you'll see that it's not really a place you go unless...well, it's not really a place you go. The only reason one would go to Pelly in early September is to stock their freezer full of fresh moose meat.

We decided that we would let Mr. furnace cleaner go on his hunting trip and we'd just call someone else. 0 for 1. When we called that someone else we found that they couldn't get out to clean the ducts and service the furnace until the beginning of November. hmmm. 0 for 2.

Now, all this time, we hadn't had the furnace running because the ducts are really dirty. so we decide just to do some impromptu cleaning and turn the old beast on and hope for the best. temperatures had already been dipping below 0. So, we turned the furnace on and voila, hot air. It was about 13 or 14 degrees in the house prior to turning the furnace on so it was nice to be warm.

Two weeks later, i am in vancouver and sarah and claire are at home and kaput, the furnace stops working. nothing will get it going again. sarah call us the emergency line for the third furnace/heating place and leaves a message. the "emergency line" guy doesn't call back for 4 days. 0 for 3. all this time we are wondering if it would classified an emergency if it was minus 40 degrees and the furnace stopped working at night while we were sleeping. was the furnace place thinking " ahhh, no worries, it's only -1 degree, still balmy, call them back on monday??

We decide to call back the second outlet and tell them we need to get someone to come out to have a look as we can now see our breath inside and the indoor temp is down around 5 degrees C. They tell us that they have some "emergency time' that they can book us in for in 10 days. and why is it that you have an "emergency line" again? If you move to the yukon and have a furnace emergency, make sure to pre-book it with your local furnace guy.

once we tell the guy we are willing to drop some coin on a new oil guzzling heat machine, he relents and "discovers" a cancellation in the schedule. one quote for a $4000 furnace later and we're booked in to have the install completed in 3 days. just wave around a few g-notes and you'll get your way with the furnace guys. $4000 is for the low end model, mid efficiency unit.

we had one other quote from another place for $5000. They faxed this quote to us 4 days after doing the on site estimate and me telling the guy that we would appreciate a quote promptly as we are willing to make the purchase asap. it's nice to know that as a potential paying customer, your business is valued...

so for those of you taking notes:
1) pre-book your emergencies in the yukon
2) if you're in the yukon in september, go moose hunting in pelly crossing
3) be prepared to spend a ton of money on a furnace if your's dies!

taking a breather

2005-10-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I finally had a few free moments to add some photos to our yahoo website. Check out our "summer 2005" album at:

http://photos.yahoo.com/yukonmacht

We had a territory wide teacher conference on Thursday and Friday so things were a bit less hectic for me.....but I still feel really busy. I love my class, even though I have a kid who consistently announces that he needs to go to the bathroom really badly because he has to take a number 2...and we have a chronic farter! I do love the teaching part, it's just all the administrative crap that comes with it. I will be coaching the grade 7 girls volleyteam starting in a few weeks and before I know it the evil time of Report Cards will be upon us.....and so will the snow.

Joel and Claire will be down in Vancouver for Thanksgiving so hopefully they will have time to visit with everyone.

Take care! Sarah

2005-09-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

together again!

2005-09-06T21:46:00.001-07:00

The ladies at Lake Louise AB.

2005-09-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

caribou with a nice rack.

2005-09-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

The lush, tropical jungle of Liard Hot Springs on the Alaska Highway

2005-09-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Claire and Megan on top of the "Dome" in Dawson City. The smoke is from forest fires in Alaska.

what we did on our summer vacation part 2...

2005-09-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

well, sarah's on to her second week of school now and we're still talking about our summer vacation....sheesh.

well, after vancouver we embarked on a kootenay/rockie mountain vacation rapido style. with stops in castlegar, nelson, cranbrook (with a triathlon thrown in), fairmont hot springs, radium hot springs, lake louise, jasper, grande prarie, liard hot springs and whitehorse. whew, it was quite a trip.

as noted, we hit up a number of hotsprings. we found liard hot springs, although the most rustic, to be the best. fairmont was like swimming in someone's bathtub, with several hundred other people you didn't know, radium was especially nice in the evenings when the crowds died down.

as you can see from the photos above, emily appeared out of thin air and was able to accompany us for a few days of the trip (from cranbrook to radium). that was nice.

it was sure nice to get home to whitehorse to see the cat which hasn't quite forgiven us for leaving her for so long. she attacked our feet without warning in the wee hours last night as latent punishment. she continues to exhibit peculiar behaviours at all hours. we may have to call in the resident pet psychologist. it's a booming business in the yukon what with all the sled dogs up here. the politics and interdog communications within a dogteam can be a handful. they often need to talk it out with their therapist.

claire has landed work at mac's fireweed books, the local book store and instantaneously received a promotion to downstairs. one might think that's actually a demotion but she insists it's not. hmmm.

sarah has whipped her grade twos into shape. jole and claire haven't seen her for almost three weeks as she's been diligently preparing her classroom. she has even been spotted at school working on the weekends. such is the life of a beginning teacher.

the leaves are beginning to turn their brilliant yellows and the bite of fall is in the air.

enjoy the photos.

I Made It!

2005-09-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I survived my first week of school without the use of a 2 by 4 with nails! In fact, although it was one of the most tiring weeks of my life, I had some brief moments of enjoyment. One of the best parts is being able to walk to school! I am so exhausted tonight that I have nothing more to say right now....stay tuned for the saga of school life, Whitehorse style. Off to the rum and cokes!

Take care, Sarah

PS- We had our first frost the other morning.....Fall is upon us.

2005-08-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

the prodigal daughter returns...then promptly leaves again.

2005-08-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

being photogenic

2005-08-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

camping before the kluane chilkat bike relay at Haines Junction Yukon, the foot of Kluane National Park.

2005-08-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

no hole...

2005-08-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

hole. what jole did when sarah went away

what we did on our summer vacation pt. 1...

2005-08-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

ok, we're back from the dead and have an update for eveyone, of life and summer in the north. hope that this post finds everyone doing well and re-energized after holidays and vacations.

sarah didn't actually get to experience a yukon summer this year as she decided that she'd had enough of the mosquitos by early june and left for the tropical balminess of vancouver for 6 weeks. she participated in a few weddings (congrats carmen and michelle!) and graduated with highest honours from the Orton-Gillingham Tutor Training Course for reading instruction for kids with learning disabilities. she drove her parents nuts for three weeks of this intense course and surely they are quite happy she went back up north! we sincerely hope they don't change the locks on us for the next time we visit.

while sarah was gone, jole chopped a hole in the kitchen wall that he hopes to have repaired by sometime in the fall of 2009. it was great to be able to test the reciprocating saw out though. i am proud to confirm that indeed it works. we'll be buying a chainsaw sometime this fall and i hope to have something to test it on as well. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

fearful of being mysteriously complelled to chop more holes in walls, i drove down to vancouver at the end of july to pick sarah up. it was a long drive. I gathered remnants of my family (UK citizen sister & father RJ) and a badly limping truck in lac la hache and we caravaned the rest of the way to vanocuver where husband and wife were reunited joyfully (and inlaws doubtlessly joyful that the end was near!) after 6 weeks of forced "apartness".

We tried to soak in as much visiting as possible and take in all that vancouver has to offer including pick up lines from speedo-clad older men at the pool (ask me about that one sometime). apologies if we didn't connect with you but we only had 4 days to cram in everything.

When we finally got everything crammed in, to the car that is...claire, mirna, teaching supplies, teapots, it barely cleared the curb as we set forth to complete a halfiron triathlon in cranbrook and a rendezvous with emily in the rockies. some photos above to keep you interested until part 2! stay tuned. please note the afore mentioned artfully designed and crafted hole.

still alive and kicking

2005-08-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

hey folks,

we haven't frozen to death yet or been eaten by bears. Lots has been happening including sarah starting her new job and a trip to vancouver and...well...we'll post some photos and an update soon. I'm sure you've all been hovering over your computers for months waiting in earnest for our next update. what can we say, summer in the yukon is a busy time!

jole & sarah

2005-06-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

the gang, joel, brian, sarah, tom, karen, hugh and sue at kluane lake

2005-06-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

relaxing and enjoying the back 40...after (at 12 midnight...note the lack of "nightime")

2005-06-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

the back 40...before

2005-06-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

canoeing the yukon river

back in the saddle

2005-06-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

well, it's been a while since you folks received an update from us so here's a news flash.

we've been busy clearcutting the back forty (as you can see from the photos) and fighting over paint colors. luckily we don't have cable anymore so we don't have to torture ourselves with home reno shows hosted by pretentious british "decorating gurus". the BBQ's going strong and ready to feed whoever wants to stop by this summer.

sarah is getting ready to head south for 6 weeks. she arrives for carmen's wedding on thursday and will be in vancouver until the end of july returning to the yukon to prepare for her new grade 2 teaching job in september.

joel's going in all the big yukon events this summer including the mayo midnight marathon, the kluane chilkat bike relay and the yukon river trail marathon. there's lots to do over the summer.

the daylight hours are getting longer and longer and longer and longer. right now it's not even getting dark at all at night (see photo at 12am) and the longest day of the year is still a week and a half away.

let us know when you're planning to visit and we'll set up a bed for you. the new address is 56 klondike road, whitehorse, yt Y1A 3M1.

2005-05-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

spring in the yukon overlooking the yukon river

2005-05-09T22:05:00.001-07:00

wild crocus

2005-05-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

spring in the yukon overlooking the yukon river

2005-05-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

outside

2005-05-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

inside

chez macht-woods

2005-05-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

so we took the plunge into irreversible debt and purchased a house last week. we'll end up paying less for a mortgage than we will for rent so financially it's worth it. plus the housing market up here is going crazy. not quite vancouver style but getting there.

Our house is about a 15 minute walk from downtown and is in the whitehorse suburb known colloquially as 'riverdale'. how quaint. we're 100 metres from mountain trails and 10 minutes walk to the yukon river.

3 bedrooms, unfinished basement. if we watch one more home rennovation show on tv we're gonna puke. domesticity here we come.

Whitehorse top 10...number 7

2005-04-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

The daylight. there are no words that can describe what it's like when the clock says 11pm and it's still light outside. your circadian rhythms completely lose their beat, your body thinks it's time to wake up at 4am, and you feel like running 10 miles at 10:30pm. work is just an annoying little inconvenience that gets in the way of you enjoying 20 hours of light.

and we ain't seen nothing yet. it's still 2 months away from the longest day of the year. All that sleep we got in december and january will come in handy now. that expression, "there's never enough time in the day" isn't valid north of 60. in fact between April and September, there's toooo much time in the day. this permits procrastination of unparalleled proportions. what you don't get done outside by 7pm, no worries you can finish it off after midnight when you have a little more time on your hands, but no less light.

i think the price of a winter from the frozen depths of hell, was a small one to pay for a summer of eternal sunshine.

joel came down with yukonitis this week so he hasn't been able to enjoy the balmy 20 degree days as much as ubercyclist sarah. sarah hasn't gloated too much.

House hunting has been fruitless but there are some promising abodes on the horizon.

Have you ever clicked on the "Next Blog" button on the top right of the screen? you can instantly view the personal blog of a fundamentalist christian in san diego, or a navy officer in japan or an evironmentalist in iceland or a highschool student in singapore or a bush-hating canadian. it's wierd how easy it is to "connect" with a stranger on the other side of the planet. kind of scary-weird, entertaining, and addictive at the same time.

the good, the bad, the internet.

2005-04-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

dogsledding action

2005-04-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

it's 9pm and it's sunny!

oh my darling spring

2005-04-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

Oh my darling spring......where are you????????

After a week of snow and gray cloud, I am finally seeing blue sky. The new snowfall was quite discouraging for those of us who got very excited with the early warm weather with a balmy average of 8 degrees C. Everyone keeps saying this is the worst winter ever...trust us to move up here for it!

I hope the blue sky today isn't just a tease. Joel has already been riding on the highway and we might go out today. When I ask him where he's going it's quite funny b/c there really is only one road here...the alaskan highway! You have your choice of north or south....

We are still adjusting to the time change here....there is talk of a petition to throw out daylight savings.... Anyway, we are having some trouble with it being light until after 10pm now. We are gaining daylight very quickly.

Joel seems to have found this new energy and is training like mad. The good news is is that he didn't get into Ironman Hawaii. Yeah! The other good news is that I have officially confiscated his mastercard and I am now on the road to saving!

I'm looking forward to the end of the school year...it has been hard getting back into the swing of things after the 2 wk spring break. I will be back in Vancouver for the end of June till the end of July. I look forward to seeing all my old pals down south!

The house hunt is still alive....so is the cat, but I don't know how much longer I can put up with her...By the way Mom and Dad, there's a package in the mail for you!!! HA HA

Hope everyone is well....will update more later. Nelson, I only update if I know people are reading it. The only way I know people are reading it is if they post a comment!

Mirna's 5 day visit over easter was great! We finally had a chance to visit the takhini hotsprings, go dogsledding, go "clubbing" whitehorse style (2 bars, 1 of them country) lots of fancy dinners and Mirna contributed her superior culinary skills to a leg of lamb easter feast. It's too bad she was only here for five days but we think she'll be back soon (she's addicted to country music now).

Bye for now......

2005-03-22T21:08:00.001-08:00

the bonfire

2005-03-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

Winter goes down in flames...cyclist with fire extinguisher to the rescue!

burning away the winter...?

2005-03-22T20:23:00.000-08:00

yesterday was the first day of spring. March 21st, 2005. we did it. we survived the yukon winter.

it was fitting that we should chase the winter chill from our bones yukon style...by burning it in the largest, gasoline-powered bonfire of bonfires.

the annual burning away the winter blues festival takes place every year in whitehorse on the spring equinox. people dress up, people dance, they beat on drums, they carry gas torches, flags, lanterns, wear masks, glowsticks and dragons.

several hundred people gather and march in a torch/candle lit procession along the banks of the yukon river to robert service campground where a huge papier mache effigy of winter is burned in a massive bonfire. people are encouraged to bring their paper representations of winter and cast them into the fire to burn baby burn.

the event started calmly enough and the big winter effigy was unveiled to the ohhs and ahhhs of the gatherred throng. that was where events went awry as the big paper dude prematurely burst into flames when one of the organizers tried to stick a lit flare into his head to make his eyes glow. old man winter really wanted to burn and his body caught fire. a fire extinguisher came to the rescue after winter stopped-dropped-and rolled to safety. see above photos. it was a comical scene as children ran screaming and parents shrieked in horror at the carnage. winter was salvaged with only 2nd degree burns to 45% of his body.

the march was about 1km and we were blasted by 50km/hr winds on the banks of the ice-jammed yukon river. who said winter was on the way out!!?? a candle-lit pathway led us to the 40 foot-long bonfire that was radiating incredible heat. Fire dancers were on hand to welcome the festival-goers.

after everyone had gathered, it was time to cast the big effigy of winter on the fire. Chants of "BURN HIM! BURN HIM! BURN HIM!" echoed throughout the campground. (ironic during easter week no?) finally, the time was at hand and the big dude was tossed into the middle of the swirling flames. old man winter wasn't going down with out taking someone with him however. soon, some flying embers from his face landed in a nearby tree and lit it on fire. aghast, the crowd all pointed up into the trees as we feared fire was going to consume us all!

not to worry, the fire department was on hand quickly to extinguish the danger and all was safe. all except for sarah that is as her nice wool coat was the victim of many a hot spark. jole cast his beard clippings in the fire and is officially beardless in whitehorse until next year's beard growing contest. we couldn't stick around for long as the heat from the fire was singeing our eyebrows.

we are looking forward to having some guests as mirna comes to visit this week. happy easter and bring on the spring!

2005-03-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

greetings from rendezvous

whitehorse top 10 - number 8

2005-03-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

sourdough rendezvous (with a mummified cat)!

on the last weekend in february every year, whitehorseans and yukoners gather for a celebration of heritage day and a festival of drunken debauchery to stave off the remaining few weeks of winter.

this year of course was our first rendezvous experience. tom the 3 year sourdough veteran was our guide as we navigated the twisted streets of intoxication and impersonation. we had our garter. we had our hat. we had our boa and we had feathers in our hair. we looked like real old time locals. all we needed to do was get wasted and we'd fit right in.

right then, on to the spirits. we made our way to one of the finer drinking establishments in town and proceeded to make friends with the mummified cat, preserved for all eternity in the bar (they found it under the floor boards several years ago while rennovating). we were there for the coup des gras, the big dance, the main attraction...the beard growing contest. i had managed to grow quite a mane of facial hair over the past 6 weeks and was pretty confident that i could out-testosterone the best of the best in this annual competition of manliness. daily applications of rogaine with monoxodil didn't hurt either.

much to the crowd's dismay some greek guy showed up (with a beard emanating from his chest) and took the prize right from under my nose (literally!). following up on the beard contest was the "hairy leg contest". the woman who won had more hair on her legs than i had on my face. it reminded me of going in to MEC in vancouver.

although we lost the beard growing contest there were still many things to see and do over the weekend. we also took in the log saw and chop, the chain saw chuck, the one-dog pull, the airshow, the flour packing contest, the sourdough pancake breakfast and the cabane a sucre and last but not least the fantastic filipino BBQ.

february is a great month to visit with so much going on. it beats a vancouver february anytime! bring on spring!

Check out more new photos at here.

2005-02-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

the start line

2005-02-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

ready to go!

2005-02-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

the start

whitehorse top 10...number 9

2005-02-13T20:49:00.000-08:00

today was the day that pretty much every citizen in whitehorse came out to view the start of the 22nd annual Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. 21 teams of 14 dogs each took off in 2 minute intervals to tackle a 1026 mile (1600 km) journey to Fairbanks, Alaska. the word epic doesn's even come close to describing this event.

the teams started in downtown whitehorse and the winner will cross the line in fairbanks in just over 10 days. Every year the race alternates from starting in whitehorse, to starting in fairbanks. next year it will start in fairbanks and finish in whitehorse. snow was trucked in and laid down on main street to make the first couple km of trail in downtown whitehorse.
the dogs and mushers will tackle three 3000 foot mountain summits, tempertures as low as -60C, dangerous overflow ice on frozen rivers and hundreds of miles of barrren, remote wilderness. this event isn't for weenies. some of the "colourful five percent" of northerners take on this race.

In his bio on the Quest website, musher Frank Turner lists his languages spoken as "Canadian and swearing". Turner has raced in every single Yukon Quest event. These guys and girls spend thousands of dollars and tons of time every year caring for dozens of dogs. the relationship betwen musher and dogs is a special one. every musher will tell you that the dogs are the athletes and the mushers are just along for the ride (and trying to stay warm).

and these mushers are tough though. one local yukoner, William Kleedehn, from carcross (an hour south of whitehorse) had to scratch (pull out) last year because his sled went through river ice during the race and he broke his leg above his prosthetic. he's favoured to win this year.

John Schandelmeier, from alaska is running a team made up of dogs entirely from the local animal shelter.

the dogs don't tend to be what you'd expect in a sled dog: the big furry husky. instead they are often wiry, short haired and a little smaller. one thing is for sure, they are born to pull. check out this video of musher Kelley Griffin (the second video in the list) and her team take off from the starting line. That sled a definitely a few hundred pounds. the thing has to be held back by a dozen people.

the sound of 300 dogs getting ready to race is indescribeable. most teams are just going nuts, barking and howling, and yelping, it's deafening. but as soon as they take off onto the trail they instantly become silent. it's the most eerie thing. some of mushers bring with them bales of hay on their sleds to bed thedogs down for a warm rest out on the trail. many of the teams run through the night, the only things guiding the way being the full moon and the instinct of the dogs. the dogs have an amazing memory for the trail.

check out the yukon quest website for daily updates on the status of the teams. we'll put some photos on our photo website too. so the 9th best thing about living in whitehorse is the yukon quest!

I HAVE YUKONITIS!!!

2005-01-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, you heard me correctly, I have Yukonitis. What the heck is that, you might ask? Well....

It all started back in Vancouver during Christmas vacation. I had a sore throat and generally felt under the weather. We arrived back in Whitehorse and a week later I had a bad headcold. It eventually went to my chest and I experienced discomfort breathing and a lot of yummy surprises in my mouth when I coughed. Many people were scaring me, making me think I had pneumonia or something worse. Apparently, colds can turn to pneumonia very quickly up here.

It took me 3 days to see a doctor...the health system is pathetic up here, as I learned from the earlier Scarlet Fever experience. I am relieved to learn that I do not have pneumonia. However, I do have a bad case of Yukonitis. This is the condition that new Yukoners, or Cheechakos like Joel and I, experience when they are suffering from their first winter cold. Apparently our bodies take a while to adjust to the differing climate here and this can cause discomfort in our lungs when we have bad colds. Is there a cure you may wonder? Thank goodness, all I have to do is buy a humidifier and rest up. Or, move back to Vancouver and worship the rain.
I think I'll stick it out.

Other than this mild case of Yukonitis, I'm doing very well. The days are growing noticeably longer; it's light when we are driving home around 5pm. The mornings, however, are still very dark and this is taking a toll on people, combined with the cold spells we had recently. I, on the other hand, am as chipper as ever. Teaching and tutoring are keeping me busy and I 've come to the realization that I don't like working full-time... I know, poor baby! I haven't had my head cut off by any students and I haven't harmed any myself. I keep getting called back by the schools so I have to say that my teaching career is booming!

School life sure is different up here....
Just before the first recess, I am lucky to witness the sunrise.
Before the students are allowed to go out and play, all the sliding runs are checked and repaired and the the runs that are open are announced each day. I look out the window during a lesson and see a class on cross-country skiis learning how to kick and glide on the groomed soccer field.
A student suffered minor frostbite on his leg from walking from the school to the bus stop.
I have to end class early to allow time for the little ones to get all dressed up to go out. By the time they are bundled up like "Randy" from "A Christmas Story", the bells rings to return to class.
They have a whole week of Career and Personal Planning on safety in the dark. Why? It's dark to and from school for a little part of winter.
Students cross their fingers for a "Red Day"; it is an indoor recess if the temperature is -25 celcius or colder. However, at some schools, they are allowed outside for 15 minutes at lunch recess if the temperature is from -25 to -35 celcius. School is not cancelled, even when it is -47 celcius. And, to think, we used to have indoor recess for a little rain!
Two of my grade 1 students came in from recess learning a valuable lesson. They had done the unthinkable.....yes, you're right, they stuck their tongues to a fence pole and spent the rest of the day with bloody, kleenex-wrapped tongues hanging out of their mouth with tears and drool running down their faces. When asked if anyone told them to do it, they said no and shed many tears.

The past couple of months have been a real learning experience for me in terms of a true winter lifestyle. I am enjoying it immensely and I am looking forward to Rendezvous. Yukonitis won't stand in my way of celebrating our territorial holiday!

Hope you are all well....stay tuned for new pictures on our photo website. Sarah

PS- If you think Joel's beard is good, you should see my legs....I think I'm winning!

2005-01-19T22:50:00.000-08:00

after one week

shhh! quiet please...beard growth in progress

2005-01-19T22:29:00.000-08:00

The deadline is february 25th. i have almost 5 weeks remaining before judging commences for the annual yukon sourdough rendezvous beard-growing contest. on monday january 11th, i certified myself "shaved" at the "Barber Shoppe" and proceeded to pony up my $20 to enter into the annual facial hair proliferation contestation. I have 6 weeks to grow as big and well-sculpted a beard as possible.

Every year, the annual sourdough rendezvous event hosts a beard growing contest for local yukoners to test their testosterone. the sourdough rendezvous is an annual holiday that takes place over the last weekend in february to help us frigid yukoners emerge from the winter doldrums, drink a few intoxicating beverages and just basically blow off some steam. the event is one week long leading up to the holiday heritage day and the long weekend. i think the yukon is one of the only jurisdictions in canada that has a holiday in february (yet another incentive for all you suckers in vancouver to move to or at least visit the yukon!)

The accompanying photo gives an idea of where my whiskers are at. i'm not feeling too confident that i'll be able to pull off an upset victory in the "Best New Growth" category (there's also the "Best Colouring" and "Best Old Growth"), but the post-bike-trip-jesus look that some of you may remember gives me some solace that i may not completely embarrass myself.

I'll include some updates as to the status of the beard between now and the 25th. the top prize for each category is a solid gold straight razor valued at $150. the minus 47C temperatures we experienced last week are another incentive to grow some fur on my face.

whitehorse top 10...number 10

2005-01-12T13:14:00.000-08:00

well, well, well.

The 10th best thing about living in whitehorse was going to be simply, winter. That time of year when it feels cozy to be inside with a good book, to sleep lots, take lots of walks, when everything is quiet outside and the land is shrouded in a blanket of white. Having a real winter season is a real bonus for sarah and i who grew up in vancouver where we experienced rain and more rain from November to April. New recreational opportunities are opened up with the snow and the sub-0 temperatures: cross country skiing, skating outside, dog mushing, snowshoeing... I will say it now, I would much rather take -25 in Whitehorse than a +6 and rainy day in vancouver any day of the week.

So winter was going to be the 10th best thing about this fair city. Unfortunately, after our little experience today, I can't say that old man winter can make the top 10 list. Upon waking this morning we discovered that it was -44C. Yes, we had plugged the car in overnight so we hoped that all would be well with our new wheels. We got all kitted up in our gloves, hats, down jackets, boots, scarves etc and ventured into the out of doors.

The car doors opened which was a good sign. The key entered the ignition without a problem. This is where the progress ended. Trying to get the car in neutral was like arm wrestling with a40 foot python, the transmission fluid was virtually a block of ice. Upon engaging the ignition our ears were treated to symphonic reverberations that sounded like the primordial growls and intestinal machinations of some monstrous metal-eating car compactor rather than from the engine of our new vehicle. We are quite positive we woke up everyone within a 4km radius. For what seemed like forever the bizarre guttural, grinding sounds continued until after what seemed like an eternity, the engine turned over and the pistons started doing their thing. It sounded like a 143 year old smoker was trying to cough up a huge loogie from somewhere in the bottom half of the lower lobe of their right lung. After a moment a high-pitched whine started emanating from under the hood that sounded like 1000 castrated cats mourning in unison for their long lost naughty bits.

At long last the car began to sound half normal although now loud clunking noises could be heard. We turned up the radio.

The car seats were frozen. It felt like we were sitting on cold cement and we cursed ourselves for not buying a vehicle with heated seats. When we tried to close our doors all we got was a loud thud. The door latch mechanism was frozen to the point that it wouldn't clasp shut. No matter how hard we slammed (probably an error as metal will shatter at extremely cold temperatures) the doors wouldn't remain shut. Spending 5 minutes outside trying to figure out the latching mechanism and coming to the fairly obvious conclusion that human beings were not meant by God to endure these types of temperatures, my hand started to go numb and began to ache with the cold through my gloves.

After 15 minutes of warming up the car, nothing was really warming up. Ice was forming on my glasses and on the inside of the windshield from our breath. The heater was still blowing cold air. Like idiots we still had the fan on high. Because of this, I think the wind chill factor in the car probably exceeded -50C.

Realizing that we weren't going to get any warmer any time soon we figured we'd try to beat the frostbite by hurrying up and driving to work. We got onto the road and it was as if we were riding in a cart with wooden wheels. The tires had frozen square. It was an amusement park ride like the carousel ...up and down...up and down... And LOUD! Because the doors weren't closed they were banging around on the latches. It was deafening! We decided to take an extra trip around the block to give the wheels a chance to thaw out before hitting the highway at speeds of 100km/hr. We would have probably dropped our suspension on the road.

We hit the highway and the fog reduced visibility to about 10 metres. Coupled with the iced up windshield and glasses Sarah had to navigate for me. We navigated by following the snowpack on the right side of the road. once in town and closer to the river we had to slow to about 20km/hr to see where we were going and to avoid the school kids running randomly into the street.

By the time we got to drop sarah off at the school she was working at i had to go inside to get warm. During the drive, our feet and hands and face got progressively colder and colder. It was actually scary. Even if we had to stop the car on the side of the highway, we wouldn't have got any warmer...the heater just kept blowing cold air.

Of course the schools are still open and everyone goes to work. a few people will mention that "it's kinda cold eh?" but that's about it. these yukoners are tough buggers.

So unfortunately we can't put "Winter" in the top 10 cuz if this is winter, then you can have it! but as my uncle bruce said, "think of the stories you can tell your grandchildren!" So there you have it. The 10th best thing about living in the Yukon is:

#10 - You get to tell some really crazy stories to your children and grandchildren.

***And did i mention that the drive is uphill both ways?

yours in solidarity with our frozen oilpan,

jole

some photos

2005-01-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

it's time to see some photos from our trip to vancouver. to our horror, many of our loved ones became horribly disfigured over the holidays by consuming copious amounts of chocolate, shortbread, turkey and alcohol. these photos capture some of the terrifying and shocking developments over the last two weeks.

2005-01-06T21:03:00.000-08:00

2005-01-06T21:02:00.001-08:00

2005-01-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

2005-01-06T21:01:00.000-08:00

oh the horror

gone back north

2005-01-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

well, our recent trip to vancouver was a success. one dinged car, lots, of miles, some weight gained (me not sarah), much sushi consumed, tons of visits with the fam, and 2004 brought to a close. it was great to be in vancouver to see everyone we miss so much.

it's been a big year for us with sarah graduating with her education degree and the move to whitehorse, not to mention the second 24 hour relay, the kneeknacker, and the other assortment of people we visited and things we did. we hope we can match it with an even more exciting 2005. our cross country skiing adventures are going to continue and we've volunteered with the wheelchair basketball and special olympics. we're especially looking forward to the yukon quest dogsled race, the sourdough rendevous, the kluane chiklat bike relay, the river trail marathon and the melting of the snow. (winter is not without it's charms but...) stay tuned for our further adventures.

having been back to vancouver for a couple weeks, it brought to mind many things that i miss about "home". but then the yukon isn't so bad either so i've decided that a top-10 list is in order. actually 2 top-10 lists. the top 10 things about living in vancouver and the top 10 things about living in the yukon.

follow along as the two cities duke it out for city supremacy! who will win?

2004-12-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

the view from near our place

the zen of nordic skiing

2004-12-05T18:01:00.000-08:00

kick, glide. kick, glide. kick, glide. kick, glide...

This is the rhythm, the pattern, the peace, the steadiness, the calm, the routine, the zone, indeed the zen of cross country skiing. it is the place you go when all you can hear is the silence of the snow. it is that otherworld where the noise, the business, the travails of life are left behind at your doorstep when you click into your bindings and propell yourself into the white wilderness for an afternoon of cross country skiing utopia.

there was nothing zen-like about our first experience with our new cross country skis. armed with multiple layers of polyester, fleece and gore-tex, sarah and i burst forth from our cozy winter den (basement suite) into the -20 degree yukon winter to kick...glide...pole...kick...fall on our asses with boards strapped to our feet.

after melting about a pound of wax onto the bottom of our skis with our clothes iron, smoking out the cat with burning wax and dripping it all over our shoes, we got outside to enjoy our new official winter sport. sarah had frostbiten fingers after 5 minutes thanks to her cotton "mittens". but she soldiered on into the snow only to take jole down later at the hairpin corner on the base of the steepest hill in the wolf creek ski trail network. it was nearly a sonny bono experience.

back at the ski chalet (basement suite), we laughed about our misadventures and stella brewed us up some hot chocolate with which we promptly steamed up our glasses and kept bumping into the furniture. despite the falls, the wipeouts, doing the splits (ALERT: cross country skis don't have edges!) we have found something to keep us occupied for at least the next 5 months. we should be so lucky because that's how long the snow's going to last!

we hope everyone's doing well. We arrive in vancouver on December 19th for two weeks, so we hope to see you then!

sarah & jole

Winter Photos

2004-11-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

Exciting winter photos

Check out the new folder called "november/sarahs bday" .....it will give you an idea of our winter here. However, we've had about another foot and a half of snow since these photos were taken!

Sarah

winter @ 10 boss rd....part 2

2004-11-25T21:27:00.000-08:00

well, now that you're all thoroughly confused, we've finally dug ourselves out of the snowbank.

we've purchased some stylish new duds to fend off the winter chill. the previous post was meant to have some photos but the snow caved in our windows and the avalanch covered the computer. sarah was frozen in the snow bank for three days. luckily shewas trapped with her African cedar kalimba (item #45K46.20 at Lee Valley) and she was able to morse code out s.o.s. signals to search and resucue volunteers who were searching with special yukon avalanche huskies. thankfully stella kept sarah's eyeballs from freezing by licking them and kept her conscious until the special avalanche huskies could dig her out.

meanwhile jole was in dawson city, experiencing the peculiar sensation of the snot freezing in his nose while enjoying playing tourguide to a visitor from vancouver who did the sourtoe.

to the sourtoe cocktail enterprise, sarah will be donating a few of her toes that had to be amputated due to the frostbite from being stuck in the snow bank for three days. the remaing few digits will be donated to the Foundation for Reasearch Examining Experimentation with Zygotic Extremities (otherwise known as F.R.E.E.Z.E. in medical circles) for use in mircosurgical toe transfers.

Otherwise we are doing fine and enjoying the two feet of snow. We're looking forward to seeing everyone at Christmas. sarah will be walking with a slight limp. and no mistletoe jokes...please.

cheers,

jole & sarah

2004-11-20T15:54:00.000-08:00

winter at 10 boss rd

i feel special

2004-11-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

back when this blog started i made it one of my missions to get it listed in the "frequently read" side bar on my friend darren barefoot's very popular blog. Today, as i'm reading his site here at work...i noticed a link to the "gone north" blog. mission accomplished! not only that, but darren dedicated an entire entry. looking at the comments, it seems people have some strong feelings about whitehorse!

for those of you who haven't seen Darren's blog, at worst it's a terribly entertaining work distraction and at best it's going to keep you on the cutting edge of geekdom (and that's not an insult). Even though when it comes to the tech end of things i haven't the faintest idea what the discussion is about, (for example: "Ah, the serendipity of Flickr RSS feeds for tags." huh?) the other posts will keep you in touch with the cultural zeitgeist.

oh yeah, and darren's a hard core ultimate player.

(i've always wanted to use to word "zeitgeist" in public so make that 2 missions accomplished in 1 day!)

joel

ENOUGH OF THIS POLITICAL CRAP!

2004-11-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, enough is enough. I'm forcing myself to do an update because I can't take anymore of Joel using this blog as a political forum. This space is supposed to let our friends and family know we are alive and well ...

We are alive and well.

We haven't got cabin fever yet, even after a month of snow and cold weather (that wind chill can kill!). Perhaps it's because the darkness and real -40C winter weather hasn't arrived yet. Or, maybe it is because we are united in a cause. What is that cause, you may be wondering?

We are united against the dark, evil forces of the assinator, otherwise known as Stella the cat. We have spent the last month on her hit list. But now she has another thing coming. Tired of bloody, cut up lips and ripped up hands and thighs, we have devised a plan of action...we are going to lock her out of any room we are in! At this point, it feels like there's no alternative to escaping the wrath of the assinator. That's right, looks can be deceiving. That cute little kitten in our pictures is really a hired killer from some other planet. This morning it was Stella 2, Joel and Sarah -15.... We'll keep you posted. Oh, and by the way, we've tried everything you might have to recommend...this cat likes water and thinks you're playing when you flick her nose. What's left?

We are both very busy into work at this point. I am managing myself quite well, and since that second day of hell, I haven't felt the need for a 2 by 4 with nails on it, but thanks for the suggestion! I have met some great kids and have been in some great schools. I have just been hired as a tutor for the Learning Disabilities Association and Joel is taking some coaching courses and trying to set up his own coaching clinics and triathlons....We'll see how that goes. One thing you learn quickly about Yukoners is that they are resistant to change. My theory of "change is good" just isn't popular up here....

Our new car is great in the snow...Joel feels the need to test it every once and a while, missing turns etc...It does cost more in gas than the VW but we are doing a lot of driving and gas is a dollar a litre now. Oh, I forgot to make my big announcement...Here we go. Drum roll please.........

We (I) sold our VW!!!!!!!!!

Thank goodness I answered the phone that day because I was able to work my magic and send my little VW to a good home where she will be loved and appreciated and surely run into the ground! It was sad parting and it all happened so quickly that I didn't have a chance to prepare. However, the cold, hard cash in my freezing little hands help dry my tears a little bit.

We now have a new method of transportation...cross country skis....We got enough money and then some to outfit ourselves with 2 adult recreational cross country ski packages from the local sports store. There are a lot of trails in our own back yard so it will come in handy in a few weeks, and Joel even has a plan to ski to work some days. Hmm..

Well, that's enough typing for me. I will try to get more pictures up this weekend of our place and the snow etc but no promises. Joel has some great pictures of caribou that he saw on his trip to Faro and Ross River. We've seen a black and white fox 3 times now on the way into town in the morning, and a lot of white rabbits...no photos of those yet, but we do have all winter, if the camera works in those cold temperatures!

Hope everyone is well and happy.

Good bye for now from the great white north. Sarah

politics, yukon style

2004-11-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

if you think american politiks are messed up, the yukon is in another dimension...

our premier is a CONVICTED heroin dealer.
Two government MLAs owe the territorial government over $400,000 in unpaid loans. One for a hotel in dawson, the other for a mine operation. one, the minister of social services, peter jenkins refuses to make payments on them. the government refuses to collect from their own minister. minister jenkins has also called into question some immigrants of welfare as being a drain on the system...how many beds for the homeless can your $300,000 buy? can you say CORPORATE WELFARE BUM.
the former justice minister got in shit last year for releasing from impound, a tow truck owned by one of her "associates" after the tow truck driver was busted for drunk driving while working.
recently the government proceeded sell a few dozen prime country lots and decided not to tell anyone so their friends could have first crack at building their dream homes in the woods.
the premier is a CONVICTED heroin dealer, oh i already said that.

It all puts that dui premier and his soft-drug, pot-dealin' boys in BC to shame! not to mention that pussy cat ralph klein. as an aside, his comments last week about how "severely normal " people don't want to hear about the troubles and financial difficulties of "severely disabled" (sic) were disgusting. that man should be shot with a mad cow pie.

is it a western thing? did western canada start as a colonial convict settlement? only the politicians know.

art for art's sake...who is art anyway?

2004-11-04T19:25:00.000-08:00

this is not art

t

the election has come and gone, thus, i think it's time to reflect on our neighbours to the south (in our case here in the yukon, to the west). On a recent westerly jaunt to skagway, the alaskan epicentre of cruiseship culture we too, along with the throngs of "cruisewear clad" americonians, ventured into one of the many cardboard cutter giftshipshops in town. ahh, americana incorporated.

amidst the carefully mechanically reproduced soapstone walrus carvings, the gold nugget-floating-in-a-water-filled-ballpoint pens, the ulu knives, the stuffed porcelain eskimo dolls with faux rabbit fur trim and authentic hair braiding, the gold nugget paper weights, and alaskonian shoehorns, the I heart alaska t-shirts and the other trinkets was a sculpture entitled "letters from home" (see photo - i snapped this photo under constant fear that i was going to be forcibly detained by giftshipshop security personnel and interrogated about my treasonous activities in aback room under a bare 40 watt lightbulb. I was able to snap the photo and escape undetected)the sculpture, complete with biography of the artiste, is a three foot high 'hommage to the american GI in iraq. complete with M-16 assault rifle slung over his shoulder, the sculpture depicts a soldier decked out in his camouflage reading a letter written from his wife back home in anytown ohio. the text of the letter is even inscribed on the actual "letter" the soldier is reading. you can read it over his shoulder. the text is also enlarged for your reading convenience in an artistically framed print hung on the wall behind the sculpture.

If you want to purchase this fine work of art, you'll need to part with almost $400 rubbles.

tacky tribute to american troops overseas...or full-fledged "hang 'em high" militaristic ego stroking...or both? thankfully the sculpture depicting american troops torturing prisoners of war in abu ghraib prison wasn't on display. at least they had the taste to keep that one in the back.

would it strike you as odd if you were invited over to someone's house for a dinner party and saw this thing in their front entrance?

is it possible to minimize the suffering of those caught in the middle of this conflict more than having this monstrosity on display in a giftshop where they sell carefully mechanically reproduced soapstone walrus carvings, gold nugget-floating-in-a-water-filled-ballpoint pens, ulu knives, stuffed porcelain eskimo dolls with faux rabbit trim and authentic hair braiding, gold nugget paper weights, alaskonian shoehorns, and "i heart alaska t-shirts"???

bush vs. kerry, would there really be any difference had kerry won?

more photos for you whiners!

2004-10-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

okay, okay, okay...here are some more photos....please be patient with me. I am slow at figuring out this technical stuff...besides, we have been busy you know! and another thing, if you really want to see more photos, why don't you just come and visit! we have a lot of snow already....just waiting for you snow lovers to come visit! sarah

new photo link

2004-10-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

New, exciting Photos! Wooo!

hope this link works...please let me know if it doesn't. sarah

all the news that's fit to print...

2004-10-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

Forgive me lord, it's been about 2 weeks since my last confession...er...post... and it's time for an update.

Since we last spoke, many new and exciting thinks have happened for our intrepid northern nutbars:

We moved out of Tom and Karen's place
We got a cat
We got a car
We got online
We took some photos of all that

First things first...

I live by the philosophy that "my dirt is cleaner than your dirt". So when we moved into our new basement suite/cave to find layers of pet hair on the floor, and dirt on the windows i immediately went into jungle survival mode - i fixated on the singular threat to my very existence and moved to neutralize it. in other words, i spent 3 hours vacuuming 3 very small rooms. sarah thought i was just being plain stupid, but when, to rationalize my bewildering behaviour, i showed her evidence - my vanquished enemy - a safeway bag FULL of pet hair, she understood my compulsion. I'll be damn sure to leave the place with cleaner dirt than we found.

We cleaned the place out good. we now eat off the floor.

tom and karen were happy to see us move on. Our shit pile in their loft seemed to be growing by the day and then there was the 2 hour cue for the bathroom every morning. I hope we did our fair share of dishes and wood gathering. but not toooo much, i'd hate for them to be so impressed with our hardworkingness that they invite us back for periodic work bees such as to build a deck or an addition or to say...paint the house. who can say "block party"? in all seriousness, their hospitality and generosity are unparalleled. if you ever find yourself in the yukon, you can just call up karen and tom and they'll put you up for at least a month. tell them i sent you.

Our new cat is named "stella". It's a great name to yell when she's ripping the shit out of the curtains or your leg. I'll let sarah tell you all about our furry new addition.

FOR SALE: 1985 VW Golf. 5speed, runs well, needs block heater, 4 dr, new muffler & rad. good tires.

If you know anyone who wants to buy a "new to them" car, give us a call. We just leased ourselves a brand new subaru impreza. it's fun to drive again. we have such luxuries as a "radio" and "air conditioning" and a "read window wiper" and "defrost that works". It was actually an option in the brochure, "Defrost that works - extra $100"

We have internet access now so we can reply to your emails finally. don't write us off yet!

Some more photos are pasted onto that website that sarah put together. the link is in the last blog entry i think.

talk to you again soon. stay tuned, i've still got some things to get off my chest, including issues with the insurance industry and the unconstitutional nature of -15 weather in October...what is this the $^#*@&! Yukon or something?!

some photos

2004-09-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

We've set up a photo site for you to see a bit of what we've been up to. check out this link.

It snowed this morning. Here comes winter!

Saying Goodbye to Betsy :-(

2004-09-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

As Fall almost comes to a close, we are getting ready to say our final farewell to Betsy. "Who is Betsy?" you may be wondering. No other than our trustworthy companion, the VW Golf.

I will truly miss her. I feel an Ode coming on...stay tuned.

We are now proud new owners of a Subaru Impreza. Apparently, it is the car to drive up here. We don't actually own it, we are leasing. We are excited because it is the first car either of us has ever had that is new, and nice!

Joel is obsessed with selling the VW for some ridiculous overpriced amount so we didn't trade it in. It is sitting in Tom and Karen's driveway at Marsh Lake. They now fit into the Yukon because a lot of people have run down remains of cars in their yards. Used cars sell for more up here in the great white north. If it runs and it's old, they say you can get at least a grand for it.....we'll let you know how it goes.

Things are going well for Joel at work. He is currently venturing out to Haines Junction every Friday to teach a computer class. I am getting called on average 3 times a week right now and have been told that it will pick up very soon. I am slowly fitting into a few of the schools who keep calling me back. I must be doing something remotely right. Right now, I am being booked in advance for inservice days. Once the flu season hits, I will be getting called the night before and the mornings. I'm really enjoying the challenge.

We are finally moving into our own place this Friday, October 1st. Then my parents arrive the next day. We are looking forward to setting up home. We haven't updated in a while because we've been housesitting. Back at Marsh Lake until Friday. Also, I came down with some sort of Yukon flu and got acquainted with the joys of the Yukon health system...that's for another blog.

Hope everyone is well and are enjoying the warm Fall you seem to be having!

Sarah

Guess What??

2004-09-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

Actually, nevermind. You would never guess what I am about to tell you. Get ready. For those music lovers out there, you may want to sit down. Okay, here goes nothing, and I apologize in advance for the pain this may cause some people.

In Whitehorse, it is possible to do a country version of AC/DC "Shook me all night long" and get rave revues.

I'm not kidding. There was an awards banquet/dance for the Klondike Road Relay and everyone who was everyone was there! Two bands performed that night. We had a private show from the first band because we are still adjusting to this Yukon Time thing and got there tooo early. The second band came on after the awards ceremony....the dance floor ( particle board thrown over grass) was kickin'. I couldn't quite managed to get out on the dance floor to boogy to the country songs. Fortunately, I had enough beer in me to sway in place and fit in just fine. I ran into a friend from my program - Sukh- who also came up here to teach. He is really enjoying it as well and was glad he was able to soak up the Whitehorse night life!

After a few too many country remakes, we left with some people and decided to sample the local culture at one of the many bars in town. (Did you know that the bars outnumber the churches here? Apparently one bar opens at 7am!) Let's just say the bar was interesting. I managed to drag Joel on the dance floor for our own version of the 2-step before we got run down by the locals, who really know how to dance. What a night! I can't wait for our next encounter with the Whitehorse night life.

For anyone who wants to come and visit, but is scared by the music scene: Don't worry, anything sounds somewhat pleasant after a few alcoholic drinks!

Take care everyone, Sarah

just like rob base and dj ez roc said...

2004-09-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

joy...and pain.

the joy:

i did the Klondike Road Relay last weekend. a most enjoyable experience. The Klondike Road Relay is a 176 km running relay race from skagway, alaska to whitehorse. The race begins on friday evening and "runs" through the night. Teams finish in whitehorse on saturday.

This race is the Haney to Harrison on steroids. almost twice as long in total, the stages are nearly all twice as long as the h2h, it climbs and decends a 1000 metre pass and it's run in the middle of the night in one of the remotest parts of the country, traverses 1 state, 1 province and 1 territory. F$&^$@# awesome. ( I would use the work epic here but i have some sort of aversion to this term).

I ended up on a team called Miller Thomson: a law firm team out of vancouver. The team was great. Bunch of people out for fun and a good run. Some guy named "Murray" from the firm's whitehorse office got the thing rolling, paid the $600 race entry, and rented a 15 passenger van for the weekend. Then "Murray" went to south africa. Thanks "Murray"! Turns out only one vancouverite from the firm attended.

So the ten of us partied our way down to skagway on friday night for our start time at 9pm. Then partied out way back to whitehorse: riding the bus for 15 hours to the finish just before noon. When i say partied, i mean a few people had some guiness and some people tried to sleep. at about 7am, the van got jumping again when a few people cracked the irish breakfast and turned the music up. we started handing out orange slices to all the runners.

the pain:

a total of 134 teams competed in this fun event. Legs ranged from 10km (straight up a freakin mountain) to 26 km (straight up a freakin mountain with a little down hill at the end) I ended up with the 26 km leg #6. We had some incredibly strong runners as well as some newbies and we manged a very respectable 17th place overall in a time of 14:56:xx. The insane winning team from alaska completed in an unacceptable 11 hours and 20something minutes - a full hour ahead of the 2nd place team.

I may be trying to recruit you for a crazy running team in september next year. So start training and get ready to pack up your running shoes and your guiness.

...it's like sunshine...and rain.

School Life -- Whitehorse style

2004-09-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally have the first day of my chosen career under my belt. In fact, I have 2 days of work completed thus far and many more days booked. I know, I know, you are dying to hear how it went. I must say that it was... "interesting".

For those of you who aren't familiar with teacher talk (or at least mine), this is the term I use for those children that really boggle my mind for one reason or another and even piss me off! Let's just say that I have encountered many of these children after my two days in the Whitehorse school system.

My very first day was amazing. A wonderful grade 1 class that was energetic and eager to learn. Despite the 2 black eyes and the one paired of soiled pants (not mine!!), I feel that the day was very successful. Once I got over my initial nervousness and mopped up my two sweaty armpits, I had a great day. The best part, by far, was reading them a story (Me and My Dad, by Mercer Mayer...one of my favourites).

My second day, however, is another story. Even before the day started, I was warned by 3 different teachers that the class was a handful. The teachers couldn't find any student on the class list that I could trust and call on for help. I got a little nervous but trusted that my bitchy tough side would be enough for this grade 4 class. I was wrong.

Things got out of hand very quickly and I was praying for the end of the day after 15 minutes of class. The whole class seemed very unmotivated, and for some, it was their second day in the class. I wasn't warned of the child that doesn't come back when allowed to go to the bathroom. And, after an hour of school, an EA brought a student to my class claiming that he belonged to me and that he had been hiding out in the bathroom since 830am. He wasn't on my class list, otherwise, I may have worried! Students were all over the place, avoiding work as much as possible. One boy started sobbing after I told him to get to work. He went home "sick". These kids didn't really care if I kept them in at recess or lunch, and when threatened to lose time in the gym, they sat themselves out! Teaching them gym for 1/2 hour was the best part of the day, despite all the misbehaviour. I didn't have to worry about the kids finishing their work. In the class, many didn't finish their work, and some couldn't even print/spell. What an eye opener. I really got tired of hearing myself discipline.

The worst part is that the secretary booked me for another day, when I arrived that morning. I understand her strategy now. After that day, if she had asked when I was leaving, I would've had to think long and hard about going back, depending on the grade. I am back there next week in Grade 6!! At least I am better prepared for it now.

All and all, it was very exciting to get those days done. For the most part, it was smooth sailing. Even though the grade 4 class may not have finished a lot of their work, I managed to keep them under control (for the most part). And, I never showed my frustration. I even heard a student say that I was mean, which gave me a good giggle!

Will keep you up-to-date with anymore interesting stories.

Bye for now, Sarah

how to post a comment

2004-09-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

For those of you wanting to post a comment but haven't figured it out yet, there is a three step process:

1.) At the bottom right side of the entry you want to comment on you will see "x comments". Click on that.

2.) Next, Click on "Post a Comment"

3.) If you have registered on the www.blogger.com website, sign in. You can sign in if you want. If you don't want to register you can post a comment anonymously by clicking "or post anonymously" (but remember to sign your name!)

4.) Type your comment in the box provided and click "Publish your comment".

voila, you have enlightened the world by immotalizing your thoughts in cyberspace. remember to use your newfound powers for good...not evil.

HOW FAST WAS I GOING OFFICER?

2004-09-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

This entry is dedicated to my Dad!!

Dad, you taught me well. My road etiquette is amazing. As for the rest of the drivers here...

When I do the 45 minute commute into town, a lot of things cross my mind. I try hard to concentrate on the few stations that come in and out on the radio. Country.Country. Country. Tom Petty. Country. Country. Black Sabbath. More country. They really have a flair for music up here. Of course, "Swap Shop" is really distracting because I want to make sure that I don't miss out on any good deals. After a while, I begin to wonder what the speed limit is and why the car sounds so loud.

It is about to explode at 135km/hr. Betsy, my german race horse, wasn't designed for those kinds of speeds. I can't believe I let myself go so fast. The best part is when I am passed at that speed. In the Yukon, there is no speed limit. People are on Yukon time and Yukon speed. You either get passed by a Cavalier going 135km/hr + or stuck behind some guy in a beat up pick up truck doing 70km/hour and enjoying the view.

When I come out of my Yukon radio listening daze, I make an honest effort to do the speed limit. But, it's tough because it is never posted. And, to top that off, the closest I've ever come to seeing a police car on the highway was a cut-out RCMP car on a side road in Teslin and Haines Junction. Apparently these are supposed to keep you in line. When, in fact, most of us just have a good giggle when we drive by! I even want to get my picture take with the cardboard cut out.

I have learned how to pass a car (safely). At first, I would just sit behind the pick-up doing 70km/hr. But after 20 minutes of that, it gets a bit rough. Really, what are they looking at out the window? My yukon style road rage sets in and I work up the courage to pass.

Don't get me wrong, it's actually enjoyable to drive in the Yukon. You don't have to worry about the speed limit. The radio stations are wonderful, the views are spectacular (saw an elk and a coyote today), and it' s fun waving at everyone in the oncoming lane. Besides, most of the driving is highway driving. Now, when I say highway driving, I mean a two lane highway with huge shoulders that you could go for 20 minutes and not see a soul. And downtown Whitehorse rush hour is quite amusing. A few lights, a few cars. Can't get any better than that. It's driving heaven.

As for my employment. So far, so good. I went to all the schools and introduced myself. They were honestly happy to talk to me and some actually booked on the spot. My first day is next week. I can't wait to get that over with!

We drove to Haines Junction for Joel's work today and I found a kitten to bring back. He's 8 weeks old, but I can't bring him home yet, because Tom is allergic to cats (or so he says!!). We are going to go back a few days before we move to get him. I am very excited because I know my mom and dad will really like having a cat when we visit since Howee was put down a few months ago (heeheeha). Joel is excited too (really).

All is well as Fall sets in here in Whitehorse. I hope everyone has had a good summer and be sure to enjoy your long weekend!

Bye for now, Sarah

4 crown quest a la sarah

2004-09-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

okay...now it's my turn tell the whole truth about that darn race... i wont bore you with all the details...let see. i spent the whole weekend volunteering at the transition, ensuring that all the runners/bikers came in. it was all grand until the RCMP were convinced that we had lost somebody on the run and were worried about the bears. i think i may have neglected to cross that person off the list.
i was asked to look after someone else's dog all weekend b/c the owners were doing the race and had no where to put the dog. i got so mad when it kept coming back for more with the bloody stick and when it chewed through it's leash during the night. whine whine whine. can you guess?i'm not that much of a dog lover! except for Luke of course!
the best part was when we went for a ride down to the end of the lake. it isn't called surprise lake for nothing! we came around the last bend and whitecaps shot over the boat. needless to say, it was a good thing i was in a seat that blocked my view because apparently we almost crashed into the rocks on the way back. the driver was looking at a signal on his satellite phone.
finally, as for joel's nutrition, i actually had purchased all the necessary items, he just failed to pack them. the ninny!

4 crown quest

2004-09-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

What's that sound? It's jole hitting the wall.

On the one year anniversary of Ironman, I decided to complete an entirely different event in the far northern part of British Columbia. The third annual Atlin 4 Crown Quest was held on Saturday/Sunday August 28th and 29th in the remote community and wilderness surrounding Atlin B.C. The race incorporated mountain biking, paddling, running and more mountain biking. Entrants could choose to do the event over 2 days with a BBQ dinner and campout overnight or a one day epic. I chose to do the one day event.

About 40 athletes took part in 2 different races. The first to embark from the start line at 11am on Saturday were the 23 or so competitors for the two day event. The two-day version of the 4 Crown Quest consisted of a 20km bike up to Surprise Lake followed by a 20km paddle to the campsite at Cracker Creek. There, competitors rested for the evening and enjoyed a salmon BBQ.

The second day for the 2 dayers started with a 20km run through some remote mountain valleys and ended with a 20km bike back to the start/finish line.

The one day competitors did the bike-paddle-run-bike all in one day, Sunday. It was a long day. I decided the week before that, "hey, this looks manageable!" I was in for a surprise. Since the Kneeknacker, my "training" consisted of a total of 0 runs, and 3 bike rides including a time trial race and a Marsh Lake Duathlon 4 km bike leg.

The bike ride started out innocently enough. The road was about 2 km paved and the final 18 were decent gravel. No single track. I lead out the bike with three others, but these weren't "nobodies"!. One was Hans Gatt, the winner of the last three Yukon Quests (The annual 1,000 mile dogsled race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks), one was a member of the team who place second in the last Eco-Challenge, and the third guy was the eventual winner. We all completed the first bike portion within about 2 minutes of each other and departed in our boats. The three quickly put time into me once we were on the water. I have been in a kayak all of once in my life. It wasn't so bad, I have been watching the Olympics so I figure that my stroke technique is solid! Since running is my strongest of the three disciplines, I though that if I could finish the paddle leg with the three of them in sight then I might have a shot at top 3. If only!!!

I was soon passed by a double canoe...and then another double canoe...and then a double kayak...and then a single kayak. I was sitting down in eleventh place. Those doubles can sure go!

The paddle leg seemed to go on forever. I finished it in just under three hours. I hadn't moved my legs since climbing in the boat, my hands were blistered and my back was killing me! I had to pee like a race horse and the sun was out. I was cooking like a hotdog in my 2 shirts, camel back, life jacket and spray skirt. The end couldn't come soon enough. As I rounded each point I prayed to be close to the transition. Alas, there was yet another point to round, and another...and another. Finally I could see the end. I beached to boat and ran into the bush to pee. 5 minutes later, I was doffing my paddling attire and trying to will my legs to work. My back was slowly uncoiling.

The first 5 KM started uphill, climbing 400m to the first aid station. I employed the proven Kneeknacker strategy of walking the uphills. So I basically walked the first 5km. To use the term "road" would be generous. The track was a very, very rough 4x4 road through a very stunning valley called the Ruby Creek Valley. It was close to the high alpine where there were lots of big bears hiding, ready to eat us if we so much as wandered off the trail a few feet. This is the only race I have ever done where it was mandatory to run with a canister of bear spray. The numerous large piles of bear shit on the trail indicated to me that this was a good rule.

I ran more or less with two other competitors until the 15 km checkpoint. We crossed a few creeks, navigated a few blast areas (there was active gold mining in the area) and generally beat ourselves up. My legs were dead and by about the 10 km mark I had decided that I had bonked because I didn't bring enough food with me. The previous day, Sarah and I were trying to predict a finishing time. We figured around 7 hours. So, if I was thinking, that means I would have had to consume about 3500 calories during the course of the race. I don't know what I was thinking when I brought only 1 banana, 1 energy bar, and one small flask of hammergel. This amounted to probably less than 1000 calories.

So, I was shelled by 15km into the run. My two running mates went on ahead never to be seen again. At the end of the run, I scarffed 6 cookies and piled on my bike and tried to make it to the finish line still conscious. I did, to a fanfare of two volunteers blowing whistles and yelling. Alright! Granola bars all around!!! My finishing time was 6hrs 50 min, surprisingly, quicker than I had expected. The winner finished in just under 6 hours. Next year I will bring more food.

We found a place to live. About 15km south of town in a "subdivision" called wolf creek. Lots are a couple acres each and there's an outdoor rink in the neighborhood. We'll be in a 2 bedroom basement suite until the end of May next year. Rent is expensive up here. We'll be paying $900 per month including heat (a big $$$$ in the north) and water (it has to get delivered) and cable. We move in October 1st. Just in time to host sarah's parents. I hope you guys will be packing your paint brushes!

you live in a small town when...

2004-08-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

...on the radio sports report you hear an announcement to remind the members of the Senior Games team to come down and get fitted for their uniforms.
...you call someone to ask if you can look at their apartment tomorrow and they say they won't be around but they'll leave the door open so "just come on in a have a look around"
...the local news is broadcast in Inuktitut.
...every Friday afternoon, the radio station broadcasts a "shop & swap" where you can call in and sell your extra kittens or mason jars or chevy truck. And it's very popular.

Life is good in the Yukon. I got hired as the Education and Employment Services Coordinator at the Yukon Council on Disability. I started today. There are three people in the office. Similar type of place and purpose as the Neil Squire Foundation except it is much smaller. There'll be a steep learning curve as the current ED is moving on to work as a Disability Employment Consultant with the Territorial government as of Thursday this week. After that, I'll be on my own with one other employee until the new ED starts in September.

We finally got a chance to look at some places. Nothing really too impressive but there are a few options. We should know more by the end of the week.

Luckily we are getting dogified because everyone and their dog has a dog around here.

Northern Lights

2004-08-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

This is my first entry...I have been sticking to the paper and pen journal. Anyway, I know that this blog is for relaying our northern experiences but I can honestly say that I can't find the words to describe what I witnessed last night.

The lights gave us a spectacular show. Being that it was our first time seeing the northern lights, my neck is still suffering whiplash.

I remember how, on our first day here, someone said that the lights really do dance for you. I just flashed a polite smile and went on my merry way thinking that the "dancing" was most likely a result of all the booze, cigarettes, and coffee consumed by these damn locals.

However, last night, almost completely free of the above substances (you can't say no to a drink here, otherwise a double gets poured!), I witnessed the intricate dance of the northern lights. Just after midnight, when it was almost "dark" I looked up from the music sheet (we were jamming with tom and karen's newfie neighbour --a story for jole to tell) and saw a glowing strip of green in the sky. Being almost completely sober, I was certain that I was having my first northern lights experience. And that it was. The dark blue sky, navy clouds, and bright stars were an excellent back drop for the glowing green. I watched the strips of green until they started moving....it was absolutely amazing. I would have stayed up all night watching them if it hadn't been so cold and the night before our team event (tom, joel and i competed in the marsh lake duathlon today!! came second despite my poor showing in the run).

I just realized that I have written so much and really haven't described the lights at all! The best way that I can described them for now is this: imagine all the swirls in a van gogh painting (starry night) and then slowly move those swirls all around...or maybe imagine a weather report when they play the doplar radar thing that shows the weather systems moving in and out---well, the lights move like all those clouds on the screen do! that was a lame attempt...to be continued.

I must be off as we are on our way to look at some more places to live. We have 3 to look at today so hopefully something will pan out. I have to go drag Joel out from the woods as he is on yet another wood gathering mission with tom (the man is obsessed with gathering wood for the winter). I am sure that Jole will update you on the wild party we had here last night as well as the bike-run-bike race we had today.

Bye for now, Sarah

toe jam

2004-08-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

jole is an official member of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club. you likely have no idea that that means do you? neither did jole until last week when tom suggested that consuming the "sourtoe cocktail" MUST be done if we went to Dawson City. It was done.

last weekend we took a 5 day trip to Kluane National Park, Alaska, and Dawson City. We camped at beautiful Kathleen Lake in Kluane, in the middle of a forest fire near Tok Alaska, and on the banks of the Yukon River in Dawson. We visited Chicken Alaska. We saw burls and burl bowls and burl ashtrays and burl candle holders and more burls in burwash landing and every other town in the middle of nowhere. We concluded that burls are a Yukon/Alaska...northern traditional art and craft (apparently elsewhere too). burls are large growths that look like giant warts on the sides of spruce trees. We could have bought our very own peeled, varnished and polished burl the size of a basketball for about $90. we know what we're getting all our friends and family for christmas.

and what is the sourtoe cocktail club you ask?? yes indeed...the sourtoe cocktail club is an exclusive club of now 17100 individuals who have visited Dawson since 1973 and consumed a beverage with a severed, preserved toe in it. yes, a real live (well, dead) toe. The toes have been donated by people far and wide. Rumor has it that one of the toes belongs (belonged) to a guy who works at the hardware store in town. At the Downtown Hotel bar in Dawson the "captain" gets to choose between 5 severed, shriveled toes to place in your drink. There is one mega-huge big toe, and four smaller little piggies. To get officially inducted into the "club" you must consume the drink and have the toe or toes actually touch your lips. jole went a step farther to ensure his induction but clenching one of his "toes" between his teeth for a couple seconds. sarah has the photo documentation. tom and jole now have lovely frameable certificates to validate their manhood.

jole's still not sure of exactly the significance of the sourtoe cocktail club, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. It could have been worse, much worse......much, much worse. There is now the dogball hi-ball beverage. Yes, it involves canine testicles. yes, testicles. And yes, it is based out of Dawson City. What is it with that place?! Check out the background and hilarious discussion amongst the pet-people.

Another job interview this week for jole at the Yukon Council on Disability. Sarah is now on the sub list in the Whitehorse school district. A place has been tough to find but we're still looking. Donations to the jole and sarah downpayment fund can be made directly to us.

that's all for now. we hope everyone is well.

j&s

p.s. when you comment, who are you?

whitehorse

2004-08-08T23:49:00.000-07:00

...enough about fresh figs. We arrived in Whitehorse on Saturday at about 3:30pm, just in time for Tom and Karen's deck party. Karen is my cousin, and she and her partner Tom have been living in the Yukon since last summer. We're staying with them until we can locate suitable living quarters. They hosted a "deck party" to celebrate the completion of their beautiful new deck. We pulled in and had a few beer while we met some of their friends.

The trip went well. Over 4 days of driving, and on only a few occasions did we nearly kill each other in the tight, cramped quarters of the truck. The trip was actually quite stunning, particularly the scenery along the cassiar highway. We stopped for a two night layover at the cabin in Lac la Hache, where we spent time with Emily, Moe and Doug, Jane, mom, and grandma. We have some great photos of my 94 year-old grandma "touring" the lake at 40 miles an hour in the boat! I'll get those up on here some time once we have our computer set up and I figure how to post photos.

After the lake it was three nights in Kitimat where we spent some time with the Slaninas - all of them [edit: not nearly all of them!] These connections come from the 70's when my mom worked in Kitimat, [edit: as what I thought was a Frontier Apostle, but I stand corrected!] teaching at the local elementary school. We stayed with the ever hospitable Paul and Arleigh and were able to spend some time with their daughter Veronica and her family as well as the extended Slanina clan...and believe me when I say there's lots of them. We toured the Alcan smelter and saw the town. Quite an interesting place, if you ever get a chance to visit, do.
It was really nice to be in the middle of such a tight knit community, lots of family and kids around. The people we met were absolutely among the most genuine people I have ever met. Thanks Paul and Arleigh for having us stay with you! (I think we still owe you a few more visits!)

From Kitimat, we drove the Cassiar Highway which was one of the most spectacular drives. This was the part of the trip that we had planned to bike. We still (or at least I still??) plan to come and ride this road, but for now it's not to be. We saw a bear and a moose and an amazing change from coastal forest to the northern boreal forest of black and white spruce. The high alpine in the Spatsizi/Edziza parks area was spectacular.

We crossed the Yukon border to the familiar strains of Johnny Cash on the tapedeck singing "Don't Take Your Guns to Town". Once we hit the Alaska Highway, we started making some serious time. We haven't actually been to Whitehorse proper yet as Ken and Tom [edit: I mean Karen and Tom!]live about 60km southeast of town at Marsh Lake. We plan to visit the big smoke tomorrow.

I've got a job interview tomorrow for a position as program coordinator with the Whitehorse Youth Centre Society and Sarah is planning to visit the school district sometime this week. Until then it's beers on the new deck.

ode to the fresh fig

2004-07-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

What looks like raw hamburger, grows on a tree and tastes sweeter than a bowl of chocolate frosted sugar bombs? Yes my friend, fresh figs. Last weekend I discovered fresh, ripe figs on the huge fig tree out back at our place in Vancouver. Our landlords, greek, planted this thing when when they bought the house and now every summer (particularly the hot, sunny ones) this tree bears the sweet bounty of plump juicy figs. A fresh fig extravanza! You must try it out.

Find a tree. Pick a slightly yellow, mushy one. Split it open and suck the raw-hamburger-looking inards out so that the juices run down your face.

If the inards look like hamburger that's really "off" then you have found an especially tasty treat. The mushier the better. mush on.

Packing

2004-07-22T23:37:00.000-07:00

Moving sucks. Why is it that no matter how early you start packing for a move you still are behind the eightball with a week to go and no boxes left? I'm moving to Whitehorse.

There are shitloads of stuff spread around our apartment. Where did all this stuff come from? And how are we going to fit it all into the truck?

the first one

2004-06-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

here goes.

my first blog post. we'll see how it goes as I attempt to keep friends and family up to date and interested in our move to the yukon and the misadventures stemming from said move.