Nesting

Moving to Mt Lorne has been such an exciting adventure already, and we are still just moving in and getting to know the place. Coming home to this place feels like being on vacation, and I have a little feeling of disbelief that I actually get to stay here for a while.

I have gone from being a mass transit commuter in Toronto, to a 15 second walk to work from the hospital residence, to a 30 minute drive along the Carcross Rd and Alaska Hwy! Today was my first day to drive alone to work (which will hopefully soon change to participating in a neighbourhood carpool). It was kinda exciting to drive by myself, and the mountain ranges and endless boreal forest has not ceased to amaze me yet. My drive consists of one stop sign, one round-about, one bridge and a mix of gravel and paved road. The Carcross Rd is under re-surfacing right now, so it is pretty gravelly and dusty. While we were moving our stuff here on Saturday, we got a nice little chip in the windshield. That's a Yukon drive for you.  We have not seen any more caribou around here since our first visit to Mt Lorne, but today the sky was smoky and the smell of fire was in the air. The CBC news was saying that there are 17 fires in Yukon this morning, and closest ones are in Watson Lake, where we visited on our way to Whitehorse and snowshoed through the signpost forest. and chatted up that trucker dude... I wonder how he's doing!

Inside our place in Mt Lorne

It's fantastically incredibly wonderful here. And that's an understatement! There is lots of old silvery wood around outside- a deck outside the back door, an old table on the deck. And flowery purple lichens that we've never seen before. Also, a shower with two heads, and a few grouse feathers on the grass outside! And home made shelves out of rough-hewn wood in the back room. The house is made up of a small room that the front door opens into, a big room with the kitchen area and a sofa area, a bathroom, a bedroom and a back room with the furnace and washer and dryer. There's a BBQ on the back deck, and lots of nice places to sit. We picked up a screened tent shelter today, and will set it up soon. So far the mosquitoes are very interested in us, but haven't tried to harvest us yet. A screened spot to have dinner or hang out will hopefully keep them unaware of us for longer. There haven't been any car sounds, but lots of different bird calls.

Walking around slowly finding our things in the boxes has been such an interesting Saturday afternoon and evening. And Sunday morning now. It's given us feelings of deja vu, and reminding us of the fun time we had living with Bill and Suanne in March. We seem to have done a good job packing- the only casualty has been a lightbulb (not sure why we packed those, exactly).

We started off the day with a bike auction at the Takhini Arena

Settled, unsettled

Hello down there!

We have had some blog stories to tell you lately that have just stayed in the 'draft' spot of the blog, and in the spirit of yet another clean-up-our-stuff-and-pack-and-move period coming up this weekend, here are some things we wanted to share:


Here are some pictures of the new residence of Whitehorse General Hospital. We're moving out on Saturday morning, after we attend a bicycle auction at a local arena. We will probably be sleeping in Mt Lorne on Saturday! And then adopting a sled dog on Sunday (I wish!)

Weekend jaunt to Alaska

Whew, that was a lot of photos to caption! Here is a story of our weekend visit to Alaksa:

You are invited to view Lauren's photo album: Weekend in Alaska

Weekend in Alaska May 22, 2011 by Lauren View Album Play slideshow

Message from Lauren:

Get comfortable, this is ~75 photos long :)

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We had a great time, and are really happy for this long-weekend day off to relax. As Mom put it, we're working on our next adventure, 'The Move to Sledding Country' some time this week or next weekend.

Happy Victoria Day,
Lauren and Colin 

Mid-week news

We are enjoying some fantastic weather here lately- sunny and warm (although a bit windy). There is a rumour going around that summer might be early this year, but people are quick to remind each other that it has snowed here in mid-June, so we're just enjoying the sun a day at a time.

Whitehorsians just decided yesterday that we would rather keep the old city logo over adopting a new design, which is just fine with me:

Putting down roots all over the place!

We are enjoying the last few hours of an incredible week, with the late-evening sun shining brightly through the windows, and a tasty Sunday meal in our bellies. We are both really enjoying the ritual of writing about our adventures, and love to get your notes and comments. You don't feel so far away!

This week has seen us move from the Gulag (the local name for the old hospital residence) to the new building (we have heard it called the Shan-gri-la), which gave us a working oven, and a million-dollar view of the Yukon River and the mountain ranges along the west of Whitehorse. We're living in style for another 2 weeks, then we're moving to Mt Lorne to live among the black spruce! It can now be called 'official', since the landlord gave us a signed contract. We met with Drew and Kelsey (the current tenants) at the house and arranged to take over their PO box, phone, and most of their furniture. They didn't seem to mind our joke that we were taking over their lives, and even gave us good advice about hiking trails nearby :)

Photos from yesterday's hike

Good Morning and happy Monday,

This is a bit of an exciting day. We are expecting to see our two skids of Toronto possessions for the first time since early March. We will report back later when we know how well it traveled.

But until then - here is a link to some of the photos we took on yesterday morning's hike. It was a beautiful day very comfortable temperatures (+2 to +10) and great direct sun.

Hope you enjoy the shots.

You are invited to view Lauren and Colin's photo album: Sping Hike to Long Lake - May 8, 2011

Sping Hike to Long Lake - May 8, 2011 May 9, 2011 by Lauren and Colin View Album Play slideshow

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Lots of Good News from the North

Happy Saturday everyone, and if you're in the Yukon, Happy Spring, cause we think it has finally arrived. Although we have seen shrinking piles of snow and beautiful little streams coming off the hills and mountains from the melt, it doesn't look like spring until you see fresh green growth - and since about Wednesday, we have seen fresh green growth! Last week we reported the prairie crocus started to pop up out of the cold ground on the sunny southern slopes and since then they have taken over. We

Light sleepers

This is what what it looks like to try to fall asleep at 10.30pm in Whitehorse these days:

 

Yukon Classifieds, something for everyone

We have been following the political excitement tonight (and tried to wrap our heads around the idea of having a cage-fighter for Yukon's Member of Parliament!), so have no interesting stories to tell. But on a positive note it looks like will have a Rouge National Park or maybe it will be called the Conservative Party National Park.  But your not interested in our political views we bet you want to hear about what is in the classifieds in the Yukon News:

LOST: SET of moose antlers from Shipyards Park

WANTED: TO borrow a moosehide dress for high school graduation. Sz 18. Nd by June 1st

Well, that was a nice weekend. Good weather, some interesting things, lots of time to relax and refocus for next week. We were in town both days, and we did things ranging from reading a hunting magazine picked up at a trade show, to a newly formed weekly Sunday afternoon visit to Baked Cafe on Main St. Last Sunday's treat was an oatmeal date square for me, and today I went for a spelt raspberry pecan scone. I can't wait to live somewhere with a working oven! I also started the first steps of a 10km running program, and we had a pretty nice Vietnamese pho dinner on Friday night.