A Week of New Things

I am back from a truly wonderful vacation. I spent the time with Cynthia having a blast and having all sorts of new experiences.

If you don't mind I'll share these with you along with some photos.

So sorry that there's no horse related material.

#1. Experience -37 delicious. 

The first day there was bitterly cold and I can honestly say that I have never been out in such cold. Despite that we bundled up and went to watch the start of the Yukon Quest Dog Race. The teams race for 1,000 miles. I can't even imagine doing such a thing.

Cynthia and Renata putting a brave face on the cold

the dogs were flying

I was okay for a bit and then all of my exposed skin was feeling like it was being peeled off. We fled to the car and home. We then headed out for brunch and then drove down the highway to catch some more dog teams. 

Fortunately, the rest of the week was much warmer: -12 to -20 most days. 

#2. Trying New Foods:

I tried a bison burger and it was delicious. Like amazing delicious. Like the best burger I have had in a long time. And I am fussy about my meat. I rarely like game (absolutely loathe deer). 

I also tried Elk sausage which was made at a local deli and was really good as well. I did not have one bad meal on my whole trip. 

I also highly recommend that potato & bacon soup

#3.  Blowing Glass:

Cynthia took me to Lumel Studios to see their artwork. It is a funky little place in downtown Whitehorse. Turns out that they do workshops. So I found myself signing up for an hour to make some items. It was so much fun. I could see myself getting into this quite easily (like I need another expensive hobby). 

Cynthia had this gift waiting for me- a white horse from Whitehorse.
It's a example of their beautiful art work

I made three things: a hanging ball, paperweight and a wine glass (it has a thumb holder)

#4. Curling

Curling is not a new thing. I have been doing it for years (you know- the sport on ice with brooms and rocks). In fact I got Cynthia and Andrew into it a few years ago. They joined the Whitehorse Curling Club and needed a spare the week I was there. It was a lot of fun- the club is lovely and the people are fun. 

But what was more exciting was that we scored 8 points in one end. This is a big deal in curling. It means that all of the rocks from our team scored in that end. Think of it like a hole in 1 in golf (only more rare) or getting a dressage score in the 90's. A curler can go their whole life and not score 8 points in one end. 

 I stole this picture from the FB page for the club. 

We had our picture taken and the details are submitted to Curling Canada for awards. It was all very exciting. 

#5. Hike to a Glacier

I have a whole blog post about this hike but it was stunning. And hard. Really hard. 

But beautiful. 

#6. Dog Sledding! 

I honestly never thought that I would ever do this. We went to Alayuk to do a 2 hour dog sledding through some beautiful scenery. When we arrived they supplied us with the winter clothes to be safe. My driver was this young and very handsome frenchman. 

When he said " come to the back room and I will get you the clothes you need' I looked at him and said 'Sure you can dress me'. Proving, once again, that I can be really awkward even at my, ahem, mature age. 

The dogs were beautiful and well trained. Two of the dogs in my sled were going to the Iditarod dog race. 

ready to go

The patriarch, named Willow. I loved him- he had such presence

at break time some dogs were impatient

while others relaxed and enjoyed some attention

I got to actually drive these beautiful creatures. That was quite the experience. 

I actually took this while being a passenger. 

 It would be fun to try with Guinness but we simply don't get enough snow. 

#7. Hot Springs

No photos but hot springs are wonderful things. It's amazing how mellow you feel after soaking in these. It took all the pain out of sore muscles (that come from trying these things). 

#8. Northern Lights

I did get to see the Northern Lights. Not the really fabulous ones but still it was cool. Trying to get photos was interesting (i.e, hard). 

There were other things I did (like the wildlife preserve, shopping, exploring).  I fell in love with Whitehorse. It was beautiful and everywhere you went there was something to do. Ed and I are going back in September and will be doing some new things (like paddling the yukon river). 

Honestly, if you have a chance, go. You will not regret it. 

I know I'm glad that I went.