Day 16 – June 20 – Taking the tour of Yellowknife, starting with Bullock's Restaurant in Old Town for lunch. HELLA expensive (it cost over $100 for two meals of fish, salad & fries, two bottles of beer and one vodka cooler), but it was well worth it! I had pickerel and Murray had Arctic Char. Mine was pan fried (mmmm), and Murray's was grilled. Arctic Char turns out to be rather like salmon! Not quite as good as Sockeye, but... maybe it was the grilling. I like my salmon like they did it waaay up in Bella Coola, BC (a trip a few years ago), in the Reserve. They bbqed it in tin foil, with butter & brown sugar. OH. My. GAWD it's decadently rich when done that way! Mmm. Getting hungry again! :-)
It was quite hot today. Up to 29C! My UV umbrella helped keep me in shade though, and with the breeze, it was definitely tolerable. If you know me, that's saying a lot. I don't 'do' heat, and i was fine!
Did some shopping... souvenirs, etc. Murray got a couple of tee-shirts, including one of 'Raggedy Ass Rd' in Old Town. And i was eyeing the parkas from 'Northern Transition' in the Centre Square Mall. They make the parkas there. I plan to buy one, come fall. They will custom make it for me... choose the colour, choose the fur... Nice. But expensive of course. Urgh. But you've GOT to have a warm parka! Might as well be 'artistic'! :-)
Day 17 – June 21 – It was quite hot today. Up to 29C! It's a heat wave and is the hot spot in all of Canada! I was grossly misinformed! The internet said that the average high in June here is 18C and the average high in July is 21C. Well, i guess if you average a blazing heat wave of one week, with the cold wet snow of the previous week, you'd GET that 18C average. My builder, Paul, DID warn me that it gets to 30C here. I just chose to ignore him because all the internet sites said the opposite! Grrr... Lol!
Today is Aboriginal Day! A civic holiday... most of the stores are closed, including Javaroma. No cafe mocha for ME today! So we checked out the festivities (run by the local Metis) in town. The parade (2 floats with people sitting on them, a couple of RCMP in red uniform and 3 drumming women) had not arrived yet for the fish fry to start, so we left for a drive towards the end of the road in the NWT and the festivities run by the local Dene.
We went to Little Cameron Falls (after a try for the big ones, but they took too long and it was too hot), and it was GORGEOUS! I'm SO glad we went! I hope i can get back to it again! A couple had set up a tent on the rock by the cascade (although i'm sure it wasn't actually 'allowed')... It would be incredible to be able to camp there! I took my tee-shirt off and basked in the sun in my bra (hey, it's just a less colourful bikini top!), and enjoyed the beautiful cascade. It would have been thundering over the spot i was sitting, a little earlier in the season, during the thaw! I wish i could see it when it freezes, but it would be rather difficult to do in the deep snow. *sigh*
Then back towards Yellowknife & the Yellowknife River Day Area where the other set of Aboriginal Day festivities were. It was 3:30 by now, and they were just starting! We got a plate of freshly caught & bbqed fish (the fish was MASSIVE!), and some musicians were just starting to play when we left.
We had to get back early to have a shower and meet Murray's old childhood/highschool/neighbour friend and his wife for dinner. His friend came up to Yellowknife with a 5 year plan. That was 27 years ago! Anyway, we had been trying to have Muskox for the last week, but nobody ever had any in stock! I chased down a restaurant (FINALLY) who DID have it (The Explorer Hotel), and we met Murray's friend there. Oh, it was REALLY good! Yum! Of course mine was blue rare... might as well have grabbed a knife and carved it off the beast when it was freshly killed! Mmm. Hehe. I hope i haven't disgusted TOO many of you! :-) Thankyou Al & Linda! It was INCREDIBLE!
Day 18 – June 22 - It was a rather tearful morning when we got up. It was the last time i'd see my BFF Moo for who knows HOW long! Although we weren't sure he would actually be able to leave anyway! There was a fire burning between here and the ferry, and the road had been closed yesterday and last night. Apparently it was to be opened at noon, so he thought he'd take a chance.
We met my friend who was nice enough to let me sleep on his couch, and dropped off my boxes and crap! MAN, it was WAY more than i realized! But then again, i brought a bunch of food too, including 6 big bags of almonds from Costco! I live on those things, and that will NOT last me the year!
Then off to our 'last' lunch together before he leaves. We went to the Museum's restaurant. It was nice.
And then... it was time to go. I had him drop me off in the park, because i didn’t want to be left on the sidewalk, blubbering away like a fool. As it was, i was a blubbering fool in the park instead! At least it was a BIT more private!
I couldn't believe he was driving away and leaving me there! Alone! In a strange city in the middle of NOWHERE! I really don't know if i can do this! I guess it depends on what happens. If i can find a room (there are NONE right now, and i'm feeling a bit panicky)... whether or not i can find a job (hopefully some will open up in September, when the summer people take off).
Well... he made it to his planned destination of Louis? Falls, to camp (i got some texts from him). Apparently there were fires burning by the side of the road still, but it was under control. So i know he's safe... at least for tonight!
And i officially start my time alone in Yellowknife. I honestly, at this point in time, don't know if i can handle it. We shall see what we shall see. This certainly is 'living in the now'! I have NO idea what tomorrow will bring!
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