BACK IN YELLOWKNIFE WITH FAMILY

Our grandchildren, Cassity, 14 and Eli, 12.

Our youngest daughter Heather

A great view of Great Slave Lake with 2 of my favourite people.

We drove up to Yellowknife 2 days after Karen's wedding.  After the first day of driving we ended up at the Alberta/NWT border where we spent the night.  We woke up in the morning to a record low on July 15 of 4 degrees, youch! We crossed the new bridge across the Mackenzie River for the first time. Yellowknife is no longer cut off at spring breakup having year round access by road.

On the road from the bridge we passed a number of bison on the road.  Thankfully none of them decided to cross the road while we were driving by, they are big creatures. 

We have been very busy meeting old friends and spending time with our grandchildren.  The other day we met the kids down at the basketball court, after a fairly sedate game of horse we decided to try out Eli's new soccer ball.  I haven't seen Barry move so fast in over a decade, he was running around like he was a 40 year old.  I got the ball and slowed the game down to a slow trot so Barry and I could walk the next day.  Eli's ball control was amazing and his athletic ability shone as he ran up and down the field. 

                          

Today we took them out to Reid Lake, about an hour's drive east north east of Yellowknife.  We borrowed a canoe (thank you Lorraine and Paul) and had a great day out on the water.  We paddled across to a set of rapids, it had been about 20 years since we had been there, 

Girl power, three generations under a canoe. 

did a short portage and then caught two jacks as we paddled around the area below the rapids. 

If you look closely at the end of the line you can see that there is a fish at the end of the line. It was a very small jack fish which we let go.  

I had a great time paddling around in the waves below the falls, once when I did it I didn't time it quite right and got a little sideways.  The kids were a little freaked when the canoe rocked a bit but I didn't dunk anyone this time around. 

Here, Barry is being a Good Samaritan. This guy must have got hung up on this curb and his front bumper was hanging off on one side.  Barry used a pair of pliers try and pull the rest of the bumper off, another fellow came by with a leatherman and lent a hand and the two soon had the bumper off.  The fellow who owned the car was using a cane so Barry figured he wouldn't be able to help.  

This is our buddies Ian and Helen's boat.  They bought it in San Diego and trucked it up to Yellowknife.  It has spent the last four years in this shed being metamorphosed from a tired old boat into a thing of beauty.  The shed was made out of fibreglass insulation and they just cut the sides apart and a crane lifted the parts of the shed down.  The amount of work they have done is unbelievable, we just hope they have many years of pleasure sailing her.

Here is a piano that has been in our family for at least 60 years being transferred into the house where Heather is living.  We would like to thank Ian and Helen for storing it at their place over the last five years. Having it out of the way is just one more hurdle they have cleared on their path to the west coast. I hope Heather enjoys the music that she can make on that wonderful instrument. 

We have another week in Yellowknife and hope we can continue to make connections with old friends throughout the week.  Send me a message at ann_lange@yahoo.com if you are in town and would like to see us.