Fort Simpson, NWT, Canada

Now that I have returned to a location with a reasonable internet connection, be prepared to receive a gigantic update. Also, kudos to the northern communities for having internet connections in the strangest places.

On December 27, 2009 I drove my little car from Saskatoon to Edmonton to catch a plane up north once again. I got to Edmonton a little early and was able to spend some time with the lovely Mrs. Stone (who also graciously took me to the airport). Once I got to the airport I realized it was going to be a fun night. The airport was fairly chaotic, there was fog and multiple delays as people were once again trying to handle the new security measures. My flight was one of the few that boarded on time, but then we waited almost an hour to be defrosted.

After landing in Yellowknife, it started to become painfully obvious that I was getting sick. I did my best to fight off the disease for a few days before the real fun started, but alas, it didn't work.

My next mini-journey was with Sue to Fort Simpson to pick up one Ms. Laurie Awesome. We got into Laurie's place a little late because of some necessary late night photography (which was unreal because of the nearly full moon). Once we got into Fort Simpson, I met a few more people as well, Boris and Julia. After some quick introductions, some camera talk and some YouTube we drove down to the bar for a few bevvies. Little did we know that there was a potential conflict there. In the end, I had to pretend that I was dating both Sue and Laurie to help save ourselves from further hostilities. We survived just fine though. The trip to the bar wasn't even close to a lost cause as we were able to produce the creation of individual trucker names for all our traveling party, I also completely lost of my voice as I decided to speak in my southern accent for part of the night.

The next morning, we all slowly packed our things up and took off on the road to Muncho Lake, BC. Along the way we decided to stop off and let of some steam. Apparently up here that means shooting a gun. This was a first for me and it was awesome.


Also, on the drive I was taking more and more photos that try to capture how beautiful the north really is. After about 10 hours on the road, we finally reached our destination of the Northern Rockies Lodge.

The next day proved to be quite the adventure. We woke up and decided that we would go swimming in the Liard Hot Springs. This sounds like a great idea, until you realize that they are outdoors, there's no heated change rooms, and it's -31. None the less, we went for a swim and manage to get all our things together and get back to our warm vehicle before freezing to death. My wet clothing that I had to take off became a solid block of ice by the time we returned to the lodge.


The next adventure for us was to snow-shoe across Muncho Lake before dinner. This was no problem and provided many more photo ops for me.

The lodge we were stating at also put on a nice NYE party as well. There were 7 guests in the place, and we were treated to appetizers, drinks and dinner. Following dinner, we decided it would be a good idea to go sit in the wood-burning sauna. This was unbelievably hot, and every time you poured more water on the rocks, it felt like it was burning the inside of our lungs. In an attempt to cool off, I went for a quick jog outside, down to the lake to complete the coldest snow angel of my life.

After that we returned inside for dessert, then went back outside for the final countdown to New Years around a massive bonfire on the lake. After that I went back out into the middle of the lake to check out the Blue Moon. Quite the evening.

Along the way, we've also seen tons of wildlife, some of which I was able to capture (in pictures).

The next morning, everyone was in rough shape for various reasons (Sue=hungover, Laurie=sick, Gibby=sleep deprived), but we made it back to Fort Simpson in one piece. Here's to a Happy New Year and more adventures that are as fun as this one was.

Yellowknife, NWT, Canada

There's no typo in the heading for this post. I am once again in Yellowknife. So much for sticking to the script.

I decided last minute (ok, last second) to cancel my journey to Whitefish with my family to instead go somewhere nice and toasty (-28 today!), like Yellowknife. It may not seem like the smartest plan, but it's been a great trip and looks like it's only going to get better. Anyways, we are taking a journey today to Fort Simpson, NWT and then to Muncho Lake, BC for a few nights (including New Years). Barring some unforeseen wifi, posts will be non-existent for a few days until I return to civilization.

Sorry for not having any pictures for you today. I'll have more for you after the next journey.

Saskatoon, SK, Canada

The 'holidays' have concluded and my first stop in Saskatoon will be ending shortly. I spent a nice relaxed Christmas with my immediate family, and will my dad's side of the family.

I spent some time watching Canada embarrass some unsuspecting junior hockey team from Latvia. It was nice to be back watching international for the first time in 20 years.


Next stop on my world journey, after much discussion, will be to Whitefish, MT. Just like I had originally planned. I know there had been talk about some crazy places like Cuba, Vegas, Seattle, etc. Sorry to let you down. I'll try to keep it a little more interesting in the future. I leave you tonight with a Saskatchewan sunset as compensation. Enjoy

Saskatoon, SK, Canada

After a quick stopover in Sherwood Park, AB, I have said my final goodbyes to my previous life and I'm now moving onto more adventures. It's been hard to grasp the gravity of my decisions and the potential repercussions, but I believe that I made the right decisions, and hopefully I'll never look back.

My first stop is to visit with my family in Saskatoon for the holidays. I arrived on Dec 22, across some sketchy highways on some sketchier tires. I've been hanging out with family and friends ever since and will continue to do so until Boxing Day. My little homeless adventure is currently being graciously supported by my sister and her family.

The current plan for my next trip is to travel to Whitefish, MT, USA with most of my family. That being said, there is currently some work going on behind the scenes to sabotage (don't worry, I'm fine with it) my involvement in a trip to Whitefish. Until I learn some more, that's all I can divulge. Stay tuned.

Sherwood Park, AB, Canada

My journey to the far north has now concluded and I have returned to Sherwood Park for a momentary stopover before continuing on my journey to the Motherland (SK). Before I came back to SP, I had another adventure filled day. I took a nice walk around downtown YK this morning because everyone else was stuck at work.

Later on in the afternoon, Brian and I got dressed up in the thickest jackets we could find and we went dog-sledding across frozen lakes and trails. We were both surprised to find out that we would both get to drive the sleds. Turns out it's a pretty easy skill to acquire.

My day finished with a nice dinner with Sue followed by some random driving around YK before begrudgingly heading to the airport. I definitely will need to plan a summer visit to the north. There is so much more to explore. I would like to thank Mother Nature for keeping the weather reasonable for my trip.

Yellowknife, NWT, Canada

Good evening everyone (and by evening, I mean it's 2:30am). I'm currently approaching my bedtime but I am due to provide an update on my first few days of travel. I have successfully managed to get myself into the territories for the first time. And so far I have been quite enjoying myself. This weekend I have been the house guest of the Coyne family who have been fabulous hosts. I always enjoy my time with my 'adopted' family. I got the first of many tours of Yellowknife on day 1 where I was able to the local wildlife and visit Pilots Monument to get a terrific view of Yellowknife.

YK is definitely different from anywhere I've ever been before. It has many quirks, like mostly above ground power lines (related to permafrost, I'm guessing) and peculiar speed limits.

Today (day 2), I successfully (I think) completed the task that originally brought me up here, which was to do family pictures. Generally I am against snow and winter, but it did make for some scenic family pictures.

And finally, tonight I was talked into going (ok, I wanted to go) on a journey to and from Hay River with Sue. This journey included flying from YK to HR, which meant we got to fly on Buffalo Airlines which is currently being featured on Ice Pilots NWT. This airline flies former WWII planes and they are awesome. The first thing we did after landing in HR was find our vehicle covered in 1cm of ice. I graciously took on the chivalrous task of excavating all necessary windows for the upcoming drive. After a quick stop for gas, energy drinks and Chinese food we drove around Great Slave Lake. All in all it was a 8 hour adventure with lots of photos, in-depth chats, and the renewal of friendship....and me looking like a creep.