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Brrrrr Leave Me Alone...
One thing we are learning is to take the "winterize your car" advice seriously. When we moved up here we had all kinds of things done to our car. Winter wipers, new snow tires, bought a set of chains, had a block heater installed along with a battery warmer, a good oil change... but we assumed that our battery would be fine. Sure it's a little old, but its never had any problems before, and we have the heater... apparantly this is not good enough.
This morning when I went to warm up the car to drive Lyndsay to work it almost never started. The car made that same sound that it does when the battery is pretty much dead, whining and turning over very slowly... then it fired up. I have a feeling our old battery doesnt really like living up here in Dease Lake. Batteries up here, I can only assume would be, very expensive. As a result, we are going to see how long we can get this one to last. At Christmas time when we are on the Island visiting family we'll pick up a new one - assuming this one lasts that long.
So my word of advice - when you winterize your car to move up here, be sure you have a good battery. If you have to buy one here, you'll be spending a pretty penny as freight is not cheap when you are 7 hours away from anywhere.
Cold, Cold, Warm?, Cold...
Over the past month or so, seldom has the temperature reached 0 degrees C, It has typically been hovering around the -10C mark, with dips into the -20C range. Last week, the jetstream went up into the Yukon, and the high pressure brought insanely warm temperatures to Dease Lake. On wednesday it reached more than 11C! We also had a string of days with the temperature above freezing, hovering around 5C. Today, we are back to -21. (It's suppose to reach -26 tonight).
Most of the snow is all gone now, but I am sure it wont take long for it to return. According to the weather network, it is suppose to be sunny until friday, when we will start to see snow again. As I have seen over the past 6 weeks, the weather network is hit and miss, at least when it comes to forcasting weather in Dease Lake, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Whitehorse and a Bunch of Firsts
This last weekend was a weekend of many firsts for me. On Friday morning we woke up nice and early, around 5:30, and headed North to Whitehorse. Never in my live would I have thought we would be traveling to Whitehorse for the weekend. Chad, our neighbor, friend, and Lyndsay's co-worker came along - or maybe we went with him? It was our idea to go, but we took his truck, as our car would have been far too small for the three of us and all the junk we were bound to buy.
On the way up, shortly after crossing the 'welcome to the Yukon' sign, we stopped at a small cafe at Junction 67, right at the Alaska Highway, and had one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time. Great food, great people - I am still trying to get used to how friendly everyone in the North really is. It was a nice break from the drive, but we still had several hours left.
We saw, and tragically killed, some wildlife on our way up. The deaths included 4 small birds stopped on the road for gravel, and one larger bird off the windshield. Five birds in a 3 hour span - must be some kind of record. We did manage to see an Elk, unfortunately it was laying on the side of the road - no live elk this trip, however, along the way there and back, we did see some live animals, including 4 owl's, 2 moose, and a fox. This was my first time seeing a moose, as well as a fox.
The road was long and snowy, but there was a great deal of beautiful scenery, and some incredible mountains - and lots of snow. The snow was quite different than the west coast snow I am used to. On Vancouver Island the snow is very wet and heavy, here, because of the cold, the snow is dry and light. In Whitehorse it was almost like cotton. You could see the individual snow flakes and make out their exact shape. The snow didn't stick to anything, and simply blew off the car without any trouble.
Whitehorse is a small, beautiful city. I hear around a population of 60,000, but do not have any exact figures on that. During our stay we drove up to Takhini Hot Springs, about 30 km north of town. For me this was my first time to any hot springs in the winter. I had visited Radium, but that was in August - no -15C weather that trip. Here at Takhini, it was interesting to have such cold weather and be swimming out side, but certainly something I would do regularly if it were easily accessible to Dease Lake.
The main goal for this trip was shopping, and did we ever do a lot of that. We mostly bought food, and most of it came from the Walmart. Prices in Dease Lake are very expensive, so whenever possible we stock up when out of town. Between the three of us we managed to practically fill the back of Chad's truck. While most of it was food there were office supplies, clothing, and a bunch of miscellaneous junk.
This trip included a number of firsts for me. Saw my first Moose, and fox (and elk, even though it wasn't moving much). First time in the Yukon (and obviously Whitehorse), first time in the hot springs in the winter, and also the first time experiencing -15 degree weather. (While I do expect to far exceed that in the coming months.) It was also the first time I had seen this cotton like snow. Overall it was a great trip, and I am sure we will make it again - in the late spring after the snow starts to melt.
Fishing in the Stikine
Today was a great day. A group of guys and myself went out to spend the day fishing on the Stikine for steelhead. We managed to spot several large fish, but none took the hook. This was my first time freshwater fishing. I have gone saltwater fishing countless times, but never fresh. We spent most of our time at a spot just past the halfway point between Dease Lake and Telegraph Creek at a little one way bridge.
Before moving here the coldest temperature that I can remember experiencing was somewhere around -5. Today, pretty much all day, it was between -10 & -13. Very cold, but nothing compared to what lies ahead. The cold temperatues made from some interesting fishing. Casting with bulking gloves on was one thing, but keeping the lures thawed was impossible. After a couple of casts the lures were coated with a nice layer of ice - no wonder the fish weren't biting!
New Truck Stop in Dease Lake
Monday night before the Trick-or-Treaters came a knockin' we decided to try out a new restaurant that just opened. This new truck stop now makes for 2 eating establishments here in Dease Lake, but only 1 that is open. The other, the Norway Restaurant, is closed for the season.
For the life of me I can't seem to recall the name of the new eatery, but one thing I do remember is the burger I had. It was probably one of the best burgers I have ever had at a resturant, and it was incredibly simple. Homemade patty, with all kinds of spices and stuff in it, bacon, Mozza, and BBQ sauce. Very simple, Very good!
When we got home, around 6ish, the kids started coming around. This is the first year that we have actually lived in a place that was popular for the kids. In previous places we were either in an appartment or a basement suite, so very few kids found their way to our place, this year being in a house for the first time, we had several. So many, that for the first time we ran out of candy and had to shut out the lights! This was a first for us.
Halloween also brough out a fireworks show here in Dease Lake, and I must say I was very surprised. We assumed it would be some small pidly show so we never bothered going. Sitting around in the house we started to hear the bangs of fireworks and looked out our front window. They were huge! Of course not to the quantity that you would see in places such as Victoria, but the same calibre of quality. Had we any idea that they would have been as good as they were, we certainly would have gone for the show. For a small town like Dease Lake, I was quite surprised to see such a good show (at least what I could see from our hose).
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