|
Snowmobile - Woo Hoo!
Last night was my first time on a snowmobile.
Phil came by and picked me up, and we headed out along the trails down to Dease Lake (The Lake, not the town) to check the burbot set lines.
When we got to the lake Phil opened it up a bit, nothing much for him, but for me, it was crazy - like some amuzement park ride. We got up to around 55mph in about 1 or 2 seconds. Now for me, not being used to this, 55mph on a snowmobile is crazy fast! While it is nothing like the top speed of this monster sled, its still pretty damn fast when you have nothing around you.
We checked the set lines - no fish. Oh well. Covered up the holes, and Phil asked me if I wanted a go on the sled. I was hesitant, afterall, this would be my first time driving, and its a nearly brand new, and expensive machine. I couldnt believe how easy it was to drive. Hardly touched the gas and I was off - the acceleration is amazing. Its crazy what 110+ horsepower can do in a 900lb sled.
I drove around for a couple minutes, then headed back, loaded up, and we left for home.
Needless to say, that little bit of driving has got me hooked. I want one now! I am unlikely to ever get one, but thats alright, I can dream. :)
Alberta Trip and Northern Wildlife
Its been a while since my last post - figured it was time to write a little something.
Last week we took a trip to Wetaskiwin Alberta. On our way there, we left Dease Lake via the Northern route and took the Alaskan Highway to Dawson Creek. What a long day... We had heard that the drive would be anywhere from 12-16 hours. Well, we hit some terrible road conditions and ended up at the 15.5 hour mark. The drive though, was well worth it. We saw a ton of wild life! Lots of moose, countless caribou, and even a few buffalo! (as well as a ton of others like, foxes, eagles, etc). The scenery on this drive is incredible.
While in Wetaskiwin Lyndsay and I stayed with my mom. Was good to see her as it has been a while. We did the typical trip to West Edmonton Mall, and various shopping, and picked up some things we cant get in Dease Lake.
On the drive there we were reminded that our little Honda, while incredibly reliable, and overall a great car, just doesnt have any power. When it comes to passing, or even hills for that matter, it certainly lacks a little. We found ourselves talking quite a bit about getting a new car, and if we could or couldn't afford it. So - while in Alberta, we went up to a Mazda dealer and test drove a new Mazda 3 Sport. I have to say I loved it - the car had a ton of power, about the same gas milage as our honda, lots of cargo space etc. Certainly a car we would buy... so did we buy it? No... A few reasons here but the biggest was the trade in value on our car. The dealership offered us a max of $2500. I know for a fact that I could get between 6-7000 selling it privately. Because we were away from home, that gave me a day to sell it on my own, and I really didnt think it was possible to sell it in a day., so we decided to wait until the summer and see what happens then.
After the car idea fell through Lyndsay decided it was time to get a dog. Now, we've been talking about getting a dog for some time now, but I really wasnt all that excited about it - too much responsibilty when you want to go away, etc. Regardless, I agreed that we could go take a look. She saw an ad in the paper for some Shih-tzu Bichon cross puppies for $350. We drove down to take a look. These were suppose to be 10 week old puppies, but they were huge! I would say they had to be much older. Also their parents were not pure bread, they were also both crosses. These dogs were certainly not worth $350, so we walked. They were cute, but I am not paying $350 for just cute - besides, for $350 I want to enjoy the dog while its a tiny, clumsy puppy.
We were there for about 5 nights, and left for home on the Friday. The first day was a drive to Prince George. That trip through Jasper was incredible! It was my first time on the Yellow Head highway, and Jasper was simply amazing and included two huge herds of big horn sheep. On the west side of Jasper we hit a bit of a blizzard that slowed us down a bit, but nothing too extreme.
We arrived in Prince George around 2:00. Normally we would have continued on to Smithers or so, but we had booked a room at the Coast Hotel. What a great idea that was! Spent some time in the pool and hot tub, went out to The Keg for a great steak dinner, then back to the hotel to watch a movie, and hit the hot tub again. This was one of the nicest hotels we had stayed in, and with the Norther resident rate, cost us only $99! I think we'd certainly stay there again.
The next day we drove all the way home, took around the 12 hour mark. Nothing really eventful happened here, but our highway (the 37) had a stretch of a couple hundred km's that was sheer ice. Normally the road has compact snow and slippery sections, but this was crazy slippery. Had to go around 60 for at least an hour of it. What a pain when you are on a 12 hour drive!
We did make it home safe, and had a great trip. Lyndsay and I love living in Dease Lake, but it is certainly nice to get out of town every now and then!
Another Trip To Whitehorse
Never in my life did I expect that I would take a weekend trip to Whitehorse. I mean, whitehorse? Who goes there for the weekend? - but then I also never expected to live this far North either.
Well, this past weekend, Lyndsay and I headed North to Whitehorse for the second time. This trip didnt really have any reason behind it, just an excuse to get out of town for a bit. Didn't expect to have the adventure we did. (as minor as it was)
On the drive up, a couple of hours North of Dease Lake, we came across a herd of Caribou. There were probalby close to around 2 dozen of them hanging out in the road. Before we could get the camera out, they were long gone, off into the woods. In the middle of the road there was a piece of antler. We stopped and Lyndsay got out and took it. Not sure what on earth we are going to do with it, but we have it none-the-less.
Shortly after the herd of Elk, about 10 minutes South of Junction 37, there was a huge Semi in the ditch. Not sure why I am bothering to mention it, but it was interesting :)
We stopped to gas up at the Junction. Convieniently the station was out of gas! I asked the worker, and he said we could head towards Watson Lake for fuel, or heading North, the next station was about 60km's away. We had more than enough fuel to get that far, so didnt worry about it, and kept on our way. Turns out the next gas station was actually more like 100 km's down the road, AND it was closed for the season! We were still about 120 km's from Testlin, and running very low on gas! We did have a 1 gallon jerry can in the back of the car, but even with that, we figured, if lucky, we would have exactly enough gas to get to Testlin... and by the time we would get there, around 8:30pm, it would be very likely that the stations would be closed! Luckily for us, we had forgotten about Swift River, and the station there was open! Just under a quarter tank to go. No running out of fuel today!
When we decided to go to Whitehorse we had no idea that it was the Sourdough Rendezvous. Good thing we booked a hotel room in advance! This was a huge festival with snow carving, dog shows, street hockey, and more. Saturday afternoon, we even saw Rick Mercer filming for his show! At one point he asked the audience to do a 'wave' for the show. (We'll be at the end of the wave when it aires!")
The snow sculptures were incredible, but it was much too cold to say outside and enjoy them, at -30, we lasted only a short while. Long enough to take a look and eat a Caribou Smokie. :)
While in Whitehorse we took the time to head up to the hotsprings. One thing about Dease Lake that I really miss, is the lack of a pool. Heading out of town brings a welcome visit for a swim and a hottub.
Saturday morning we found out that the outlet we had the car plugged into didnt work! The car was a huge pain to start, and when it finally turned over, the throttle was stuck! Reving at around 4,000 rpm, I shut off the car and popped the hood. Manually I adjusted the throttle (with some effort, as it was frozen in place). Went back and started the car, this time revving it up past the red line. Whoops, turned it the wrong way. Quickly shut off the car, manually turned the throttle the opposite direction, fired it back up, and it was at a nice purr. We left the car running and went for breakfast accross the street. After an hour long warm up all was back to normal.
The trip home was relatively eventless, clear rods, beautiful day, and smooth sailing. When we hit about the same point on Highway 37, the same herd of Caribou was standing around on the road again. No time to get out the camera before they took off. Later on shortly down the road, we ran into a few more, this time we got a quick photo, even though it wasnt that great. Better than nothing though!
Looking forward to the next trip north!
|
