December, the Yukon, and Lisa's 50th Birthday
December was a whirlwind month. The first of the month started with getting the tree up when Hadley was home for the weekend. I always love the tree up, the lights make my heart happy. Plus the Christmas train and tree. Among other ornaments that fill a special place in my heart, I just love the warmth Christmas decor brings.
After that, Brian travelled for work for a week, and when he got back, he worked from home while I spent a week with Brian's mom while she had a procedure done. Since I took the train to be with her in Kitchener, that weekend Brian came to pick me up as well as Hadley as she was now off for Christmas break and we enjoyed the extended Verkley Christmas at Tina's.
After we got home, we finished packing and we all went to the airport to head to Dawson City Yukon for Brian's sister Lisa's 50th birthday. We took Easton out of school a week early.
We flew from Toronto to Vancouver, then Vancouver to Whitehorse.
At the Airport Chalet in Whitehorse, our cold weather gear that we pre-ordered was waiting for us, so we tried it all on and only a few pieces needed to be traded in for difference sizing. Before our flight the next morning, we arrived at 10 am to exchanged our cold weather gear at The Base Outdoor Rentals and they were amazing to deal with. Highly recommend. They even threw in free neck warmers.
Amazing to me...While in the taxi, we noticed it was still dark outside as we looked at Christmas lights on display.
While we waited at the Airport for the prop plane to take us to Dawson City we managed to see Garbage Truck Santa drive past the airport. He is apparently famous in the area. His truck is decked out in a million lights and he dresses like Santa as he drives around.
Getting on our third flight, the Air North prop plane to Dawson City had fantastic food, and service for approximately 15 passengers. The plane was mostly cargo for the two stops after Dawson. Supplies and food in bins. The plane felt different. Like you were sitting on lawn chairs and it was cold and loud, but somehow you felt safe.
When we arrived in Dawson, Lisa and Jeff picked us up from the airport and drove us to their house where their friend Tarie had made a welcome package for our family. Snacks, games and and so much welcome love.
Before dark, we got all our outdoor gear on for the first time and went to take their dog Hank for a walk. Lisa and Jeff's house had a beautiful set of Christmas lights. Our first real experience with -40 C. We walked past the Mammoth made by local artists, we walked past the Klondike and my lashes had beautiful snow/frost. I was was actually warm and I had to vent in order not to sweat. The snow was so crunchy!
I think our gear was rated to -73 C. We got the pro package that included a down jacket, liner down jacket, down pants, winter boots, down gloves, liner gloves, arctic style cap, and like I said before, they threw in a free neck warmer. I would again definitely highly recommend The Base Outdoor Rentals.
On the morning of Lisa's 50th birthday, we began by watching her open 50 wrapped gifts from her friend Janet. She loved it, and it took a while! Jeff made cakes with extra sprinkles for the party later that night where a group of their friends would join us after walking in the cold to their place. We enjoyed homemade pizza that night that Jeff was prepared for as the possibility and then eventuality of the pizza shop in town could not operate because the propane was too cold.
In their house, we learned that if you don't open certain cupboards at night, the pipes will freeze, and the neighbour even had their furnace go while we were there. We were kept warm with lots of firewood. Easton braved the spare room at the back of their house which I think got down to +8 but Easton sleeps hot, so he didn't mind at all. To note, he was in a -20 sleeping bag.
We went for a lovely hike behind Lisa and Jeff's house. Hadley and Jeff stayed back in the warmth while we wandered around. We saw tall trees, look outs and sun dogs, and again with -38C, we felt warm with our gear as we hiked and even had to vent in order to prevent sweating. That night for dinner, we had a full turkey dinner that Lisa won for her birthday. Well, Jeff put Lisa's name on the ballot, but his phone number, so they both won, plus we got to eat it so I think we won, but it was on Lisa's birthday, so Lisa won, and Jeff cooked. That night we drove around town looking for the 12 days of Christmas light displays. Some were easy to spot and some took some serious effort. Next we stopped to have dinner and we found one was hiding inside in the arena. We put our bids in for the best gingerbread house contest. My favourite was the kissing buildings gingerbread house. Jeff also drove us up to the Midnight dome to see the ice fog and the city below. We drove through town to see the Christmas tree at Minto Park. We saw Diamond Tooth Gerties which was closed for the season. The Dawson City General Store, the colourful Westmark Hotel, and the actual The kissing buildings.
The next day Lisa and I went out to get a few Christmas gifts that she still needed, and it was fun to see how they shopped... at the local tourist shops. Hmmmm, what touristy thing does my friend need for Christmas?
While lots of our time was indoors, Jeff also drove us across the ice bridge that went from Dawson to West Dawson that just opened that day and with our cold weather gear we were able to wander around for a little to investigate even when it was -41C.
We came back to their house to warm up and play some Scrabble, Balderdash and Magnetic games.
It was light out for a few hours each day. The sun was behind the mountain range for the entire time we were there. We had daylight just after noon until just before 4pm. Our evening walks past the Jack London museum and down by the water, my phone wasn’t sure it wanted to take photos in that temperature. Jeff and Hank set the pace but we were usually lagging behind. There were always more evening games in store with UNO and Yatzee.
Jeff was able to take Easton out on his sled, which I think was Easton's first ever snowmobile ride, and they braved the cold to Sunnydale Lookout.
After all the fun and games, we had one more sleep until it was time to head back to Whitehorse. That morning when we got up, Jeff let us know that there were finally northern lights. I had gotten up with him every morning in the quiet hour while the others slept all week but this morning I slept in for half an hour longer than normal. We had so many dark hours and no luck...So this morning as soon as he told me, I quickly went out side... and saw... basically nothing. Maybe a little green something but not like what he showed me from his phone photos just moments before. I have seen better from my backyard in southern Ontario. Better luck next time I guess. However, Jeff was such a sport and we quickly got everyone ready and headed to the dome with hopes they would come out for us. No such luck but we did get a beautiful sunrise. -44C. Both Lisa and Jeff had such great hospitality, but honourable mentions for the moose jerky that Easton enjoyed throughout our time there. Then it was off to the airport. Again, good food and service. Including samples of bison meat.
When we got to Whitehorse, Air Canada said -42 was too cold to fly. Our flight was cancelled. Maybe tomorrow. So we wandered around and ended up at the Baked Cafe where we had treats-that came with a cold weather discount, across from the Edgewater Hotel in Whitehorse that Air Canada put us up in.
Dinner out at Belly of the Bison. The restaurant in our hotel. It was 9C at Belly of the Bison (indoors) but by the end of the meal it was 11C in the restaurant. They almost closed because they couldn’t heat the restaurant but with full tables they stayed open. We enjoyed the elk and steak meals which were delicious! Plus we had a nice view of Christmas lights from inside the “warm” restaurant. Hadley and I shared a room with our own beds and Easton and Brian shared a room with their own beds. Thanks Air Canada.
We got to the airport in Whitehorse at 3:50am as requested by the airline. Air Canada still couldn’t fly since it was -44C. I don't know when they expected it to warm up through the night without any sun, but we arrived at 3:50am anyway. They then booked us on Air North as Air North has their own airport hanger and their plane was warm enough to fly. Air Canada's plane was just sitting outside in the cold. After spending all day travelling we arrived at Toronto Pearson just after midnight (the last trek Vancouver to Toronto on Air Canada) on Christmas Eve! We enjoyed much free food for all the inconveniences along the way.
We left Lisa and Jeff’s on the 21st arriving early morning on the 24th in Toronto. Time to get luggage, and head home. At 1:20am we arrived home... we are home for Christmas Eve!
Luckily most of the prep for Christmas was done in advance, who knows how that happened, but there were still some finishing touches that miraculously happened before the big day!
Christmas miracles. We even watched The Cat in the Hat Christmas as we have done every year.
Christmas morning was full of happiness, good food, and of course presents. I am not really sure how this miracle happened. But I am thankful.
The next few days were busy with the Vinen Christmas at my dads with our usual Chinese food, and oh so many snacks. The Verkley Christmas which was at our house, because why not cook a full turkey dinner with all the fixings.
December was so busy for us, this was also a mini birthday celebration for Jordan too. Then that night we drove to hockey but it was cancelled due to weather. We didn’t check before we left home because we were in GO mode, and it is never cancelled. However, this time it was. So back home we went.
The next day Easton picked a beautiful new guitar. We got him a gift certificate to pick out his own new guitar and he was eager to get it! I can’t wait to hear the music fill my house. Snow and beautiful sunrises and even deer on the hill filled the remainder of December. What a busy month.