BRRRRRR.......

"Baby it’s cold outside"- if that song was written in the Yukon is would be called Baby-it is flippin freezing out- stay indoors or risk freezing to death. 

    We not only hit -40’s this past week in Ross River we almost got to -50. Moving from one of the warmest places in Canada to that has been a SHOCK to the system. Now- I did grow up in Ottawa so I am used to cold- but never that freaking cold in Nov!  The cold literally took your breath away any time you stepped outside. Needless to say we didn't do much outdoors. 

    My poor Pepper would dash outside for a quick pee and actually hopped from paw to paw to keep them warm. It is so cold that we actually had to put little boots on him for walks-it is pretty hilarious to see. I tried to upload a video to show my faithful readers (hi mom) but it isn't working! Oh well.

It was so cold that we weren’t able to drive to see the Santa Claus in the neighbouring town of Faro- on Carters FIRST Christmas. You don’t even want to know how many tears resulted in that. Luckily there was a Santa in Whitehorse that we got his picture taken with so that crisis was averted. Can you imagine not having a picture with Santa- the horror! The drive to Whitehorse in -40 something weather was pretty brutal. You could actually feel the car being frozen. it was brutal -it creaked over every single bump in the road, at times I really thought it would just fall apart but luckily we made it!

My mom was up visiting during this cold snap. I don't expect her back next winter. I think after this visit she may choose the summer months next time and who can blame her ;)

I did recently get some new boots to keep me toasty warm. Nothing is sexier than these bad boys. You should see my stomp around town in them pulling Carter in the sled-a sight for sore eyes to say the least. Lord help me if I get chased by one of the wild dogs although I am sure my clunking around will scare it off. 

Keep warm friends!

A sick puppy

Oops. It has been quite a while since I last wrote. I knew I would be no good at this blog thing. Oh well.

There is nothing worse than having a sick pet.  Actually that is not true- there is nothing worse than a sick pet and being 4.5 hours from a vet! That is the situation we had here in the last few days. After 3 days of vomiting, refusing to eat or drink we knew that we had to bring him into Whitehorse to be checked out.

We decided that I would bring Pepper in and Mark would stay home with Carter.  On the way I quickly learned that there is one thing worse than having a sick dog that you have to drive 4.5 hours to the vet for. That is a sick dog with horrible gas that stinks up your car for 4.5hours. It was the longest trip of my life. I had the choice of chocking on the stench or opening the window and freezing my ass off. I decided on a mixture of both.

My poor puppy had to be kept in the animal hospital overnight because he needed an IV but he is doing much better now and seems to be almost back to himself.

After doing a bit of shopping, Pepper and I hit the road.  Being up north I expected to see a ton of wildlife while driving. It is an understatement to say that I have been disappointed that all I have seen so far is one tiny fox. That is until today. There were 2 huge beautiful caribou that I passed on the side of the road. I was desperate to get a picture but it wasn’t a safe spot to stop. I did slow down and got a really good look at them. It was pretty exciting for me.

About an hour further down the road I see something standing in the middle of the highway. I approach slowly and nearly die when I come across a WOLF. I was so excited I thought I was going to jump out of my skin. This time I do stop and I am staring at this beautiful creature, camera in hand, when I notice that the wolf has a collar. Now I don’t know much about wolves but I am pretty sure they don’t have owners. Turns out that my wolf was just some family’s pet dog- A huge disappointment I may add.

I think the biggest thing I am finding hard living in Ross River is getting used to being so far from the city. Drives into Whitehorse are exhausting. You run around the city trying to get stocked up on supplies and groceries to last you another month or so.  It is a far cry from running out to the store everyday like I was used to. More on that another day. 

Hunting

Wow-2 blog posts in two days. This will likely never happen again but the topic of hunting has come up here in the Hanna household and I am sure you are all dying to know my opinion on it.

I like to think that I am fairly self-aware person. I knew that coming up north and living in small community would be an adjustment for me but I had NO idea that I was such a city girl. I swear the people up here must think I am stupid at times.  I have a lot to learn!

Anyways-lets talk about hunting. I never really gave hunting much thought before coming here. Sure I knew that some people do it but I didn’t understand why or just HOW many people hunt. For a small fee you can purchase your “tags” for particular animals. You load up the truck and away you go. Right? WRONG. Once you shoot the thing it doesn't magically appear in your freezer-there is work involved.

Recently, 3 of our friends have gotten a moose and from that I have learned about the process. I will save you the details- some of it is pretty nasty but Mark went out yesterday to help a friend with the HUGE moose that he shot. The took it all apart, skinned it and brought it home where it will provide meat for their family for a good long while.  

So after Mark got home from doing this and telling me all about it (and not sparing any of the gross details I should add) we got to talking about the draw to hunting. He wants to hunt to provide meat for the family for the winter.  First off-he does provide meat for the family. He goes to work, makes money, we go to the grocery store, buy some meat (99% of the time boneless, skinless chicken) and VIOLA meat for the winter provided. He looks at it differently apparently. Maybe it’s a guy thing?

So after we have lived here for one year, he is able to get his tags and go hunting himself. That means that by this time next year I will most likely be looking up recipes for moose meat. I will admit that I have never tried it because I never really wanted to nor have I seen it in the aisles at Loblaws. I am going to try and keep an opened mind and give it a try because I’m told it is delish and I am sure there is much more of it to come in my future.

Mark also informed me that he would like to get the antlers mounted and hung on a wall. I am not sure whose house he thinks it is going to be hung at but it certainly isn't this house! But if Justin Bieber has taught us anything “Never say Never” Maybe by this time next year I will be hunting my own moose?

Wait- where do I live?

Welcome to my blog about living in a small community in the Yukon. I am writing this to keep my family and friends connected to our new life here in Ross River. By no means am I great writer and if bad spelling and grammar annoy you-leave now. You have been warned. J

For the past 3.5 years we have been living in Penticton, one of the warmest, sunniest places in Canada. Although we loved it and thoroughly enjoyed our time there we always knew that it was the first stop of our RCMP postings. We had long talked about trying a limited duration post to see what it was like. When we talked about this I was picturing a quaint little town on Vancouver Island. It didn't quite work out that way.

We were offered a posting in Ross River, Yukon. Never heard of it? Don’t worry-either had I. Ross River is about 4.5 hours north east of Whitehorse. It has the huge population of about 340 people and a general store. Needless to say, it is a far cry from Kanata (where I grew up). Once we decided that we were going to take the posting I began to worry what my life was going to be like there and if I was going to get eaten by a bear. I started learning everything I could about bears. I may just be the most bear aware person in Ross River. I dare a bear to come looking for me…actually maybe not-they can stay far away from us.

 I will say that although Ross isn't the most desirable place to live in Canada it is a beautiful place and so far I am happy here. We have only been here about 3 weeks so I am still getting used to the idea of living in such a small place. No more coffee dates at Starbucks with friends, movie theatres  shopping or eating out. There are many things I will miss about living in a city but there are many things I am gaining by living here-once I figure them out I will be sure to let you know.

We are living in government owned housing which is turning out to be an adventure of its own. More on that at a later date.  Another HUGE change for me is our internet. We now have a cap on how much we are on the net. That may turn out to be a big problem. I do love surfing the web. I will say that I am shocked with the internet service here- I was expecting it to be much worse.

I am sure that over the next few months I will have many more stories to share and will try to keep this blog updated as much as I can.