Travel Tuesday - North to Alaska - Skagway and the Yukon - Part 3

I mentioned at the start of this port, that this was one of my favourite days of the trip, as it was extra special. Last week I had lived my dream of doing a training run with sled dogs and we were heading south back to Skagway from Carcross.

We were rolling down the highway, enjoying the view. 

Just as we approached a curve, we said something about not seeing a bear yet and then, there she was. She ran across the road in front of us, then down the other shoulder. 

Nervous as we slowed to stop, she climbed the wall. 

She got to a place and was sitting, it was like a small ledge in the rock. To not stress her out further, we left her. I am sure she would have figured out how to either get up or down. 

She wasn't my brown bear, but I still greatly appreciated this little black bear. In one day, I got to live 2 of the dreams.

Shortly after seeing the bear, we were back in Skagway, where I wondered around while my mom returned to the ship. They definitely preserved the feeling of the frontier here. 

Behind the town

Snow plough for the train

Behind the town

Back on the ship, my mom realized she had broken her brand new sunglasses. Fortunately, they are under warranty and once the back ordered lenses come in, she will get a replacement. I was just happy that unlike the phone, I wasn't responsible for this. 

That evening, we cruised by another glacier. I can't remember the name of this one. When I left dinner to go out and see it, I heard a child, about the age of seven say "It is just another glacier." It made me chuckle.  There is no way this young boy was going to understand that soon there won't be 'another' glacier to see at the rate we are going.

Water approaching the glacier

Next week we will visit our last port Ketchikan, Alaska. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 We interrupt our usual mischief post to wish everyone a wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving!

Fun fact - did you know the first Canadian Thanksgiving was held in in 1578 or 1579, in what is now Nunavut. Sir Frobisher and his crew ate salty beef, biscuits and mushy peas to give thanks for their safe arrival in the arctic. Since 1957, Canadians have been celebrating the harvest and giving thanks the second Monday of October. 

Today we give thanks for:

All being here to celebrate Thanksgiving and all being relatively healthy

Having the resources needed to weather the very expensive curve balls life has given us

All the yummy food

Our friends, family and all our loyal and wonderful Blog friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nature Friday - Watching Autumn Arrive

Thanks to our very good pals Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event.

For the next few weeks we are going to share our autumn transformation because to be honest, it is stunning.

The tree where we pose for our autumn portraits -

Week one

Week 2 - you can see the colour coming and look at the tree behind

Looking down towards the lake -

Week one

Week two - these pictures were taken one week apart and the colour is coming!

Some other autumn pictures

maple

oak

the prettiest tree - in Callie's front yard

Across the field at sunset

Phod because this is actually a dog blog

Lee - because as mentioned it is a dog blog

The grass that will be all gone next year at sunset (Lady is over this tall grass)

Trouble on a Thursday - Traitors

We were left alone for 87 million hours on Saturday so our people could be traitors. They usually leave us alone for a few hours Saturday for pickleball and errands, but this was something very different and not ok.

First, apparently, they drove and parked at Aunt C's. They went inside and meet our cousin Uber (who we have never met) and saw our cousin Loopy.

Meet Uber. A new member of Aunt C's pack after cousin Panda went to the bridge in the winter

Cousin Loopy - playing shy

Then our people left Aunt C's house and walked the 5 minutes to the fairgrounds for a fall fair.

While they could have been home with us they were doing things like:

Looking at hay

Checking out big pumpkins. Lady was wearing orange on Saturday because it was Truth and Reconciliation Day (Orange Shirt Day) - a day to acknowledge the atrocities done to the Ingenious Peoples of Canada and to listen to help us find a way forward. 

Then Lady checked out huge sunflowers and had some envy.

There were many big fruits and vegetables.

Man ate some mushrooms as the area is home to many mushroom producers. 

There were the arts and crafts to check out too. This was Lady's favourite quilt. 

Not pictured were the cows and horses and fair rides and games and all the food trucks. It was a beautiful day, with temperatures around 26C/78F. They saw Grammie and the Big Guy, Aunt C and family and we were home alone. 

When Lady and Man were done, they walked back to Aunt C's got in their car, picked up Indian Food and came home.

The prize they won for leaving us for so long was someone pooped on the floor. 

We have been told that the next family gathering for Thanksgiving this coming weekend (Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October in Canada) we get to go.  Hopefully we can get some turkey then too.

Wordless Wednesday - To Catch The Pose

Travel Tuesday - North to Alaska - Skagway and the Yukon - Part Two

First, a very happy birthday to my mom!

When we last left off, I was about to live a dream and go on a training run for sled dogs in Carcross, Yukon. Due to timing, I ended up being the first run of the day and got to go alone (which rarely happens). I was warmly greeted by 50 or so very excited huskies. They were all clearly well cared for and happy to be here.

I was led to the training cart, where my driver, whose name I have forgotten greeted me. She was the proud keeper of 38 huskies. She was on a 5 year plan to be ready for the Iditarod. 

My team. The last 2 dogs on the left are rescues. Yes, they are all huskies!

A little information about the Iditarod sled dog race. The race we know now, started in 1973 and takes place in March. There are two routes a northern and southern one.  The route length varies from year to year but is about 1000 mile/1600 km.  Teams of 12-15 dogs complete this race in 8-15 days, often facing extreme temperatures as low as -100F/-73C.  They have 26 check in points on the trail.  My personal favourite award in the race is the red lantern award. This is given to the team who crosses the finish line last. They are awarded for perseverance. The Iditarod is the most famous, but there are a number of other races that are shorter that some of the dogs I was with have or will run.

A slightly chaotic stop as the pups all have the option to cool off. 

Back to my run. The woman who took me out, runs her teams of dogs in different combinations to help her determine who is best with who. She also wants to make sure, in case a substitute is needed, they dogs can run with many others. We spent much of our run talking about how she had rescued two of the team with us that day, who had been abused. We discussed the great lengths she has gone to rehabilitate them. They are lucky to be with her.  7/8 dogs on my run were female and the other was a neutered male. Several of the ladies were in heat, so to help control the population were being kept from non-neutered males. 

Post run - happy dogs. Note, they were not pulling us, but rather practicing commands and directions as we followed in a cart. 

After my run, I got to go and play with some puppies who were looking for new homes. It is a good thing that the cruise ship does not allow dogs because, we all know I would have come home with one. 

While the highlight of Carcross was the dogs, there were a few other fun things. Given the success of our bear hunt earlier in the trip, I had some fun with some stuffed bears!

Next we headed into Carcross proper and looked around.

Stamped my own passport!

Gift shops

Businesses

After a few hours we were back on the road for the drive back to Skagway.

Given how long this post is and some even more exciting things happened this day, I have decided to make this 2 parter a 3 parter! Come back next week to see another dream come true!

Mischief Monday - Guard Dog Duty - by Lee

 Dear pals,

Last week I had to do guard duty for like a whole day. As Man was leaving for work, the guys who were putting on our new eaves showed up. We didn't know they were coming that day, we just knew we were on the list.

World's Best Guard Dog

Lady happened to be home that day, so she needed a good guarding.

I barked for the 2 hours they did work.  Then for good measure, I barked for another hour.  Then I continued to bark on and off for the rest of the day.  Phod barked for a bit and then went to bed int he closet. 

This little piece should help prevent ice from building on the new, someday will be finished deck.

I did a very good job at keeping my people safe and Lady is happy with the new eaves and if it ever rains again, she will get to test them out. 

You can't really see the piece running across the front door but you can see the new spout on the right

Your pal, the best Guard dog, Hailey Bug