Yellowknife, The Adventure Begins

Good evening everyone!  I'm happy to report that we're safe and sound in Yellowknife and we've just wrapped up our first day here.  We flew out of Ottawa this morning, and had a fairly good flight, despite Finn giving us some brief feedback on why you generally don't ask toddlers to sit still for 4.5 hours at a time.  I was actually really impressed with his ability to hold it together despite my inadequacies at preparing sufficient entertainment for a flight of that duration.

It's been hot in Toronto and Ottawa recently, and so the roughly 9 degree weather we stepped into here was bracing to say the least.  Still, we were expecting it and we've all got appropriate clothing.  I'm actually happy that it's going to be fairly cool here since I feel like that makes for more comfortable hiking.

We're staying at an AirBnB, a first for everyone on the trip, and our host was nice enough to welcome us in despite the fact that we arrived earlier than expected.  He gave us some advice on things to see in Yellowknife and then we got out on the road so that he could finish getting the place ready to go.  We made our way out to the area known as Old Town to do some sightseeing.  The area is dotted with plaques noting sites of historical significance, and even just a casual walk around town can be richly rewarding.

Wandering around Old Town is also incredible from an architectural standpoint.  I'm not sure what's going on with a lot of the newer buildings in the area, but I can only assume that drugs played a strong role in the design phase.  The houses are often towering structures with rooms jutting out at strange angles.  In going back through my pictures I realised that I haven't really captured any strong examples, so I'll try to rectify that tomorrow.  I noticed the phenomenon in a video I watched before coming here where someone was doing a driving tour through the area.  Nothing I've watched or read has commented on it though, so I'm really at a loss as to what's going on.  Dad's assertion is that there are clearly no people overseeing the design and construction of the buildings, but I'm hoping for a more exciting answer than that.  I'll do some digging, but if you don't hear back from me on the matter feel free to assume that a psychogenic mushroom gained sentience and earned a degree in architecture.

At one point we climbed up a small hill to the Bush Pilots' Monument which offers a great view of the city and the lake.  I actually can offer up photographic evidence of this claim.

Long time readers should click in to that image to admire how much better Google is at stitching together a panorama than I am.  It's not perfect, but it sure beats my old attempts that I used to produce in MS Paint.

We had dinner at the highly recommended Bullock's Bistro.  I have a feeling that it's a good thing the timezone change was making us hungry early, because even at 3:30 local time that place was jumping!  The meal was really fantastic though, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone visiting Yellowknife.

As we wrapped up our day back at the house I decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood.  I've been wearing one of these fitness trackers that are so in vogue these days, and I wanted to get my step goal for the day, but I also was still feeling exploratory.  It was a nice walk, and refreshing to be in an area where the houses were clearly developed by people familiar with human dwellings.  This area strikes me as quintessentially Northern; the sidewalks occasionally have to wind around a particularly stubborn rock outcropping, the houses themselves sometimes raised up for the same reason.  There's a faint whiff of wood smoke on the air.  More than that though, it's about the impression you get of the people.  Every other vehicle is a pickup truck, and easily half of the non-truck vehicles have a canoe adorning the roof.  Yards frequently feature a boat on a trailer, or an ATV.  Everyone here seems to have a dog.  It all combines to give you the sense that everyone here exists in one of two states: being outside, or lamenting the fact that they aren't.

I've only just begun to look around Yellowknife, but it has thoroughly whet my appetite for exploration.  I'm looking forward to getting out there tomorrow to really see what the city has to offer.  I'll report back soon.  For now though, it's late in Toronto time, and I'm feeling it up here, so it's off to bed.  Until tomorrow.