We made it to Fort Smith on Sunday, with a warm welcome by some of our closest friends at the airport. It was nice to be back with familiar faces again. Much of our week was spent visiting friends and sharing a good meal or two with them. Simon brought his new film, The Burning Question, to the Parks Canada theatre for two showings, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Our timing was perfect for the Decadent Dessert night put on by the ski club; a night of all the desserts one can eat, with a silent auction as well. We came home with a special mug for making tea and an enviro-shopping bag from none other but our favourite MP, Dennis Bevington. I should have got him to sign it too!

Kevin and Rita offered to take us out with their dog team. Simon and myself each took turns on the dogsled, and the other followed in the snow machine. What I really loved about the experience is how quiet it is when the dogs are running; all you can hear is the sled runners gliding along the snow. At -25 we bundled up very warmly and about 2 hours was enough for us. Kevin even let me be the musher for a while beside the highway!

I was glad when he took over and I didn’t have to navigate through the gates to their place.

The girls also took their first snowmobile ride. Many thanks to them for their generosity that day!!

We journeyed up to the wilds of the Northwest Territories to show our girls their origins. Emily was born in Yellowknife, so we showed her around the city she first laid eyes on. She is also named after the Aurora, so we got to show her first-hand what that is all about.

I hope she’ll remember it better this time around. We stayed at a great B & B; the Blue Raven. The owners, Tessa and Mike Macintosh, are wonderful hosts and we would recommend this place to anyone. They have 2 great bedrooms that have lofts above for the kids. I wasn’t overly impressed by the lack of hardiness as my two year old refused to walk the 5km jaunt from Old Town to Downtown in the -30 temps, but a cab saved the day and brought us to our favourite northern culinary treat: Arctic Char Nigiri at Sushi North in Yellowknife. YUM!

Some time was spent hanging out with our friend, Franko, who just happened to be in town at the same time. We also made a visit to the Northern Cultural Museum, with highlights of the dress-up area for kids with an old trapper’s cabin and wall tent.