I think I know snowmobiling isn't for me.

The Subarctic Tundra

The Reindeer Herd!

On Sunday I went snowmobiling for most of the day. I worked nights on Saturday, slept for a few hours and then left my house around 1:00 p.m. I went with my room mate Paul, one of the nurses Judy and one of the doctors Dinesh Mistry. I made it about 45 minutes away on my own but I had a wipe-out. I think my ski must have gone off the track just a little bit and I ended up slamming right into a tree. My skidoo was stuck and it took about 15 minutes and four of us to get it out. We went up and stopped at a place called Beer Hill, which is apparently where your supposed to stop for a beer-hence the name. We didn't take part in that part of the trip though and after the hill I gave up my skidoo to Dr. Mistry and rode on the back of Judy's. Anyway we went up past the tree line, across the arctic tundra and met up with the reindeer herder, who took us up to the herd! It was really cool-you could see them from really far away, just as this big black mass. Then when we were close we herded them closer to the reindeer station. The man we were with sung to them in Inuvaluit and it was really, really cool. He told us there were between 2500-4000 reindeer this year. We also saw wolf tracks which were HUGE. He told us they were probably from the alpha male who scouts out the territory, and that the wolf was probably the size of a cariboo-it's tracks were bigger than his hands!

After my wipe-out, I was really sore and I could barely walk when I got off my skidoo. All I kept thinking about was how much I wanted to be home and having a warm shower. When we finally made it home, I could barely make it up the few steps to get in the front door. It was one of the most uncomfortable things I have done. I'm glad that I did it though because it was so cool to see the tundra and all the reindeer. I think it was just too long of a trip for my first time, especially after having so little sleep. I have a bit of a cold now and I think it's probably from the exhaustion too.

Why do I let myself get talked into dog sitting?

Frank

Jane Doe

Jane with the stick that was bigger than her

The sun setting over the lake

Okay, I am just coming off of four nights so bear with me.
Dog sitting was pretty good. EXCEPT they ran away all the time. The backyard is fenced but both the dogs can escape whenever they feel like it and terrorize the neighbourhood. It doesn't help that Jane (the skinnier, cuddlier one) was an outdoor dog before she was adopted and she thinks she has the run of the land.
Frankie is the one that lookers fluffier and more serious. She's better behaved and only escaped maybe 4 times. Jane Doe is a big suck but she escaped almost everytime I let her out. Even when I was standing on the porch watching her and yelling at her.
One night, I was on my way into a night shift the next night so I stayed up pretty late and was heading to bed around 2. I thought, I'll just let the dogs out before I go to bed. So I let them out and about one minute later call them back. Jane comes running in. No Frank. She was totally AWOL and I couldn't find her. Plus it was 2 in the morning and I didn't have all that much energy to be looking. So around 4, still no Frank, I decide to leave the front door open, get up every couple of hours and hope that she comes back (her owner said that if the neighbours find her, they'll just let her back in).
So 6:30 comes around, still no Frank. 8:30 I wake up and Frank is in bed with me. THANKS A LOT.
What a jerk.
So then, Thursday morning rolls around. I was working nights on Wednesday so I just stopped by on my way home to let them out because their owners were coming home at 1:00. I let them out and Frank takes off again. I was exhausted and I did not want to wait 6 hours for her to come back. Next thing I know the neighbour is calling-"did you lose a dog?" So thank goodness I went and picked her up and brought her home. Then I'm on my way out the door and I think it smells not very good in here... Upon further investigation, I find a large pile of poop in the rec room upstairs. GREAT. Just what I was hoping for after working 12 hours and sleeping terribly because YOU RAN AWAY.

All in all, somewhat frustrating and still very nice. It was nice to have dog company and they were pretty well behaved minus the running away. and the one poo. I especially liked cuddling with Jane on the couch. :)

On Monday I came home not feeling well and I slept for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Then I went to bed around 10:30 because I had to work days yesterday morning. So I started to wake up...I thought "hm...must be close to 6:30 if I'm starting to wake up". It was 12:54. I was awake until 4:30. I am not exhausted. But I had to work tonight so I had to try to stay up late to be ready for nights again. Maybe I'm not cut out for nights and days?

Anyway, my day yesterday was hectic. Nights are nice because the pace is pretty slow and if someone comes in, usually your other patients are sleeping. Days are not like that. Obviously.

Okay-the real point of this post. I am dog/house sitting! YAY. I start on Friday until Thursday. She is the diabetic educator at the hospital and she has three dogs. She's taking one down to Calgary to have her cataracts removed and new lenses put in and I am staying at her house with her two other lovely dogs Jane Doe and Frank (both girls). They are adorable and I will post pictures when I see them!

I also went out last night because the northern lights were the brightest I've seen them. My new room mate came in from the hospital and said that he was going back out because they were really bright. We walked up behind the hospital and had the genius idea to cut across this big field/hill. By the time we made it about a quarter of the way, we realized our mistake-the snow wouldn't hold us up and I kept falling at least wasit deep. I was sure I wasn't going to be able to pick my feet up at least twice. By the time we made it out to the road where the street/hospital lights weren't as bright, the northern lights were gone. I have no idea how it happened, but it was sort of hilarious in a disappointing way. Long story short, no pictures yet.

Apparently TODAY is the day to go dog sledding.

It's -6 today and so sunny. This is the nicest weather I've seen. And I came home sick from work. Great.
I slept away the day and I'm feeling a bit better-the stomach flu sucks.

Anyway, yesterday was dog-sledding. It was fantastic. My team was Akita, Kabloona, Juno and Jager. Jager apparently is named for an arctic bull and rightly so-this dog had the biggest head I have ever seen. Akita and Kabloona were the leaders and Juno and Jager were the wheels. Within the first, say 100 metres I had tipped my sled and had to chase my dogs. It was very graceful. After that though it went really well. We went on the perfect day (although as I said, today might have been better). Yesterday was warm enough, sunny and clear. We went in the afternoon and the sun was just setting as we were leaving. It was really pretty-we went through all kinds of forest and on a lake.
I wanted to adopt a dog. They had one named Klondike who was being adopted by a man from Tsiigehtchic (pronounced sig-a-chic-I think it must be Gwich'in). He was adorable and so friendly. They said he was only two but he was no sled dog-he wouldn't pull and he was always more of a pet. The dog handler also said that they have three other dogs to be adopted before they can have a new litter. They are so pretty and they all had such personalities. When I got my team, they told me Juno was a fighter and he had to stay away from the other teams but then Akita was the one always trying to start things with the other teams.

Me and My Team!

Lynn and her team-I only remember that the dog on the left is Blue.

Me and Klondike-he wanted to sit on my lap so badly but my pants were too slippery.

Kabloona

Jager

I also bought pictures from the people who work there but I have to wait for the disc and I will post them if they`re good then!

Big Plans

IT'S CONFIRMED. I am going dog sledding tomorrow. My first arctic activity. And the weather is supposed to be a balmy -15 degrees, feeling like -25.

I'm too tired to come up with a name.

I just came off my second set of three nights. Not quite as crazy as the first three, but still busy.
I have a new roommate-he leaves the toilet seat up and his beard trimming on the tap. I am disgusted everyday.
He's a medical student-been here for five days and is already travelling to Tuk (tuktoyaktuk-another small town north of us) with some of the doctors to sightsee for the day. Seriously.

Nothing much is new. I tried to see the Northern Lights-not as easy as it sounds. I think I maybe saw them; it might have just been my imagination. They were very light and it was relatively unsuccessful. I'm rather disappointed-I've heard that they're better south of here. Seriously again. I didn't even try to take pictures. Lynn and I have made plans to go dogsledding on Sunday. I have to call to make a reservation today when I get up. Here's hoping they aren't booked!