Inuvik

We’re about 2driving hours north of the Arctic Circle and 2driving hours south of the Arctic Sea in Inuvik,camping at Happy Valley for a second night. We had a “zero day “ of travel today, but we got many chores done. Four **NEW** tires installed—-none of those 4plywussy tires like we just had 6 flats on—-these are BF Goodrich8ply”beefy” tires. We got our propane tank refilled because, in addition to it running our fridge 24/7, it’s been cold enough the last couple nights to have the heater kick on, despite the flannel jammies and sheets and the Pendleton wool blanket. We fill up with petrol wherever we are as we never know where the next availability will be. We did laundry—all the mud splashed clothes from laying on the road checking and changing tires or getting in or out of the truck today, We rinsed off parts of the camper with the caked on centimeter of sludge that occurs when it rains for a day on 700+ kilometers of dirt road. We dined at “Inuvik’s first Chinese restaurant “ for lunch but Chinese starts at 5pm so we partook of their other specialties: Greek salad and fish and chips. We’re presently basking in the Arctic-24-hour/sun getting ready to cook dinner before we go to the Northwestern Arts Festival opening ceremonies with First Nation drummers and dancers.

All the local people have been tremendously helpful and friendly. The only rude person was a non-aboriginal  guy at the downtown Hotel when we asked about a restaurant and a wash  room.

We walked across the street from Happy Valley Campground for dinner last night at Alestine’s. Our hostess is married to the youngest of the original Alestine’s nine children (7 boys and 2 girls.) she cooks out of an old bus, buried under amass of stickers. We were going to add our Sugarloaf sticker but we didn’t have it with us.

The Igloo Church in Inuvik

Drumming in the whalebone ( much like piping in the Haggis) for opening ceremonies of the Northwest Arts Festival