We went to the end of the road on Sunday afternoon.
I'm not kidding you.
The road to Yellowknife ends about 70 km past the city, and it is THE END OF THE ROAD.
Of course, it is not the end of the road from about February to April each year... it is the the beginning of the 600km ice highway to the diamond mines, made famous by Ice Road Truckers.
In the summer, though, it's a fast moving river, and the girls loved it.
Miss A was thrilled to discover
"FISH! Daddy! I found fish!!!"
The girls took turns wading out into the river with Daddy.
I had to photograph Miss G.
She is barefoot. Barefoot!! Amazing!
She much prefers the socks and sneakers looks... it's much more practical.
The girls were anxious to get out to stretch their legs and explore.
70 km is certainly the farthest we've travelled in, oh, say a year.
I believe I have filled my car a total of 6 times in the last 12 months!!
Nanny and Papa enjoyed our exploratory drive, too.
The girls find everything to be such an adventure at this age.
And, Daddy... what is he thinking?
Well, I'll tell you.
Tonight, we were driving back from a date night to have supper together at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant in town, and Eli sighed and said, "You know Shannon, I really love... boats."
Not, "I really love you".
"I really love boats."
So, I said, "Boats?! Are you kidding me? Boats in general?? Are you professing your love for boats to me?"
It went downhill from there.
So, I think Eli is thinking about boats, or at the very least fishing with this pristine river flowing by.
Miss G is thinking about rainbow sparkles and all good things all the time.
Soon, we were trying to get the girls out of the river, but it took a little while.
Miss A was very busy using this fishing lure (that Daddy found at the bottom of the river bed) to catch the teeny tiny minnows.
She did not catch any.
Then, the sandal began to float away.
Miss G shrieked, "Daddy! My sandal! Help! Get it!!"
Oh, and he did.
The girls thought it was the best game EVER.
We did snap a few pictures at the End of the Road.
It was fitting to do this within our first year here.
Papa and Nanny made it, too!
On our way back, we stopped at Cameron Falls for a hike to see the waterfalls.
It was a fairly rigorous hike for the little ones, and it was a very warm day, so Papa and Nanny found it hot, too.
Some of the trail had boardwalks and steps, but a lot of it involved scaling over rocks and up and down rocky hills.
For you Bluenosers, it is much more rigorous than Cape Split.
The tourism place says it is a 20 minute hike, but with the girls and at a more leisurely pace for Nanny and Papa, it was more like 40 minutes, to the falls and back.
In my opinion, it was worth it!
It was beautiful, and the whole hike had beautiful views.
The girls approved!
Papa and Nanny at Cameron Falls.
After this picturesque vantage point, we kept on moving.
Miss G was eager to lead the way, and Miss A wanted to keep up, but she was getting tired.
Up river from the falls, there was a bridge to walk over and a little foot path to follow.
So, we did.
It was a scorcher, but there was a nice breeze.
This was our turning point, and Miss A wanted Papa to "rescue" her, but she couldn't quite reach.
So, she trundled around.
Miss G is taller by a centimetre or two, and could juuust reach Papa.
Up, up, and away!
The girls with Nanny and Papa.
Eli snatched my camera, and wanted to take a picture of me, so he asked me to dance, and I did.
We retraced our steps, and made our way back to the car.
Miss G absolutely loved the inukshuks other hikers had built along the path, and lent a helping hand to fix this one that had fallen.
Miss G as an inukshuk.
VERY shortly after this picture was taken, Daddy and Miss A were leading the way (with Miss A taking a rest on Daddy's shoulders).
Papa was leading the rest of us, with Miss G and me taking the end.
Suddenly, Nanny took a stumble, and fell and rolled down a series of rock shelves, maybe 2 metres in total height.
I couldn't catch or stabilize her from behind, and Papa was too far ahead of her to break the fall (and she was slightly off the path).
Luckily, she was just a little bruised and a little shaken up. She's fine.
Maybe Nanny was just enthusiastic about Cameron Falls... the falls is for viewing, not participating in.
The end of the road... literal.
Falls... not advisory to be taken literally.
No comments:
Post a Comment