There's no place like home....

One of the great things about living so far up north is that you learn to cherish vacations a lot more. Believe me, we know that first-hand, as we just returned from two weeks with our families and friends. We intended it to be a surprise, so we couldn't announce it beforehand to anyone. We have so much to talk about, we've decided to split our vacation blog post into multiple parts - our anniversary trip, our time in Florida, our time in Ontario, and our unusually interesting flight home.


First, I should mention a few things about our trip home. One of the great uncertainties of the North is the reliability of the airlines. Weather and mechanical issues can ruin the best-laid travel plans, and both issues are far more common here than anywhere else I've been. As such, we decided to build an extra day into our travel home; we figured that if we did make it out on time, the cost to switch our flight to the same day would still be cheaper than a hotel in Winnipeg.

All ready for our first family vacation!

Turns out that was a wise decision - our Baker Lake flight was delayed almost two hours because of a battery issue. An hour into our unexpectedly lengthy stay at the airport, I began to get anxious, because our connecting flight in Rankin Inlet was a jet, and I was worried we would miss the connection. As little as there is in Baker Lake, I can assure you, I will take Baker 11 times out of 10 over Rankin. Fortunately, we had some passengers travelling for medical reasons, so the jet waited for us. We literally hopped off the first plane and onto the jet, and we were off to Winnipeg.

Please don't make us miss our flight!

I should mention here that people had told me First Air's jet is a better ride than Calm Air's. I wasn't convinced, until I flew in it. Bigger, roomier, faster, quieter, and much better food. The free-flowing complimentary wine was icing on the proverbial cake.

Baked Salmon

Stuffed Chicken

Again, it was a good thing we had planned for an extra day...and by we, I of course mean Lily. The division of labour for our trip was as follows: Lily did all the planning, booking, organizing, and arranging. I, in turn, carried the heavier luggage. The delay in Baker Lake cost us a chance at a same-day connecting flight - we missed it by half an hour. After talking to a very helpful Westjet agent, we found ourselves in a pet-friendly hotel called the Mainstay Suites, and I would use them again in a heartbeat (we did exactly that on the return leg).

The standard room comes with a full kitchen off to the side

Normally when in Winnipeg, my restaurant of choice is Chop, which is essentially the Keg under a different name. This time though, we decided to try an establishment a short walk from our hotel called Danny's Smokehouse. We had a great meal at decent prices, and I have a new favourite eatery in Winnipeg.

First vacation beer always tastes best!

Poor Pepper though - we put him in the bathroom when we went for dinner, and he barked and whined as we left. He was barking when we returned, so we let him out right away. I don't know if this is particular to him or not, but he wouldn't eat or poop when he was in the bathroom. Twenty seconds after I opened the door and was greeted by a furiously wagging tail, he was squatting in the corner of the room. I guess he thought the carpet was a giant pee pad? Thankfully, our little guy must have some rabbit in his lineage, because he poops like one. Not like my parent's dog, Miller. Pepper poops; Miller s***s. The 75 pound difference is probably to blame.We made it up to him by feeding him leftovers from dinner that Lily painstakingly shredded and boxed up, and he was a happy puppy in about 30 seconds.

Oh jeez, all this and I haven't even talked about our cruise! Next edition will be all about our adventures on the high seas with the cast of Disney to celebrate our first anniversary. Stay tuned....

-J