I went to see New Moon last night.  I had just come off a 12 hour shift and I was really tired, but I’ve been dying to see it.  It’s the first time I’ve seen a movie here, and it was quite the experience!  There are only two theatres in town, with two screens each.  New Moon is playing on only one screen, luckily near my apartment.  I went to the 9:35 show and was fighting for parking at 9:10.  The lot was tiny and I finally just ended up parking at the grocery store across the street.  When I got inside, it was wall to wall people.  The theatre was only showing New Moon and 2012, but most of the crowd was for New Moon.  There was one ticket seller and it took 20 minutes to pay.  That didn’t bother me – I found the whole experience to be kind of fascinating!  I’m still getting used to smaller town living, and the whole night was really different for me.  Buying food was impossible; the ticket line immediately turned into the line to get seats, with no room to move.  The place is small!  Again, it didn’t matter to me – I wasn’t buying anyway.  Once the theatre opened, the crowd actually filed in without a big rush for good seats, which was a relief.  It turns out there was a good reason for that.  The theatre is shaped kind of funny.  It’s not stadium seating, but rather the seats are all floor level, with just a barely noticeable curve up to the back.  But you don’t have to worry about the person in front blocking your view, because the screen is up high, near the ceiling.  So, everyone has to look up!  It’s not as uncomfortable as it sounds, and I totally forgot about it once the movie started.  I think it was sold out – the place was packed!  It was a good audience though – no annoying girly screams to be heard.

The movie itself was great, much better than the first one.  And I was really impressed with Taylor (the guy who played Jacob) – the kid can really act!  He showed great emotional range and made the movie that much better.

All in all, it was a good night.  Fell asleep almost as soon as I walked through my door, but it was worth it.

I’ve taken up ice skating again – and it’s been awhile.

Some of my earliest memories involve skating lessons on weekends and there was always at least one skating trip each year in elementary school.  I haven’t been since, and I think it’s going on 14 or 15 years since I went on the ice.  But how can I live in the Yukon and not skate?  It seems very wrong…

So, I got a pass for the Canada Games Centre.  That place is awesome.  It has a pool/hot tub/sauna/steam room/lazy river, NHL size ice, Olympic size ice, artificial turf field, basketball court, gym, indoor running track…  It’s huge.  I’ve started going to the gym and using the track and… I skate.

They have public skate time every day and I can’t believe how much fun it’s been.  There’s only a few people on the ice during the week, so I don’t have to worry about dodging screaming ankle biters.  It’s like riding a bike; you never really forget, but you are a bit wobbly for a bit!

Totally off topic, but I bought this at Walmart today.

Weird eh?  And even weirder, I dropped it on the ice in the parking lot and it bounced.  Twice!

Every once in awhile I’ll learn some new little quirk about life in the Yukon that kind of throws me for a loop when I hear it.  Like the latest, which one of my coworkers told me about during a recent shift.  Apparently, during the dead of winter, rather than risking sluggish fluids and a dead battery, the people here will leave their cars running while they are out and about.  It’s common to see cars idling while their owners are inside a store shopping.  And while working, some start their cars every few hours and leave them running out in the lot.  Not all the parking lots have plugs after all!

I love learning about this kind of stuff…

It’s been a while, but in my defense, moving is very time consuming!  I am finally settled into my new apartment and everything is hung up and put away.  I’ve got to say, I absolutely love it.  It’s a 50 year old building, and my kitchen and bathroom have a very retro feel.  And it’s in really great shape!

Of course, I didn’t go through the move alone; my mother flew up and helped set everything up.  I never could have done it without her – if she hadn’t come, I would probably still be sitting here surrounded up boxes and feeling totally lost.  Thanks mom!

I am just so glad to be out of the hotel.  It was really nice, but I was there for 22 days and it never felt like home.  It’s hard to get comfortable when complete strangers enter your personal space on a daily basis.  Now, surrounded by my old things, in my own space, I can finally relax.  And… bake!

I’ve officially been in Whitehorse for two weeks and so far I’m liking it a lot.  My car still hasn’t arrived, so I’ve been exploring most of the city by foot.  That’s not so bad actually – all the walking has really helped me become familiar with a significant chunk of the city.  I’m still staying at a hotel – my apartment wont be available until October.  Don’t get me wrong, having someone else clean up after me is nice, but I am really missing having my privacy, my stuff and my own space to live in.  My mom is flying up in a few days – she’s going to help me move into my new place.  I can’t wait to see her!

The job (my whole reason for being here) has been great.  I’ve done a few days of general orientation and one official day of actual work.  Everyone has been extremely helpful and friendly – they’ve really made me feel right at home.  I’m looking forward to my next shift!

I have been knitting a lot lately.  It’s been chilly since I got here – perfect knitting weather.  I finished one set of wrist warmers for my Dad.  One more pair to go.  By now, I could probably do that pattern in my sleep!  I used Fibranatura Yummy sock yarn, that I picked up at the LYS back home.  It’s a nice superwash merino, and the colours knit up into a pretty nifty pattern.  I’ll probably cast on the next set (for my Godfather) today.

I’ve also been working on a new pair of socks.  I actually cast on during the cruise, but I didn’t get very far.  I’m using Fresh From the Cauldron Silk Sock, in the colourway Jacob Black.  As in Twilight.  The yarn is gorgeous and sooo soft.  No pattern, just basic sock math again.  I’m really starting to prefer making socks this way – they fit perfectly!

And the project I finished last night – a scarf.  Like I said, it’s getting cold up here and I’ll definitely need some winter gear soon.  I haven’t knit a scarf in a while, not surprising since I usually have no patience for a project like this.  But this time, the yarn made all the difference.  I used 3 skeins of Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky and it is incredibly soft.  It has a bit of a halo and sheds, but I don’t care – the colours and the feel make it all worth it.  I finished it in 5 days – by far my fastest project!

So what’s up next?  I’m still working on the paperwork that goes with a cross country move, which pretty much fills my days.  With any luck, the next time I post I’ll finally be fully moved in and settled!

Finally took the videos from my cruise off of my camera. Enjoy! As always, the password: my favorite hobby.

Today the moving company came and packed up my stuff.  It was an unusual experience, having a complete stranger pack my things.  All the boxes are still here, but they’ll be leaving in a couple days.  My car is already on its way.

The packing and my car leaving really makes this all feel real.  Up until today, this whole Yukon move has had an element of fantasy, or unreality to it.  But now it’s happening – things are definitely in motion.  Watching my car leave left me feeling a bit sad – I’m going to have to say goodbye to everyone soon.  But I’m also excited – I have a possible apartment lined up.  The building looks and sounds great!

In other news, I put my Alaska pictures up on Flickr.  Right now I have them open to the public.  Feel free to check them out, but do it soon – I’ll probably make them friends only in a week or so.

Skagway was great; it’s just as beautiful and interesting as Ketchikan.  It is a tiny town of 800 people, which just explodes during the tourist season.  It has been mostly reconstructed to its original look and design during the Klondike gold rush.  Skagway was known as the gateway to the gold rush, since it’s the furthest one can sail the inside passage before having to travel the White Pass up the mountains and into the Yukon.  It’s also only about 100 miles from Whitehorse, and there are lots of signs pointing the way there.  So close, yet so far!

I’m so glad we had the entire day to explore that tiny town and I wish it had been the same for our two previous ports.  I spent the morning exploring, taking pictures and shopping, of course.  I had lunch with a couple friends at the Red Onion Saloon, which was interesting to say the least!  During the gold rush, the Red Onion was the local drinking hole, with the convenience of a 10 woman brothel upstairs.  You can still tour the upstairs area, but I ran out of time.  All the waitresses were in period dress and in character, complete with dirty puns! 

After lunch I had the chance to take the train up White Pass and into B.C.  It continues up into the Yukon, but we didn’t get that far.  The train was really cool and the view was amazing – HUGE plunging depths with class 6 rapids down below.  The railway was built in the late 1800’s to make travel to the Yukon a lot easier.  Before that, the trip was made by foot and many didn’t survive.  Some of the trip was a bit nerve wracking – it’s kind of hard to feel safe when the valley below the rails is full of rotting cut timber and piles of rusted and twisted metal.  The whole trip lasted about 3 hours, but it definitely wasn’t boring! 

The weather was pretty cold, and we had some rain during the train ride.  I still consider us lucky though, considering some cruises end up with rain all week long.  We stayed in port until after dark, and I got to watch a performance by one of the locals – he was really good. 

Today we’re at sea, and we will be until we reach Vancouver in a couple days.  No more ports…  We’ve run into some swells, so the ship is rocking quite a bit again – hopefully not for long though.  Our captain is reporting an outside temperature of about 12C, which has pretty much been the average for the week.  He says the temperature in Vancouver when we dock will be 27C – I can’t even imagine that kind of heat; I’ve really gotten used to the colder weather here. 

So… that’s it.  I probably wont get the chance to post anymore until I get home.  I’ve pretty much used up all my Internet minutes and it should be quiet until we dock anyways.  See you all soon!

I hate to admit it, but Juneau (the city itself) didn’t really thrill me.  As the state capitol it was a bit too busy for my liking.  We also had to be on board the ship by 12:45, so I didn’t actually get to explore the town itself.  Most of my viewing was done on a bus.  The mountains and glaciers behind it were spectacular though – looking above the buildings at them left me speechless.  Absolutely gorgeous. 

Like Ketchikan, Juneau can only be accessed by water or air, so the docks were packed with residents’ boats.  They have a bunch of streets and a highway that abruptly come to a dead end outside of town – they literally have roads to nowhere!  The highlight was definitely my shore excursion though – whale watching in a catamaran.  We boarded the catamaran very early in the morning and it was freezing and foggy.  But the cold was totally worth it.  We spotted two humpback whales (mom and baby), and the baby decided to roll, flippers waving, and breach, which is when they jump up in the air and splash back down into the water.  Apparently this is unusual behaviour in Alaska.  Here, the whales eat a lot before they go south for the winter.  As they eat, they typically come up, blow plumes of water spray, and without really coming above water, they go back under with just their tails (flukes) flapping.  We got quite the rare show!  We also stopped at a tiny island and watched a huge group of sea lions play on the beach.  They make a lot of noise!  I loved the whole experience, and I would definitely do it again.  I may not have seen much of the city, but the wildlife tour more than made up for it. 

So now we’re heading onwards to Skagway, our last port.  In an hour or so we will be passing through some glaciers, which I can’t wait to see…

Update: Glaciers are beautiful, and very very blue…

Today has been absolutely amazing.  We docked in Ketchikan really early, and the view literally had me ‘wowing’ out loud.  The town is beautiful and very rustic.  Some of the buildings and the road are actually built on stilts over the water.  The rest of the town clings to the rocky face of the mountainous island.  Because the island is made of solid rock, their sewer system is almost non-existent, instead relying on rain water collected in a tank at each house.  And they get a lot of rain – 14 feet a year!  We got lucky though - today was sunny with a light breeze.  Very comfortable.  I went on two shore excursions today – the lumberjack show and a tour of the Totem Bight rain-forest/park.  The lumberjack show was hilarious – US vs Canadian lumberjacks in a skills competition.  It was cheesy, but very fun.  And one of the Canadian lumberjacks was cute! 

Afterwards, I boarded the tour bus for the totem tour.  Our guide was amazing.  On the way there he gave us an in-depth history of the island, which is apparently mostly uninhabited.  And, unless you have a boat or a plane, you’re pretty much stuck there!  Their largest industry is salmon fishing, and they’re known as the salmon and totem pole capital of Alaska.  Interesting stuff! 

The park itself was amazing.  It’s a chunk of rain-forest devoted to preserving Native works of art, like a traditional clan house and a stunning display of totem poles.  According to our guide, the totem poles do not have religious significance, but instead are used to tell legends and stories and pass them on to future generations.  They are made of cedar, which is very rot resistant and are painted with a mixture of minerals and chewed salmon eggs, which makes a paint more durable than our modern alternatives.  I loved every minute of it. 

I capped off the morning with a visit to their yarn store for some local hand dyed sock yarn and headed back to the ship.  It was an insanely busy morning, I’m exhausted and we are now leaving Ketchikan behind.  Time to rest up for tomorrow – Juneau!