Day 31 and 32 – May 21 and 22 RETURN TO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Sorry to be a day  and a few hours late. Both days were travel days, one by air and one by road.

May 21

Unfortunately our flight from Cambridge Bay back to Yellowknife was at 3:20PM. 

I'm not crazy about flying but do love the old prop planes...

And of course the view...

Who knew there was a desert just outside Yellowknife?

That left not enough time to do anything constructive in either location. It was 6 o'clock by the time we got back to the hotel in Yellowknife so we went out immediately to tie up some loose ends in Old Town, a couple of things we missed on our visit a few days ago.

Actress Margot Kidder, most famous for her role as Lois Lane in the Christopher Reeve Superman films (1978 to 1987), was born in Yellowknife and raised in the Northwest Territories and several Canadian provinces. It's only fitting there should be tribute paid her in her birthplace.

Another local milestone was of even more interest to me. Ragged Ass Road is a quirky, unpaved street in Old Town, Yellowknife. Named by prospectors in the 1970s who had gone broke after a particularly bad mining season, it was immortalized by Canadian musician Tom Cochrane when he used the name to title his 1995 album.

The street was originally called Privy Road due to the large number of outhouses but was officially renamed after a local prospector joked that he and his buddies were “ragged ass broke” after the poor mining season. Street signs do not exist because they are stolen as soon as they go up so the best to be found are novelty signs like this one in front of a proud resident's house.

May 22

Today was a 500 kilometre drive from Yellowknife to Hay River. Unfortunately about 300 kilometres covered the exact same ground we covered on the way in a little over a week ago. Today was a little better because we saw several bison. There were also a few more vehicles but only in some spots - some were the exact opposite.

This is why I choose the places I do to visit. Most people ask, "Why do you want to go there? What is there to see or do?" In a lot of cases there is nothing to see or do but the isolation is worth everything. Since we left home we have not seen or heard any news and, trust me, that is a wonderful thing.

I find a town's welcome sign says a lot about them. The flashier and more colourful it is the better. Hay River gets very high marks from me.

We're here tomorrow as well then we head south with just one week left in this fabulous adventure!

😎