Day 3: Rolling with the punches

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Who's taking this whining little guy out at night now?!  Three times last night!!!! Arrghhh!

Tacos and a good Grasshopper beer make everything a bit better...

There they go again...

Warming up the shivering puppy...

Westy mechanic 101. Since papa can't do it with one arm, the girls are learning!

When we woke up, the (usually great) Internet connexion was down... We laughed it off with a triple shot latte (at least there was sun to provide some electricity to run the coffee machine!). Let me recap the last week for you: first my computer stopped working a few days before we left the Yukon when JF installed Windows 10 (he spent A LOT of time trying to fix it, online, on the phone, in store, without any luck, so we only have one computer between the two of us, which is a problem, because we often have to work at the same time...). Then, in the middle of the Cassiar Highway (in the middle of nowhere, where there was no cell connexion for a few hundreds of miles), a part of the tow system broke, leaving us to drive the two buses separately. When we climbed the hill leading to Kager Lake on Boer Mountain, JF smelled coolant and discovered a hose had just popped... After a few tests, he found out that there was no moving the bus from its location until that was fixed. 

Then, he broke his arm and on that same night, we thought the Westy's engine was fried. So we were stuck 5 km up on a dirt road, with no running vehicles (the area where we are parked looks like a garage yard right now with the front of the bus open and parts everywhere...), we are practically out of fresh water. The girls haven't showered in over a week. JF needs meds from the pharmacy in town for pain and to prevent infection in his many road rashes. We need to go get the part to fix the bus tomorrow 80 km away.

I might be an eternal optimist, but I still see our luck in the bad lucks. The part on the Westy is under warrantee, and we should receive it in a few weeks. We were VERY lucky JF saw the Westy moving to the side in his rearview miror, because we could have easily lost it in the ditch... Or we could have broken down completely and not be able to move from where it happened. We have met a local guy that works at the parts store in town while biking this weekend and he was able to help us. The Westy's engine seems fine. We needed to replace the coolant tank (that completely split in two) and the alternator belt. 

And most importantly, JF is alive, not disfigured, and his fracture should heal fast. We have a lake nearby to get some water (and clean ourselves if we are brave enough!) and we still have food for at least a few days. JF called the towing to bring the Westy to a local mecanic he rode with on Sunday. We have amazing trails right off our door and the girls and I will take advantage of that. Oh! But life doesn't give us much rest! The gilrs and I surprised a bear that was eating thimbleberries. Poor Aisha was in front and got very scared... We talked to him, but we could still hear him in the bushes, so we turned around... I sure am glad it happened when we were only 10 minutes from the bus! A half an hour earlier, I had asked Aisha to stop singing loudly, because she was driving me batty... I told her to just make noise every 2-3 minutes... The problem is, in 2-3 minutes on a bike, you cover a lot of ground... On our after dinner ride, I told them they could sing non-stop the whole ride... Trust me, the bears did not stand a chance!!

Boer Mountain, DAY 2: The shit hits the fan...

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A dock... water... Déjà vu... RUN for your life!!!

I love Monday mornings at campgrounds. The place is empty after a buzzing weekend. Here, at Boer Mountain, the campsites are right by Kager Lake, so we went to sit on the dock in the morning sun and watched our new friends fish as we chatted. It was a gorgeous day and we were already making plans for the trails we wanted to ride. Since the people we had met were leaving in the afternoon, the girls and JF arranged for one last shuttle up the mountain with them.

I had done the shuttle the day before and knew that by the time I drove back down, the riders were usually back down too. But their pickup had been down here for a while and there was still no sign of them. I watched the clock, trying to convince myself that they probably had decided to try a different trail. I tried to quiet down the voice that was telling me that something was wrong. 

I was working on a translation contract when I heard Mathilde starting to give a guy the spiel about the Westy and the bus (the girls are getting pretty good at answering questions on our rig!) and came out to help her with some details. That's when I saw JF approach, all bloodied face and scratched, his woolen shirts ripped and with a weird look in his eyes. When he peeled off his glasses and I saw the gush on his nose, my legs almost went from under me (I would have been a very bad nurse...). Turns out he had caught a jump too fast and went flying and crashed face first on When Pigs Fly (just thought it was funny... I can now call him my little flying piglet...!). A minute after the crash, a friend found him sitting by his bike, dizzy. He helped him change his tube, assessed the damage and they slowly rode back down. We were on concussion watch for a while. I tried to convince him to have his painful shoulder checked at the hospital, but he said it felt OK (I knew he was still on adrenaline... and I also know that JF is always OK...). I sure am glad he had his full face helmet and protections when it happened (he doesn't usually wear them...). 

By 6 pm, he was looking worst and we decided to go to the ER. Sure enough, he had broken his humerus! The doctor said the tendon pulled so hard on the bone that it ripped the bone! The good news is that in a situation like that, one of two things happen: either the rotator cuff tears or the bone breaks. And a break is a much better option. Since they can't put a cast on a shoulder, he has to wear a stabiliser sling (absolutely no movement for 2 and a half weeks). Then, if he is painfree, he can slowly get moving. If not,  he will need to have an ultrasound done to assess the damage (if any) to the ligaments and tendons. 

After the verdict fell, we all piled back into the Westy and drove back up to the bus. When I turned off the engine, we heard a weird noise coming from the back. We jumped off and saw it: the white smoke! "Let's hope it's not the head gasket!",  we both exclaimed at the same time, incredulous... Really?! How many bad lucks can you have in a week??

JF turned around, leaving the Westy behind in the dark, and said: "I need a beer!"

Mountain biking at Boer Mountain, in Burns Lake, British Columbia, DAY 1

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Inviting...

Under the proud paternal look...

That's a skinny skinny!!

Boer Mountain Bike Park is the first of its kind as the park is the only mountain bike park to be build on Crown land in Canada. There are miles of classic singletrack offering riders a sequence of cross-country, freeride and downhill trails, as well as a skills park, jump park and Rider Cross track. This park was also designed by Whislter park designers and the best part is it is free to use. There are about 15 campsites with picnic tables and firepit, as well as a huge parking area for bigger rig (all for free, 14 days max for camping).

We were lucky enough to meet some of the locals that were part of the project since the beginning and helped designed the trails (thanks to our friendly puppy!). We chatted for a few hours and JF and the girls went riding with them the next day. Since the Carcross episod, I felt very unsure about my biking skills. My confidence was at its lowest low and I declined a few more challenging downhill rides with these skilled bikers.

After reading the trail descriptions on the map, I asked JF and the girls if they'd come try some cross-country trails with me. I tried to focus on the skills the girls had me practice on the pump track in the morning. My thighs burned from the effort and the constant standing up. The sharp turns were challenging and I walked the wooden boardwalks behind the girls, feeling like a big wuss... I took a deep breath and tried to channel a friend (who is so at peace with where she is at in terms of skills, even when riding with experienced people) who often says when she walks parts of the trail: I don't make one with the bike yet! And I smiled, clearly not feeling at one with the bike... At other moments, I heard another friend whispering into my ear: Trust the bike! And I did... for a few hundred meters... until, a jump threw me off balance.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I heard my friend who just last week told me: You are brave. And I felt it. I was being brave. I was back on the horse!

As I looked at JF watching the girls with pride in his eyes, I decided turn that same gaze towards myself. I was proud of myself. Proud to be there, riding berms and managing sharper turns than before, my heart pounding, feeling the flow of the trail. And my confidence increased. Thanks for riding with me today, friends!

But that, my friends, was only Day 1... Things got a little more... action packed on Day 2... Stay tuned! Spoiler alert: don't look on Facebook!

Under the rain in Meziadin Lake Provincial Park

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The rain on my face, hiding the tears as I stand on that black pebble beach, hair dripping. I wash my empty coffee mug in the clear freezing cold water. I feel myself melting into the landscape. The mist, the cloud covered mountains and the weather matching my mood. I stand there a long time, taking in the magic of this place I love so much.

I distractedly caress a smooth rock between my fingers, lost in toughts. The puppy's playfulness contrasting with my heaviness. He barks at a rock, paws at the water, and his antics make me smile.

As I scan the horizon for grizzlies, I notice that the clouds are slowly lifting, reavealing even more beauty. I exhale. The clouds always lift.

 

Heading South: Down the Cassiar in two buses

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JF had an... ahem... interesting technique to teach Java to swim...

Java was NOT impressed...

We munched on high bush cranberries and perfectly riped rosehips on our hike

There were lots of puppy breaks...

A part of our tow system broke and JF had to unhook the Westy that I now had to drive...

LOTS of puppy stops...

My famous voodoo sandwiches!

When I pulled out the Alaska, Yukon and Northern BC map, I smiled when I saw the notes the girls had written on it on their way up while I was in Quebec (Fort St John's: ate dinner, Pink Mountain: made beds, Fort Nelson: sleep, Teslin: gas, Whitehorse: we made it!).

We stopped at Boya Lake Provincial Park to hike a bit and eat dinner by this gem of a lake. A little before Dease Lake, a part of our tow system broke and JF unhooked the Westy that I now had to drive. I followed the bus for hours. As the sun slowly set on the mountains, I could see the silhouette of one of the girls' head through the bus window. It felt strange to peek inside the bus from the outside, as if I was lookoing at my life from afar. I smiled at the sight. 

A slanky bear crossed in front of us, further down, a few cubs scampered off into the woods. The day started to turn into night and we kept driving under the stars. I lost myself in thoughts and felt the road swallowing me in her dark belly. 

The goodbye party

Ahh! The goodbyes... They are always bittersweet... These people are my people. They hold a very special place in my heart. The kids played crocket for a while and some adults played bocce, there was a walk in the woods by the creek with amazing women, a few Martinis, delicious salads and chèvre chauds, and a make-your-own banana splits table.

As we drove back past midnight, I saw stars in the sky for the first time in almost 3 months... It was exhilarating! A friend saw the first northern light of the season... Darkness is back, the fireweeds are spreading their fluffy seeds in the fall wind, the cranberries are almost ripe (there has been a few nights under zero already) and the aspen leaves are quickly turning yellow. It's time for us to leave. 

Last week, we went to see a beautiful documentary called All the time in the world about a family that decides to go live far out in the bush (2 hours by motor boat north of Dawson) for nine months and the images of the wild Yukon winter made me feel a tad bit nostalgic...  I am sure that would get old after 6 months, but there is something I am starting to miss about the introspection of fall and winter, the turning inward, the silence of a crisp winter day.

But for now, as sad as we are to leave our beloved Yukon friends behind, we are also excited to hit the road again for more exciting adventures.

This week was all about the food...

Macha latte

Pizza night with homemade lemonade and gooseberry pie, chai tea for the kids and the best coffee I have ever had (made with love - and an awesome Rocket machine).

Freshly picked orange delicious (Lactarius deliciosus) mushrooms cooked in butter.

Because of course, that's the most sensible thing to do after a juice cleanse! Oh well, what can you do when you are a foodie and there are only 10 days left before you hit the road and become ovenless again... 

We were served delicious buckwheat pancakes (made with flour ground in a flour mill from a friend's family) served with maple syrup made by her partner's family. What a treat it was! And what a lovely time we had together. Then, I taught little girls how to make blueberry pies and maple pecan pies, made turkey zucchini and cumin burger (with zucchini from the greenhouse) served with a garlicky sour cream lemon pepper sauce for a simple dinner with friends. There was also a beet, feta and arugula salad with basil-balsamic dressing, a decadent brown-butter sage with blue cheese macaroni with pesto & walnut topping (a Jamie Oliver recipe), grilled veggies pizzas with chèvre and Cholula sharp cheese straws (based on this recipe). A coffee chocolate cake with basil buttercream (if you thing basil and chocolate are a weird mix, think again! Basil-chocolate is the new orange-chocolate!). Oh yeah! It was heaven! 

Gugus et Chou-rave

Title of the show: The adventures of Gugus and Chou-Rave (a chou-rave is a kolhrabi, don't ask me how they came up with that name!).

Inspired by the Frantic Follies show we saw last week, the girls created their own show (they worked two full days on it!) and even made official tickets for their friends to attend. It was really awesome to see how brave they are to be silly and take on roles in front of an audience! They were great! And since we are housesitting at a house where shows take place in the forest, the setting was perfect!

Juice feast!

Since we have access to fresh greens from the garden, I usually prepare the fruits and at the last minute, I go pick the greens so they keep as much nutrients as possible. In that juice, there was kale, chard, spinach, dandelion - we still have some young dandelion greens in the shaddy spots here! - and lamb's quarter (Chenopodium album), an awesome weed that is very concentrated in nutrients, as weeds usually are (another awesome weed for juicing is chickweed (stellaria media). We have also juiced clover this week.

I know people have LOTS of opinions on juice cleanses, or juice fast (or fasting in general). In the raw food world, we call them juice feasts and that's really what they are. A juice feast is drinking only (homemade, colorful) juices for days (from 2-3 to as many as 60 or 90 days) to give your body a break so it can heal itself. It's like a reboot. If you wonder what the health benefits of a juice feast are, you can read this article from the Huffington Post. As some of you know, we drink a green juice almost daily and eat a pretty healthy diet, but sometimes feel the need to flush the accumulated toxins out. For instance, I have had a mountain bike crash and even after a few chiro session, my neck is still painful and I know the juice fast will bring down the inflammation. I also had more migraines lately (a sign my liver is clogged with all the good food and wine I have been having with friends in the last few months!).

People always joke about my baby face and the fact that I still don't have wrinkles at 37... I believe the daily juicing helps keep my skin nice and soft and my complexion clear (and, well, I have good genetic for wrinkles!). It amazes me how when I juice feast, I feel more grounded, relax, a bit slower (which is good for a little fiery thing like me!). However, just to be clear, don't expect to feel great on the first few days. It is totally normal to feel sluggish and unwell (headache, nausea, fatigue) while the body flushes out the junk and adjusts to the new reality of the juice fast. From day 3-4 on, you usually feel great and energized!

I realize that people confuse green smoothies and green juices. Smoothies are made in a blender (like the Vitamix) and keep the whole fruits and veggies (with their fibers) whereas juices leave the fibers out and are made in a juicer like the Omega, Breville or Champion. I have the Omega 8006 and love it (I have owned a Champion and Breville before).

There are tons of great recipes here, but I'll share our favorite with you. Usually, we make 4 to 5 juices a day (and JF and I drink at least 500 ml each time). The girls drink juice too, but eat their usual meals also. I start the day with the lemon water (actually, my version is the juice of one lemon - pure, as a shooter - washed down with very hot water), Then, the first juice of the day (and our usual green juice outside of the juice feast) is this one:

Detoxing green juice 
2 bunches of kale
1 box baby spinach (or any other greens)
1 bunch italian parsley
5 apples
4 oranges
2 lemons
1 thumb of ginger

Run through juicer.

The other classic one I make every day is this one:
2 lbs carrots
1 small beet
2 celery stalks
3 apples
1/2 thumb of ginger

When I am tired of the sweet taste, I make a V8 type juice like this one. And we usually have this delicious one at the end of the day.

This time around, I really did not feel hungry of felt any cravings, like I did in previous juice cleanses. I attribute it to the fact that I used lots of freshly picked greens and wild edible, that are extremely rich in nutrients. Here's a list of common weeds that you probably have in your backyard that are an awesome addition to any juice!
 

Mountain biking on Montana Mountain, in Carcross, Yukon

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Isn't that Unimog the coolest shuttle vehicle ever?!

It was Java's first ride (we took him on a fun 5 km loop) and he did awesome! He never was in the way and followed very well (he even whined every time we stopped because he wanted to keep going!). He's gonna be a great riding partner!

Very tired but very happy little girls!

Did I say tired?

How do you turn a big sandpit into a major tourist attraction? You call it The Smallest Desert on Earth! I am not kidding... this sandpit is undeniably the most visited sandpit in the world...!

Since I never bring my camera on our bike rides, you haven't seen many pictures of our outings here (I have posted some phone pictures on the Facebook page). Today was an all-day meet of the girls' bike team at Montana Mountain in Carcross (one of the amazing bike trail systems in the Yukon). They had shuttles going up all day and they had a blast! As for me, well, let's say that even with the beautiful scenery, the nice people and the great coffee, it still ended up being a pretty hard day... The trails in Carcross are challenging for my skill levels (which are, in all honesty, pretty basic...), and I don't really like being outside of my comfort zone (and being scared of hurting myself), so I am glad the pictures were taken before the tears and the swearing... when I was still smiling... I hope that next year we will be back in the Yukon early enough so I can take Boréale Biking women's skills clinic, feel more confident and beat that fear!

Our morning walks

That is the view of the Yukon River we get after a 5 minute stroll from the house (the trail litterally passes through the property) and we can hike or bike for kilometers.

Collecting wild sage for her best friend so she can smell the Yukon!

This is a squatter's cabin. In the 50's and 60's there was a big squatter population here (squatters are a group of people living without authorisation on Crown and private land) and there are still many squatters house in and around Whitehorse.

The mornings are getting cold up here already and getting out of bed is harder and harder… I end up being snuggled by little girls in the morning… The other day, a sleepy eyed Aïsha put her head on my shoulder and breathed in my neck…

-You smell so good, mama!

-Really? What do I smell like? (I had a lot of question marks in my voice since I hadn’t showered since the previous night mountain bike ride and imagine I smelled very… ahem... earthy!

-I don’t know, you smell like my mom… and it’s so yummy!

Ahh! These girls!

Beach days

You can see our friends' Dan and Helen Anne's house being built in the background. I was on kid duty while the dads put together the second floor.

After a few weeks of rain and cold weather, we thought fall was here for good (yes, August is fall here), but even if the leaves are already changing colors, summer surprised us this week with one last burst of sun and heat. I am sure that at least half the population of Whitehorse was crowded on the few beaches that are close to town, soaking up the warmth, knowing all too well that it might be the last time they can lay bare skin on a beach this year.

On our morning walks, I have been noticing how the fireweed leaves are starting to turn red, and the aspen leaves, yellow. The girls are running ahead, screaming like little squaws to inform the bears of their presence, arms open, beautiful and happy. I cannot help but notice how teenager like they are looking these days. I often catch a glance of the women they will be one day. But for now, just like all the Yukonners up here, I am basking in their glorious sunshine and enjoying every moment they still want to share with me, knowing all too well that it won’t last many more seasons...

Home for 3 weeks

We are housesitting again at a beautiful artists' house with awesome gardens and a greenhouse (and a really friendly cat!)... oh! And a hot tub too! We have been baking, juicing and sewing, as well as enjoying the beautiful trails that leave right off our door.

In 3 weeks (at the end our our housesit), we will be heading south to meet our beloved friends from Wisconsin in British Columbia, where we will spend a few months before crossing back into the States for our winter adventures!

A musical weekend

The rain held off long enough so we could enjoy an improvised dinner of whole salmons cooked on the fire and a beautiful blue moon ritual, with songs on the guitar.

She did her guitar concert on the big stage of the Yukon Art Center.

The kids rock band totally stole the show! They had changed the words of Eric Clapton's Cocaine's song  (it was Propane!) and it was hilarious!

We brought the girls to see the Vaudeville revue show The Frantic Follies and we all had a blast! You should have heard them roar when JF got picked to go on the stage and won the best garter watcher title! What a night! 

As we were driving back from her guitar class one afternoon this week, Fade to Black came up in the Westy and she started strummed the air. I told her that I used to play that song with my 16 yo boyfriend… (him on his electric guitar, me on my classical one…). Because, you know, sometimes you have to throw stuff like that in a conversation with your kids, so they realize, you have not always been a mom... and even worst, that you rocked!
She smiled and said with twinkling eyes:

-Really? That's so coooool! That means you could teach it to me!

Oh... I wish I remembered how to play, baby girl… I’d love to show you some Metallica or Iron Maiden from my past life!

 

 

 

Seriously...

You were not going to read it, were you?

We start them young on green juice in our family!

What's cuter than one puppy? Two puppies!! When our friend brought her brand new pup to meet with Java, they played non-stop for two hours!

My lucky little fox... asleep in my bed…

Yes, he is seriously adorable. He even nurses in his dreams...! I have started making him brown rice and cooked kale with chia seeds soaked in green juice... with a side of meat, of course, because, well, as much as I'd like to feed him a vegetarian diet, he is a carnivore! Oh, and I googled sprouted seeds for dogs... and started a Pinterest board of homemade dog food. Yeah, I know. I think I am falling in love...

Cooking and creating with Leslie

We are back at Wolf Creek campground (the fox campground!) and are camped near our traveling friends, Leslie and Philippe. Leslie is Belgian and is teaching us how to cook some awesome specialties. We made Belgian chocolate mousse (twice already!) and I am hoping she will show us how to make Madeleine soon! She also lended the girls a cool little machine she found at the free store (at the Recycling center) to make little donut-shaped cakes; such a treat for my oven-deprived girls! Mathilde also showed Leslie and 5 yo Adrien how to make polymer clay (Fimo) creations (we were lucky to have a workshop by polymer clay artist Lara Melnick offered to us by one of the girls' Yukon grandmas - Johanne - a few weeks ago). We had a blast!

Leslie also lended us a really fascinating book that we are reading aloud together around the bonfire (and snuggled in bed on cold rainy days!) called Aurore of the Yukon: a Girl's adventure in the Klondike Gold Rush. It is the story of a nine year old girl from Montreal named Aurore Cossinet and her adventure to the Yukon at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Amazingly, the story is based on her own diary and is written in her own words. Aurore's story was recently discovered by her great-granddaughter in a trunk at the old family cabin at Army Beach. Aurore travels to Dawson City, Yukon via Skagway and Dyea, Alaska, at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Along the way, she meets Jack London, Soapy Smith and other historical figures on her way to the story's climax in the Yukon. It is complementing all the learning we did last year about the Gold Rush when we visited Skagway and Dyea with the girls.

Mt Skookum

Do you see the mountain goat herd up there?

They hiked up that saddle, straight up to the top.

Our friend Phil is an awesome skier and had explored this area last year (he actually climbed Mt Skookum with ice axes and crampons with his skies on his back...) and wanted to go see what it looked like in the summer. It is a pretty remote area, at the end of Annie Lake Road. They drove as far as they could, then biked up 13 km on an old mine road (and carried their bikes on their shoulders to cross a few streams....) and started hiking in this incredible wilderness. They saw a herd of mountain goats and one lone caribou. Not another human for 8 hours. For JF to say that is was a tough hike, it means that it *really* was a hard hike, with loose rocks and some scrambling up using hands and feet. As you can see from the pictures (and those are phone pictures!), it was well worth the effort!

*Skookum is a Tlingit word that means "very strong". I find it quite fitting! 

I wish I could...

My friends Helen Anne and Dan are building their dream house on their dream property. These guys are the king and queen of manifesting their dreams. I remember clearly sitting on the beach on the other side of the lake with Helen Anne many years ago and her pointing to the other side of the lake and saying: one day, I’ll have a house there. Of course, I thought. There are only 8 parcels of land where you can build a house around that lake and they are very coveted… She set her intention, shared her dream with some people (including AN acquaintance who has a cabin on the lake) and let it go...  A few years went by.  Then last year she received an email from that acquaintance who shared that a neighbour on the lake was selling his little old cabin.   They made an offer. And got it. It was a giant leap of faith. And a big undertaking to demolish the cabin and start building a house for their family. And last night, they held their first floor party! As we sat on the plywood floor as the sun was going down, watching the kids play in the lake, we listened to an older neighbour (most of them have lived there for 25 and 40 years!) tell us about how this used to be the party place when they were young. He proceeded to tell us how one very merry evening, a few guys sky-dived naked and one landed in a tree right there. It felt like the perfect closure to a fun evening. This is really a happy place!

When we met with them in 2012 for a few weeks during our travels, I remember asking Dan if he was taking that year off to reevaluate what he wanted to do for a living. He said his dream was to teach canoe and kayak, but never gave it much tought before. Now, 3 years later, he runs a very popular canoe summer camp and trains athletes!! Talk about making things happen and following your passion!

I know some of you read my posts with envy. Maybe what you see in me is that part of yourself that wants to take a leap of faith. That my fire lights up your fire. But that fear, or your need for routine and for security, makes you believe that you can't do it. Don't believe the lie. Jump!

What is it that you wish you could do?

I wish I could live a thousand lifetimes and try them all…

A hike in the clouds

You never know what's gonna be revealed once the clouds lift... There is always a silver lining.

“Thirty-nine years of my life had passed before I understood that clouds were not my enemy; that they were beautiful, and that I needed them. I suppose this, for me, marked the beginning of wisdom. Life is short.” ― Iimani David