Inuvik

We spent all of yesterday in Inuvik. Well, we spent the first half of the day doing laundry and wandering the grounds of the Arctic Chalet, then we did laundry. They've got some really beautiful pure white huskies here that they use for sled dog tours in winter – they're really nice dogs to boot. They're currently giving away 6 of their older dogs – wish we could bring one home but there's just no room in the car (and we're not sure Bogie would be too pleased!)

While the wash was going we took a little hike down the nature trail that they have here. It ends at a lake, and it was a little buggy (not as bad as mom & dad's house tho), but it was pretty cool. It really amazes us how we're in the arctic but so many of the plants (and quite a few of the animals) are the same as at home. Ruffed grouse, red squirrel, warblers, mallards...

We wandered around Inuvik for a few hours and picked up quite a few souvenirs for the family. We would have loved to get more local art, but the prices were a little too steep (understandably – it takes a lot of money just to buy food up here!) We did get a couple of cool things, and some dry reindeer meat, so that'll make for some interesting eating when we get home!

The town is pretty cool – its a huge blend of cultures. There are three indigenous peoples in Inuvik – the Inuvialuit, the Gwich'in, and the Metis (the Metis are descendants of English, Scottish, and French trappers who took native wives, and speak a mixture of French nouns with Cree verbs and grammar with Ojibwa and English mixed in a little too). There's also more recent settlers mixed in from many different cultures (there's a Catholic church in town as well as a mosque). There's tons of people walking around the town – its smaller than Merrill but feels much more like a thriving community. It probably helps that the commerce in the town is fairly centralized.

We ended the day trying a couple of Canadian beers (one of which – Lead Dog Ale - was crazy tasty) and a Canadian wine with dinner – a couple of really tasty, really rare steaks (I ordered mine blue and it was GREAT). Then we came back to the cabin to chill out one more day before departing (and camping) once again. Today – back on the Dempster!