August in Review!

Hello! I am very sincerely sorry about my disappearance for the past month or so... I do have a semi- valid reason for it but I definitely do not want it to be an excuse! Basically I all of the sudden got extremely busy. I was in Whitehorse for a week in August and had applied for a teaching position right before I left. I returned from Whitehorse on Monday to a message from the principal to call her to set up an interview the next morning. I did not get the job I applied for but instead another position came up and I got that one on Friday. I spent that weekend with my friends in Drumheller and then bam! Time to go back to school to set up and prepare for a new school year- and then it began. I am a first year teacher in a 4/5 combined class so for the past few weeks I have been a little bit overwhelmed with things and my blog/ twitter/ youtube everything kind of lost priority. Long (very long) story short I am going to do my very best to be more involved online.

 

Now on to August in Review!

 

I started off the month with a trip to Heritage Days with the girls from Colour Your World. It is a really cool camp that is for girls all around the province for a week to learn about other cultures. Heritage Days in my city is a huge deal- hundreds of thousands of people go over three days! I snapped a couple of pictures while I was there to share with you!

 

 

The main thing that happened to me in August was my trip to Whitehorse! It was definitely a highlight of my year and so much fun! I did a blog post of each day in Whitehorse already, you can click on the pictures to get to each day.

 

Day One

 

Day Two

 

Day Three

 

Day Four

 

Day Five

 

Day Six 

 

Day Seven

 

Day Eight

 

Pretty much right after my return from Whitehorse I went to Drumheller with my friends to camp and see the sights. I have been to Drumheller so many times because my aunt and uncle used to live there, but it was fun to go back and hang out with friends!

 

 

My summer finished off with a job interview and a classroom! I am an elementary school teacher and now I have my own class! It is a 4/5 combined class and so far I love it! I have great kids and my dream of being a teacher came true!

 

 

 

 

www.girlguideforchange.com

I have decided to not renew my account on my website for a few reasons. First and foremost it is not being used. I forget about it and there have been no posts on the forums or pictures uploaded or anything. Second, it is expensive. I have paid $100 a year for the past two years to keep the website running and that is a fair chunk of change for something that is not being used. Third- I would much rather use websites that are already established like Twitter and YouTube to share information and ideas. So there you have it! Just thought I would share in case someone wants to go on it and it does not work. BUT I will be keeping the URL www.girlguideforchange.com to use for this blog because my business cards and everything have that on it. Anyways it is a pretty long ramble for such a small announcement but I wanted to let you know. :) 

Back to the Prairies: Whitehorse Day Eight!

Today was our last day in Whitehorse :( 

 

We got up early and lugged our suitcases (mine, significantly heavier than when I arrived) down the stairs and waited for the taxi. 

 

We arrived at the airport and checked in and enjoyed the signs West Jet had out for Discovery Day- their stat holiday. 

 

 

We got on the plane and headed back to Calgary. Again I was on the wing so I got some pretty cool pictures from the sky. 

 

 

I had a bit of a nap and when I woke up I was so confused about where I was and what time it was that I could not believe that we were already landing! 

 

 

 

We got to the ground and headed through the doors where eager parents were waiting to see their awesome travellers. It was a little bit bittersweet for me because I was happy I was home and I was able to see my family, sleep in my own bed, etc. but I was also going to miss my travel buddies! I had such a great time and I am so grateful that I got to go with them! Thanks for letting me join you! 

Thanks for reading all of these posts about my trip and if you ever get the chance to go to Yukon do it!!! 

To Skagway!: Whitehorse Day Seven!

I was most excited for day seven! If you have read all of my Whitehorse posts so far (well done!) you will know that I love trains and I love scenery so taking a train to Alaska is really the ideal situation. :) 

 

We started off at the Whitepass Station in Whitehorse where we got on a bus that would take us to the train. We saw some beautiful things while we were driving and made our way towards Carcross. 

 

 

We saw some absolutely beautiful things on the bus and even though we were going 100km an hour or more I got some pretty decent pictures of the mirror lakes.

 

Once we arrived in Carcross (fun fact it is short for Caribou Crossing) we were able to get off the bus and explore the little town. We went into an authentic general store and the train station but we still had to get back on the bus to continue to Fraser, British Columbia. I didn't know that we would be going into BC so that was a nice little surprise. 

 

We finally got to board the train in Fraser and at this point I was vibrating with excitement! We got onto our car and hit the track!

There was a couple in front of me who I talked to for quite a while because their daughter was a girl guide and had even volunteered at Pax Lodge. 

 

The train guide came with a map that showed the route to Skagway, Alaska and had the landmarks on the trip pointed out. It was nice to follow along and I really enjoyed being able to prepare to take photos like these!

We even saw a bear! 

 

This Whitepass Railway was so cool and we got to see so much history  including this old bridge that used to carry the train. Even as we were going across this beautiful landscape hints of the past were everywhere- broken down equipment down the side of a cliff, old tracks and wooden bases, and even a grave for two workers who were killed while building the railway. I was quite overcome as we travelled. 

 

When we got to Skagway it was a mad dash to get everything we wanted to get done done. We had a quick and delicious lunch at a little cafe and then shopped- like speed shopped. We were only in Skagway for a few hours so I power walked from one side of Main Street to the other trying to take it all in. Once we got all of our shopping done and our time was up we headed back to the bus where we were taken back to Whitehorse. 

It was nice that we were able to see where the train had been from the highway just take in how amazing it was that the rail was built on such treacherous terrain. 

We got a quick photo at the Yukon border which was fantastic! Another photo to add to my bucket list journal (visit all the provinces and territories in Canada). 

We were able to stop in Carcross again on the way back which was awesome! We saw the S.S. Tutshi (or what is left of it) and Skookum Jim's cabin. I also loved seeing the beautiful paintings on the buildings- it is such a splash of colour! 

 

By the time we got back to Whitehorse the girls were exhausted! We had supper and then went back to our rooms to relax, pack up, and get ready to go home the next day. 

 

This is the information centre that grew in my hotel room! We collected things from all of the places we went to as souvenirs to give to the girls.

 

This was by far my favourite day of the trip and I would definitely do it again! I told my parents that they had to go at some point because they would love it!