Canada Day in the Yukon: Flashbacks, Kayaks and Festivities

Happy Canada Day Eh, my friends!

I hope all my pals and fellow Canadians are having a wonderful weekend celebrating our county’s 150th birthday! And, I’m sure all my American friends are gearing up for their big bash next week. Now would someone please tell me….how are we in July already? Crazy. I’m sad that Spring is over, but June just flew by in a flash.

I’ve been a busy bee leading up to the weekend with baking orders, my Canada Day Pie (it’s almost ready–will share it in my next post), and extra work since my biz partner is still away. I’m looking forward to relaxing this weekend and spending time with friends & catching up.

I’ll definitely be avoiding downtown like the plaque–especially since I’ve heard it’s like Fort Knox now with all the security measures in effect. If any of my local pals are heading downtown this weekend, have fun, and please be safe. There are tons of folks in town for our big party, so it’s going be busy.

I’ll be catching you guys up on updates a bit more later (along with a couple of long-overdue recipes as well) but I thought it’d be fun to share some memories of one of my favourite places where I’ve spent Canada Day: up North in Canada’s Yukon!

 

One of my best friends, Al, is from Whitehorse and he’s actually there right now visiting family as we speak. I’m jealous as I’m stuck in Fort Knox  Ottawa for Canada Day weekend so these photos of my trip from a few years ago are a very pleasant distraction 🙂

Is there any better way to celebrate the birth of our beautiful country than kayaking on a pristine lake, roaming around a small-town festival, having dinner on the patio with friends…. and soaking up the midnight sun? Absolutely not.

No crowds, no line-ups, no phones (this is starting to sound like the 3-hour tour on Gilligan’s Island–haha)—just whole lotta sunshine & beautiful scenery.

Even better if you’re enjoying the mountain scenery from the water.

It was the perfect place to celebrate Canada Day.

Although I’ve been to Whitehorse a few times, this was the closest that I’d been there around Summer Solstice. Talk about long summer days–holy cow! It really throws you for a loop when you’re sitting on a patio getting a tan….at 10pm! (nope, not kidding). Then, of course, you don’t get to sleep ’til the middle of the night because the sun never seems to set. Perfect for sun-worshippers like myself (even though I was seriously lacking sleep the entire week here)

We started Canada Day off right with some dark roast coffee and a good homemade breakfast. It was sunny, hot, and not a cloud was in the sky!

 

Then we (Al & his mom, and I) headed downtown to check out the Canada Day festivities. Al’s mom ran into tons of folks she knew, of course (since she lives in Whitehorse, plus she’s a doctor). We wandered around soaking in the sights and listening to live music. It was nice to get away from the ‘big city’ and enjoy a small-town Canada Day celebration for a change.

There were a few of these cuties hanging around. The kids loved them, including Al. He tried wanted to take one home.

The Fire Department was running demos and fun games for the kids. It was pretty cute watching the little ones look up to their heroes.

Live music at the stage set up in the fairground

 

I much prefer this “crowd” compared to being in a big (capital) city on Canada Day (by a long shot).

Ohhhh, here’s where I parked my new truck 😀

Al and his mom posing for a rare photo-op together (with Al looking relatively normal if you can believe that).

We spent a couple of hours at the festival and then decided it was time to do some kayaking at a nearby lake. It was almost 30 C (about 90F–and even warmer than it was in Ottawa that weekend actually!!) so we figured getting out on the water will help cool us off a little. 

The lake is only 10 minutes outside of Whitehorse so it didn’t take long to get there. And it definitely isn’t hard on the eyes, either.

AL posing it up before heading into his boat.

The emerald-green water looked more like something you’d see in the Caribbean than in Northern Canada. Just stunning!

 

Al’s Dad, Rene–whom has sadly passed away since this trip (RIP RENE)–loved his dingy even though he couldn’t catch up to our kayaks.

AL and his mom get ready to race each other. Let the mother/son battle begin…

And we’re ready to go! 

But….why race when we can pose for a photo?

Look at that beautiful water! It’s absolutely glorious…

 

All that kayaking is hard work! After our adventure on the water, we packed up, brought the kayaks to Al’s parents’ place, and then AL and I went to Al’s friend Eric’s house for a visit.

After a beverage on the patio, we headed into town for dinner. These photos were taken late evening– around 10:30-11pm.

The old train station “White Pass & Yukon Route” is located in downtown Whitehorse.

Such a beautiful part of the country and it’s especially fetching with the Midnight Sun.

This certainly was a Canada Day to remember!  I can’t wait to get back to the Yukon with my friend. It’s been far too long.

 

Happy Canada Day everyone! Hope you have a fun, safe, and memorable weekend wherever you are.

Dana xo