Inuvik ~ The Town & Its People

Remember "Ice Road Trucker" (2nd Year)

First item this morning was the Inuvik Visitor Center. We were the first tourist of the day and Sheila (the staff person) was very warm and gave us a multitude of information plus answered many questions that I had concerning the native people, their land, way of life, livelihood and of course the weather here in the winter. She gave us a total agenda of what to do in town. With all of this and free coffee, we set out to explore this town. I can honestly say that I expected cold weather, but it was one of the hottest days on our entire adventure since our departure…81 degrees!

Remeber "IRT" The boat on the Rivers' Edge!

First stop, the native art center, many fine craftsmen had put a lot of time in their carvings, bead work and fur garments. The food stores were next. It was a little shocking to see the prices and what we back home take for granted…orange juice for $9 something for half gallon.

Sheila had recommended the Canadian Legion for lunch. We followed her advice and found the food excellent. This post is the farthest  “North” Legion post in the world. I had a nice talk with this guy that worked on the “North American Dew Line”  It was and is the early warning radar system for missiles and airplane attacks from the North over the pole.

The Dome Igloo Catholic Church, a landmark in the town was next. The doors would not be open until 5pm, so we walked here and there exploring. After 5pm, we saw the priest unlock the church and we had a small tour. He said there was a 5:30 mass and asked if we would be attending. We said sure. The strange thing about this is that we were the only two people in the church except another priest who came in a few minutes later. They asked Helen if she could do the readings and she did. It was sort of neat to have a private mass.

I didn’t know where all the time went but it was midnight again before we hit the sack.

That is what we did and saw