What a way to start the day!
It’s 12:40 a.m. Knock. Knock. Wake up! Wake up! Northern
Lights!
The brave souls scampered out to view the
unbelievable sight. Dancing across the sky were green, red, orange, lavender
and white lights.
To these viewer’s amazement the Northern
Lights were: “ fantastic, our 50-day wait is over, a magnificent fireworks,
increditable, glorious, unbelieveable, beauty, a fluid motion dancing in the
sky, amazing, spectacular”, and to sum
it all up, “ a perfect finish for our northern trip.”
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| Northern Lights with moon and clouds |
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| Northern Lights with a little pink |
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| Nothern Lights with more pink |
After breakfast we turned a short distance
from our campground onto the Cassiar Highway 37, heading for Dease Lake.
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| Ready to leave for Dease Lake |
Our only on-route stop was at the Cassier
Mountain Jade, “Jade City.” The jade gemstone
from the Cassiar Mountain Range has been mined by the Bunce family since the
early 70s. Their Princess Jade Mine is located 80 miles SW of their store
somewhere near Dease Lake.
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| The Cassiar Mountain Jade Store |
Today ,Claudia Bunce runs the store and her
partner Gary Crittchley works the claim and jade cutting side of the business.
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| Rita and Nancy are buying Jade |
The jade itself has particular properties.
Its hardness ranges from 6 to 6.5 making it polish beautifully to reveal the
translucent shade of green. As well as its carveability, jade is believed to
possess healing properties causing relaxation and creativity. To many jade also
bestows good fortune and peace.
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| Polished Jade stones made into an Inukshuk |
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| Unpolished Jade stones made into an Inukshuk |
After the travel briefing we enjoyed a white
elephant gift exchange. Everyone was asked to put something they wanted to
discard in a brown paper bag. Wagonmaster Spence conducted the exchange,
reading a Christmas story with lots of “lefts” and “right” with across
directions. On these directions, everyone in the circle acted accordingly.
Among the various gifts exchanged were; a
dual-sided palm ratchet, a fish that wagged its tail, popcorn, a can of smoked
oysters, hand sanitizer, a train whistle, dvds, a Wal-Mart truck, 4-tins of
something [naturally all of the labels were removed],a picture frame, an
elephant statue, a mouse trap, a reader, a dice game, a stain glass red hat, a
Swiss + tech [screwdriver], a card holder and a chip clip.
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| Linda, Caroll, Joan, Arabell, and Rita showing their treasures |
Later in the evening we sat around the fire
enjoying s’mores.
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| Tom & Ivy enjoying the marshmallows |
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| Penny roasting a marshmallow |
Submitted by Rig # 21
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| Jackie & David |
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