The Road to Hell is Paved with ICE AND SNOW.

I am seriously considering never leaving my sweet little home in Wemindji ever again.  I don't care that I can't go to Costco or Dollarama (my two favorite places on the entire planet) or go to movies, the mall or restaurants.  I don't care!  All I care about is avoiding hitting caribou and making sure my van stays on the road.  More to follow.

Christmas break was lovely.  The way back, not so lovely.  My mom and I left mid day on Friday with a van over packed with goodies and treasures (avocados, Tassimo discs and lemon juice).  We had to ship a few bulky items due to our extreme over-packing skills, but once that was taken care of we were on the road... after returning for my mother's forgotten pillow - an essential item! 

Pulling out of the Tim Horton's in Oakville, I was surprised when checking my blind spot to see dear sweet Carmonika at my shoulder!  The darling babe had escaped from her cage (a event that would repeat many times over the course of the trip) and was eager to share in the driving! Well thanks Carmonika but you need to at least have your learner's permit before I can let you take the wheel of my white dude magnet.

So we were off - a beautiful day for a drive, clear skies and clear roads - even after a snowstorm the day before.  My mom and I shared the driving up to Amos and overall it was a pretty nice day.  Bobo was an excellent passenger, making himself comfortable on my mother's memory foam pillow and yoga back support pillow.  Most humans don't know this kind of luxury! So anyways we made it to Amos around 9pm, filled up the car with gas, found the hotel and hit the hay!

The next morning we were up bright and early and hit the road after meeting up with our convoy buddies Carmen and Brandi, Shauna and Marsha and her kids!  Timmies in the cup holders (my last giant hot chocolate for 4 months in hand) and we were off!  Traveling in a convoy this big presented a few issues such as communication and snow blow back.  I was at the back of this convoy and was surprised and scared by all the snow blown back by the 3 cars I was following which made visibility nil.  I tried not to follow too close but to put enough distance between myself and Marsha (who I was following) to be able to see clearly meant losing sight of her all together, so I drove as safely and cautiously as I could.

We had been hearing reports of very low temperatures in our area which had shut down the power at KM381 which meant no gas from Matagami to home.  Most cars wouldn't make it that far without getting very close to empty (600+km) so we were worried that we'd have to fill up jerry cans and refill on the road somewhere.  Luckily, power was back at 381 by the time we reached it but something had happened to the plumbing so that meant no indoor bathrooms.  I say that like there were outdoor bathrooms we could use as an alternative. How silly.  There were no outdoor bathrooms either!  So I resorted to grabbing a handful of napkins from the cafeteria, getting a quick "how to" on outdoor peeing from Shauna and headed to the nearest area of privacy.  A snowplow.  So there I was, squatting in the shovel of a snowplow in frigid -40 temperatures, high winds - all modesty and humility erased with each gust of cold wind upon my exposed lady parts.

The skies were darkening at around 4pm and we needed to hustle if we wanted to spend the least amount of time on the access road and James Bay Highway in the dark as possible.  We drove for about an hour before the scariest moment of my life happened.  Get your Depends on people.  This is one for the record books. Driving no faster than 75km/hr on a road usually traveled at minimum 120km/hr I suddenly spun out and found myself with my back end hanging off the edge of a steep embankment.  Some quick maneuvering on my part saved us from sliding full on over the edge but we were definitely stuck.  We tried in vain for a few minutes to drive out but the back passenger tire was so deep in the snow at a weird angle I was going nowhere, even with all-wheel drive.  At this point the convoy hadn't noticed that I was missing and I was just a LITTLE worried.  We got out of the car and stood there assessing the event and what to do next.  The roads were pretty quiet that day so I wasn't too hopeful that we would be rescued quickly, but I knew that eventually the convoy would notice I was no longer in back and turn around to find me.  Perhaps 5-10 minutes after going off the road, a pair of Cree hunters from Ouje Bougoumou (a Cree community about 9 hours south east from Wemindji) saw us and pulled over.  I have to tell you, there is nothing like the feeling of having two capable people with the tools and know-how coming to your rescue.  They at first tried to push my van out, but with the amount of crap I had in there, that was impossible.  So, they unhitched their caribou- and ptarmigan-loaded trailer and attached ropes to the undercarriage of my van and PULLED ME OUT OF THE DITCH!  My mom and I literally jumped for joy and sang these gentlemen (Ron and Emanuel) their praises and we were off!!! Honestly, we couldn't have had better luck in that situation.  It was cold, dark and we were of course out of cell phone range.  If it were not for these guys, who knows how long we could have been out there without the tools or manpower necessary to pull us out of the ditch.  I have never been so scared in my entire life as I was when we were sliding off the road but we were certainly extremely lucky to escape unharmed and with my van in perfect condition.  Some of my colleagues were not so lucky and it is safe to say that Christmas is a terrible time to drive and I may never do it again haha!

So anyways, we were on our way and about 5 minutes later ran into a herd of caribou and almost hit one.  If I didn't have high blood pressure and white hair before, I sure did now!  So that was that and again we drove on.  About 20 minutes after that we ran into our convoy who had turned around in search of us!  When they heard about what happened, my friends were visibly shaken and we all agreed to drive no faster than 50 km/hr on the access road which was A-OK with me.  We made it home after about 12 total hours of driving (usually the drive from Amos to Wemindji takes about 8-9) and I was POOPED.  We unpacked the car, built some Ikea furniture and hit the sack. 

My mom and I spent the next day (Sunday) getting organized and familiarizing her with her new classroom.  If you don't already know, my mom is joining me in Wemindji to teach Grade 2 as my teaching partner Stacy recovers on medical leave for the next 3 months.  So far the kids have been as expected for her, testing the waters and whatnot, but my mom has been a real trooper and is learning as much as she can as quickly as she can as she is thrown into teaching without experience.  I have to say I am very proud of her so far and I know things will only continue to improve! I know we are going to have a lot of fun together over the next few months. 

Anyways, even though I spent my entire Christmas break sleeping off sickness, I still manage to feel extremely exhausted upon arrival.  I am not quite back into my normal routine but am looking forward to that too.  For now I am busy helping my mom become familiar with her classroom and routine and trying to give her teaching and classroom management tips that hopefully will ease the transition for both her and the kids.  Wish us luck as we embark on this journey! Ps did I mention I am never leaving Wemindji again?

I have about 10 inches of clear window space all around.  Oh and a faulty hamster cage. 

Little Prince ready for his big adventure!

Beautiful day to start our trip!

My mom's second-last Timmies! 

Keys to the classroom!

My mom at her/Stacy's desk getting ready for the big day!

Bobes and I sharing the passenger seat.

Mummy and Bobo selfies!

CRAPPY WEATHER

Building Ikea furniture after driving for 12 hours - we must be masochists.

Womp womp :(

Bobo right at home.

The convoy!

Loving the freedom!

Welcome to the worst ride of your life!

An excellent co-pilot.

Bonnie and Clyde - up to no good!