Waaaay up North

OK, so there is internet access at the lodge, but it is insanely slow so I will make this brief. I am up in the NorthWest Territories, which is the northern most province of Canada. How North you ask? Well, we are wearing pants, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts and shell parkas on the water. The water is maybe 50 degrees. TO get here we flew from Chicago to Edmonton, took a charter plane from Edmonton to Hay River, and then a pontoon plane that landed on the water to the Brabant Lodge. If you have seen the new show Ice Road Truckers on the Discovery Channel, that is where we are. The bugs are insane. They don't really land on you so much as just buzz right in front of your face. We have head nets to keep them out of our ears and mouths.
Here is the routine. 7 AM is breakfast. Today it was pancakes, muffins, coffee and juice. On the boats at 8, fishing until 12. Today we trolled for Walleye first, then went after Northern Pike. Lunch was on shore and consisted of the Walleye we caught earlier, with potatos, baked beans and homemade donuts (I had only 1, but it was the BEST donut ever). The fish, potatos and onions were all fried in a big skillet. We talked the guides into cooking 2 fillets in tin foil so we didn't have to eat so much grease. After lunch it was back on the boats until 5. 5 to 6 is spent BSing around the table and eating fried Pike. 6 is dinner time and tonight was salad, chicken parmesan and chocolate cake. At all the meals all you have to do is ask for more and out it comes. At 7 it's back on the boats until around 10. It's optional really and tonight we came in early around 8 30. The group is 18 guys and it's 2 guys per boat plus the guide.
It's a lot of fun and I have never fished at all really so it's all new to me. The best part is so far I have the biggest fish of the group, a 20.5 pound, 43 inch Pike I caught this morning. Tomorrow we are all going to where the Monster Fish are, so my standing is in jeopardy for sure.
I head back to Chicago on the 11th, and fly out of Chicago the 12th to finally return home. It's been just about 5 weeks since I've seen home, and to be honest, I didn't really miss it. Court was with me most of the trip, and living with a great host family in Germany made all the difference. I was surprised that I didn't miss my routine, and living out of a suitcase never really bothered me. I am starting to like the idea of not having material things tether me to any spot. Plus I realized that things I thought I could not live without don't really matter that much. It will be interesting to see what sticks when I return home. I may fall back into the old patterns, or start anew.

Cheers,

AJ