Blue Quill

We woke up bright and early on this October morning to make our way to the Vancouver Airport for a 6:55 o'clock flight to Yellowknife, NWT.

Our tradition of celebrating our wedding anniversary in a new location each year is in its seventeenth edition, yet, as recently as a month ago, we had no idea where we'd be going. It was at a dinner party with our astrophysisist neighbours, after a glass or two of wine, that the conversation swung to the amazing spectacle that is the Aurora Borealis. And it was then that Brenda decided it was high time she saw it for herself.

The following day, flights to and accomodations in Yellowknife were booked.

Our usual travel paths have us leaving home with luggage loaded with enough shorts, sandals and T-shirts to see us through three or four months. This morning, however, our baggage was just as full and just as heavy, for only a four day trip! Long pants, long sleeve merino tops, puffy jacket, waterproof shell, big wooly socks, tuques, gloves and boots take up a lot more space than our snowbird apparel.

Our flight got off the ground right on time and we were scheduled to land in Yellowknife just after 10:00 local time. The flight attendants on this flight were the nicest I've seen on Air Canada in many years. The ride was smooth with only a few bumps along the way, but we could see a lot of low cloud cover as we neared our destination. The plane gradually descended and disappeared into the low-lying clouds. I was watching the in-flight map and as the plane neared an altitude of 250 meters, the pilot suddenly gunned the engines, pulled back hard on the stick, and maintained a steep climb for several minutes.

The visibility was too poor to land, and there was insufficient fuel to wait out the weather, and we were diverted to Edmonton. Unfortunately, there were no more flights to Yellowknife scheduled today, so day one of our Aurora adventure will be spent at the Edmonton Comfort Inn, courtesy of Air Canada. The hotel is close to the airport, but the airport is in the middle of nowhere, so we won't be doing any exploring of the city on this stay.

Maybe if we're stuck here again tomorrow, we'll rent a car and adventure our way to the wilds of the West Edmonton Mall.

For now, the hot tub and sauna may be an option.Read more