Russ and Aaron's NWT Winter Road Trip: Le Gohline- "where the oil is"

-27C, Few Ci RMK AURBO IC

No, for you met types who can read the above, we didn't actually see the Aurora Borealis, but it was reported nearby. You'd have to be 'hard core' to leave your comfy bed and commit that to film. I guess you'll have to settle for a pretty sunrise.

Away at 0830 after a great night at the Mackenzie Rest Inn - a converted RCMP barracks. Crossed the mighty Mackenzie (about 700m wide here) on the ice at 1030.
The Mackenzie valley beckons us on. We're heading for a place known by the Sahtu people as Le Gohline- "where the oil is". The white man named it Norman Wells and it's been where the oil is since 1914 when the first drill was sunk.
Unfortunately for us, it's also beckoning the big rigs out. The road will close in only a few more weeks and it's time to move all the equipment while they still can. According to the NWT highways website this is only supposed to happen at night. Not true, and for today it's our job to dodge oncoming traffic. At 1130 we pull into Wrigley looking for fuel, but as we soon find out, nothing happens on a Sunday, in the NWT. Fortunately Russ and I preplanned and have two jerry cans of fuel to help us fill the gap to Norman Wells.

At 3:55 pm we pass the road to Deline (Ft. Franklin) on Great Bear Lake. We're north of 65 now. We pass some trucks waiting for nightfall to travel the road...not sure how they're different than all the other behemoths we've been dodging all day.
At 4:45pm we stop off in Tulita (Ft. Norman), home town of Leslie Nielson (Naked Gun, Police Squad). There wasn't much laughing going on here as, well, it's a Sunday, in the NWT.
Rolling through town and out onto the Mackenzie puts us into a winter wonderland. Blue sky above and blowing snow up to the height of the cab. Our route takes us way out into the middle of the Mackenzie River to dodge the ice jam at the confluence with the Great Bear river.
We roll into Norman Wells at 6 pm on the dot and find the hotel through the blowing snow. Alas, it's a Sunday, in the NWT, and our hotel is closed. Apparently a reservation doesn't mean much on a Sunday, in the NWT. We manage to find a hotel for the night, with no reservation. As we're not working up here (Holy F#$*!) the hotel keeper takes pity on us and knocks 10 % off the bill.

Dinner tonight is a "standing room only" affair at cafe Mackenzie Valley Hotel #211 trying to heat up a can of soup in an electric kettle (sorry honey). Russ's selection, the organic/instant meso-cup was particularly uninspiring despite the label "Convenience Without Compromise". With a flavour that begs the question:" Is this really edible?"
Heading for Ft. Good Hope tomorrow.