The Northwest Territories

For the month of September, I was able to rest and relax. I was able to go and visit my family in Michigan for about a week. Then I traveled to Orlando Flordia for the CSM staff retreat. All the full time staff meet together and relax. We got to do to Universal Studios, Disney World (I went to the Animal Kingdom) and a variety of other activities.
Right after returning from Orlando, I repacked my bags for cooler tempatures and traveled with my boyfriend Josh up north to Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. (I've been dating Josh for 9 months now and it has been so much fun! I think he's absolutley wonderful) We first flew to Edmonton, Alberta and then my friend Pete Olsen drove us 15 hours north. I slept the majority of the time as we drove up and because of this I missed seeing wolves and the northern lights (grr). We had to drive through Wood Buffalo National Park and we got to see buffalo and black bears. It was so cool!
Josh and I stayed with Pete and Cindi Olsen for about two weeks. It was probably the most relaxing two weeks of my life :-) Honestly, we slept for the majority of the time and sat around watching movies. But we did get to do other things. We got to hike around the Slave River, climb around the Little Buffalo Park, canoe up the Salt River, and enjoy God's creation all around us :-)
One of the days we were there, Pete and Cindi took us up to Hay River so see the Great Slave Lake and also drop Cindi off to her meeting. We didn't end up leaving there until the evening and we had a three hour drive ahead of us. (Just as a reference point, to get to Fort Smith from anywhere you have to drive through Wook Buffalo National Park). On our way back to Fort Smith, I was sitting in the front and keeping my eyes peeled for any animals on the side of the road. I happened to see two sets of buffalo eyes and pointed them out to Pete. However, what I didn't notice was that there was an entire herd of buffalo on the road. We were slowing down as quick as possible and the buffalo had began to run out of the way, except one. It was honestly like a cartoon. The buffalo didn't move and lifted his head just in time for us to hit it with the side of the vehicle. After that we were all pretty juiced. One thing that Josh said was "I just was the face of Jesus and it looked like a buffalo" ;-)
After we were far away from the buffalo we pulled over to take a breather and relax a bit! When we pulled over we saw an amazing northern lights display. It was incredible and so beautiful. That is a night that I will never forget. I mean how many people do you know can say they hit a buffalo.
All in all, this trip for me was exactly what I needed to relax and get refreshed from the year! Thanks Pete and Cindi for letting Josh and I come and be slothes for two weeks :-) I loved it up there and I'm sure that anyone else who would go would find the same thing! Hope you enjoy some of the pictures!
Grace & peace!