Photo caption: Nelson and Eileen Doucette, holding a copy of the Downhome magazine in Yellowknife. They were visiting their son, Stephen, and his spouse, Kelly, on the birth of Elizabeth, their first child.

Last summer we travelled to Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories, to visit our son Stephen and his wife Kelly, and to meet our new grandchild, Elizabeth. Stephen was stationed at the military base in Yellowknife, which is the headquarters for the Joint Task Force North, part of Canada Command responsible for Canadian Forces operations and administration in Northern Canada and the Arctic. Stephen has been serving his country for 25 years, in various parts of Canada and in Afghanistan.

It was 24-hour daylight while we were in Yellowknife, and it took us a while to adjust to it. We were forgetting when it was time to go to bed! We had a black blind up to our bedroom window, to help us believe it was nighttime.

We had a wonderful time in Yellowknife. One of the most important moments was seeing and holding our grandchild for the first time. Other highlights included the Royal visit of Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, who were touring Yellowknife at the time. We attended the welcoming event, but we were only able to get about 50 feet from them.

The natural environment of Yellowknife offers opportunities for adventure, as we found out. Nestled in the mountains and surrounded by lakes and the Yellowknife River, Yellowknife a great location for outdoor enthusiasts. During our stay, we went fishing on Slave Lake in Stephen's yacht. We were provided with a free fishing licence because we are seniors. Kelly got the catch of the day, though, a pike that we cooked when we returned home that evening. It was delicious. Other local foods we sampled and enjoyed were muskox steak and Arctic char.

We're happy to say we got to visit Yellowknife and experience life just 400 kilometres from the Arctic Circle. It was our only chance, it turns out, as our son has since been transferred south to Winnipeg, Manitoba.