RVing

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Nippy Morning

I find it a tad amusing that the weather is colder and damper the further south I get from Dawson! Yesterday in Whitehorse was chilly, but a quick run over to Starbucks got the blood flowing. This morning, though, it’s COLD. I even went to bed with long johns on under my jammies! Had I boondocked, I would have run the generator the length of time it runs (more on that later 😀 ) and started up the heat, but I don’t feel it would be appropriate to run the genset in a park. Anyhoo, the coffee and toast are almost ready and they’ll warm me right up. 🙂

There was another improvement to the rig yesterday. The first night I hit the road, I am always reminded that I don’t have a non-120V dependent clock and I wind up having to find the cell phone, iPod, or even computer to get the time in the morning. At Walmart yesterday I picked up for 10$ a very basic and tiny clock with a back light with a sticker on the back. I stuck it up above the bed and it is making a world of difference. I can wake up during the night and not be bothered by the glow of an alarm clock, but still have the time available at the push of a button.

The internet here in Teslin is so wonderful. I think my only real disappointment the past few months was that I couldn’t blog with any sort of frequency or reliability. I made a list of all the things I wanted to share, but it’s a bit late for that now. At any rate, I have tons of material for next summer!

I have about an hour to checkout and I think I’ll just sit and watch the lake while I sip my coffee as this is probably going to be my last easy morning for a few weeks.

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Preserving Battery Power

There are two ways to approach dry camping: either you figure out a way to increase the amount of power you want by using the genset or solar panels or you figure out a way to decrease the amount of power you need.

I started to reduce the amount of power way back in Thunder Bay when I bought a French press for making coffee. The new laptop is another way of reducing power since I can watch a movie on it instead of firing up the iMac. Last night, I read for about an hour and was acutely aware of just how much juice a 12V light uses. So, I decided it was time for me to find an LED puck light,  about which I’d heard rave reviews from other RVers.

I was heading for the cash at Canadian Tire this morning when I just happened onto their LED puck light display! The one I bought is white and has sticky tape on the back for fixing to a surface. It has three little lights. Tapping the unit shuts one light off at a time, like a dimmer. I’m very impressed; it’s bright and a much easier light to read by. I think I will do like some RVers and slowly replace my 12V lighting with these LED lights. The one I bought was 10$, which isn’t that much more than a 12V lightbulb.

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End of Season Fun at Gertie’s

I have to say that my two nights of partying at Gertie’s were the perfect farewell to Dawson. It’s rare for me to go out two nights in a row, much less drink, eat, and gamble as much as I did, but money for fun came from unexpected sources.

Friday night was Talent Night. One singer was very good and a comedian had a very good routine as a hydrophobe synchronized swimmer, but, otherwise, I found the whole thing a tad silly. I still had a good time, chatting with friends and the people around my table. One gentleman got lucky at either the slot machines or the poker tables and bought a round for the whole table. Which explains why I ended up drinking more beer than I normally drink at one time. 🙂

Saturday night were the last shows of the season. It was the usual line up at 8:30, 10:30, and midnight, but with humourous, and very naughty, twists. I went with the gang from work and drinks were paid for all night. I played 15$ in the penny slots and came out with 7$ ahead! It was sooooo much fun! Best of all, I wasn’t stressed about my departure the next day and was able to relax and truly enjoy myself.

It was a very interesting atmosphere at the end of the night, like the closure of Gertie’s marks the true end of the summer season. There were a lot of ‘Have a good winter, see you next year!’s I’m told the population of Dawson goes down to only about 700 in the winter!

I’m already 20% of the way to Campbell River and the non-nomad part of me is heartbreakingly homesick. But let’s not kid ourselves; the nomad part is stronger. 🙂

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En route due south to Watson Lake

I’m back in Teslin, being too exhausted to make it all the way to Nugget City tonight.

My departure from Dawson was the easiest departure yet, ironically enough. Everything was so under control that I partied hard at Gerties my last two nights, stumbling home in the wee hours of the morning. That happened to be past two yesterday, with departure slated for hopefully no later than noon. Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting to make it to Whitehorse till late, if at all!

To my surprise, I was up at about nine, had everything packed and ready to go by ten, took some things up to a storage locker by eleven, and was on the road by quarter to twelve. Shocking! 😀

The goodbyes were heart wrenching, but it’d be a lie to say that I wasn’t happy to be back on the road. I stopped at Mackenzie Petroleum for gas, 1.20$ per litre and then drove long and hard. The weather alternated between sun, rain, and mist. The mountains were covered in bright yellow leaves surrounded by lush evergreens. I have yet to tire of the Yukon landscapes.

I only had a quarter tank of fuel when I hit Carmacks, so I decided to gas up there, but was thwarted at both gas stations by selfish idiots parked in front of the pumps while they ate a meal! At neither location was anyone inclined to move until they were good and ready and staff didn’t care about the loss of a 200$ sale. Braeburn Lodge, a short ways down the highway, was happy to have my business. *shrugs*

Whitehorse was a welcome sight after 530km of driving. I was bone tired and just wanted to crash with a movie. I pulled into the Walmart and unhooked the toad so that I could park away from the road, went in for a movie, got some dinner, and I was done for the night. I went to bed at 10 and slept solidly until 7!!!

Today was nuts. Oh, everything went smoothly, but I had a million things to buy and it was unnerving to spend so much money! I had breakfast at Starbucks and then drove Miranda over to the Shell station for propane and fuel. The propane pump is oddly located, forcing the owners of longer motorhomes to park with their ass end in the laneway. Just that made it sensible for me to have unhooked, even though I don’t like to unhook when I’m Walmarting it. But I had a ton of errands to run, so it made sense to be parked centrally (the RV parks are all on the outskirts) and to have my car accessible. Propane was relatively cheap, 83 cents per litre, if I recall correctly, and gas was at 1.03$. I’m already under budget for gas, which is awesome! Once everything was topped up, I had to deal with my propane tank, which was leaking from the Extend-a-Stay opening. I quickly ascertained that this was because the opening was dirty. A quick swipe with a cotton swab solved the problem and allowed a proper seal with the cover.

The rest of my day went something like this, but not necessarily in this order:

I stocked up on a mega ton of groceries and a ton of beer, did some banking, and hit up Canadian Tire (found another oil heater on mega sale!), Staples (found an external hard drive on mega sale!),  Shoppers Drugmart (for the generator…), and Home Hardware (for something I’ll reveal in a later post). And let’s not forget the Walmart shopping spree for all the luxuries I’ve been rationing for two months, like toilet paper.

By the time I got home for the last time, it was mid-afternoon and I was sorely tempted to just stay the night in Whitehorse. But I had had my fill of that city with little charm and just wanted to get away from all the people.

50km shy of Teslin, I knew it would be my stop for the night. It would be dinner time by then; a push to Watson Lake would take me to at least 8pm. I was famished and exhausted and knew that by the time I said all my hellos and settled into a back in spot in Nugget City it would be past 9, maybe later.

As a compromise, I’m not on hookups tonight, paying 15$ to dry camp with access to the showers (which I’ll use seeing as I remember how clean they are) and the internet. I had a quick, but well-balanced dinner, and in short order I’m going to curl up with a good book and a mug of tea.

Tomorrow, I’ll be able to sleep in, enjoy the morning, and still get to Watson Lake at a reasonable hour.

Tired as I was last night, I still managed to find the energy to pen a few words in my journal, which I’ll quote verbatim as I tend to find myself funny when I’m this tired. 🙂

Back on the road!!!!!!!!!!

With Yukon plates!!!!!!!!!

With a Dawson City address!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going to Vancouver Island!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With a guaranteed job next summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Culinary Inspiration

The onsite restaurant closed this week and tonight surplus food was brought over to the motel. I helped myself to oranges and huge onions that inspired me to ask the owner if she could spare two eggs. She sure could and she also handed me sour cream, which fit in well with the fate I decided to reserve for those onions, as well as a few other items. I decided to turn them into a crustless quiche!

Quiche à la Rae is one of only two egg dishes I eat (the other is French Toast à la Rae). Quiche à la Rae involves lots of flavourful ingredients to mask the taste of eggs, namely strong cheese and plenty of sweet, caramelized onions. Tonight, I substituted sour cream for the skim milk I usually use, and I also added some basil I’d bought earlier in the summer and frozen. I baked the whole thing in a casserole dish and it came together quite nicely. I served the dish with hot buttered toast and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. This is going to make a fabulous breakfast tomorrow or maybe lunch. If it’s anything like regular Quiche à la Rae, it’ll be even better cold!

Inspiration

Inspiration

Other goodies: butter, oranges, radishes, and lemons

Other goodies: butter, oranges, radishes, and lemons

Two eggs, sour cream, fresh frozen basil, salt, pepper, grated old cheddar

Two eggs, sour cream, fresh frozen basil, salt, pepper, grated old cheddar

What onions are supposed to look like

What onions are supposed to look like

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