Work

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On the Move Again

After two full work days at Bonanza Gold, I decided that three weeks of work here wasn’t going to do it for me. So, I had a chat with the manager and I’m now here for three months. This meant that a 15A non-sewer site was no longer going to work for me and I moved to a much nicer FHU site with less traffic. Moving tends to suck, but in such circumstances, it’s a Good Thing. I now have trees, shade, a place to park the car next to the rig, and I don’t have to go dump every week meaning that I can really hunker down for the season.

So, I’m spending the whoooooooole summer in Dawson City!!! I’m taking two and a half or so weeks off in July to do the Chilkoot, of course! I’ll leave the rig here where I have a million cat sitters available to me and go to Whitehorse and back by car.

I don’t think I’ve said this in a while so:

I LOVE THIS LIFE!!!!

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Working in Dawson City

I’m workamping yet again! After saying that I would never do this again, I’m glad I gave ‘this’ a second, and third, chance! And, in a perfect example of life circling around itself, guests from my first workamping experience are colleagues here!

Today was my first day at Bonanza Gold, just south of Dawson City (about five minutes by bicycle).

I’m doing a little of everything. This morning I ‘chambermaided’ for a few hours, which I’ll confess was the last thing I wanted to do (and still is), but it was okay seeing as management is not uptight in the least (ie. no one was standing over me with a stopwatch and a quarter to make sure that a) I made the beds in a prescribed time frame and b) that the sheets were tight enough! 😀 ).

After, I got to tool around the grounds on a golf cart to see where everything is. This was quite fun seeing as I haven’t driven a golf cart in five years and have never driven a gas-powered one.

I then spent the afternoon working mostly from home on some government-related paperwork that my resumé implied I’d be perfect for.

It promises to be an interesting hodgepodge of duties!

Even though I’ll be working full-time hours, I’m going to look for something else, either in the early mornings or late evenings. I need to take in as much work as I possibly can if I want to get to Inuvik.

It starts to get torrid around here at about three and doesn’t get better till about eight, so I’d like for that to be my ‘go home and crash’ time and to work when it’s cool. As it is, the lack of night starting to affect my sleep cycle and I find myself napping more than actually sleeping so I’m actually not afraid, for once in my life, of early morning work!

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At Long Last, Dawson City

no words can convey my disbelief at making my way here

no words can convey my disbelief at making my way here

8,500 of the roughly 10,000km (including toad trips) that separated me from Ottawa

8,500 of the roughly 10,000km (including toad trips) that separated me from Ottawa

I did two trips into Dawson City on Wednesday. The first was simply a scouting mission: get the lay of the land, find a place to live, get a job, top off the groceries, not necessarily in that order. If that all worked out, I would go drop off the groceries, have lunch, and then return to do touristy stuff in the afternoon.

I pulled into Dawson City at about 10AM and by noon I was back at home at the campground my mission fully accomplished. I love the Yukon!

My first stop in Dawson City was the post office where I confirmed that they accept general delivery. I haven’t received my mail in, oh, about six weeks. I did check in with my UPS store guy when I was in Nugget City and there didn’t seem to be anything important. Hopefully. 🙂

I’ll pause here to say that Dawson City is the first city I’ve ever visited that’s exactly the way I envisioned it would be. It is a page taken out of an old western; a compact town with false store fronts, dusty roads, and wooden sidewalks. Interpreters in costume roam the street, adding to the ‘old time’ feel. The town is vibrant for all it seems to be stuck in history and the locals, born here or not, all seem to share a common joy at living in this jewel of a town. It wasn’t love at first sight as I already loved Dawson before I set eyes on her, but rather love confirmed. 🙂

Next, I went to the Visitors Centre. The helpful gal there told me to check out the Klondike Outreach employment centre for work and an RV park just outside of town (2km) for long-term rates.

The employment centre didn’t have anything inspiring, so I just got groceries (prices slightly higher than Watson Lake, but still not shocking except for some produce) and headed back out to visit the RV park.

I won’t give the name of the park, but it’s the third one in a row on the west side of the highway and closest to Dawson. 🙂 The manager told me the monthly rate, said he didn’t have weekly rates, and pretty much told me to get lost when I asked him about work. To be fair, he told me to come back later, but from his tone I knew I would be out of mind the minute I was out of sight.

So, I went to the next park down the road and was hired on the spot for at least enough hours to cover rent, with a decision as to full-time hours to be made the next day (today). Have I mentioned yet how much I love the Yukon? 🙂

I returned to town in the afternoon but didn’t stay long because I wasn’t dressed for the weather. Since Whitehorse, I have felt like I was in Nevada in parts; it is so dryly hot and dusty with an unrelenting sun. I hope I get used to it!

I took a lot of pictures on my walkabout town, but I’m not going to share most of them simply because I plan to take in the town slowly. Here are some teasers:

Dawson City, as seen from the top of Dome Road

Dawson City, as seen from the top of Dome Road

victims of permafrost

victims of permafrost

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the grocery store

the grocery store

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Too Much Fun in Nugget City

My new friend Amber Goodwin, one of the daughters of the owners of Nugget City, took some pictures during my stay and sent them to me last night. Some of these were too fun not to share, even if they are a tad embarrassing. 🙂

First,here is one of my favourite pictures ever taken of Neelix (great shot, Amber!):

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Now, here I am in my oh-so-fetching painting garb the day we raised the Nugget City flag:

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Here I am ceremoniously holding the paintbrush I used for the first coat on the deck:

(this is the shell I bought for my Chilkoot trip!)

(this is the shell I bought for my Chilkoot trip!)

And, finally, too much fun:

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Amber is starting out as a graphic designer; please check out her website www.ambergoodwin.com. She whipped up a nice cover for my ebook! Thanks, Amber!

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I Used to Like Painting… :)

WHEW!!! It took six days, five of them straight through, to get the darn deck done!!! Tomorrow, like yesterday, I’m planting flowers, and Saturday I head back out on the road!

Yesterday was the first time since I got here that I got that ‘pang’ that told me it was time to leave. We had a lot of RVs pass us on their way north and I just couldn’t wait to be back out there.

Next stop is Whitehorse, which I plan to get to in two days, so by Sunday night or mid-day Monday. As a teaser for things to come, I will not be taking the Alaska Highway to get to Whitehorse….