It was much too cold, damp, and windy to paint this morning so, with the realisation that it’s October 1st (!) it was suggested that it would be a good time for me to move out of the RV park so it can be shut down. I packed up quickly, went to dump, filled up the gas tank, and manoeuvred myself into position behind the restaurant, where they have a few spots with 30A and water. Even though the hookups are on the wrong side, my 30A cable and 10′ hose are sufficiently long enough. It’s not nearly as good a spot as being by myself down in the RV park, but there is one huge advantage: treated water. The water in the RV park is straight out of the ground. Even after filtering it, drinking this water is like drinking blood, it’s that iron rich. Moreover, I am irked by the rust spots in my plastic bathroom sink and toilet, so at least they won’t be getting any worse.
Accommodation
Oh, Internet! How I Have Missed Thee!
I’m online!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The owners can now monitor internet usage and told me that there is tons left for September, so I’m welcome to surf to my heart’s content today. All well and good, but I couldn’t get on. So, the server was rebooted and, voila!, I’m online!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, let’s recap the past week…
Tuesday No. 1
I had a lazy morning in Teslin and pulled out at about 10:30. The ride to Nugget City was easy, but through rain. There is a rest stop right before the RV park, so I pulled in there at about 1:30 to have lunch and read. By the time I rolled out, the sun was out, so after a quick bit of hugging and hellos and rolling into my old spot, I was at work… and covered in primer. 🙂
A big past time out west is Texas Hold ‘Em Poker. I’ve been curious about the game; it was popular at Pacific Border and tournaments are a big draw to Dawson. The owners here play two nights a week and I’m welcome to sit in and watch, which I did Tuesday night. It’s not poker as I know it and I’m not sure it’s a game that can be learned from observation only, but it was fun to watch.
Wednesday No. 1
I did a first coat of Trem-Clad on the garage door and then spent the afternoon with my hands in the dirt, weeding and preparing the flower beds for the spring.
Thursday
Did a second coat on the garage door, weeded, and then watched all of Gone With the Wind while I backed up the iMac, wiped its drive, reinstalled OSX, and restored my files.
Friday
Woke to rain that, thankfully, cleared by my start time of 10AM. Weeded in the morning, then put on the third, and final coat of paint. It was a pretty cold day. Spent the evening watching a four-hour long Civil War era western miniseries (True Women).
Saturday
Spent the morning weeding, then began to apply stain to a huge fence.
Just after I got off work, a really big man dressed in camo knocked on my door. He informed me through the window that he was my neighbour for the night and had some fresh Kenai salmon for sale. I’ve seen this a lot over the summer; fishermen hocking their catch to anyone with whom they cross paths. He explained that the salmon is cleaned and filleted, vacuum packed, and frozen right on site. I decided to take a chance and agreed to buy one pound, for 15$. He came back with some of the reddest salmon I have seen in my life. I opened up the package and the smell was perfect, very fresh and ‘salmony’ without the nasty old fish smell. I baked the whole pound right there since I couldn’t separate the frozen fillets. I had a whole half pound for dinner, just baked to perfection and drizzled with fresh lemon juice. The rest made two fine lunches, mooshed up cold with sour cream, spices, salt, and a squeeze of lemon, then served over crackers. What a treat!
After dinner, I started to read Gone With the Wind after convincing myself that I couldn’t very well spend another four hours watching yet another Civil War-era western (Dances With Wolves)! I looked for a hard back copy of Gone With the Wind for years, scouring antique shops from Maine to Savannah, finally finding one in San Francisco. At more than a 1,000 pages, it’s heavy, so thank goodness Tabitha likes to sit on my lap when I’m reading as she gives me a good place to prop up the book. 🙂
Sunday
It was a good day, bright, but cold, and I could smell snow. I continued to work on the fence until I ran out of stain. I then went to work on the steps, had dinner, then went to observe the poker game.
Monday
Snow fell in big fat flakes all day, so I just stayed in my jammies most of the day and drank too much coffee as I continued reading Gone With the Wind. It was my first real day off in months and I enjoyed it immensely, snug as a bug and impossibly cozy with two cats in my lap and a shawl over my shoulders.
Tuesday No. 2
I awoke to a leaden sky. I’d read that expression many times, but don’t believe I’ve ever actually seen such a sky before. Knowing there would be no painting that morning, I dawdled and decided to go into town early to check my email. Followed a frantic hour-long search for my car keys!!! I tore the house apart and went through the snow outside, finally finding them on Miranda’s bumper covered with almost foot of snow! I must have left them there the last time I went to get something out of a basement compartment.
The drive into Watson Lake was easier and shorter than remembered, mostly because a long gravel stretch was finally paved! I did the email thing and then popped into the grocery store for black bread and gyoza. I’ve decided that the grocery store in Watson Lake is my favourite in the Yukon of all the ones I’ve thus far visited. Products are much fresher than at the general store in Dawson or the Nisutlin Trading Post in Teslin, and there is a greater variety of products than can be offered by the huge grocery stores found in large cities like Whitehorse.
Back home, I continued to read, then went to work at 4:15, since the sun was shining brightly and the fence was clear of snow. I did two and a quarter hours of work and called it a day, coming home to finish Gone With the Wind.
Wednesday No. 2 (today)
I awoke to a clear day and decided to get an early start at 9:30. The fence was done by lunchtime, three hours later. I stained some posts in the afternoon, but it was getting cold and there were a few snowflakes in the air, so I finished early, knowing that there are a few long days ahead of me if the weather will just cooperate.
I am now off to reply to the many comments left over the past week and to catch up on my emails!
To her had come that pleasant intoxication peculiar to those whose lives are a deliberate slap in the face of organized society – the gambler, the confidence man, the polite adventuress, all those who succeed by their wits. She said and did exactly as she pleased and, in practically no time, her insolence knew no bounds.
Nugget City, Once More
I arrived last Tuesday at Nugget City at about 2:15. I was up a ladder priming a door by 2:45, and by 3:15, I had fallen off the ladder (its fault!) and was soaked in blood-red primer. Oh, it was good to be back. 😀
Last May, in my ignorance of all things telecommunications in the Yukon, I over-used the internet with just email, blog posting, and general surfing… to the tune of almost three hundred dollars!!! So, when I wasn’t able to get on to their network this time, I didn’t expect much sympathy and have been doing without the internet all week. The owners were very good about what happened in May, saying I should have been told that they have such a low bandwidth amount. But I’d hate a repeat of that, so I’m posting from the library in town where it’s nice and safe. 🙂
I’ve been painting for a week solid. It’s very good for the ego to have people come up to me and say “Oh, you’re the painter!” 🙂 I’ve so far done three coats, plus primer, on a garage door, one side of a fence, and a dozen small flights of stairs. I need to do the other side of the fence, a second coat on both sides, a second coat on the stairs, and then at least two coats on a huge wall.
I was stopped yesterday and today by weather that has never been seen here by the owner: SNOW, and lots of it. It fell in big fat flakes all of yesterday and there is up to a foot in parts! I’ll need to do a few long days to make up for two days off and if the weather cooperates there is more than enough to keep me busy another two weeks here. I was glad for the forced rest because all the ladder climbing and squatting has been as hard on my knees as was the Chilkoot!
Being without the internet has made me discover just how long a day is! I’m not bored, far from it, but I’ve had time to watch Gone With the Wind AND reread the book! I’ve been cooking, baking, and doing other domestic chores, and I’m pretty sure I’m all caught up on my sleep. *makes a mental note to take an internet sabbatical more often*
The heater I bought in Whitehorse is fantastic. Between it and the larger unit, I have not had to turn on the propane yet and it’s cozy in the rig, not just tolerable.
I’m sure there’s more to say, but I only have 10 minutes left, so this will have to do. More next week. 🙂
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good-bye, Farewell, and Amen
It’s a strange atmosphere here this week, frantically busy even as the tourist season is shutting down. We’re hosting the road crew paving Front Street, so the motel is bursting at the seams while the RV park is eerily empty. Nights are cool and days are sunny.  People are leaving in droves by RV, helicopter, motorcycle, truck, car, even horse. No one’s left by garbage truck yet, though. Points if you get the joke/reference on that last one. 🙂
Dawson is quickly shutting down. My favourite restaurants are closed, including the ice cream parlour. It’s very sad to go into town on a sunny afternoon and not be able to get a cone of Rolo ice cream to eat while I watch the ferry go back and forth across the Yukon!
At work, the staffing calendar marks Saturday as my last day, with a big frowning face with tears running down its cheeks; the manager’s attempt at making me feel guilty even though I stayed three months longer than planned!!! I’ve had four jobs since I left last year. One failed miserably, one was tolerable, and two were winners. I have high hopes for my winter on Vancouver Island.
I still have some preparations to make, but for some reason detrenchment this time around is feeling very easy.
Today, I took advantage of the manager’s very generous offer of the industrial washers to wash all my bedding. While that was tumbling around, I cleaned the ‘bedroom’, getting rid of a mountain of books and magazines, dusting, vacuuming, mopping up water on the sills with my Bissell carpet cleaner (for which I have discovered another purpose), and getting rid of the curtains seeing as I discovered that the window-side of them was mouldy!!! I’ll do without proper curtains for now seeing as a complete makeover of that area is in order this winter. The cats were delighted with the new open space and spent the afternoon spread out on their blanket enjoying the 180 degree view of the park.
The generator is probably fixed; a fresh tank of fuel will confirm this. I’m ecstatic!!! Learning how to do proper maintenance on this thing is making me eager to learn how to do the oil changes on my vehicles as well.
The next big RV chore on my list is to flush out my water system with chlorine and then fill the onboard tank completely seeing as I hate the water in Watson Lake. 🙂 It’s pretty bad here (overly chlorinated) but that’s better than the iron-rich water down south that stains everything!
Inside, I’m doing a major cleaning and purging so I can take advantage of the Free Store. I already have a huge bag of clothing and sundry items to take there. I’ve been donating extra books to the RV park book exchange seeing as I’ve made full use of it this summer.
Sunday, I’ll pull out when I pull out. I hope to get to Whitehorse, but I won’t push myself. I’ve been working six hours a day seven days a week and I’m beat. I might make it to just shy of Whitehorse on Sunday, allowing me to get into the city early enough Monday to run errands and be on my way again. There won’t be another decent grocery store until Prince George, so it would be wise to stock up especially since I’ll be in Watson Lake a couple of weeks.
My bank account is much too lean for the journey ahead, but I will make do. Things will be so different next year when I leave Vancouver Island knowing just when my next pay cheque will be. I can finally budget properly.
This new life of mine is slowly coming together. My Klondike summer might be drawing to a close, but a new adventure is not far ahead and this satisfies me greatly.