Accommodation

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Stuck in Watson Lake

How hard is it to get out of Watson Lake? One couple has learned that it is practically impossible to get out of this town!

Last night, a retired RCMP officer and his wife were en route to Whitehorse for an RCMP shinding happening this weekend when their car broke down about  twenty kilometres from Nugget City. An RVer passed them, turned his rig around (go RVers!), and drove them here. They spent the day trying to find someone going north who could drive them to Whitehorse, but this wound up being a very low traffic day.

Next option was to go back to Watson Lake to get on a Greyhound bus. Greyhound couldn’t simply pick them up at Nugget City; a ticket absolutely had to be bought at the depot in town, no exceptions whatsoever. So, they tried to find someone going into Watson Lake, but struck out there also. Finally, the owners here offered to drive them into town.

When I got wind of all of this, I stepped in and told the couple I would take them in. The owners have enough to do without losing an hour going into town and back! So, I emptied the car of the bike, bike accessories, and kayak bits so that I could free up the back seat and took off with this couple at about a quarter to nine.

Halfway into Watson Lake, I asked them where I was dropping them off. This got me some rather resounding silence. They thought I knew where the bus depot is! I think they had a minor freakout, but I suspected that the Tags convenience store across from Sign Post Forest would be open and directions would be had there. I was right. I took them to the bank, then we headed off to the depot (across from Tags, pretty much behind the bank, in a huge green building!). I took the right approach to the building as even with my myopia I was able to see the Greyhound sign in the distance, to everyone’s relief.

Once there, I insisted on going in with them. After everything that happened, I wanted to make sure that they would be able to get on a bus tonight! I was surprised to find the depot open, with a nice waiting area. It’s going to be a long night for them, but they’ll be in Whitehorse by 4AM and they have a hotel room booked so they can crash upon arrival. The owners asked me to come back up to the restaurant in a few minutes so that we can wave to the bus as it goes by!

This is a good example of a bad situation that turned out well. They could have been stranded a lot farther in the boondocks instead of within easy towing of Nugget City. We have a mechanic on site, so while they’re doing their thing in Whitehorse, their car will be fixed up here. They’ll be able to bus back on Sunday, pick up the car, and head home.

As for my getting out of Watson Lake, it’s in the works! Friday is absolutely and definitely my last day of work and I’m pulling out Saturday! I can’t believe I’ve been here for two solid weeks!!! They have been very good weeks; it’s been great to have been on almost FHU (no sewer) with good internet without feeling a pinch and to know that my next tank of gas is covered. The last two weeks have been the first that truly reflected my dream for this life and I hope they are a portent of things to come.

Post edited 45 minutes later to add:

I just got in from waving the bus with about six other people. We must have been a tad… enthusiastic. The bus passed us, turned around at the first chance it saw, and came back to see if someone had been missed! The group of us didn’t know whether to laugh or be mortified!!! :LOL:

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Taking the House Out for a Spin

I’ll be here for most, if not all, of the next week, so this afternoon I packed up the RV and drove it a total of 1.2 km from my site to the dump station and back to my site. 🙂 The cats, Neelix especially, were most confused to find us stopping right back where we started! I have to say that this park was very well designed. Getting around with the rig was easy, with lots of room to turn and get in and out of spots. I’m not sure if this was done on purpose, but the area by the dump station slopes down towards it. This is great for dumping since you’ve got gravity working for you.

I took advantage of the move to park the car at the front of the site so I could park Miranda further back, closer to the hookup post. The way I was parked before, I didn’t have enough hose to get from the post to the city water inlet. This made me grateful for my new fresh water intake as it gave me the extra foot of hose I needed. 🙂

I’m surprised that I’ve gone a week and a half (feels like more!) without dumping. My black tank was only about half full. Not sure about the grey, but the sensors said it was full and I didn’t want to wait for water to start to back up in the shower to go dump. Coming back, my sensors informed me that my black tank was full, the grey tank was 3/4s full, and the propane is empty. Those things are great for comic relief!!! The propane is actually a third full. I went through quite a bit in the week between Dawson Creek and here because of the weather, but my consumption is back to being practically non-existent so I’m not even thinking about refilling the tank at this point.

The reason I’ll be here all week is that I’m in the middle of a fairly big painting project. I did a minor bit of painting on Thursday and the owner was impressed with the job, so he asked me to do the deck. This has turned into a more major undertaking than it probably should have been, what with minds being changed about the colour and my needing to start over, but the end is in site. I was asked if I wanted to stay on longer and do all the out buildings, too. Um, thanks for the offer, but I’m not looking for a summer-long job! I have been told that there will always be work here for me, so I’ll stop in the fall if the road leads me back here. Work doesn’t really feel like work yet, so I’m content to stay on. This is fabulous strength training for my poor knees in anticipation of the Chilkoot so if only for that it’s worth staying on.

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Happily Moiling Away

Looks like I’ll be in Watson Lake through at least Thursday.

I did a good day’s work today and have projects lined up for tomorrow , Tuesday, as well as Wednesday. There could be more work ahead, we’re all just taking it a day at a time. Today was not nearly as boring as the following might sound: I sorted recyclables.  There was counting, hauling, and clambering around involved and the day went by quickly. I wouldn’t have wanted to do two days of that, though, so I worked a bit longer than the owners thought I would just so I could finish up. Tomorrow, I have to move some dirt around, something I’m very good at. 🙂

I’m happy to be doing a variety of chores and to be outdoors. The weather is steadily improving, the staff is friendly, and I’m getting a taste of what is entailed in operating a major spread.

Hopefully, the water will be turned on in the park tomorrow as my fresh water tank was fully emptied at lunch today. I can haul water from the restaurant for washing up and doing dishes, but I’m looking forward to a proper shower! I checked the weather and tonight should be our last night below zero. The park owners are optimistic that we’ll have running water tomorrow, as well as a functional laundromat. My holding tanks are doing well, though, at only about half full each, which is remarkable since I haven’t dumped since I left Dawson Creek!

The territorial parks will be opening shortly and I hope to start staying in them when I can’t work for rent. Soon as I can get the generator to be trustworthy, I would like to try to stay my full limit at a park, two solid weeks without hookups, just to see if I can do it.

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Sign Post Forest and Wye Lake

I drove into Watson Lake this afternoon to take a gander at the town, especially the famed Sign Post Forest:

A tiny sample of the more than 65,000 signs in Sign Post Forest

A tiny sample of the more than 65,000 signs in Sign Post Forest

The Sign Post Forest was started by a homesick GI building the Alaska highway in ’42:

The original sign post (reconstructed)

The original sign post

What struck me as I walked through the forest was from how far some of these signs had been hauled, including all over Europe and the Americas:

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In case that's not clear, these folks drove from Guatemala (C.A.=Central America) to Alaska. WOW!

In case that’s not clear, these folks drove from Guatemala (C.A.=Central America) to Alaska. WOW!

Or not hauled, but the people still came from across the sea (and were quite creative):

A Sterilite container lid marked up by a family from Holland

A Sterilite container lid marked up by a family from Holland

I was also surprised to discover that I couldn’t stare at one section without seeing a sign that reminded me of a place I’ve lived or visited:

Mt. Baldy is the ski hill near Oliver and the first time I set foot in Virginia was to visit Arlington.

Mt. Baldy is the ski hill near Oliver and the first time I set foot in Virginia was to visit Arlington.

Fond memories of camping at Lake George (upstate New York) with my family

Fond memories of camping at Lake George (upstate New York) with my family

I lived near Bobcaygeon for nine months and enjoyed showing my dad the sights in this quaint village.

I lived near Bobcaygeon for nine months and enjoyed showing my dad the sights in this quaint village.

Menomonee Falls was one of my many stops on the Great Road Trip of '05

Menomonee Falls was one of my many stops on the Great Road Trip of ’05

Nepean (green sign, bottom right above the yellow) is home of the Ottawa Municipal Campground, from whence I set off my RVing journey

Nepean (green sign, bottom right above the yellow) is home of the Ottawa Municipal Campground, from whence I set off my RVing journey

Trying to remember what brought me to Wiarton all those years ago

Trying to remember what brought me to Wiarton all those years ago

I stopped in Black Diamond when I was touring Kanaskis Country in September '08

I stopped in Black Diamond when I was touring Kanaskis Country in September ’08

There were several more that stuck out at me, and this was just from random browsing without doing any in depth scanning. Visiting Sign Post Forest was a real trip down memory lane!

The Watson Lake Visitor Info Centre is located in the heart of the Forest. Staff is very friendly and helpful. I was surprised that they were open so late on a Sunday! There is a small gallery there about the building of the Alaska highway as well as a movie. Unlike the similar exhibits in Dawson Creek, these were Canadian-centric. I was surprised to learn that the U.S. did not wait for Canadian approval to start work on the highway. So, the Americans really did literally invade Canada! Thankfully, we’re pretty laid back… or Prime Minster Mackenzie King knew we couldn’t afford to go to war against the U.S., again, for invading us, again (even though we kicked their butts last time, but that’s another story altogether–Google the War of 1812).

I took a picture of this sign because find the sentiment to be so true:

last paragraph

You don’t miss comforts if you’re long enough without them.

It was getting on dinner time by this point and I had a twenty minute drive back home, so I just stopped quickly to check out Wye Lake. It’s time to point out here that you don’t actually see Watson Lake from the town, only Wye Lake! As for Wye Lake it was named because it occurs in the centre of the ‘Y’ in the roads around it.

Wye Lake

Wye Lake

The other main tourist attraction in Watson Lake is a planetarium called the Northern Lights Centre, but it won’t be open until at least Tuesday, so I’m not sure I’ll get to see it this time around. The rest of what’s to be done in the area involves being out in nature: hiking, hunting, boating, fishing, that sort of thing. Watson Lake is a full service community with a few restaurants, a bank (CIBC, yay!), a grocery store, a few gas stations, ample choice in accomodation, a good hospital, an RCMP station, etc.

While at the Visitor’s Centre, I met some gals on a long weekend road trip. When I got home, I decided to have dinner at the lodge and as I was eating the gals traipsed in in search of good grub. They asked me to join them and we had a blast talking about my travels. That’s one nice thing about being a solo traveler; you get to meet so many wonderful people!

With dinner, I continued to discover the local brews, finding the most perfect beer ever: Midnight Sun Espresso Ale by the Yukon Brewing Company. Beer and coffee together in one beverage. Perfection. 😀

Thankfully, it’s getting warmer!

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And a bitter Yukon wind begins to blow…

Minus ten today with windchill. That’s 14 in American degrees. Snowing. My work day is being postponed to tomorrow when we’re supposed to go to plus eight. Works for me, to be sitting here all cozy and snug in my rig!  The owner said to stay as long as I like, count the hours of work that I do, and that the former will be subtracted from the latter to determine if I owe or am owed anything when I pull out. Sounds good to me! If I have to hunker down somewhere because of weather, it’s nice to do it somewhere that my expenses are low!

Other than driving through Watson Lake I haven’t really seen any of it, so I do intend to go into town before I leave and check out what’s what. Since tomorrow is supposed to be nice, I’ll start work early (I was told what’s expected of me so I can just start whenever I want), put in a good morning’s worth of work, and then take the rest of the day to go explore in the toad. I’m also going to see how much fresh vegetables cost north of 60….

Life in the Yukon (all 48 or so hours of it so far, LOL) has been quite the adventure! Yesterday, I even ate beef (soup) and pork (ham sandwich) voluntarily for the first time in fifteen years! That unexpected snack was courtesy of the park and sure tasted good and was appreciated after two hours hard labouring. 🙂

In other news, this is my first post from the desktop computer since I left and only the second time I’ve fired up the old iMac! Loving the new laptop!