Finance

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The Chasm to Lake McLeese

This day was like the one from Thunder Bay, starting off great, with no warning of the disaster to come.

I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in about a month, so imagine my shock on Monday morning when I discovered I’d slept ten hours straight! The chasm turned out to be a great spot for a good night’s sleep, being pitch dark and blessedly quiet.

This was my first time ever waking up somewhere that did not require me to be out by a certain time, not counting Revelstoke that required me to leave because of my non-existent battery issues. I took my time, savouring the crisp, cold morning. I had fretted about how to get out of the site without unhooking, finding the turn to be very sharp for an RV, but the The Milepost, my bible for this journey, kindly informed me that Chasm Road loops back to the 97 highway.

I stopped just 30km from the Chasm to climb up to Begbie Summit, where there is a fire watch station. This was a 10 minute hike that told me that I really need to do more of these if I want to be ready for the Chilkoot. 🙂

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My next stop was for lunch at the 108 Mile Ranch site. I’d topped up the groceries at the Save-On-Foods at 100 Mile House, so I had a very nice picnic.

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My water levels were getting low, my tanks were getting full, my house battery was ready for a bit of juice, and I had a mountain of laundry to do. So, I decided that a night on full hookups was in order.

Using the Milepost, I determined that the McLeese Lake Resort, between Williams Lake and Quesnel, would be a good place to stop as it boasted full hook-up sites, easy RV access, and wi-fi.

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Williams Lake

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Williams Lake

Well…

This was a beautiful resort, but really not made for RVs over the size of a class B. I took a turn too sharply to get into my site and clipped the post holding the water outlet, then drove straight over it with the toad. Miranda has a nice scrape down the side of the battery compartment door and one of its closures is dented.

Damage at the site looked really bad and the owners thought they would need to call in for a backhoe to get to the underground leak. I was told that I was looking at a 500$+ repair bill. They were very nice about the whole thing, but I was beyond mortified and freaking out. My trip was over if the bill came to fruition; I’d have to dash straight to Whitehorse to get work.

Several hours passed as I did laundry, puttered around the house, and otherwise tried to keep myself occupied as I waited for the final verdict.

Finally, the groundskeeper came around to announced that he got to the leak with just a couple of spadefuls. As it turned out, the water hose was just that, a flexible hose, not a pipe, and all I’d done was rip a connection apart. It was a two minute repair. As for the post, it seemed pretty rotten and did not factor into the equation when they came up with a bill for me–50$ for the inconvenience and labour. Fair enough. *relieved*

The people at the resort were just so nice about the whole thing. I paid them in cash last night, but still went into the office this morning to make sure that everything was okay. The manager took me around the outside of the office and showed me where someone had just about taken the roof off the porch with their rig! I could tell that she was trying to make me feel better and it worked somewhat. She told me I’m welcome back anytime, but I’m not going back there!

The resort is absolutely gorgeous. I had a nice spot by the water, something that enchanted the kitties. But the ‘pull through’ site was barely so and their wi-fi is WEP encrypted so I couldn’t get on. So, while my night there wasn’t a complete and utter disaster, it won’t bring back pleasant memories. 🙂

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Tabitha being absolutely enchanted by the waves on the lake. Love her perch!

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The picture of food cooking is a secret message to my former boss. Thanks for the bag, it was delish!

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Row, Row, Row Your Boat

I’ve been hankering for a kayak for years now. It’s just never been the right time. With the Yukon before me, I began to wish that I had made it the right time at some point.

Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to check out kayak listings on the local Craigslist. If the first one matched my criteria, I would consider it fate. Said criteria were: about 16′ long (ie. open water model), lightweight, well worn in (I don’t want to be the first one to scratch the bottom!), removable keel, no more than 400$, and blue. The colour is silly, I know, but I just can’t see myself in a red kayak!

At any rate, this was the first kayak that came up:

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200$ only. People wonder why I believe in fate.

Now, I just need a paddle, a life vest, a safety kit, and a waterproof bag for carrying gear. Back to Craigslist I go.

Oh, and I need a roof rack. As well as a bike rack. I’m starting to think a covered trailer will soon be in order. 🙂

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Counting Down to Departure

After a wonderful four months in the Greater Vancouver Region, my batteries are recharged, my bank account is fully depleted, and there is a mounting giddiness at the realisation that the Yukon is next for me.

Because my finances are a disaster* I’ve decided to forgo a foray onto Vancouver Island and instead head straight north. I refuse to make any sort of plans seeing as this trip has taken a life of its own, but I am envisioning getting to Prince George in about a week and then trying to find two weeks worth of work there before pushing on to Whitehorse via Dawson Creek, giving me roughly two weeks of living like I did last September.

My original thought had been to shoot straight for Dawson City and then return to Whitehorse in July for my Chilkoot hike.  I’ve decided, instead, to make Whitehorse my destination for late May/early June. My hope is to get work quickly and to make enough to get to Inuvik.  If not, I’ll just push on to Dawson City in late July/early August. I know that if I go to Dawson and backtrack to Whitehorse, there is little hope that I would be able to go back to Dawson in later summer to get to the Dempster highway.

Before I leave here on May 2nd, I need to have Miranda’s oil changed as well as purchase some supplies for the Chilkoot hike. It’s going to be a deliciously frantic couple of weeks as I make the final preparations for an adventure a lifetime in the making.

(*I envisioned a lot of ‘worst case scenarios’, finances-wise, but the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s wasn’t one of them. With my investments worth just about half what they were in September, there is no way I am cashing in anything at this time!)

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Geeky Tourism

It’s no secret that I am a complete geek, at least it shouldn’t be! So, the following should not come as a surprise. 🙂 I went on a field trip for work today, to Canada Place. The colleague who took me there picked a route that took us through historic, and very quaint!, Gastown. There, I saw a clock that anyone who watched tv in the late 80’s, early 90’s will recognize. I forgot my camera sort of on purpose since I didn’t think it would be appropriate to take pictures on work time. I wouldn’t have been able to post them anyway. So, check out this page about MacGyver shooting locations to see some of what I saw today (first six pairs of pics)!

(Just be grateful that you weren’t privy to the entry I posted on another blog after I spent a full day at Las Vegas’ Star Trek the experience. 😀 )

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Of Taxes and Mail

The irony of socialism is that the less money you make, the better off you are financially. I have this thought every year at about this time, upon filing my taxes. At least this year, it’s in my favour. 🙂 I’m a little behind this year in getting them done seeing as the HR idiot who couldn’t care less about his job person not working in a field compatible with his personality neglected to change my address (after asking me four times for it). Kudos to my post office in Gatineau for sending the envelope on to my PO box, even though my redirect expired a month ago!

If you:

a) are Canadian
b) haven’t filed your taxes yet
c) plan to file them with QuickTax, then I would appreciate it if you bought your software through this link.

Now, let’s see how long and convoluted a process it will be to get the cheques into my grubby little hands. Hopefully, it will happen before May 1st while I am still stationary.

One thing I am learning in this first year on the road is just how important it is to have someone you can trust managing your mail. It has happened several times now that I have asked the UPS store clerk to check my box for a particular letter, with a note that I would try again in a week if it hadn’t, and to have him write me a few days later to let me know that letter was on its way. Getting my mail forwarded isn’t cheap (it has cost me anywhere from 2$ for  my T4s to 30$ when I lived in Oliver because I had to use UPS rather than Canada Post since I couldn’t trust the post office), but I much prefer to pay for a PO box than have family or a friend manage my mail for me. I still don’t know what I’ll be doing next fall, but so far the UPS store is working out just fine.