Dawson City

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Saturday Evening Ice Cream Stroll

For some unfathomable reason, last fall I was able again, after about three years of not being able, to eat ice cream. Since then, I’ve been making up for lost time, but keeping moderation in mind. 🙂 I really enjoy going out for an ice cream and a stroll on a sunny evening, especially at the end of a work week. So, when I saw the manager come in with an ice cream this afternoon (after leaving me all alone in the office!), I asked her where she got it.

Turns out that Dawson City has a proper ice cream parlour. Whitehorse doesn’t have one!!!

This store is called Klondyke Cream & Candy. It’s located on Front Street.

I’m told that the cost of living in Dawson City is about 15% higher than in Whitehorse, but I have yet to see that in luxury items like restaurant food and booze at bars. Even so, I was surprised to discover that a one scoop regular cone of ice cream here is just 2.50$. Two scoops are 3.50$. Add a dollar for a waffle cone. The selection of flavours was impressive (they even had an excellent copy of my favourite Baskin Robbins flavour) and they have soft ice cream, frozen yoghurt, milkshakes, etc.

It’s going to be so nice to bike into town one or two nights a week, get a treat that won’t even nudge the budget, and partake in dairy goodness as I walk along the Yukon River enjoying the late day sun, which, really, isn’t all that different from the routine I formed when I was in South Surrey. Just substitute ‘Pacific Ocean’ for ‘Yukon River.’ 😀

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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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Dawson City’s Midnight Dome

Driving northbound into Dawson City, just after the bridge, you will see on your right a sign indicating a photo op on Dome Road. Make sure to turn! The road will take you up to the highest point in Dawson, the Midnight Dome, where solstice festivities take place every year. It’s a long climb (so I suggest driving 😀 ) that is well worth it. Do pull out along the way to take in the views partway up the hill!

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Canada Post Surprises Me Pleasantly, For Once!

Yesterday, I emailed my UPS store guy and asked him to send me my mail general delivery to Dawson City. He sent me a tracking number this morning that told me that he had the package out within an hour of my having SENT the email. Again, amazing service on that end!

I just checked the tracking number again and my package is in Whitehorse, less than 24 hours later!

I’m not sure if he sent it Priority or Xpress Post, but for either service, this is astonishing!