Dawson City

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Cheap(er) Gas in Dawson City

AFD (Alberta Fuel Distribution) has opened up a cardlock station in Dawson’s Callison subdivision. Its prices beat that of the other cardlock station, Mackenzie, by a lot. Today, gas at Mackenzie was 1.33/litre. I paid 1.16/litre at AFD. My 35 litres would have cost me $46.55 at Mackenzie and only cost me $40.60 at AFD, for a savings of $5.95! Imagine if I’d been filling Miranda’s 200L tank!

Since a cardlock station is unmanned, there are a few hoops to go through. At AFD, I had to pull up to the gas pump and then go inside to the control panel. There, I swiped my credit card and had to read several screens worth of safety information. That done, the machine spit out a receipt with a code on it. This code will enable me to by-pass the safety information spiel next time. I then had to reswipe my card to activate the pump then head to the car. There, I put the nozzle in the tank, pulled a button, and fueled up. The pumps are fast! I then shut off the pump, went back inside, swiped my card a third time, and got a receipt (optional step).

The savings definitely made all the hoops worth jumping through!

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Priming the Toilet Room

After I got in with Oz, I was too wired to sit down and work or watch a movie. There were a million more urgent things I could have done, but I decided to start work on decorating the toilet room!

It might seem odd to start with that room, but it’s the only one I can finish in its entirety as I have all the decorating materials I need for it. It is also the smallest and therefore less daunting space, and it will tell me just how many litres of paint the other rooms are going to take.

After removing the curtain and toilet paper holder, I sanded the walls lightly to remove some of their slickness. Then, I primed:

Ew. White is even worse than turquoise-spackled paneling. 😀

I’ll have to live with that ugliness for a few days while the primer (water-based Kilz) sets and then I’ll move on to paint!

Meanwhile, I will fight with fabric and make a new curtain. Should be interesting 🙂

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Down By the Creek With Oz

I haven’t spent nearly enough time with Oz this summer, but his owner’s and my schedule are at odds. So, when I found out that he was being left on the property tonight, I eagerly leashed him up and took him down to Bonanza creek.

into Mosquitoland

into Mosquitoland

hunting

hunting

hunting

hunting

hunting

hunting

hunting

hunting

Not too sure about getting his feet wet...

Not too sure about getting his feet wet…

Oz leapt from the shore to the gravel bank! I thought he liked water!

Oz leapt from the shore to the gravel bank! I thought he liked water!

Oz trying to decide if he wants to get his feet wet or not

Oz trying to decide if he wants to get his feet wet or not

looking up stream

looking up stream

Trying to pick out the path up. The Golden Staircase wasn't this scary! :)

Trying to pick out the path up. The Golden Staircase wasn’t this scary! 🙂

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A Time For Everything

This Klondike summer has been not nearly as fun as my first one because it has turned out to be work-centric. But, for once, I am working my tail off and seeing results; the season promises to be a prosperous one! I didn’t have much work this winter and so I got to play, with the renos and the traveling. This summer, though, I’m practically swimming in contracts and working crazy hours to get everything done. It’s a time of Plenty that I know could quickly turn to a time of Not Enough. I’m in squirrel mode.

My plans for the fall and winter are slowly taking shape and I hope they come to fruition in February. I know I’m being coy, but this announcement is too major to be taken lightly and I want to do it properly at the right time. Suffice it to say that all is well in my little corner of the full-time RVing universe and that all will be revealed in due time. 😀

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Indefinite Closure of the Top of the World Highway

The continuing rains and washouts have threatened bridge integrity, so the Top of the World Highway connecting Dawson City, YT, and Chicken, AK, is closed indefinitely, with folks stranded along it and at least one person missing.

This is going to severely impact Dawson tourism. The prediction is that a season that was off to a roaring start has screeched to a halt.

I’m pretty bummed about this. I’d hoped to use one of my precious afternoons off to make a jaunt to Chicken and back, just to get out of town. There aren’t really any places to ‘go’ from Dawson within a reasonable day’s drive round trip and there’s no point in going back up the Dempster for a few hundred clicks since I’ll be doing it in its entirety in August.

But, at least I’m not stranded on a dirt track or lost in the muddy waters of the Yukon River.