Alaska Highway

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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.

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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. 🙂

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Nippy Morning

I find it a tad amusing that the weather is colder and damper the further south I get from Dawson! Yesterday in Whitehorse was chilly, but a quick run over to Starbucks got the blood flowing. This morning, though, it’s COLD. I even went to bed with long johns on under my jammies! Had I boondocked, I would have run the generator the length of time it runs (more on that later 😀 ) and started up the heat, but I don’t feel it would be appropriate to run the genset in a park. Anyhoo, the coffee and toast are almost ready and they’ll warm me right up. 🙂

There was another improvement to the rig yesterday. The first night I hit the road, I am always reminded that I don’t have a non-120V dependent clock and I wind up having to find the cell phone, iPod, or even computer to get the time in the morning. At Walmart yesterday I picked up for 10$ a very basic and tiny clock with a back light with a sticker on the back. I stuck it up above the bed and it is making a world of difference. I can wake up during the night and not be bothered by the glow of an alarm clock, but still have the time available at the push of a button.

The internet here in Teslin is so wonderful. I think my only real disappointment the past few months was that I couldn’t blog with any sort of frequency or reliability. I made a list of all the things I wanted to share, but it’s a bit late for that now. At any rate, I have tons of material for next summer!

I have about an hour to checkout and I think I’ll just sit and watch the lake while I sip my coffee as this is probably going to be my last easy morning for a few weeks.

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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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Weekend in the ‘Big City’

WOW. My cousin lives about 40km from Whitehorse at the end of a well-graded dirt road. She can see a neighbour on one side of her house, but otherwise she is well set in trees as far as the eye can see.  That’s not what I’m ‘wowing’ about but rather the fact that she is fully ‘on the grid’, with electricity, phone, and high speed cable internet. I lived an equivalent distance from Gatineau in a much less remote area and I was stuck on 28kbs dial up internet! There is also cell service out here!

The drive from Dawson was quite easy as I had some company.

Thursday evening, I noticed two young guys trying to hitch a ride to Whitehorse in the first pouring rain we’ve had in weeks. They eventually came into Bonanza dripping wet and were quickly adopted by the manager who rented them a trailer for a cheap rate for the night so they wouldn’t have to set up their tent and take it down wet in the morning. This enabled me to get to know them a tad and to see that they were clean and respectable English blokes with gas money who would have been happy to take a bus had there been a bus. There is NO bus service between Dawson and Whitehorse! I felt bad for them, but was committed to enjoying a solo drive. Plus, I doubted I could fit all my gear and theirs in the car.

Friday, I saw them in front of the entrance at 8:30. I had errands to run in town and as I did them, I decided that if the ‘boys’ were still there when I went back past Bonanza I would take them no matter how much ‘scrunching’ was involved. I remembered what it was like to have to rely on hitching to get around and that I still had many rides to ‘pay forward.’

They were still there at 9:30 and had been there since 5:30, hoping to get to Whitehorse for 2 to catch the bus to Edmonton since the next one wouldn’t be for another three days. I pulled up to them, told them they were pathetic ( 😀 ) and to get in. We somehow managed to stuff everything and everyone into my small three-door hatchback and took off to waves and clapping.

They turned out to be fantastic company, regaling me with tales of their sixteen day canoe trip up the Yukon River. We also compared the ‘wilderness’ experience in Britain vs. that in Canada and my tales of hiking and hitching through Scotland made them decide that their next holiday was going to be in the northern part of their island. They had never been to Scotland! So many people explore the world but forget to check out the wonders of their own country…

We stopped for lunch at the very decent Gold Panner restaurant in Carmacks, where we all tucked into ‘real’ chicken sandwiches and fresh salad. My companions paid for my meal.

We were making decent time into Whitehorse when we hit some construction that stopped us for almost a half hour. I had thought to get to my cousin’s by 4PM, but by this point, my arrival was going to be closer to 5. Thankfully, we were in cellphone range by this point and I was able to call.

I was very impressed that my companions knew exactly where they wanted to be dropped off in Whitehorse, with no driving around in circles. They gave me some money; combined with lunch they paid for the gas to come down here. All hitchhikers should be so responsible. 🙂

Whitehorse was overwhelming after a month in Dawson! There are a lot of ‘pray and close your eyes’ left turns here and the traffic was impressive. I was glad to get back onto the Alaska highway and eventually into the ‘bush.’

This morning, I went into town fairly early to complete my shopping for the trip. I managed to do so in only two stops, Coast Mountain Sports for trekking pants and Walmart for everything else, which delighted me to no end since shopping exhausts me. I had quite a varied list of things to find and circled the store and various departments several times to find some items. The toughest to find were Duck tape and gloves. While looking through the Ziploc bags, I found a roll of Duck tape behind a box of baggies! As for gloves, they were the only thing left on my list as I headed to the cash, disappointed that there is no ‘off-season’ stuff in the clothing department when I had a flash of genius. I’d need the gloves for climbing the pass, so they’d have to be thougher than regular winter gloves. So, I detoured over to the hardware aisle and found good, warm pair of work gloves that will be perfect!

My shopping done, I called the number the tour group had given me to make sure that my guide knows where I’m staying and how to reach me. I didn’t talk to him, but was able to give the information to someone else who confirmed our 7PM meeting tomorrow (but who did not know where it is being held) and that, yes, we’re leaving Monday morning!

I’m now off to properly pack my pack and hope that there’s enough place left for the communal gear I’m supposed to carry. 🙂 And, good news, according to the Chilkoot information board at the corner of the Alaska and Klondike highways, the pass is open. 🙂