October 17, 2009 by Rae

Making Lemonade

Miranda was slated for brake surgery Wednesday and it would be an all day procedure. How lucky was I that the work could be completed right away? I met a lot of people over the summer who were stranded in small towns for weeks while waiting for parts. Mine, however, were readily available and en route just a few short hours after my arrival at Olemotors. As it turns out, some incorrect parts were received, but the correct ones were available in Whistler, 30km away, so the mechanic dashed there and back to get them, as well as a new tire, barely delaying the work. So, so, so lucky…

Having a day to kill and being a nervous wreck about the 130km still left before I got to Horseshoe Bay, I took off in the toad at first light and drove all the way to West Vancouver! The drive was sinuous, but nothing like the section from Cache Creek to Pemberton and I felt much better about pulling out with Miranda the next day.

It rained the whole way down but slowly started to clear up around noon so I decided to stop in Whistler, a ski resort town that will be hosting several Olympic events this winter. I wouldn’t have done so had I whipped by with Miranda, but I decided that I might as well play the tourist since I had all that time to kill.

This being the off season, Whistler was an eerie ghost town. The village, where all the shops and restaurants are, was very beautiful, but I had a hard time finding an substance, or sustenance. I came away glad that I checked it down, but even gladder that I wouldn’t have missed anything had I just whipped by with Miranda. One thing that did impress me was the significant amount of free parking on the outskirts of the village. Whistler is definitely a town that encourages walking and there are a lot of places that are only accessible on foot.

It was mid-afternoon when I got back to Olemotors where work was just resuming after the dash for parts and would continue for a few more hours. I dashed out to the coffee shop for some time and also hung out in the break room at the garage. The brake job was completed by about 6PM, to my surprise, and Miranda was parked for me back in her spot outside. There were just a couple of hours worth of work left to be done; I would be able to roll out by 10AM the next morning.

Whistler had a lot of construction going on

Whistler

Whistler (the red foliage was a nice treat, something we don’t see much out west)

Whistler

In other words: “Please come up here even though the traffic and security are going to be horrendous.”

Back at the garage, the sky was starting to clear. This is the same shot from last post, only the mountains are completely hidden by the fog!

September 9, 2009 by Rae

The Dawson City Youth Hostel (and miscellanea)

Before I talk about the Dawson City Youth hostel, I just have to share a picture of a find I made at the thrift store last Saturday after the outhouse race! There is a special at the thrift store the first Saturday of the month where you can stuff (and I do mean stuff!) a grocery bag with anything and pay just $5.

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My keyboard preferences are set to French-Canadian, which more often than not makes my numeric keypad useless since it converts the period to a comma. Moreover, have you ever tried to do bookkeeping on a laptop keyboard?! A ‘proper’ calculator has been on my list of wants for a long time, but I just couldn’t justify the cost for the use it’d get. What a find!

So, that complete randomness aside (I’m trying to combine posts due to my limited online time), today I went to visit my friend Gé, who lives with her husband in a 20′ school bus. They are on a two-year honeymoon! Their first year was spent getting to Dawson by way of just about all of Canada and Alaska (or so it seems) and now they are off to spend the winter in Costa Rica! They completely outfitted the bus themselves, using whatever materials they could find. The result is a rustic and cozy cottage.

My favourite part of their bus conversion is the mini woodstove! They stow it away when it’s warm and then reinstall it when it gets cold:

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The stove is installed safely with a chimney:

the chimney adds an adorable touch of whimsy!

Since they don’t rely on hookups, they favour more rustic parking locations. After spending some time at Bonanza Gold (where we met as colleagues for a brief time), they have moved across the Yukon River to the youth hostel located in West Dawson.

The hostel has to be seen to be understood. From a distance, it looks like a pile of bric-à-braque, but the set up is really very well done. There is no running potable water or electricity, but there are interesting bathhouses, seats with a view, and plenty of opportunities to chop wood. I didn’t get to see the cabins, but I think tenting there would be very nice even if it’s one of the more expensive places to tent near Dawson (Bonanza Gold is the cheapest).

This is the shower! Creek water is pumped into the barrel to the left and used for bathing after…

being heated in this wood stove! (guests chop their own wood!)

being heated on this wood stove! (guests chop their own wood!)

Gé loves this system, saying that the water heats up quickly and makes the room very hot and steamy.

The owner has thought of everything to make his guests’ rustic stay more comfortable:

a covered drying area

lockable cubbies for long-term tenters

comfy chairs to

take in the view

Finally these signs caught my attention:

I can cross off numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, and 16!

Off my list now are 18 and 21 (26 would have happened if they operated on normal and not Dawson time; ie. if they were open when the schedule says they should be open!)

Done are 28, 30 (my favourite thing to do in Dawson!), 31, and the bonus!

August 22, 2009 by Rae

Some Images of Dawson

This was the first bank to operate in Dawson, starting business in a tent in 1897. Today, the only bank in Dawson is a CIBC, across the street on 2nd avenue.

This hotel has a restaurant serving ‘Chinese’ and ‘Canadian’ food until 1AM.

The Masonic lodge (I think this is such a pretty building!)

Canada’s oldest casino. Gertie’s is a non-profit organization, so all house winnings return to the community. There are three cancan shows a night. A visit here will take you right back to the gold rush era!

The Dawson rec centre. This is a modern building built in the same style as gold rush buildings, with a false front.

This warehouse was used to store goods that would be distributed to Dawsonites during the months the city was cut off from the outside world. I am awed that this structure has survived from the gold rush. What treasures it must have held for those trapped in Dawson during the 1897 to 1898 winter, and later ones, too!

July 20, 2009 by Rae

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway is an odd narrow town sandwiched on three sides by tall mountains and penned in on the forth by the ocean. It is a port city where cruise ships arrive in the hundreds during the summer season. The town appears, at first, to look a lot like Dawson City, very quaint and beautiful, but it soon becomes obvious that it is Disneyfied. The buildings on its streets are little more than façades hiding one kitschy tourist shop after another. But there is a Skagway to discover, if you care to, and I had four and a half hours in which to do so. I took a walking tour with a park ranger, visited the Klondike Park museum, and strolled through this small community. At the end of the afternoon, the group met up again for one last taste of civilization, superb Thai food at the Starfire restaurant on 4th Avenue. Skagway is obviously more than meets the eye.

looking down Broadway towards the cruise ships

remember this name…

façades on Broadway (and our nice ranger guide on the walking tour)

close up of a false front

home of William Moore, founder of Skagway (historical colours!)

one of several cruise ships docked that day

you know you’re in the middle of nowhere when…

the Chilkoot info centre, check in here for trail conditions, permits, and info

one of the oddest buildings I have ever seen

July 11, 2009 by Rae

Main Street, Whitehorse

Since tonight’s Pina Colada was a bit, um, rummy, I decided to go for a stroll after dinner and found Main Street. Most shops were closed, but I found a bookstore and a gift shop still open. The bookstore closes at midnight (!) and the gift shop at 8. I didn’t find two shops with the same opening hours.

Walking down Main street made me very homesick for Dawson. There was no place to buy ice cream and I didn’t run into a single person I know. Oh, and the sidewalks are cement. I already miss the clatter of wooden boards underfoot.

If I had any doubt at the wisdom of choosing Dawson over Whitehorse this summer, the doubts are assuaged. I have yet to encounter anything in Whitehorse that would make me want to try life here for a spell other than the fact that you can get high speed internet in the boondocks.

When I return from the Chilkoot, I will try to do a few ‘touristy’ things to get a better feel for this city.

A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

City Tours

Making Lemonade

The Dawson City Youth Hostel (and miscellanea)

Some Images of Dawson

Skagway, Alaska

Main Street, Whitehorse