Day 77, Monday, October 24, Whitehorse REVISED 6:30 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Still snowing. At least 8 inches on the ground where I am. In DC, the city would have shut down long ago. Temperature here is minus 7*C, windchill minut 14. (Thevtemperature in my room with the portabke heater working full blast feels like the high 40's.) Better than Dawson, next town up the rosd, minus 25. Since the temperature will rarely go above freezing for long until April, this snow will be here until then. Even the people in the city are talking about it. Now do you see why i was anxious to get on that ferry that left four hours ago? I don't mind driving in this stuff in the Defender, but i don't have the Defender yet and don't trust some of the other drivers. And if you saw all the tow trucks in the town, you'd understand. The guy who uses the motel as his base hss 75 tow trucks, one for every 370 citizens of Whitehorse. Fortunately, from what i can tell, most drivers here drive responsibly.
4:00 p.m.
Still snowing. I drove into downtown about 3 miles away, wishing i hsd not. While the roads were okay, the snow, now 6 inches or more, picked up. I drove very slowly, not caring what the vehicles behind me were thinking. Fortunately, almost all the drivers up here are careful drivers. I guess they have to xzxbe. I hsve never seen so many tow trucks, wrecked cars and broken windshields in my life anywhere. One driver speeding in a parking lot jammed on his breaks heading right st me and skidded five feet, missing me by just as many. No matter how carefully you drive, it's the other guy you have to watch out for mostly.
Incidentally, they do not use salt on the roads here, just dirt and gravel. It's enough to break a guy's windshield or budget, or both.
Speaking of breaking windshields and budgets. I stopped off at Budget Car Rental and explained the cracked windshield to the manager. Unfortunately, it's a risk you take when you rent a rent a car in the Yukon even though the only thing I did was to clear off the snow and ice off the windshield and turn the defroster on. The manager told me that they have 75 cars in their rental fleet rentals and they replace at least 15 windshields a week here in the winter, 20%. If you look closely around town, rarely do you see a vehicle without a cracked windshield, so i believe him. While I hate taking the hit of $1100, the windshield cracked on my watch, so i accept responsibility. I just hope i can make it out of here without cracking the Defender's windshield.
The above having been said, i am extremely grateful that Budget Rental Car was precisely where i needed them, when i needed them, when i pulled into Whitehorse two days after the Defender broke down four weeks ago. I could not have managed as well as i did without that car. It provided transportation, heat, battery recharging and most important, a place to keep Donner off the street when i ran errands. And except for the Ford Escape's habit of windshields cracking, it was an east to handle vehicle and quite comfortable for Donner.
I will probably return the rental car tomorrow or so now that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Aileen said i can borrow her red pickup if i need to. In the meantime, i will stock up and stay close to my cabin these final days, i hope final days.
My extra parts parcel never made it to the plane to Whitehorse today. It took four hours to clear customs. Shane assures me it will be here tomorrow at 2:00. i will be waiting at the airport for it to rush it to John's Auto. If they discover after noon on Wednesday that still more parts are needed, i am out of luck, good luck, that is.
Here is the 11:00 a.m posting.
11:00 a.m
Fourteen degrees last night, 17 now at 11:00. Fifty percent chance of snow. Problem is, it is snowing now. Temperature will go to 23 today, so I feel better akready. The weekly forecast does not show any temperatures going above freezing. The Yukon winter has arrived in full force, one week earlier than usual. Lucky me. Skagway temperature is warmer, Juneau still warmer, Seattle even warmer. Washington DC, 67. I have not seen that temperature in two months.
The extra needed parts i ordered on Friday did indeed get out the door on Friday after all, with not a minute to spare. Good catch on everyone's part. They might arrive this afternoon or by tomorrow if all goes well in customs. I just hope that thst customs agent who wouldn't let the charger for Donner's radio collar through is off today. Shane at the FedEx office suggested i meet him at the Air North loading dock at the airport close to where i am and he will toss the package to me so i can rush it to John's Auto. This way i will save a few hours. How's that for service? You do not find thst in the lower 58.
I have to brave the snow and ice and head into town to renew my rental car and resupply. I will be optimistic and stock up on things i might need for the return trip home, shop towels, propane, dog food, dog treats, a new engine, etc.
There will be few photos from here. I ran out of storage space on my ipsd and until i delete some of send my photos to the cloud, i cannot upload many more photos. I was afraid this would happen.
