Day 56, Monday, Oct. 3, Whitehorse, Wolf Creek Camp
It sure was cold last night. My feet were freezing, even in my winter sleeping bag. It takes about four hours for the heat of my body to heat up the whole sleeping bag. So I pulled out my summer sleeping bag and got into that with my winter one. That solved the problem, at least till the temperature plummets further.
Snow this morning. A dusting to be sure, and gone by noon, but an omen of what's coming. This first snow came two weeks earlier than usual.
Despite the snow, I made Donner so breakfast of rice and canned chicken. I will buy some rice cakes if I can find them to do without cooking in the cold.
Got a call from Shane at FedEx that my order parts arrived from the US. Of course, they are not the part that I now need, an engine, but at least I have them just in case. I am still expecting a mass air flow sensor from England which the mechanic at Sears in Fairbanks told me I needed. All I need now is an engine.
John, my mechanic in DC, called to tell me that British Atlantic has one rebuilt engine for sale. I will decide on that tomorrow as I narrow down my options. It will take 7-10 days to get here and at least two to install. The engine purchase does not concern me as much as the fact that mine went out up here in the cold. I'll deal with it.
When I went to pick up my FedEx delivery, I discussed with Shane the options of shipping the disabled Defender. He directed me to the only shippers in town and so I visited or called all of the. As it turns out, they do not ship cars, or do not ship cars to the US, or do not ship disabled cars, mainly because of the US border restrictions. That narrows my options by half.
I then drove to John's Auto repair where the Defender is, to retrieve Donner's second bed, his winter coat for him to sleep in, although he is tolerating the cold pretty well for a Los Angeles dog, some extra winter clothes for me, and all the food, to prevent it from freezing. I will return tomorrow to discuss with Travis the option of the new engine. I did talk with all three mechanic today, though, and bolstered my already high confidence in them. They understand well my need for the Donner and need to head south as soon as possible.
Next week I will go back there to start organizing my gear into four piles to be prepared for the option of leaving here without the Defender , just in case...trash, leave in the Defender, ship home, take with me.
I got back to the camp at 5. Again, empty. Soon they will lock the gate, but I will be able to camp here. However, I will have a 150 foot walk to my campsite, meaning I am going to have to lug all my stuff back and forth twice a day since I leave only Donner's bed and my mattress in the tent when I am going, meaning I am living out of the rental car. If that gets too onerous or time consuming, or if the weather continues to turn for the worse, I may have to bite tge bullet and get a room somewhere. For the time being, however, the tent is working out just fine, relatively speaking.
My whole attitude during this situation had been focused on figuring out what my problems are and finding solutions or options, and then getting the information or things needed to solve them. As my options narrow, it becomes easier, although I may not like them. But what choice do I have?
(The sound of gun shots in the distance. Hunters. Shane warned me to watch out for them as they shoot at anything that either moves or does not move.)
I just made up my to do list for tomorrow. You can imagine what is on it, including a shower at the wonderful Game Center, a massive sports center that caters to the whole family. Also, a haircut, my first on the road.
I am also taking deliberate steps to work on my daily routine in this layover. Needless to say, it is quite different than my routine on the road. I have no choice but to move my decisions along some each day, but to do so with some order in my life. As part of my daily routine, I intend to send at least a brief posting to let everyone know what is going on and where I am.
Photo..the camp at Wolf Creek this morning. Donner is not visible because he headed straight for the warm car, which is costing my $10 a day for gas to get warmth and battery recharging.
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