Day 61, Saturday, October 8, Mountain Ridge, Whitehorse, Yukon
This is my eighth long road-camping journey since 2000 and as of today the longest. Despite the hiccups, as Matt at John's Auto Repair called my most recent incident, I have not tired of being on the road.
For the first time in weeks, maybe months, I have 100 percent battery on my iPad. I cannot believe what I have to go through to get that, although my new accommodations contribute to that. But just as I achieved this major event, ATT informed me that I used my cellular transmission quota for the month (over 10 days) and will start charging me by the MB, so I will have to plan on using wifi where I can.
Today I started to work on my new daily routine from my new accommodations at Mountain Ridge, room 6. I miss tenting enormously, but this is something I have to do, until I get back on the road.
After breakfast in the room for both Donner and me (he had his new vet-provided canned foods and quickly devoured 3 cans, I had my usual juice, oatmeal and a banana) I drove the 10 miles into town to the Canada Game Center for a shower. It, too, along with John's Auto Repair and Mountain Ridge, sits right on the ALCAN. (John's is right at the intersection of the ALCAN and the road to Skagway. How many times have I driven by there on my trips?) Tomorrow, I will start adding a small workout routine at the Center to stay in shape for the drive home. Again, I hate leaving Donner in the car when I do these things, but he is amply rewarded with multiple walks. I think he had 10 today.
At the center today I chatted for a bit with a gentleman named Stuart, who is with or runs the Yukon Natural Resources Department. (What a job!) We share the same philosophy about what is happening in the world of politics today, as do many other people. More importantly, we share the same philosophy of the bond a Land Rover Defender owner,guardian really, can develop with their machines.
I stopped briefly at the visitors' center to charge my iPad and use their wifi. They told me I could bring Donner inside with me, so I envision making that my stop each day after the Game Center. I must say that not only is Whitehorse the most hospitable city I have ever visited but the most dog-friendly. In fact, too dog-friendly. There are dogs running loose everywhere and I have to constantly be on my guard. People let their dogs run free knowing they will always return home. It's probably the same kind of freedom the humans themselves feel in this paradise. I have a feeling Whitehorse will not have seen the last of me when we pull out of town.
After my daily shopping chore, I got back to camp only to find that the key did not work for my room. Jim, my jack-of-all-trades neighbor in #9, helped me get in. I also plugged a new outdoor extension cord I bought in town into an outdoor outlet across the yard from my room to power my portable heater during the day. As I wrote yesterday, with only one circuit in my room, I cannot have anything else on when the heater is on. Same thing at home. Now I can use the indoor circuit to charge my iPad. What joy I get from these things that we all take for granted back home.
The room I am in is 81.75 square feet, and I have set it up to contain a kitchen, office, wardrobe, dog kennel, bedroom, among other functional stations. It's actually quite cozy. My guess is that when I get home, I will figure out someway to change my living to downsize my footprint. We all have way too much space to do the important things that we need to do in our lives.
I have now met all of my immediate neighbors, Jim and his girlfriend and two small dogs in 9, Kevin and his 3 big dogs in 8, Charley in 7. My universe here I is expanding. Needless to say, with five dogs living so close to us, getting in and out of my room is a chore.
Because of ATT's restrictions, I will send photos when I have wifi.
One other random thought about Whitehorse. I do not think I have ever encountered a city where drivers are so careful and courteous. Being in a strange city in a strange car, I drive very, very slowly and cautiously, and the other drivers accommodate me. They probably accommodate each other as well. My guess is that because this town is so insular and hundreds of miles away from any larger place, people have learned how to get along. It's too bad they cannot export that. Maybe they count on visitors like myself to do that. People down south seem to have lost the ability to get along. (I hope my next door neighbor at home is reading this.)
Another thing about this town. Last night, I came across an RCMP officer in the yard. I asked her if she would kindly get a message about my situation to Kim, the officer-in-charge at Beaver Creek just up the road who came to my aid on the ALCAN two weeks ago. She said she would. Beaver Creek is 282 miles up the road. Time, distance and space occupy different dimensions in the part of the world. One woman I met in the grocery store yesterday told me she has not been outside of Whitehorse, a town of 27,000 people (and I bet as many dogs), in 20 years. I guess I should have told her, lucky you. When you visit this town you will know why I say that. Tor and Lauren, the new young arrivals I met yesterday at Wolf Creek, and Michel, the schoolteacher with the Defender who migrated from Calgary a few months ago, have got to be among the smartest people I have met on this trip, no, ever.
The perceptive among my readers will have noticed that I did not talk about Plan A or Plan B tonight. The reason is this. My brief travel companion asked me today if I was satisfied with my decisions. Not only am I satisfied with them but confident in them. I looked at all the options, and I do mean all of them, got all the information I needed to make my decisions, thought through the consequences of each, and them made my decisions. I am guaranteed nothing because of this, but isn't that what we face every day in our lives?
Today was what had to be a perfect day, no clouds, temperature in low 40s, clear fresh air. Weather does not get any better than this. And people wonder why I take these trips.
It's 9:33 and I have 95% battery so I am going to do some reading and call it quits for today. Donner already did that two hours ago, but without doing any reading, that I know of anyway.
VINCERO, VINCERO VINCERO
Ed and Donner, from on the road
Photo...me hard at work on my blog posting at the Yukon Visitors Center with Donner posing for the picture. Photo by Silvan of Switzerland.
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