Day 72, Wednesday, October 19, Whitehorse, day 23 of the Alcan saga, The Deed is Done
The deed is done. After speaking with the very efficient and equally personable Keston of Juneau, I changed my reservation from the October 24 ferry to Bellingham (near Seattle) to the 31st.
The more thought i give to this matter, the more i am convinced that i have made the right decisions so far, based on the information i had available to me at the time. In fact, if i had all the information and insight that i now have on that cold, dark night in September on that remote, isolated, empty (except for the grizzlies) stretch of the Alaska Highway in the Yukon as i frantically pointed my satellite phone to the sky looking like some possessed holy man seeking divine inspiration or intervention from the heavens (none came), i would probably have made the same decisions that i now find myself executing given my goals and constraints.
By the way, during my conversation Keston at the Alsska Ferry, i was relieved when he told me that mine is only another of the thousands of other sad stories he has heard manning the reservation desk at the ferry. Misery loves company, although i would hardly characterize my stay here in Whitehorse as miserable. On the contrary; a blip on the screen, maybe, but certainly not misery, yet anyway. But that could change as both the temperature and my bank account go south before i do. (The temperature drops to 13*F Sunday night, the same nighttime temperature it was in Denali in 2013 when we camped there.)
The good news about 10/31 ferry is that it leaves Skagway on Monday night at 8:30 vs. the 2:30 p.m.departure of the 10/24 ferry leaves, essentially giving us an extra day to get the Defender up and running. But also, it arrives earlier in the morning in Belingham than the 10/24 ferry does, giving me ample time at LaMorna garage in Seattle that day to get the Defender serviced and checked out by the top independent Land Rover experts there before we get back on the road to finish this rather interesting, eventful journey.
Of course, the reason for the ferry change is the Defender's new engine. All indications still are that it will arrive in Whitehorse early tomorrow morning after its 1900 mile journey from Edmonton in less than 36 hours (53 miles per hour) and be delivered to John's Auto by noon. I will be there to welcome it to Whitehorse. Travis is expected to start work on it Friday or Monday. If all goes well, the Defender will be back on the road by Wednesday or Thursday. My hope is that if additional parts are needed, they can be ordered by Wednesday, delivered by Friday morning and installed by Friday night or the following Monday morning to get me on that 10/31 ferry.
If the Defender is not moving on its own steam by the morning of 10/31, that's where Plan B takes over, depending upon the situation.
If the Defender is ready by 10/28, i will drive to Skagway and hop on the that day's ferry to Juneau. I have already spent several days in Skagway in 2001 and 2013 and it would be interesting to see more of Juneau than i saw in 1992 during my only visit there. Among the few moments of that visit i recall was that i patronized my first Starbucks when i was there, but not to buy coffee.
If, if, if....still too many ifs for me to just sit back,relax and wait.
I drove into town today to report the cracked windshield on my rental car to the Budget Car Rental manager but he was not there. My guess is that the combination of the ice on the windshield wipers and the defroster created a ping that started the whole chain reaction. But Will he believe that? I read on the Web that the windshields on these Ford Escapes have been problematic. Does anyone have one?
While in town, i also brought a few bath rugs to keep the floor in my room warm during the coming cold spell since i will be here for at least one more week. Not exactly roughing it, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying the comforts of home during this layover.
Back to Britta, whom i mentioned briefly in my blog last night. Avid readers of my blog will recall that she was the adventurous 28-year old woman from Germany who was coming up on the finishing miles of her solo cross-Canada bike-journey whom we met at Pukaskwa campground on Lake Superior on day 20. Well, she reported to me two days ago that she finished her journey safely, but broke, and is now just down the road from me in Kelowna BC planning her next bike ride from Prudhoe Bay to Colombia or beyond. She sure makes what i am doing look like child's play. Go, Britta. But you will go alone because Donner is not going with you to sleep in your tent this time. http://otr8.blogspot.com/2016/08/day-20-pukaskwa_28.html
More tomorrow, when i will send a picture of the engine. Isn't this exciting?
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