So what happened on the drive?

I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked up in the Yukon or of my departure and drive to Ontario. It's a shame in some respects but I remember the beauty of it all. I went for a lot of dog walks. I'd be so amazed with the scenery both near and far and wish I'd brought my camera but pictures couldn't possibly do it justice. It was sad to leave Whitehorse. In fact, I still miss it there, three weeks later. When I arrived in Calgary, I was picked up by a college friend, Dave, where he and his wife, Cathy hosted my last night's stay in Alberta. I was afraid I wouldn't get to see them before I left. They are good people. After some commuting and waiting for insurance papers to come through I was able to get my "new" old van packed and ready to go. My rear license plate showing where I am coming from (Alberta) and my front plate showing where I am headed. The van was loaded. If I ended up with passengers, they would have had to sit on my lap. I don't know how I fit it all in before but this time there was even ess space. I barely managed to squeeze a spot for sleeping.

As for the drive, it seemed that I was more intent on messing with the camera than actually driving, from the number of photos I took. Mostly of how I couldn't see anything. It pretty much seemed like this the entire way. Until I got to Manitoba where there are some trees to break up the wind. All I could think is that if there was visibility, I was more likely to end up in the ditch. The prairies are more beautiful than you will hear most people admit. My favourite part of the drive and therefore most distracting. Distraction equals ditch. So I was a safe alert and paying attention for lack of anything else to do. It was in Swift Current, Saskatchewan that I got an oil change for fear that my van was going to die on me. She was, and still is, running quite rough. The tie rods are shot, the trannie is going, she needed a tune-up (which had just been done. There was, literally, dirt inside the fuel injection something or other. Not good) In Winnipeg, the HI allowed me to stop in have a cup o' soup and a shower before I continued on my way. Another reason I was glad to not have a passenger, I was getting smelly from sitting and sleeping in my van. I was in Thunder Bay the next afternoon. A quick little stop had to be made there for some fuel, some coffee and an alternator. Just the basics.
Now truly, I don't think that the guy a Canadian Tire was telling me the truth about my alternator but the choice was a) believe him and go through replacing it, making it less likely to break down or b) continue the drive to Wawa/Sault Ste. Marie and almost certainly break down a thousand miles from everywhere and thousands of dollars later. You can see the choice I made.

As for coming to a decision, I've decided to go to bed. Stay tuned for more. I will continue I promise. Although now that I'm in Ontario, it isn't all that exciting. The excitement comes in just over three months when I continue to Newfoundland. 'Til next time.

I am here....

have been for a week almost. Got in Sunday night and started straight into fulfilling my commitment to my friend Pat. Last night I finally got more than 3 hours of sleep altogether although it was interrupted by having to go out for 1.5 hours at 4am. I came home and slept until 10am after that. I feel rested except I now have a tonne of things to do to get settled. The hard part is figuring out where to start. And I need my computer to be set up but I haven't the time nor the space and I haven't moved into my place yet. If I can move in, I will then have space to set the computer up, to set-up the wireless and then a bunch of other stuff can be done.

I have pictures and stories to update but can't here at the library as there is not enough time available or is it easy on this computer.

Will do soon though.

The nights are really long....

Really long. The sun sets at around, oh say 4:30ish. So you can get cabin fever. I've been close, that is close to driving Wendy into cabin fever. So on days where I don't walk the dogs for a couple of hours in daylight hours, we go for a night romp. Not Wendy and I...us and the dogs! So the four of us, actually six of us went out to one of the nearby kettle lakes to run around in the deep powdery snow. Wendy took her skijoring gear and I brought the snowshoes for one of the girls to use. And now it's 9:13pm so we managed to stave off another long evenings winter boredom. It's just so nice outside.


This is Irie, hooked up to the skijoring equipment. I could get into this.







This is me and my friend Wilson. He's a hyper active dog, a bit of an attention span. "Hey, it's winter, there's heaps of fresh POW. Screw standing around for photo ops." But he would have been standing here if I could get him for long enough.

The Whitehorse sure is white.

It's a hard life up here. I walk the dogs, cut firewood, make dinner, walk the dogs. If Newfoundland isn't my place then I know of somewhere else that I can go. I think there are more places to let the dogs loose for hours on end then there are people to own dogs. I'm pretty sure that dogs outnumber people up here. And I am working to earn money, don't you worry.

I've also posted on my other blog if you're interested...www.freeheelcaver.blogspot.com

Photos through to Skagway

Only an hour in Juneau, I climbed up the trail of Mt. Roberts. I didn't bag the peak as it is another three miles and way the hell up north here there is only a bit of daylight left. That is the downtown section of Juneau. A city no wider than 2miles but longer than 14miles. It's similar to Banff and Canmore except there are people living in between the two towns. Some parts area mere 2ometres wide because of the mountains.
Juneau had a Gold Rush back in the 1860's. I could have gone panning for gold if it was earlier in the year. For a day of panning you might find 5-10$ worth of gold dust.

I stayed for two nights at the International Hostel. It is run by a collection of Church organizations. Very clean and very cheap, 10$US. Only had to perform a chore in return. I cleaned the men's sink and mirror the first night and the dining floor and table the second. The nature of my ride the next morning was a matter of destiny of course, I think I did mention. It was still dark when I was dropped off but shortly after that...was this...

Believe it or not but this really is a humpback whale sighting. I took two pictures. Photography is an art of patience of which I am still learning. Just after the second shot the fluke came right out of the water but my camera wasn't ready. It would have made a better shot than this. I have now seen several whales and Dall's porpoise.







This is Skagway. Very busy tourist town in the summer. Wooden boardwalks imitating days of old, old historic buildings. A town that thrives solely on the tourism trade. Everything is shut come winter. I hiked up to the old Gold Rush Cemetary which has some very important local figures in it, however, the original tombstones are long gone and replaced by hokey hand drawn replicas on boards. Not very authentic, actually more cartoony. But definitely a nice town. The hosttel hosts were very nice ladies, a mother and daughter covering for the owners' vacation.

I woke up on Monday morning with my heart telling me to get my ass to Whitehorse. Whose to argue with that. So I packed up my stuff and left, hitchike style from Skagway, AK. My heart must know something b/c I got a ride on the first thumb. I did break one of my own rules about not crossing borders with strangers but the border crossing is in the middle of nowhere land. Really, it's up in the mountains of the White Pass, windy as all hell. My ride left me at Caribou Crossing, known as Carcross. After a hot meal I walked to Canada's northern most "desert". The name escapes me but I think it's the Carcross Desert. A build up of sand dunes from the days of the Iceages, glaciers and winds. It's pretty cold out here but the rides were great. My last ride was a lady who asked, "Are you safe?" A good question, but what if I said "No!" I may still be there. As I wrote earlier, I am in Whitehorse, Yukon now. This has been one of the best trips ever. I am dubbing it "The Great Northern Loop Tour of '06". Here's a night shot from my first night. Hopefully some shots of the Aurora and other northern things.
More travels to come of course. I will head to Calgary at the end of this month and drive across Canada to Ontario. Following winter, pressing on to Newfoundland to open my hostel. That's it. Peace out