Northern Exposure II
^{Towards Alaska, 2005}

Monday 6 June 2005. Last year, we drove around the US SouthWest for a few months in the little RV and we still liked each other. This year we drove across Mexico to Central America and back for a few months in the old SUV and we still liked each other. So now we'll try driving the old RV to Great Slave Lake and the Yukon and see if our luck holds.

We only returned to California from the MayaHo2 trip a few days ago; we'll probably be here about a month; and we've already noted that it'll be too hot to return to Mexico soon, and we want to see some new vistas, and the RV (which is paid for) is the most economical way to travel. I have a plan that gets us to Whitehorse or Yellowknife in a couple months and puts cash back into our budget. Drive north quickly, return slowly.

The Scheme: Our daily living budget is US$34, thus we have about $100 per 3 days. At US$2.50 per gallon, and the RV running at 10 MPG, 20 gallons costs $50 and gets us 200 miles. So, we buy $20 worth of raw foodstuffs, drive 200 miles in one day, park for 2 more days, and we've put $30 back into the budget, eh? Do that for 39 days and we've gone 2600 miles and erased our US$1200 deficit. After that it's all gravy.

Yellowknife NT and Whitehorse YK are each about 2600 miles from here. What a coincidence! So when we get to either we can start eating better and going on tours, like the spectacular-historic White Pass train ride from Whitehorse (Carcross, really) to Skagway AK. And if we drive back when it starts to get cold, we minimize our LPG heating costs.

Preliminary plans: drive from here to Southern Oregon to see family, up the Willamette and the Columbia rivers, across the Canadian Rockies, up to Yellowknife NT on Great Slave Lake, over to Whitehorse YK, a rail ride to Skagway AK and back; then southward thru northern British Columbia and back across the Canadian Rockies to Glacier Park MT, and maybe over to Olympic Park WA; and if the weather is getting cold by then, maybe a spin down to Death Valley CA to warm up. Something like that. Low and slow.

The Title: This is NE2 because we did NE1 a few years ago, our ill-fated 1999 trip to the Arctic Circle in search of Auroras. Read the fragmentary account (recovered from notes, songs and memories) right here. Was that our worst trip?

Meanwhile I should note that at this time, the whole northward trip is problematic, contingent on 1) our both getting clean bills of health, 2) our selling enough stuff to pay for our medical coverage, 3) the mechanical condition of the RV, 4) the weather and other uncontrollables, and 5) the lack of family crises and other imponderables. Maureen says she'd be happy with just seeing the Olympic Peninsula, the San Juan Islands and maybe Vancouver Island. So we'll see just where our ambitions' limits lie.

Friday 10 June 2005. We drove to greater Sacramento (Kaiser-Folsom, actually) yesterday for the next medical stuff. Clean bills of health for both of us, so far. Some more tests to be run, and Maureen sees her thyroid specialist in a couple/few weeks, but the preliminary results show no tumors, no infections, minimal trauma. We're almost cleared to go.

That's without considering money. We definitely need to sell stuff; we'll work on that next week. And I still need to jump-start the RV, make sure it's operational.

IF we get the finances in order and IF the takeoff is delayed til the end of July (due to medical schedules) then we COULD hasten the trip north and reach Yellowknife in less than a month. The average regimen would be: Spend US$15 for foodstuffs; fill the gas tank; drive 200 miles (US$50 worth of gas); lay over a day; repeat. Every two days would cost US$65 and we'd put a couple bucks back into the budget. Average 100 miles per day, get to Yellowknife in 26 days, hopefully before its one week of summer passes. Hmmm, what does petrol cost in Canada?

What To See: Yellowknife is the diamond capitol of North America. Whitehorse has the world's largest windvane, an old DC3 balanced on a pylon so it turns with the slightest breeze. It's just a skip-over-the-pass from Carcross to Skagway, a gold-rush route. En route in both directions, we'll run along the crest of the Canadian Rockies, through Banff and Jasper National Parks. All along the way are many trees. Wait, we've already seen trees; I'll close my eyes.

I think Dawson YK hosts an Aurora Observatory. It's not quite what you think, more of an Auroratarium, a geodesic dome with big projectors and no windows. When it's not right outside to see Auroral displays, go inside the dome and watch an Incredible Simulation. Right. I wonder if they have mech­ani­cal mooses and porcu­pineses too?

Saturday 18 June 2005. The old somnolent RV started without a jump. That's good. The money situation looks tight. That's not so good. We haven't been able to contact our hoped-for dealer in Sacramento; so, build a website (COATI WORKS) for some of our South­Western-Mexican-Mayan goods, put some up on eBay, and we'll see what flies in the next month. We'll try to sell some old prints too. Why is nothing easy?

Saturday 16 July 2005. Some unpleasant surprises in the last week. The eBay sales went OK but not as good as hoped; we'll start a second round soon. Maureen has some sudden and expensive dental problems. We'll still be able to travel, probably leaving in two weeks, but the fiscal scene is tighter than we hoped. So we'll just have to travel to the Great North, then stop and let the budget catch up with us. See How to Travel on US$35 per Day.

It is damn hot here in the Sierras, so we'll be glad to get to the Canadian Rockies and the Boreal Forest. We hear that there's a long-term heat wave sittin across Canada; hopefully it'll extend to the Great North whilst we're there. Just as long as we don't try to drive across soggy tundra. Unlike a Space Shuttle flight, we're still GO.

Friday 22 July 2005. Our hopeful takeoff is in about a week, depending on how things go today (we're back at the endodontist, Maureen's root canal DIDN'T TAKE!) and next Wednesday (Maureen's thyroid biopsy). But we hope. So we're prepping our rolling kitchen, stocking up on some of the foodstuffs that'll be expensive in the Great North.

Shopping up in the mid-Sierras is practice for the Yukon, with horribly high prices. When we find a cheap market downhill we go hog-wild and grab a ton of veggies etc, most of which we'll have to cook before we leave — but it's been so HOT here, who can stand cooking? Anyway, we'll do most of our food stocking as we travel. We figure we'll see our last CostCo around Spokane, our last Safeway around Edmonton; we don't expect discount foods in Yellowknife, Whitehorse. Skagway, Dawson, Inuvik.

Otherwise, not much left to do for the trip. Prep the bikes, pack the cold-weather clothes, gather the books and maps and software. I still need to check long-range forecasts for weather and fuel prices in the Great North. Roll around naked in raw walrus blubber to acclimate. That kind of stuff.

NOTE: Scroll up a little bit and you'll see a map of the latest fantasy plan for this trip. Click on the image for the big (640k) full-size route map.

Saturday 23 July 2005. The travel books and maps are gathered (some were in storage), the bikes are almost ready (HA!), I'm assembling the techy and other gear to take with us. GOT TO REMEMBER that the RV looks decep­tively spacious but we don't want to be lured into taking TOO much. We'll need more than we took to Mexico, less than we stuffed into the Bisbee house. Under-seat storage makes it too easy to think, "Sure, there's room for the printer and the raft and the VHS/TV and all the STAR TREK tapes and..." which is WRONG. The tiny dinette will be filled with boxes of consumables. There WON'T be room for everything. Get straight!

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