What we learn on the Dempster Highway from Learn to Speak French tapes:
"Bonjour
Permettez-moi de me presenter.
Je m'appelle Silan
En Chante de faire votre connaissance!
Vous avez etait elevee a Nice?
Non, je suis nee a Washington.
Mon frere est marie avec une Francaise.
Vraiment?
Oui! Avec une Francaise!"
Apparently it's been a while since this thing was used... and since I'm too lazy to write down everything that's happened, here are a few anecdotes you may or may not enjoy.
“Is it going to be like this in Alaska?”
“Worse.”
With a loud thwack, Janelle hits a mosquito with a rolled up piece of paper and watches it as it floats to the ground, leg still twitching. And thus began Operation Mosquito. We sat huddled in the car, eating the buns and the remainder of the perishable “Vancouver food” that we had brought with us, discussing tactics concerning switching locations from the car to the tent with the least amount of mosquito resistance. We had traveled north 800 kilometres to Prince George that day, and we were already feeling the wrath of the infamous interior bugs.
“I hear the mosquitoes in Alaska are huge.”
Thwack. Another victim.
Bug spray in hand, we venture into the hot zone.
“GO! GO! GO!” With arms flailing in the air motioning hurry, the operation is a go. We spray ourselves first, then hurry towards the opening of the tent – a point of safety that seems miles away. I run ahead and squat parallel to the opening, spraying a wall of mosquito repellent in from of the opening, as Janelle hurriedly zips it open and runs though the mosquito wall with eyes closed. Sam follows suit, then me. And we are safe. We look around, paranoid, shooting glances at any movement in the corners of our eyes, trying to extinguish any critters that made it through our wall.
* * *
“Is it going to be like this in Alaska?”
“Worse.”
It was 10:30pm, as we lay in our tent, sleeping bags pulled up over our eyes and shirts covering our faces, trying to impersonate some form of darkness. Our journey had only begun, and we knew it would only get worse from here as we made our way further north through the Queen Charlotte Islands, to Alaska and the Yukon, the land of the midnight sun.
It was there on that first night that we realized we had begun our roadtrip. During the day it had seemed like we were only going to turn around at the end of the day and head back to Vancouver, but those persistent mosquitoes and the slow-moving sun told us otherwise. Our first destination was just that different from the comfort of our city life. The adventure had begun well, with a breathtaking drive to Prince George that followed the Fraser Canyon most of the way and winded through sleepy towns with no more than gas stations on their main drags. Mountains littered the background, tied together with glistening streams and waterfalls like a perfectly wrapped present. Our 1992 Previa puttered up hills like the Little Engine That Could, straining to carry all the equipment we had stuffed into it. We said nothing when 18-wheelers whizzed past us. Just like our Little Van That Could, we were tuckered out at the end of a long day of driving.
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What happens in the car, stays in the car
“Roxanne!”
“Oh my God.”
“You don’t have to put on the red light! Roxanne!”
Sam and Janelle exchanged concerned looks in the front row. “You know, there’s two kinds of people who sit in the backseat of a car. The ones who sleep, like you and me, and the annoying kids who are so loud…”
“ROOOOXAAAANNE! I can’t help it! Carrots make me dance!” Bag of carrots in one hand and a carrot ready to eat in the other, I pump my arms in the air and dance in my chair to the tune. We had only just pulled out of a rest stop and this was my first venture into the newly dubbed “Chair of Fun”, previously known as the “Chair of Sleep”. It was another long day on the road towards Port Edward, where we would be camping that night, and you’ve got to fill the time somehow.
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More Things We’ve Learnt So Far
1. When you’re chopping wood, be sure to hop and move your feet on your downswing. This is in case you miss your target piece of wood, and accidentally follow-through your swing towards your legs.
2. There is no consistently right way to start a fire
3. Silan needs to wear six layers, two pairs of pants, and two pairs of socks to sleep well and warm in her sleeping bag
4. Song parodies keep us going
a. “I can see clearly now, my headlamps on”
b. “Black bean singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly”
c. “Fat maker, fat maker, make me obese!”
5. There is much skill, deception and tactical planning involved in dealing with Alaskan mosquitoes. There is ongoing research to answer the question of whether they have ninja-like qualities and reflexes.
6. Concerning glaciers: they are big
7. Chico’s, the best Mexican restaurant in Ketchikan, AK, is food fit for the gods
8. There are some “sizeable hills” in the Queen Charlottes
9. Yogurt raisins are indescribable
10. A tent made for two has room for three
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If that's not enough for you, here's a little recap on what we've done so far on our great journey!
1. Drove to Prince Rupert in two days
2. Biked the Queen Charlottes from Queen Charlotte City to Tow Hill
3. Rode the Alaskan Marine Highway from Prince Rupert to Skagway with brief stints in Ketchikan and Juneau (love Juneau)
4. Drove from Skagway to Whitehorse to Dawson City
5. Explored Dawson
6. Made a daytrip to Chicken, Alaska along the Top of the World Highway
7. Celebrated Canada Day in Dawson, watched the Yukon Gold Panning Championships
8. Made a daytrip 160 km up the Dempster Highway through Tombstone Park and up to Windy Hills
We've gone as far north as we'll go, now we're turning around and headed back down to Whitehorse, down the Stewart-Cassiar highway towards the Rockies.
Library's closing
Take it easy, homeskillet.
