Too tired for dinner?

In Whitehorse and too tired to even go out for dinner. Karen cooked up bacon and pancakes while I fettled with Rattletrap’s ongoing transmission saga.

The transmission issue is rather simple. The overdrive cuts out over about 3,000 ft so coming up from Watson Lake we kept dropping into 3^rd gear and could not get it to shift up to overdrive. Same thing happened on the cross Canada trip but self-corrected when we came out of Calgary as the rest of Canada resides below 3,000 ft.

The solution is to find the altimeter used by the transmission computer and unplug it. Install a jumper cable between two of the terminals of the connector and viola we fool the computer into thinking we are always at sea level. According to the Internet forum it should work - maybe.

As for being tired it is because of the mileage we have put on. We have logged nearly 5,000 kms since leaving home with the only real stop in Nakusp for the HU event. So we have been getting up at 7:00 on the road by 8:30, stopping only long enough for coffee, gas and a sandwich made in a highway pull off somewhere. About 4:00 ish we start to look for a place to stay for the night so hopefully we can be set up and eating dinner by 6:00 ish.  Do dishes, walk the dog and off to bed to read. Sounds good the first day but by the end of the first week it gets a little tiring.

So when we got into Whitehorse we hit the Canadian Tire for a few things and then headed to the campground. Good thing as the parking lot of the Wal-Mart was absolutely packed with RVs – campers, trailer, motorhomes – all that you can imagine. And it was filthy with garbage falling out and strewn around the garbage cans, shit everywhere and in general not a good vibe. Sort of a real low rent stopping area for people too cheap to pay the $30 for the great campsite we are in.

We were so bummed out and tired instead of heading off to one of our favourite restaurants we headed to the campground. Had a “dispute” regarding my parking abilities and then realised that the real issue was that we were just tired and weary from all the driving.

So how to cure the tiredness? Firstly break up the routine.

Try to have more stops during the day but honestly this is hard to do in the area of the world. The natural beauty of the place is amazing but you cover vast terrain between anything of any real importance or interest. Hence you just drive and look a the trees, mountains and keep an eye open for suspension ruining pot holes the depth of a decent coal mine.

We are heading to Dawson City for a few days of fun and excitement. There we will park up then eat, drink, gamble, see the sights. At this point this sound like the best cure for being tired – have some fun.

Sometimes you have to take a vacation from your adventure.

On the road to Alaska

Kevan, Karen and Rufus.