Greetings from the way far north!
We are at day 25 of our four month book tour/exploration of Canada’s great far north. We’ve been in Whitehorse, Yukon for four days and leave tomorrow for Dawson City. What a vast land this is where there are more caribou than people: 165,000 to only 32,000 people. All that contributes to expanses of quiet wild beauty.
So far we haven’t seen any grizzly bears but as we head farther north we are bound to. The Yukon river is an incredible green that the Yukon River Quest paddlers tackled yesterday. 170 paddlers in 77 boats set off from here destined for Dawson City on their 750 km quest.
We’ll meet them there.
As a travel writer many opportunities have opened for me. I am so priviliged to have the best of both worlds: write and travel while making an income at the same time.
Watch for articles in Sun Cruisers RV magazine, Whispering Winds, RV Times and anything else I can find.
RV Canada with Boo the Menopausal Van is getting lots of exposure thanks to the sign on Boo’s front: Boo the Menopausal Van. We’ve been stopped at gas stations to sell books. Flag ladies just grin at us as do anyone standing on the streets.
We are having such fun exploring and learning so much about Canada’s early literally ground breaking history. This is the land of gold miners and the famous Alaska Highway.
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When we get to internet we’ll be updating. We are following our dreams all the way to Tuktoyaktuk July 12. We will be standing at the Beaufort Sea sharing our blackberry wine with someone just like we dreamed it would months ago. Hard work,determination and courage is all it takes.
Keep following your dreams and never give up.
July 19 in Carcross, Yukon:
July 11 will go down in our history as a very memorable day. It was the day we took a river boat tour up the McKenzie 180km to the Arctic Ocean.We did see two grizzlies on the river’s shore and got wonderful pictures. Our dream destination Tukotoyaktuk which sits at 69 degrees north. By then we’d already crossed the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees by travelling up the northernmost highway in North America, the Dempster. It is 760km of gravel and spectacular scenery.
But I digress that’s what got us to Inuvik, NWT where we hooked up with Up North Tours, Kyle and the guys who are so accomodating and knowledgeable.
In Tuk with our guide Boogie,we took our Powell River water and standing in the Arctic Ocean we poured it and refilled it to take back home. We hauled our bottle of blackberry wine all the way up there but never got a chance to share it so that had to wait till we were back in Dawson City.
I could hardly believe I was standing there in this totally differnt world of cold, no trees, sewer and water lines above ground, 24 hour sunlight, hunting whale and polar bears as a natural way to feed families, and pingos. What an eye opener!
We flew back to Inuvik over the pingos which are giant pyramids of permafrost pushing through the ground. In Inuvik we had a private tour of the famous Igloo Church built in a style that defied tradional building by putting down a foundation which isn’t done because of the permafrost.
The day was capped off when we attended the Great Northern Arts Festival cultural ceremonies. Watching the drum dancers, throat singers and whip artist demo made us feel like July 11 was a perfectly rounded day of really seeing and feeling the far north culture.
But now we are starting to backtrack from Whitehorse to Watson Lake, we are discovering yet more beauty. We’re currently in Carcross, Yukon and the smallest and most northern desert in the world. Majestic mountains and blue lakes abound.
Everyday we meet new people, learn more history, inspire and be inspired. This has been a journey of rediscovery of what is really important to Dave and I: keep it simple and enjoy each other without distractions and stress. Once again, as we did in our two previous adventures we are rekindling the depth of our love for each other and this great land we live in…and life in general.
Teslin, Watson Lake, Liard Hot Springs and Yellowknife lie ahead and yet to unveil their beauty. This was my last journal entry for this trip. 115 days since we left home, we drove back into Powell River 14,493 km later. For more complete journal entries go to: http://mytripjournal.com/rvcanadawithboo