Yesterday evening the Harders invited me for supper with them at Boston Pizza in Whitehorse. It was nice to see them again and I really enjoyed the visit. Today I will go to Tagish to again pick up my mail and visit at the Community Hall where every Wednesday they have a get together that they call “Coffee and Chat”.
I must remember to *not* feed Cisco after 6pm today and *no” water after midnight, as tomorrow he goes into the hospital for dental work.
While at the vet today for Cisco’s annual vaccinations and checkup the doctor discovered infected teeth. Therefore my planned departure from Whitehorse has been delayed while Cisco goes into the hospital on Thursday. Now the plan is to leave Whitehorse on Friday at the earliest depending on how Cisco makes out on Thursday. Today was “Cisco Day”. He had *the works* at the beauty parlor before visiting the vet. His shots cost $72 and the beauty treatment cost $40. I feel sorry for him . . . I hope Thursday goes well.
Today I decided to work on some new art. It was too windy outside so I set things up in the trailer. The most difficult task was *finding* everything I needed. Then finally when I started to paint inside, I thought it was too dark so I had to run down to Canadian Tire and purchase a Halogen desk lamp which I could set up in an overhead compartment to shine down upon the canvas. Now I have to go thru a learning curve to be able to adequately cope with the small space available. I didn’t do too badly after I discovered that I could set my Julienne easel on the table and extend two legs of the easel over the edge of the table to the floor. My seat was my sofa but I had to be very careful whenever I had to move within the trailer to not knock over anything.
Although my oil paints are toxic, I use walnut oil as a medium to eliminate the need for turpentine and I use an odorless solvent to clean brushes. This seems to work well in the confined space of the trailer and I didn’t notice anything negative with this setup other than being cramped for space. But I think I can learn to live with that and also take advantage of nice days to paint outdoors where I can have all the space I want. Of course nothing beats having a permanent studio in which to paint.
A couple in the next campsite to me, from Florida enroute to tour Alaska in their motorhome, found out that they could not take fresh meat across the border to the US. An unexpected windfall for me! They gave me enough meat to last me for at least ten meals. Thank you!
Yesterday evening Sandi and I dined at “The Cellar” restaurant in the Edgewater Hotel. We wanted to choose the *best* restaurant and after shortlisting restaurants to the Edgewater Hotel and the High Country Inn, we chose the Edgewater. For me, it must be more than two years since last dining in a first class restaurant. Sandi looked beautiful in her dark brown dress and smile. The food was very good, but quite bland . . . on a quality scale of 1-10 I give it 7. Quantity was high but that didn’t count towards quality. Dessert included fine Belgian chocolates of which one was with a cherry center. Sandi can’t eat cherries. When she asked for a replacement . . . she was refused. The server didn’t know, but that refusal lowered her tip by $10. No big deal. Will I go back? I don’t think so. The food was just *too* bland for me. In total I *really* appreciated Sandi’s company and we had a very nice pleasant evening, interrupted by only 2 patrons’ cell phones.
How long do you think it would take you to rent a safety deposit box in a bank? If you have an account in the bank I would guess it should take 10 to 15 minutes . . . no longer. How long did it take me? *Five hours*. First I went to the Scotiabank in Whitehorse. They didn’t have any boxes available, but they would put me on a waiting list! Now if a bank can’t provide safety deposit boxes for their customers, shouldn’t they expand the number of boxes available? For the past 3 years I have been paying them approximately $600 per month in interest! And they can only put me on a waiting list for a safety deposit box when I need one?
Next I went to the CIBC where I also have accounts. It was 11 am. Today is Friday. I would have to make an appointment to get a box. How long would it take? They can’t squeeze in 10 minutes? The earliest I could get an appointment was 3 pm. What am I going to do for 3 hours? I had lunch at Dairy Queen, then I went for a walk with Cisco, then I went to the Whitehorse Visitor’s Centre to look around. It was only 2 pm. I still had one hour to kill. I went to a book store and browsed until about 2:45. I made it to the bank before 3 pm . . . the time of my “appointment”. Oh I was too early . . . my appointment was at 3:30! I did not hear wrongly! I was told it would be at 3 pm. They were sorry. I went for another walk and returned at 3:30 pm. Of course I would have to wait. After 10 minutes my time to rent a safety deposit box had arrived! Oh happy day! Ten minutes later, I had rented a box and placed my valuables in it and at 3:50 I was out the door, finally, the holder of a rented safety deposit box.
My experiences with Insurance Companies and Telephone Companies have, in the past been just as frustrating. I don’t think I am alone so I won’t go on with my frustrations . . . until the next time. I must say, however, that the employees *always* have been very courteous and pleasant. But, Banks, Insurance and Telephone Companies? I hate them all!
I am getting to relax much more now that I have downsized to the 26′ travel trailer. Here are some pictures of my current home (a picture of the outside of the trailer, my kitchen and living room and my bedroom); and some relics of the building of the Alaska Highway located in the Hi Country RV Campground, Whitehorse. I expect I will be in Whitehorse for about another week and a half before heading south.
I am sitting in Hi Country RV Park in Whitehorse, Yukon. Nice facilities and especially nice hi speed wireless internet access from the trailer. RV travellers are especially nice people . . . I have met a few here. One group (4) that I forgot to get names for, was especially friendly. They were from Toronto, having flown to Calgary, then renting a motorhome to tour the Yukon and Alaska. Today was their last day in Whitehorse and they gave me all their food from the motorhome as well as a barbecue. Yes, I had barbecued rib eye steak for supper. They have my card, and I hope to hear from them when they fly back to Toronto (they left the rented motorhome in Whitehorse).
Cisco is not feeling too good the last few days . . . I think it is the change from his usual routine. He is not hungry and does not seem to be comfortable in the trailer. I worry about him and hope he will get better soon. The change from a large house to a 26′ foot trailer may be too much of a large change for him.
I got the Suburban serviced and repaired (~$3,500) and likewise with the trailer (~$1,000). I really hope there will be no more major expenses with either of them. At the last fill-up my mileage was 13 mpg. Campsite fee is approximately $28/night with a 10 percent discount from the Good Sam RV Club.
Today I sold my house in Tagish and I started my trip across Canada, headed for New Brunswick. A new chapter in my life. Upon leaving Tagish I wondered . . . what was good about Tagish?
We (Aggie and I) loved the community from the first day we arrived. We found it very easy to fit in, and do our part to make Tagish a nice place to live. Life was great. We were happy, to have chosen Tagish as our retirement residence. We made many friends and enjoyed life.
When Aggie got cancer and was struggling to survive, we experienced fantastic and unbelievable support from many people in Tagish during that extremely stressful time. Again we were happy, to have so many friends.
I succeeded in taking her to Inuvik, to be near her family during her last days with me. it was necessary to travel to Inuvik with an Air Ambulance aircraft that cost many thousands of dollars, which the Gwich’in people in both Fort McPherson and Inuvik covered. And *Thank You* to the Inuvik General Hospital doctors and staff who went out of their way to agree to do all they could for Aggie. It took *many* people to make these events happen. I *will* some day visit Inuvik again to visit many friends there and to place a stone on Aggie’s grave, along *with* her family.
After a few months in Inuvik I returned to Tagish. Life turned difficult for me. I was in a house, too large. I was suddenly *very* alone.
Now, 17 months after Aggie’s death, I have sold the house in Tagish and I am sitting in my Travel Trailer in the Hi Country RV Park in Whitehorse, waiting to have the Suburban and RV serviced for a lengthy trip accross Canada to visit friends; Annie and Garry in Chetwynd BC, Cheryl and Eddie in Kamloops BC, Nellie and Tom in Salmon Arm BC and eventually Sheila in New Brunswick. Beyond that I have not made any definite plans at this time.
I have many thanks to give to people in Tagish. Especially to the *many* people who supported Aggie and myself with get well wishes during Aggies struggle with cancer and offers of help wherever and whenever needed. I also have special thanks to Sandi for the many wonderful evenings accompanied with fantastic suppers; to David for the *work* he helped me do; to Clay and Claudia who worked *full speed* all afternoon and evening to help me pack my paintings for storage in Whitehorse at the eleventh hour and with Claudia also preparing great suppers; and to Clay for loaning his trailer and transporting my artwork to Whitehorse; to the people who frequented “coffee and chat” at the community hall who always make Tagish a pleasant place to be; to Wendi for working so hard to make Tagish a nice place to live, constantly organaizing *many* community events; and to Bob and Shirley who were always so nice to me.
It was *so* nice to live among the forests, lakes and mountains of the Tagish area in Yukon. I haven’t *left* the Yukon. It is still my home base. It is still a part of me. I am however beginning a new chapter in my life. Please wish me well.
It is *not* easy downsizing to a 26′ travel trailer. I have been getting rid of stuff for a week now and I still can’t see any less stuff in the house. I have only 7 days left before the new owners take possesion of my house. My “to-do” list is still long and most of the tasks’ “due dates” are now *over due*. I am taking great care to *not* overload the trailer, and I am taking care to put only a minimum amount of stuff in storage. But whatever it takes . . . I *will* vacate the house on May 15th.
My paintings (children?) will very soon be in storage and not be easily accessible. I will only have *new* paintings with me for the next long while as I create new works, in new locations. Of course I will continue to blog and I will continue to update my website.
Now . . . back to work.
Trying to install a Maxtor external disk drive to backup my laptop was the last straw . . . the Maxtor One Touch 320 GB drive (with fire wire) will not work on Vista. I am in process of installing Ubuntu Feisty Fawn on my laptop. Now I will be 100 percent Linux (both desktop and laptop). I can’t blame Maxtor or any other vendor that has been trying in vain to satisfy Vista users, or more accurately; Microsoft users) with a moving target from Microsoft. Maybe Vista will be the event that brings more vendors to support Linux with hardware, as *they* also abandon Microsoft.
