Day 14. Whitehorse to Watson Lake!!!!!!!

Dear diary - what a bloody day. If we had alcohol available now, we'd both be pissed as parrots! As you can see from the title, we have actually moved from our permanent summer quarters in Whitehorse, and now making our way homeward bound. If those few words bring relief to our readers, imagine how we feel! It also makes the days events sound so very simple and straightforward - trust me, they were not.

The rain arrived in Whitehorse last night, and with it our feeling of isolation and despair grew. We'd been trying to keep each others spirits up, but the longer the situation dragged on, the harder it had been. We went out for dinner last, but neither of us really wanted or felt like eating. That and we were becoming pretty fed up with eating out all the time. Can't wait to be in my own kitchen cooking something for us again. We ended up with pizza at the hotel, it was ok but........... Up in the room, I took a look at the DHL site to track the spares shipment from Red Deer. It still showed being in Edmonton earlier that morning, but hadn't moved since. We then started to realise that if the shipment hadn't arrived by the morning, we were in DEEP trouble! This was because Thursday is Canada Day so everything would be shut, adding another two days to the two we had already been waiting. This was now making our nerves 'jangle'! Wendy tried to convince me that DHL probably only updated their site once a day, so we'd have to wait until the morning.

Sleep was very difficult to come by even though I stayed up watching a very bad Sean Connery film, and I was awake too early. I got up to check the DHL web site only too discover that the internet connection was down. Made me feel quite at home!! I went back to bed for an hour then tried again, still no joy, so I decided to call DHL and find out directly from the shippers. Initially I felt like I was once again getting the run around, but once I explained our situation and how desperate we were for this shipment, I got a lot more sympathy and help. Linda at DHL in Toronto promised to make some phone calls, and get back to me with an update. When she did, it was not quite what I had been wanting to hear. Basically no one knew exactly where the shipment was! Because it was heading to the back of beyond, it seemed the bar code tracking system was no longer effective! I was told that there is no such thing as overnight to the Yukon - at which point I almost exploded, but restrained myself. I explained that this was actually nearly 48 hours after shipment, not 24. Linda had also spoken with the DHL rep in Whitehorse, and asked them to call me with an update. I beat her to it!

It appeared that Stephanie didn't know where the shipment was either. However, we could possibly - only possibly you understand - expect the shipment to arrive by air that afternoon at about 3pm! I was getting a little hot under the collar at this point and explained if that happened, the dealer would be shut by the time they attempted delivery and because of Canada Day, we would be stuck here another two days. This was not going well. To compound the general feeling of gloom, the clouds were down over the river valley and it was pissing down with rain. I pride myself with having a reasonable sense of humour, but after the umpteenth person who saw us in riding gear commented that, "it was a good day for a ride", I was ready to choke them.

We had decided that what ever was or was not happening with the shipment, we were going to ride over to the dealer and throw ourselves on their mercy. If things went badly, Wendy was planning on calling the local media, or play the 'girlie in distress' card! We vacated our very own suite, which had since been named in our honour as we had been there so bloody long, left most of our luggage stored at the hotel and went out to get on the bike - too yet another, "great day for a bike ride", bastards!!!!!!! We rode to the other end of the town, feeling as wet and miserable as the weather. Inside the service manager was absent, so we waited for him. When he arrived in the show room, he gave us a, "hi both, any news on the part". We both started with the latest update, then it all became way too much and Wendy broke down. Floods of tears, trying to explain the stress of it all and in amongst it all, asking if he couldn't see his way to help us. Especially tomorrow being Canada day etc etc. He actually relented and said he go and see the owner......... Minutes later, he emerged with a smile on his face, a slight nod and said he would rob a sales machine and get us on our way. More floods of tears from Wendy and she threw herself at him, giving him a big hug and many thanks for helping us out. I was wondering why this hadn't been done two days ago and saved us both a lot of heart ache and undue stress. However, I did manage to keep my mouth shut this time, and let my wife rule the floor!

Less than 30 mins later, 'Sydders' appeared from the workshop and we were on our way at long, long last. We headed back to the hotel to load up both bikes. It was still bucketing down, but quite honestly, I was oblivious to the rain, I saw only escape. We both wore boots, riding suits and gloves that were Gortex' lined, so I had no fear about getting wet. Wendy took a little time to get back into riding again, and to be fair, get used to riding in pissing rain. On a sunny day, there would have been ample opportunity to stop for photo's - not today. Low clouds clung to the thickly wooded mountain slopes limiting the visibility. It was quite cools as well - 'Gerties' OAT gauge showed a cool 8.5'C.......... Undaunted, we headed out of town, filled up with fuel and headed for Watson Lake, about 5 and half hours away. We made a couple of brief fuel stops, once of which was for much needed warming coffee and a snack. Warmed up again, off we set.

We made excellent time, getting into Watson Lake a little after 5pm, completing the trip in about 5 hours. I had been pushing quite hard, but to her credit, Wend had hung in there and was never that far behind me. Well done Pickle - proud of you! Watson Lake is a one horse town, where the horse had run off, so there wasn't a huge choice in hotels. Through searching the internet, Wend had found a place called 'A Nice Motel' - I know, sounds naff doesn't it! However, reviews of the other choices in town ranged from rat infested flea hole to worse, so I was happy to try A Nice Motel. It sits directly behind a PetroCan gas station, so doesn't have a great outlook. Once inside - what a great surprise, it's a nice motel as advertised! A truly great little motel - I'd have no hesitation in either staying here again or recommending to fellow travellers.

Once we'd dumped bags, dinner was the next order of the day. Who would ever have thought of going to the local RV park???? Well we did on recommendation from 'bubba' in the gas station. We were a little dubious, but what the hell! There were dozens of RV's jammed into the small hard standing, beside which was a wooden office building. Just the place you'd expect to meet a Scott running the place - right?? We were directed to a tent at the back of the office, parted with $22 a piece and took one of the six picnic benches. The price included a salad, tea/coffee, dinner & 'puddin'. We elected to try the spare ribs and were not disappointed - thanks 'bubba'! Fully fed, we got chatting to some of the RV sorts, who were heading to Skagway to spend 4th of July. They were a 22 RV convoy from the US, up in Canada for a 35 day trip. So sooooo glad we are headed in the opposite direction. Lovely folks though. We bid them a good night & a happy 4th of July. I was wondering if any would counter with a Happy Canada Day - ahhh well, one can hope!

So fed and watered, and more importantly now on our way home, we headed back to 'A Nice Motel'. Me to write to you good folk, Wend to sort out the horizontal hold on the 'charpoy'. The gentle 'snoring' coming from said 'charp' tells me she has sorted out the controls and now giving it a good run. That's it folks, time for me to relax a little and let the experiences of the last few days 'wash over me'. You never know, if the weather behaves tomorrow, there might be a few more photo's. Nite nite all.