(August 7)
Dear Folks,
Lots to catch you up on.
The lady with whom we are sitting at the table is Marie DesMarais. She works for the Yukon Visitor Information Centre out of Whitehorse. We met her online before our 2022 trip to Alaska. She gave us much useful information. We went to the centre then when we were in Whitehorse to meet her. We reached out to her again early in the planning stages for this trip. She sent us so much helpful material. This time in Whitehorse, we wanted to have lunch.
Whitehorse has some difficulties with vegan options and accessible parking. So we suggested that we meet at the Railwork Lounge, which is part of the Raven Inn, where we were staying.
We had a nice lunch. There are several vegetarian options and something vegan. Marie talked about her trip to Australia and New Zealand. The last time we were in Whitehorse, Marie had plans to retire. Now she says she has no plans to retire. She said that she likes talking with people and is good at it.
Yesterday was the long trip down the Alaska Highway to Ft. Nelson. Once you get on the highway, it is a straight shot down it for 588 miles. We would not come all that way, but there is no accessible lodging along the way.
We stopped at Watson Lake, about halfway down. Then we still had six hours to go. We owe a lot to the Eagles and Billy Joel. We sang and car danced along the way (thanks, Paula). We really like clouds, so took photos of those and mountains. And we saw critters! We saw caribou and moose. If you look closely at the photo of the white pickup, we hope that you can see the small herd of bison. The white pickup passed us and nudged the bison off the road. There were at least a dozen: a couple of bulls, some cows, and some calves who were frolicking and literally kicking up their heels.
About the last 50 miles of the trip was pretty straight (not all the hairpin turns) and we could resume 100 km/h. But it was dark and we were concerned about critters. We were awfully glad to pull into the Woodlands Inn & Suites. The parking lot was bursting at the seams, but they had our reservation. We finally collapsed onto the bed, which felt so good.
The Woodlands is like a step back in time. It is not a chain. It feels so homey. The bathroom has soap and toiletries and also a shower cap, a shoe sponge, and a sewing kit. The bedroom has a sitting area with a comfy chair as well as a table and chair. Your room reservation comes with a choice of breakfasts at the One restaurant. It’s an incredible value.
The young lady with the bracelets has a lovely Indian name that eludes my American tongue. She said that we could just call her “Ni.” She is wearing all the bracelets as a sign that she is recently married. She has to wear them for one year and four months. She is about halfway through the time. When she is done, she will remove the bracelets and frame them. Her husband is also in Ft. Nelson. They were childhood friends in India. When Ni came to Canada, she was in Montreal. Her husband came to Ft. Nelson through work. He says that he doesn’t want to ever leave: it is so quiet and peaceful. So Ni has needed to adjust her life accordingly.
We close today with some exciting news! We had mentioned that Karma’s joystick arm had dropped significantly, making her hard to steer. We called Acadia Medical back home in Ft. Fairfield, Maine, today and talked with Mike Daigle, aka the wheelchair whisperer. From what we said, he did a bit of research. He had asked if she had gotten bounced around. Oh, yes. So he figured out that it was the turn buckle at the back of the joystick arm. He made a little video explaining this and what to do. We asked at the front desk whether they had a maintenance person. Enter, Terry. He watched the video, understood it immediately, and leveled and tightened up the arm. Rural places can be more helpful than urban. People are used to having to adapt, find solutions, and help one another. Tomorrow we move on to Grande Prairie, AB.
Wags and Hugs.
The Lowman Family
