Chuck:
At 5:30 am, we awake to the sound of rain on the roof; maybe it will go away if we ignore it. At 6:45 we again awake to the same sound. OK, guess it will be a rain-gear day. We attempt to dump the RV tanks before I depart. There is a very tight turn at the dump site, so tight that we could not make it, even with my expert guidance (Betty made it yesterday when she approached from a different direction??). The front of the rig was pushing brush and saplings aside, the rear was up against the concrete drain. We cannot back up because the Honda CRV is being towed behind and is now jackknifed at nearly a 90 degree angle. When not aligned directly behind the RV, the hitch pins bind tightly and are a pain to remove. Thirty minutes later, with the help of a hammer, pry-bar, large wrench, some profanity and lots of rain, the two are separated.
Finally, on the road. Moving slow in cold rain and hills. At five miles, the rear tire seems unnatural. Flat tire! Now, sitting on the road embankment, in the rain, bike upside down, rear wheel in my lap; out with the old, in with the new. The culprit was a tiny little piece of wire, probably from a blowout someone else had suffered. Just as I am getting back on the bike, along comes Betty driving the CRV; not a good thing. She tells me, the right, outside rear view mirror has been pushed back against the RV and is unusable. (I know this is almost like driving blind, it happened to me once when I got too close to a bridge superstructure on the Ohio River leaving Madison, Indiana.) She and another lady could not push the mirror arm back into place; she made a good decision not to drive, especially so, since visibility is already bad due to the rain. We load the bike in the Honda, drive back to the rig, align the mirror, re-hitch the car and return to my flat tire site. Oh good, now I can get back to biking in the cold rain; it was only 52 degrees but with a headwind it seemed like it should be sleeting. It is already 12:30 pm.
Miles drag by slowly. Thinking I should be at the place we had originally planned for lunch, about 25 miles down the road, I mentally re-calculate the distance, miles vs kilometers, etc. Geez, I am going at a snails pace. As I come to Lake Kluane, the largest lake in the Yukon, the wind is channeled by steep cliffs and intensifies. The road around the Lake is much like going around a fiord. It is just above the shoreline and is maybe 7 or 8 miles around a long peninsula of water. Finally, as I make the 180 degree turn the headwind becomes a tailwind; it seems only minutes until I see our rig parked at a Rest Area. It is nearly 5 pm, I have only biked 27 miles, this was planned as a lunch stop; I am wet, cold, tired and done for the day.
When Betty saw me approaching, she cranked up the heat in the RV. A hot shower, an hour’s rest under a fleece blanket and I am ready for a glass of red wine. The wine goes well with the tacos Betty prepares. I set up our new folding table, put on an album of “Big Band” oldies (inherited from Betty’s parents) and we dine overlooking the beautiful Lake Kluane. Life is good (again)!