21 Yukon Adventure
I had mentally divided the trip into two big stages. First, cross Canada in about a week, then four to six days to drive the length of the United States.
Mac needed his medicine every six hours, and the camper would need gas about every 300 miles or about every six hours. Google would help me figure out how to take care of Mac, fill the gas tank, and handle other stuff all in one stop.
We pulled onto Route 2 heading southeast around three in the afternoon. The road took us along the Tanana River through rugged Yukon landscapes. We stopped at Delta Junction two hours later. I started Mac on his medication routine. We ate dinner, and I filled the tank before we shoved off on the next leg of the journey.
The bed was directly behind me and a partition blocked my view. I found a mirror and an air horn at Delta Junction. The mirror went in our kitchenette so we could keep an eye on each other. Mac held onto the air horn so he could get my attention. He slept or listened to an audiobook while I drove.
I picked up The Last Widow by Karen Slaughter. I became a fan of the Will Trent series when it first came out. I moved on to other things after a few of the stories. Slaughter kept writing, so there were several volumes to keep me occupied while I chauffeured Mac across North America.
Our road turned away from the river as we pulled out of Delta Junction. We circled the eastern edge of a mountain range with the Tanana State Forest on our left. For the next three and half hours, Route 2 headed southeast straight across the Yukon toward the border crossing. We reached the Canadian Border checkpoint a little after eight. I got us to the Beaver Creek RV Park around nine. We had only covered 300 miles, but we had taken the proverbial first step.
I wanted to get out and walk around but I didn’t want to try wrestling Mac down the stairs and back up. He agreed to walk 200 steps in laps between the shower and the cockpit. When he had finished, I went out to walk around the trailer park.
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Mac got his meds with breakfast at four in the morning. I drove for a few hours before stopping at Haines Junction for coffee. We were still in the Yukon with mountains on our right and lakes everywhere. Outposts like Haines Junction were few and far between. We took advantage of the stopover to stretch our muscles and walk around. Mac had to back down the steps, but he made it. None of the store’s customers gave much attention to an old man on crutches with his head wrapped in a bandage. But I’m sure they must have wondered.
After Mac had backed his way up the stairs and settled on the sofa, we declared the operation a success. He had gotten in and out of the camper, and he had walked with me to buy our coffee. He had used the crutches, but only because I insisted he needed them for stability.
We continued for another three hours to Johnson’s Crossing. This was the big layover for the day – time for Mac’s meds and physical therapy. We ate lunch, and I took a thirty-minute power nap. I refueled before getting back on the road for the last leg of the day. It was a 350-mile push to the Muncho Lake RV Park. I made one stop for gas at Nugget City. By the time we reached the campground, I was an hour late with Mac’s meds. Juggling everything was going to be a challenge.
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We started with breakfast and meds for Mac at 4. I filled the tank and took off. Our route wound through mountain passes for an hour before turning east onto a plain. We stopped at Fort Nelson for coffee and gas. Mac lowered himself to the ground and stood by while I filled the tank. We went inside to pay and get our coffee. Mac clambered back into the RV and got settled. Another successful foray.
I pushed on for four hours to Fort St. John before stopping for our long break. I was an hour late with Mac’s meds again. We got out of the camper and walked around for 15 minutes before eating. I took my power nap and gassed up. Then we pressed on to Grand Prairie in Alberta.
Grand Prairie is a modern city with a population of 65,000. It was a shocking sight after the last few days we had spent crossing the Yukon. I was able to get us a space at the Rotary Campground for the night.
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When I checked our route on Google, no gas stations showed up for over 400 miles. Mac insisted that had to be wrong. “Edmonton’s a big city. What’s the population?”
“About a million,” I said after a quick search.
“And they don’t have any gas stations?”
“I’m not taking any chances,” I huffed. “We can’t afford to run out of gas in the middle of nowhere.”
I bought a couple of containers and ten extra gallons of gas as a precaution.
We hit the road just before five. Three hours later, we stopped at a convenience store in Mayerthorpe. Mac lowered himself to the ground and straightened up. He looked around and nodded toward a gas pump. “What’s that?”
“What if they didn’t have one? Or if the one they have isn’t working?” I shot back.
He grinned but said nothing. I filled up the tank while Mac practiced walking. I paid for the gas and bought our coffee.
Before hitting the road I started a new novel, The Kept Woman.
We rolled through Edmonton’s north end on Highway 15 and continued on to Vegreville, a city of about 5000 just off the main highway. We took our long break before going on to North Battleford. Minot, North Dakota was only a day’s drive from there.
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We started out at after breakfast at four. We stopped in Chamberlain for a short break. A historic marker informed us that this tiny rural community was part of the trail named in honor of the nineteenth-century politician and renegade Louis Riel. The son of a Native American and a French-Canadian, he led Native-Americans along the Red River in central Canada in dealings with the Canadian Government. He was tried and executed because of a raid that resulted in the deaths of some French-Canadian settlers.
We took our long break just across the border at Portal, North Dakota. It took us two more hours to reach Minot.
We had made it from Fairbanks, Alaska, across the Yukon to Minot, North Dakota, in a little less than four days. That was an average of 640 miles a day. If we could keep up that pace, we could get to Melbourne in another four days.
That gave us some time to take in the sights such as they were. An Air Force base was the main attraction. We ate dinner in a restaurant. Mac wanted apple pie and coffee for dessert. He took a bite or two and then stared at me. “Can we stop in St. Louis and see your cousin?”
I shrugged as if I wasn’t trying to figure what he had in mind. “I guess.”
“I have some legal work that should be handled as soon as possible.”
“What kind of legal work if you don’t mind my asking.”
“I’m changing my will.”
“I don’t think you should put me in your will. All I want is the RV.”
His lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes narrowed to a scowl. “Will you marry me?”
I laughed. He recoiled. I said, “I’m sorry.” I was giddy. I could feel myself beaming from ear to ear. “I didn’t mean that as an insult. I would be happy to marry you. But I like us the way we are.”
He nodded. “We’re fine right now. But in a week, we’re going to be moving in with Anne’s kids, and you’ll be an outsider. I can’t have that.” He took a breath and puffed out through his nose. “We are one flesh. I want the world to know that.”
I almost spilled my secret when I heard those words. Instead, I bowed my head and closed my eyes, fighting for composure. I could feel the tears when I looked back up at him. “Yes, Donald MacGregor. I will marry you.”