Repairs

The world wakes, so I wake. I linger in the bed for about half an hour. I’m well rested and it’s light out. Why not? I’ve got some repairs to make anyway, lets get up. I’m up on the roof of the van by 4:45 am. After re-securing my jostled roof rack, I haul my propane tank up there and lash it to two crossbars and the awning with NRS straps. (These are the cam straps I’ve come to love while rafting, and I bough a selection of various lengths for the trip, damn glad I did now)

The Mosquitoes must have heard my wrenching, the swarm descended on me before I could descend from the van. Note to self- never be outside without first applying repellent.

Driving down the road I pass numerous RV campgrounds. This area really caters to them, and there must be plenty of demand. I’ve sure seen my fair share. Not as many on the road, mostly parked it seems. I wonder if that is really “seeing the world” and “travel” as the owners envisioned. Mind you, what I’m doing isn’t far off. Somehow paying to stay in campgrounds, inside the RV, just seems different. With that thought bouncing around my head I spot something moving on the roadside a head. Initially I thought it was just another crow, big and black. But it didn’t hop or fly like they do. As I got closer I realized it was a fox! A black fox? And it had prey in its mouth. It wasn’t too impressed or worried about my approach as it casually loped down the other side of the road, even as I passed. Cool!

Wait, Shit. Did I take my tools down from the roof? I pull over as soon as there is room to do so. Nope. I didn’t. The damn bugs ran me down in quite a hurry I guess. Luckily, I didn’t lose a thing. Lucky is what I am. After reclaiming my tools (and my ego a little, I guess) I spot another black creature on the road. This time a marmot. A black marmot? I guess both black foxes and marmots exist.

Not too long after getting underway I reach Dawson Creek, the beginning of the Alaska highway. Mile 0, as they put it. This is not, however where that show was based. No sign of James Van Der Beek anywhere. I snap my picture with the famous sign, grab some WiFi at the visitor’s center to contact digital civilization and get going. Wahoo! The trip is starting to feel really underway now. Why it took 2000 miles I’m not sure.

Finding a nice spot next to a river, I stop a bit earlier than planned. Looking at my gas gauge, I’m pretty sure I’ll make it to the next station. That’s a problem for tomorrow I decide. I also decide its time to test out my little hot shower device. I got it as a gift, and I’m a little too excited for it. Like, it must not be able to live up to my expectations. But, lets give it a go.

It’s basically a propane heater, but it heats a coil of metal tubing. With an intake hose and an output hose with showerhead attached. A battery operated pump pushes the water, and a standard green 1 pounder propane bottle does the heating. The mosquitoes are a little annoying, so I decide not to full a basin to draw from and to head to the river and drop the short intake hose directly in. I’m a little too close to the road, but what the hell? I strip naked and fire the thing up. It felt glorious. So did waving to the few cars that passed. I’ve got some ideas how to make the next go a little logistically easier, but it totally works. I got hot water, I got clean, I got to be naked outside. Win win win.

Having to go back out into the woods to poop later was less fun. One place you always forget to spray repellent? Your bare ass. I wonder how safe DEET is for that area anyway.

Once in the van, I methodically hunt down and kill the 15 or so that made it inside with all my opening’s and closing’s. When faced with an infinite swarm of them outside, there’s no winning. But inside, you stand a chance. One less is one closer to zero. Everything I brush against is a mosquito. This leads me to quickly slapping more than one solid object and a bunch of curtains/blankets. I finally get them all and fall easily and soundly to sleep.