That’s the Arctic Ocean behind us. Notice the trailer–how clean–well up close it is definitely dirty but you can’t see that from here.

After arriving at our destination, we discovered we were not permitted to swim there. We also were not supposed to park rv/trailers there but we did it quickly so we could get our selfie. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. We went in search of the “beach.” John stopped at one place and they told us someone in the community had died and there were no activities or events going on in support of the grieving family but, he did say the visitor center was open. However, the girl who worked there was at lunch so the guy was going to call her to let her know we were headed there. We parked out front of the visitor center and waited about 20-30 minutes before she pulled up and told us she had to go back into town for the new brochures and would be right back. After 45 minutes she finally arrived and couldn’t really tell us where we to go or where to park. She did give us a map which showed the beach but no parking. We set out and stopped at a souvenir store that was marked on the map. We would have never noticed it had she not given us the map so our time wasn’t totally wasted and then the guy (I did not get his name) in the store was super helpful and told us where to go and where to park.

So glad we had the camper. We were parked right next to the beach with the camper so we could change clothes, walk to the water and take a dip and go back to the camper and change. Prior to our trip, knowing the plan was to take a dip in the Arctic, I bought a full body bathing suit. Those who know me know I am a big girl. So this was not going to be pretty. I knew that going in but I also wanted to totally dip in the water. Ok, that’s a lie. I thought of just dipping my toe in the Arctic–surely that would be enough but, my son had to tease me in such an encouraging way–I had to get in all the way. I put the onesie on and put my bathing suit on top–thinking that helped. It really didn’t but it made me feel better–at least until I started walking down the beach. When you see the video–feel free to laugh. I know I couldn’t stop laughing but not just because of my outfit. In addition to looking beyond hideous, my dip was–well let’s just say it was less than graceful. But who really cares? I am almost 70–no one out there cared what I looked like or what I was doing. I could not edit this. I don’t have the software nor do I have a clue how to use it so for a good laugh click here.

By the time we dipped and changed it was after 4:00. So much for our early start. We originally planned to get back to Inuvik in the afternoon, do some shopping and then either camp there again or head out some. Since Tuktoyaktuk had nothing going on due to the death in the community we did not want to stay so we headed out. By the time we got to Inuvik it was after 6:00 so we made a plan to get passed the two ferries–yeah one more time. We filled up in Inuvik and planned to fill up once more in Fort McPherson but by the time we got there the gas station had just closed. Seriously, it was 9:01 and the girl was walking out the door and would not let us fill up. Luckily we had extra gas with us so we crossed the ferry and headed for Eagle. We figured we could be there by 11:00 pm, sleep, fill up and leave. One of the nice things about driving the Dempster that late is that no one else is driving the Dempster. The only dust is what we were making and it was all going behind us.

With only 49 km to Eagle Plains John noticed one of the tires was low. We pulled over and sure enough the rear passenger tire on the truck was slowly leaking. Rather than take the trailer off the truck to get to a spare, John decided to find the leak and plug it. I asked if I could help and John told me to clean off the back seat so he could get something out from underneath. Well, that was a shocker–I thought he was going to say no. Usually our back seat is full of things like, my camera bag, extra sweaters/coats, rain coats, sometimes food and drinks. Tonight it was mostly my camera bag and computer so I moved them and then got back in the car. There were a lot of mosquitos that were so annoying. John found the hole, plugged it and filled the tire again. I did get out to take some pictures of John changing the tire and some beautiful sunsets. It’s not like I was just sitting there waiting. But I did learn to not ask if he needed any help. The sun wasn’t actually setting–sunset was at 2:00 in the morning but with the mountains behind us it sure looked like it was setting.

Remember how clean it looked at the Arctic Ocean–yeah, they were putting down some calcium choride or something. It is supposed to help with the dust and binds the gravel particles together. Good for the road-not so good for the camper and truck. And notice how dirty I got from taking pictures. I don’t know what I touched but ugh!

Just as he was finishing up someone actually came by and stopped to see if we needed help. We let him know we were ok and he drove off. And so our saga continued. At some point John had turned the car off to save gas because we didn’t fill in Ft McPherson. John turned the key and all we heard was click, click, click. Now we had a problem. No service, it was 12:30 in the morning and I am pretty sure that last car was really the last car. John decided to try hooking one of the batteries from the camper to the truck and try to jump it. I asked him if that would work and he said, “Probably not, but I’m going to try.” And he was right. It didn’t work. Then to make matters worse, when he did that something happened and now the camper wasn’t getting power from the battery. He explained things but all I heard was blah, blah, blah. This was going to be a long night. We did have a satellite radio and I messaged Christy thinking she would be up and she could try to call the service station in Eagle Plains. We had the Mile Post book but it didn’t give a number. And honestly we did not expect it to be open but certainly worth a shot. She was up. The Satellite radio takes some time to get messages back and forth and you have to hold the radio upright which is a pain. In the meantime John had turned on the generator to get power back to the trailer so he could keep the refrigerator going. I was sitting in the truck just trying to think of how I could pass the time. We really couldn’t get in the camper and sleep–we were in the middle of the road and there was a slight chance someone could pass by and just maybe give us a hand. John came up to my window and asked if we had a cigaret lighter plug–I looked over to the left then I looked to the right–right outside the passenger window and then looked at the floor and said, “I don’t see one.” John said he knows he has one. He had one at home and remembered he grabbed it just in case. Seriously? Just in case. Anyway, he found it and he rigged up something to the generator and jumped the battery! We were in service! I love having a McGyver husband. I waited patiently while he picked up all his tools and put them away. We were heading to Eagle and I noticed Christy had responded so I let her know we were ok.

After arriving in Eagle Plains around 2:00am we filled the truck and parked in the lot. We slept until 5:30 and we were on the road by 6:00. By that point John wanted to get off the Dempster and be done with it. Once we were off the Dempster we had 2 options, go north 30 miles to Dawson City which is the opposite direction we ultimately were headed or go south to Whitehorse. We opted for Whitehorse. It was only another 5 hour drive. We were able to wash off the truck and trailer in Pelly Crossing and we filled up with gas. We could see smoke in the distance and we were outside Pelly Crossing about an hour when we received notification that the road between Stewart Crossing and Pelly Crossing was shut down due to wild fires. Whew! We just made it. Had we not, we would have had to go back to Dawson City which was more than an hour at that point. It was all good. We arrived in Whitehorse around 5:00 and stopped at the Hi Country RV park. The girl remembered John and gave us a great spot. Not a lot of pictures. I took a lot of videos on the Dempster and haven’t even checked them out. Goodnight for now. I am really behind–by like a week. Will catch up shortly.