“Do you have my chocolate?” the half naked man queries me.
I’ve stopped my Mini on the Dempster Highway, alarmed by the site of this bedraggled bicyclist in the arctic wilderness.
“Your what? Are you okay?”
He slumps down on his bike, “Oh, I thought you were my chocolate. I gave $10 to a passing car, asking them to get me chocolate and send it back down the road with someone. I thought it was you.”
Struck by his strange method of Dempster communications and exchange, I try to keep him engaged in a conversation. I’m not convinced that this daring bicyclist hasn’t become delirious out here on the road.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have any chocolate. Do you need something to eat? Some water?”
He refuses my offer, indicating he has plenty of both.
“Where are you going?” I continue.
“Inuvik! Where all the tourists go!”
“And where did you start?”
“Seattle, Washington!”
I eye his very lightly packed bike, “You rode from Seattle with just these things?”
“Yes!” he beams.
Finally convinced he is of as sound a mind as anyone trekking up this highway, we say goodbye.
I ended up staying in Inuvik for over a week, resting, touring, and waiting for a pretty day to drive back. I didn’t think it was possible, but the drive down seemed every more magical than the drive up.
But the midnight sun really plays tricks with your mind. I had no idea how much I subconsciously orient myself in time and space by the movement of the sun.
I couldn’t quite figure out where it went during the course of a day, so I decided that when I got back to my pretty campsite at the arctic circle, I would stay up all night and watch its movements.
campsite at Eagle Plains
(In case you are curious, here is a time lapse photograph of the midnight sun by Anufl Husmo.)
Back on the road late the next day, I’m again perplexed by the sight of yet another man alone in the road. He’s waving a white t-shirt, so I pull up alongside of him.
“Hey, thanks for stopping. I flatted and was wondering if you could tell my buddies.” He points to his motorcycle in the gravel pull out.
“Uh, sure. Where are your buddies?”
“They should be just up the road, stopped somewhere waiting for me. Just tell them I flatted.”
“Are you stuck out here? Do you want me to give you a ride?”
“Oh, no,” glancing back at his BMW bike. “Please just look for them and tell them to bring me a tire.”
Not seeing the logic of his decision, I leave him abandoned on the roadway, picking up my pace in hopes of coming across his friends.
I drive for three hours. Coming upon the last few miles of the Dempster, I am stopped by my two friends from my first day!
We've been waiting for hours
Finally pulling into the mile zero truck stop. I see two guys on motorcycles. They look beat to hell after an all day ride on the Dempster.
“Are you waiting for your friend?”
“Yes!” I see their relief.
“He’s up the road about three hours. He wants you to bring him a tire.”
I see their despair.
And with that, my Dempster adventure was done!
Let's go to Alaska!
22 Comments
i have been following your blog since beginning and must tell you how impressed i am by you. you give me hope to reach my dream. see you down the road.
So cool girl! Sooooo Cool!
I’m so glad to see that you posted again. I was afraid that you were done with your arrival. Please don’t stop blogging. Like most people here, I am here for the “Jennifer Show” not the “Jen visits the Artic Circle” episode.
Keep on trekking and keep on blogging! Go Jennifer!
Wow. Amazing. Can’t wait to hear about your next adventurous plans! I’m sure you have something stewing in your mind. That mini wants to keep on rollin’.
Welcome back after a much needed and well deserved rest. Now get back to work
Just letting you know I’m always reading.
KEEP POSTING!
“Do you have my chocolate?” Hahahaha. That was funny!
We are glad to hear you made it safely through your “Dempster Adventure”.
Until your next update . . . take care and safe travels!
The Freely Living Life Family
I am pleased to see you still posting. I was afraid you would find the Beaufort Sea a natural end to your tale, and cut us out of your continuing adventures.
That picture of your Mini covered with mud reminds me of the one of your hands after changing a tire. You and your faithful companion have both learned not to let a little dirt get in your way.
)
C’mon. Don’t leave without us! We can be a valuable addition to your team! We eat danger for breakfast!
Hey, I’ll bring my ball!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIN-QGBWHAI&feature=related
“Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run. ”
Bob, Marveling to see you again.
I’ll bet you’ve got a few more stories about interesting people you’ve met on your trip. Glad you’ve made it back down the Dempster. Were you able to take care of the various issue with the motorhome (broken tail pipe, etc.)? Glad to see you aren’t be derailed by the small bumps in the road that come along on such a trip as yours. Great post!
Glad u made it back safely! Now what is the new adventure. You didn’t spend all that money on that pretty little motorhome for one trip right?
See you on the road!!!!
I can imagine you feel quite at home in your RV now. I am trying to get my head around doing that road on a bike. How does one pack enough food and drinking water? You need a truck wash for your camper! It will be fun to see where you are at when you post next!
I couldn’t have said it better than did Kerry in Comment #3. As spectacular as this adventure was, there will be more, as long as you are living the lifestyle. Those of us who can’t yet ‘hit the road’ for the long-term, are living vicariously through your experiences. So please don’t stop blogging, Jennifer! You are a great writer.
I check your blog each morning and it was great to see an entry today!!! You have so many more adventures ahead of you. Enjoy. Belva
So THAT’s what a RV looks like after a ride on the Dempster! Wow!
Just heard back from some experienced RVer friends of ours who have been all over the place, including Mexico. They have the same RV we do, an Arctic Fox. They just got back from the Dempster, and told me that they wouldn’t dare take their rig on that road, they left it and drove their truck.
Y’all got guts girlfriend!!!!
Now you look like that guy at the car wash when you first started on the Dempster. Hang around for awhile until someone asks if you just drove the Dempster. You can give a sweet reply and even the score.
Ibid several others; I got hooked on your blogs also and have enjoyed your adventure(s) so far. Have been visiting your site daily, as well, to see where you are and have been the past few weeks. Take warmth in fact that you have many in cyberspace waiting to hear from you and willing to provide whatever love and support necessary to help you find “happiness”. We wish we were behind you in a caravan right now:))
yea! a post!!
i was begining to have similar fears to bob’s… very glad to read a funny story from you!
now double back and give that poor guy some chocolate!
i can’t even imagine what it must take to get up all of those mountains on sheer leg power, oh wait, maybe i do… chocolate! lol
Hi! LOVE your RV! I travel solo in a 1975 Chevy van with my Rottweiler. Would love to be on your blogroll. http://beckyblanton.com.
I’m hitting the road again in the next couple of weeks so there will be more road stuff up soon…thanks!
I just recently found your blog and have been reading from the start. I found this in one of your comments:
“I’ve enjoyed your blog. I especially appreciate how you write about the desire to settle down after being on the road. So many blogs just go dead at that point, and I always wish they would have reflected on that part of their journey.”
I do not have a blog as such, but have been blogging on my web site since I went full time (as I defined it) on Nov 30, 2009. If you Click on this link http://edwardfrey.com/peregrinating/period1.html and then follow Next Page you will see how I have responded to you statement.
There is a lot more to my site that you can access by Clicking on Site Map.
Good On YA for the trip that you have done so far, I look forward to reading about it.
ED
Ahh. Those photos are magnificent, especially the Moose. Mooses? Meese? What a lovely adventure it has been with you. Thanks for having me along.
Nicely done Jennifer. *applauds* I couldn’t be happier for a person I have never actually met before. Seriously. It’s been 10 days since you posted. I hope this doesn’t end your updates… I would love to see how this affects your daily life. :0)
This is what you said almost a year ago:
“I’ve enjoyed your blog. I especially appreciate how you write about the desire to settle down after being on the road. So many blogs just go dead at that point, and I always wish they would have reflected on that part of their journey.”
Now it looks like your blog has also gone dead after accomplishing you primary goal. I can assure you that there still is life to be lived after accomplishing a ‘mission’ that you have had fixed in your mind for so long. Perhaps you will come to that realization, perhaps not.
This may have been all the RV life that you will ever want and your ‘Mini’ will be just a means of transportation back to Texas.
What ever you decide, I wish the best for you. It was a great trip!