We headed down to Whitehorse after work last Thursday for appointments. I had an annual mammogram and Jeff had dentist and eye doctor. I had no concerns going into the appointment, they just want to monitor me yearly now because I had cancer and my mom had breast cancer. I’ve already heard it was all clear, no concerns.

This was my first road trip in Jeff’s newer truck. Hank has his own back seat and side doors now! The truck has a crew cab, rather than the extended cab Jeff used to have. Hank still wants to sit on the console between us though.

Fuel prices are ticking up. Jeff’s 180L tank takes a ton of diesel! It was up to 199.9/L in Whitehorse but by the time we got home, it was already well over $2. The road was in pretty good condition, some hard packed snow that was a bit icy, and not every outhouse was accessible, but no complaints.

Along the highway, a contractor is working on expanding the road corridor, either just for wildlife visibility, or because they are going to do construction on the road in the future. They are cutting down the spruce trees, and burning them in piles. When we went down at night, we saw them torching some fresh piles. There are signs along the road warning of “SMOKE” ahead.

We’ve adapted to living away from stores. I was last in the city in December? By the beginning of March, I felt like I had nothing to buy yet and no desire to go into any store. Almost everything we needed I could grab at the grocery store on the way out out the city. Toothpaste, deodorant, paper towels. Done! Between appointments we did a short hike with Hank, and Jeff ordered some new things his truck needs – like new rims for summer tires.

After a couple nights in the city, we headed back home and over to our friends’ place for his birthday. His mom was up from Ontario, and he planned a crokinole tournament for us! 17 people, two boards, and a double knock setup out so everyone was guaranteed two games. We drew for random partners, and Jeff and I were paired up! We got to play 3 matches before getting knocked out. It was a good time! Haven’t been to a house party in awhile, and ran into some people who’ve been here all winter and we hadn’t crossed paths with because of Covid.

We drove Jeff’s truck over, and their street is super narrow because of all the snow. Jeff tried to get the truck parked far enough off the road that people could get by, but the deep snow grabbed the truck and sucked it in. There was no budging it, going up hill, snowbank pushed against the driver’s door, hill of snow behind the bumper. Thank goodness we brought coats, mitts, and hats because we knew we were going to have to walk clear across town after to get home.

The walk home in the middle of the night in the heavy snow was nice, until I slipped on the ice, did a Bambi dance, legs everywhere, and landed hard on my knees. I shouted out “Jeff! I’m down. I’m down!” He tried to give me a hand up, but I needed to lie there for a bit first. Wow did it sting. But, nothing broken, I whined a bunch, but made it home with just bruises.

The next morning, after it continued to snow all night, we got a hand out of the snow bank with our friend on the grader! He said we were so stuck this time, the super heavy tow belt was stretching way out before the truck budged. I was way up the road in case that thing snapped!

Sally had been alone for a couple days, but we bought her a new bed. This winter she took to sitting on the kitchen table, which is gross, but she’s getting to be an old cat, I can’t say ‘no’ to her sweet face, and we never eat at the table anyway, so I put a bed there for her. Gives her a chance to see outside I think. I was thinking her new bed was too small, but I think she seems to love it!

So the snow keeps falling. I heard we’ve got 7 feet of snow accumulation this winter, which just keeps packing itself down and getting higher and higher. People are getting worried about spring flooding, but that’s still a couple months away.

Here are some pictures from our dog walk the other night. Still light at 7:30pm now! We have a nice hole dug out of the snowbank out front, with a front end loader, so now Jeff can parallel park out front, and be off the road.