Jeff, Hank, and I were in Whitehorse for a couple of nights recently for his employer’s long-service award luncheon. He marked 10 years at his job in 2025 so he was honoured alongside other colleagues hitting milestone marks.

Since I was invited as his guest, I took two days off work and we made a trip out of it. Of course that meant stacking up appointments and bringing long shopping lists to take advantage of being in the city.

We left before 6am on Thursday morning. The morning was dark. There was a moon we saw from time to time, but there were thick low clouds that blocked off the moonlight.

The drive wasn’t too harrowing, except for at least an hour stretch south of Gravel Lake that had only been plowed to the width of 1.5 lanes. It was over 24 hours after a decent dump of snow (with big winds and drifting) so it felt strange it wasn’t plowed to the full width of the road yet. Whenever we’d meet a transport (no one else on the road except miners hauling up equipment, and b-trains full of fuel), we’d have to divert into the deep snow. I sunk my face into my coat each time so I didn’t have to watch.

Eventually the daylight gradually appeared and we weren’t in the pitch black anymore.

Jeff got his windshield replaced last time he was in Whitehorse, and even with some sanders out, we didn’t get any new stone chips. It’s a miracle!

On the way down, we saw 2 fox, 1 coyote, 3 lynx, 1 snowshoe hare, and a couple of elk.

When we were about an hour north of Whitehorse, it was suddenly +3C ! Time to take the canvas off the front grill!

We made it with plenty of time before Jeff’s dental appointment, so we took Hank for a quick run in the dog park.

After some errands, it was time to drop Hank off at the boarding kennel. Then he could have a vacation with his own species, and we didn’t have to take him in and out of the hotel.

We got most of our shopping and errands done that first afternoon, and then had a lovely dinner in the hotel restaurant. My menu choices were severely limited by possible shrimp contamination (don’t get a shrimp allergy, mm k?) but the blackened chicken and avocado salad was decent.

We saw the temperature hit +4 that afternoon, but it was below zero by the morning and the sidewalks were terrible.

I had seen people complaining online about Whitehorse’s terrible snow removal and sidewalk safety, but of course I thought they were all just whiners. But it really was pretty bad!

Even stores hadn’t cleared the ice off the sidewalks outside their shops. When I was in the post office, I heard one of the employees say a second senior just fell outside the door. Ahh!

Anyway, we had a Tim Horton’s breakfast, did a bit of shopping, and then went back to the hotel to get ready for Jeff’s luncheon. I even dug out dress-up clothes for lunch. That’s right, I do have at least one shirt that isn’t a hoodie!

The luncheon was nice! We sat with some of Jeff’s coworkers and their guests. The food was plentiful! Chicken and roast beef and vegetables and pasta and roast potatoes! And being a work event, all the wines on the tables were non-alcoholic. That’s probably smart!

Fortunately, they only called the names of the employees who were there, so the ceremony part didn’t go on too long. The speeches were minimal, and then they gave everyone the rest of the day off.

We did a bit more shopping in the afternoon and watched parts of the Olympic opening ceremonies from the hotel. We also went to the bank for an appointment to talk to Jeff’s financial guy to run some retirement scenarios through. It was incredibly helpful. I learned a ton! I went in with so much hesitation after having super painful bank visits in the past. This guy didn’t try to sell us a single thing. Nor did he ask why I recently moved my investments out of their bank (I did it for a free laptop, ok?). The good news, is our best scenario is totally doable. Yay! We now have a plan!

The next day we did what every other Dawsonite does before heading home. We went to the Superstore. Just for a couple of things. So we bought way more than that, of course, and left after spending enough money to get their weekly freebie promotion. This time it was two free flats of enormous (1 litre) bottles of pop. Which you can’t say ‘no’ to if you knew the price of pop way up here. But that meant they had to sit in the back seat with Hank so they didn’t freeze.

Since it was the day before the Superbowl, we did something that most of the world will think is crazy, but when you live so far away from a town with fast food, you do unexpected things. We bought a big bucket of KFC to take to the Superbowl party this afternoon! Thankfully, Jeff put it the back box of the truck to freeze so we didn’t have to smell it all the way home.

Then it was time to go pick up Hank on our way home. He boards at a kennel on an elk farm! It’s a lovely spot and he always seems well taken care of. Here’s the driveway into the kennel.

We were sure we saw Hank running from the back of the property in one of the pens with a bunch of other dogs. Only he had a different collar? It wasn’t Hank! He had a twin in there!

Was he happy to see us? Who knows. Hank doesn’t show emotion like any of my golden retrievers would have. But he was tired and slept most of the way home, so that was nice!

We saw fewer wildlife going home. Just 1 elk, and I think an arctic ground squirrel was awake!? That seemed unusual! Jeff saw a mink too, but I didn’t spot it.

There was a stretch where they were burning huge slash piles. I think that must be where the next couple of summers’ construction will be.

And then we were home! Safe and sound. No close calls. No stone chips. Just a really dirty truck from Whitehorse’s mild weather road grime.

Today I’m missing a big joint birthday party back home. ☹️ Hope everyone is having a great afternoon together! We’ll be having some of this with our friends: