My Travels (Day 2)

The group awoke bright and early after only a few hours of sleep, before the sun had even gotten itself out of bed to greet the world. Garrett and Matt were just as eager as I was to fulfill the dream that Calvin and Hobbes imparted upon us and without hesitation we set out on the next leg of our journey. We soon began scouring the city of Whitehorse in search of one-dollar scratch lotto tickets and packages of beef jerky. With our gathered funds we bought five thousand of the scratch lotto tickets for our personal use and eighteen pounds of gas station quality beef jerky for later consumption. Taking turns we all bathed in the gas station bathroom and before the attendant could catch on to our scheme we were off, once again driving in our rent-a-car through Whitehorse.

We soon turned ourselves northward and began our 700 mile journey towards the beautiful yet elusive Beaufort sea. With many chants of "Yukon Ho!" and "Onwards and Upwards!" we speedily drove through the frigid northlands of Canada. Somewhere off in the distance would be our home for the next few days, and all of us desperately wanted to set up camp and begin what would obviously be a journey of both the mind and soul. It was a long drive so we brought our collection of eight tracks and cassettes, listening to our fair share of ABBA and Frank Sinatra while we drove. We took turns driving, switching every two hours and forty three minutes to keep ourselves full of energy and those who weren't at the wheel began scratching our lotto tickets, and I don't think I need to explain how exciting scratch lotto parties really are. We were all seeking that big win but for the moment it seemed to elude us, only receiving thirty four free games and a single two dollar ticket from the first seven hundred we scratched. While driving we stopped for gas a few times, filling our tank full of very expensive gasoline and sometimes diesel just to mix it up a little bit. We traveled all the way to the city of Dawson, didn't stop because Dawson is well known as the molestation capital of the world and continued north. Right after we left eagle plains, Garett discovered something amazing, he had won $25,000 on a scratch and lotto ticket. The hurrah's that ensued were deafening and I am sure that the wildlife in the area will never recover from the devastation our rejoicing caused.

Finally, after many arduous hours of driving, we made it to the Beaufort sea and in the word's of Matt "Holy fucking balls this is beautiful as shit." I don't think it could have been said any more eloquent than that. It was four in the afternoon when we arrived and their was almost no daylight left to work with so we hastily set up our tents and established our camp. Using the Igloos for dummies bought on overstock.com that Garrett had wisely bought beforehand we learned to pile snow around our tents to insulate them and by ten that night we had a full fledged lodging equipped with bathroom, kitchen, three bedrooms and a parlor. We slept well that night, the frozen waves of the Beaufort sea lulling us into a wonderful dreamland with the promise of more wonder to come the next day.