On the Don Felipe incomparable Knight Errant, approaching the El Toboso of the East: Vancouver, and the place of resting of the Queen Dulcinea-Rosa

 In Cervantes' day the family of man only dreamt of flying, but today, we too have it just out of reach. With the financial assistance of the 'package deal' the Queen Dulcinea (Rosa) facilitated Don Felipe's travel from Sydney to Vancouver. Now 6 days ago (difficult to reckon given parallex error and lack of imagination) the Air Canada flight departed around 10am Sydney time on a normal Monday work day. But Felipe wasn't working. No, Maria and Amanda were doing that for him.

Image: view of the world from above, flight path from Vancouver to the Yukon

Image: view of the world from above, flight over the Rocky Mountains north of Vancouver

In the Gold Rush Inn, possibly more popular in 1896-1899 during which period a 100,000 inflow of prospectors set the scene for 'Deadwood' type activities

Jack London - short story master science fiction, naturalism. Radical literary group "The Crowd" member, political activist. A story similar to our own? His father demanded his mother have an abortion. In desparation, she shot herself, not seriously wounded but temporarily deranged, she tried to raise London. at 21 he read of his mother's suicide attempts, and had correspondence with his biological father. Not, as it happend, the most positively conclusive. At which time, London went to the Klondike region, during the gold rush boom.

Image: difficult in rendition now, but a very artistic blown glass yacht at the shop in Whitehorse

Image: one of the numerous furnaces in action, with a school group being shown and participating in glass blowing

Image: Dulci-Rosa about to board the SS Klondike, the Yukon's version of the of Hobart's Cartela

Seems there are many white horses in the world. This one in the Yukon. I recall Tim Tierney and Nick Dunstan worked at the Whitehorse in London in the 1980s for minimal wages, board and support

Image: Pierre Berton: previously unkown to your author, but featured in the Main Street, Whitehorse

Whilst not much else was alive or featured at 2 am this sunny morning

Watching the economic news, our own Richard Kimber reported in from Hong Kong - Seems things are not much better for them in that satelite of the big China

FLIGHT FROM SYDNEY

The flight of about 15 hours straddled the earth and came down at 7am on Monday (Pacific Summer Time).

4 moving picture cinema extravaganzas left Felipe bleary eyed but refreshed as to the importance of theatre. Exhausted, he put his jousting pole under the bed and slept the day away. 

This eventless time coincided, coincidentally with Merv Simmons' (aka Sancho Panza) 69th birthday. Congratulations Merv. Who would have guessed?

Next day was Camille Kimber's birthday, so we celebrated that from afar, whilst also making plans to head to Yukon Territory, about 1,800km north of Vancouver, to the historic gold rush town of Whitehorse. The flight departed late evening, and as we went further north, and hour later, the light got brighter - Icarus like, we were flying into the sun!

Staying in the Gold Rush Motel, it was errie to look down the main street at midnight, with the sun still visible on the horizon, and no one, not a sausage, visible.

Flying first over the Rocky Mountains, the snow caps for hundreds of km were stunning. Thinking 'there is no one down there' - but now and then, near a river and closer to the west coast, a small township showed up - Dawson City, Bear Creek, Beaver Creek!, Meziadin Junction.

The political geography is interesting; still in Canada, we left the capital of Alaska (Juneau) 500km to our South/West, as the Alaskan borders skirt down the Yukon and BC coast.

Thursday 9th June 2022 was out day in Whitehorse; exploring the latin American theme cafe/restaurant/bar for brunch, glass blowing factory/arthouse, sternwheeler river steamer museum, and the evening market on the banks of the fast flowing Yukon River (which riverfreezes solid in places in the winter season).

Population 25,000, on the Alaska Highway, the Yukon River, wedged in the Miles Canyon, where the river flows to the Bering Sea - not so far from where our own Governor Sir John Franklin was 'lost' - only to have been recently found, 175 years later. Well, actually quite a long way from the Bering Stait, on the other side of the Canadian Territories: the Nanavut Territory.

Evening Felipe and Dulcin-Rosa enjoyed dinner at the Klondike Restaurant - in keeping, beef ribs and definately cool climate wine.

Departure preparations commenced at 3.30am, and we were back in Vancouver by breakfast time.

Dulcinea meanwhile took a paid flight to Orange County (and return) in California - apparently people still go to Disneyland, and the John Wayne airport in Santa Ana County is the closest.

Today, Saturday, we went 'Garage Sailing' or 'Sale-ing' - buying up some unneeded things, and had Don Felipe's birthday luncheon at The Cactus Club. 

Tomorrow, Sunday, will be BBQ day. I am sorry to relate these summer time activities when I know it is 100km winds, 3 degrees, and snow to 200m in Hobart - I suppose like a dog, the nose needs to be rubbed into it. Tasmania is so far away.

SUNDAY BBQ

Variable weather turned into a nice sunny warm day, and with the efforts of a dozen of Rosa's friends, self titled as "The Garlic Girls" - a group who have been engaging together for nearly 30 years, we rolled up to Kerry and Jim's home, and had a very pleasant afternoon chatting, and moviing methodically through refreshment, appetizers, and BBQ hamburgers. Now Monday, the new Day of Rest.

PLANNING

No urgent things this next week, but then we plan a flight to Toronto, Ontario, about 4,400km away - for a view of the Niagara Falls, and live concert 'Dave Matthews Band' - news on progress with that in the days to come.

OUTLOOK

I sense some of my audience has dozed off. Dementia can be a bi-polar issue. It might be up here near the arctic, but fair dinkum, maybe go into the hall of miorrors and  have a good hard look at yourself. Are you watching too much Netflix series and not able to concentrate on serious literature? Is the day to day repetition of work and family forestalling engaging in real entertainment? Anyway, just saying...