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Writer's pictureRobert Gidley

Lunch at Gramma’s, a lost dream

Aug 15, 2022 (Mon)

11:25 am Mayo, YT

While we certainly relished our time in Mayo, we need to ketchup with our itinerary, and so we bid a fond farewell to the spread of Mayo.


Now you know how we spend our time on the road…


1:00 pm Pelly Crossing, YT

When we looked at the map, Pelly Crossing looked like a pretty good stopping place. We have plenty of time, and it would be a short drive. So we checked the internet and oh, look—there’s even a place to eat: “Gramma’s Kitchen.”


How perfectly delightful!


Then we noticed that there wasn’t much else there—all the services listed for Pelly Crossing were actually for other towns (Dawson City, Whitehorse).


There was one review for Gramma’s Kitchen from July of 2012. It started out: “Gramma's doesn't look like much, and it isn't.” Later on in the review: “Service is efficient and the food rates on the better side of mediocre.”


So we have to stop! Even if not for the night, at least for lunch. Imagine our surprise when we got there and discovered the following.


We think maybe “Gramma’s Kitchen” might be closed


2:00 pm South of Pelly Crossing, YT

There’s been a refreshing lack of construction on this leg of the trip, but we do come across a road crew that seems to be drilling for oil in the middle of the road.


Hope they don’t strike a gusher



3:00 pm Carmacks, YT

Carmacks is the next settlement before Whitehorse. There are two RV parks in town, and this one has a restaurant and a lounge. As we pull in, we notice it also has a cannabis dispensary with the clever name of “The Pot Hole.” We were going to inquire about the rules around foreigners purchasing cannabis (“For research purposes, of course,” says Robert), but The Pot Hole is—ba bump—closed for construction…


We check into our site, which is located near the Yukon River in a pretty typical RV park. More trees than most, $2 per shower (no escaping it), and a nice picnic table.


Yet another scenic vista, ho hum


We’ve been on the road for three weeks and it’s beginning to show. What we should have done was take an extra day every couple of days to just lounge and relax. What we did was march relentlessly onward toward our goal.


Oops.


Anyway, we now have three days of driving left and 10 days in which to do it. So…we’re going to spend some extra time in Carmacks, Whitehorse, and Skagway (AK).


It turns out that this campground has no room at the inn (either RV or hotel) for us. So we check the place down the road, and they’ve got spaces, so we know where we’re staying for the next couple of days.


When we went to the lounge, we found out that the bartender was sick and the other bartender was taking classes, so apparently the guy running the place was somebody’s cousin? Anyway, he couldn’t mix drinks, but he could pour beers and pull soda cans out of the refrigerator (which he did splendidly).


On the plus side, it wasn’t too crowded! We each had a beer (Robert a Yukon, Gini a Root) and then retired to begin some days of rest.


Maps

Our journey from Mayo to Carmacks shown as the green line.


Today’s journey in cartography terms


By the numbers

“You have to be odd to be number one.” — Dr. Seuss


Miles traveled so far: 3,002

Estimated Percentage of total road miles: 96%

Days so far: 23 days

Estimated Percentage of total road days: 74%



Gini & Robert

Harvey Staff


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