Shawna's Story

Skip and Shawna left David's, Skip's nephew on Centraillia, Wa. Feb.2, 1998. Skip the class C motorhome, and Shawna drove the 1997 Ford F-150 with a trailer on the back Skip and Shawna left David's, Skip's nephew on Centraillia, Wa. Feb.2, 1998. Skip drove the class C motorhome, and Shawna drove the 1997 Ford F-150 with a trailer on the back. Driving through Tacoma wasn't that bad, but Seattle scared me, and so did Portland, Oregon it was bumper to bumper to cars and trucks. the first place they stopped to Canada was Chiliawake. That's where Shawna learned french fries were called chips, and they use clear vinegar on them taste really good and sweet too, and where Shawna almost started an international war with the waitress. Because Shawna was new to Canada and the waitress was from England. The first campground they stopped at for the night was in Hope. Shawna and Skip took pictures of the mountains and walked around for awhile. They have a lake there where you can watch a dime float all the way to the bottom of the lake. In Canada a lot of people are nice and fast moving too. Each morning they would get up really early to beat the traffic and drove about 400 to 500 miles a day. Every once and awhile they would stop for coffee and to stretch their legs. When they stopped in Quense for the night that's when Shawna gave up trying to figure out if Skip knew everybody. Skip told Shawna that these are the places he always stops at when he goes through Canada. In Quense Skip and the owner of the campground tried to plug in the motorhome for the night and there was a power surge, So the owner of the place changed the fuse to the right one so they could have lights and heat. Skip and the owner sat outside at the picnic table until it got dark outside. It was 21 below outside, but it was warm and it was starting to snow but it didn't stick though. Shawna and Skip drove through 8 snow storms at about 20 miles an hour, 4 rainstorms. for the night they stayed in Dawson Creek, thats where Shawna got her certificate for driving the Alcan Hwy. for the first time by herself with no one in the truck with her. They went nextdoor and had 2 steak dinners and Skip his beer and Shawna had some wine coolers, and Skip joked around with the waitress like he always does. On the way to Ft. Nelson they drove through more snow, and saw deer big enough to be horses Shawna thought. By then the ground was covered in snow and black ice. When they stopped just outside of Ft. Nelson for the night they went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, and then went to the Elks Lodge. Shawna thought some of them sounded like Leprechauns. Shawna started looking around and under the tables. Skip asked Shawna what she was looking for and she said in a low voice the leprechauns. Shawna thinks one of the guys heard her because he got louder, after that everyone had fun with it for awhile. After awhile Shawna and Skip went back to the motorhome for the night. When they got up the next morning they stopped for breakfast like they normally did. When they stopped for coffee they stopped in a place called Toad River, it was a little cafe that had a hat, something from around the world. Then they stopped at restaurant that was made out of logs, it looked like a huge log cabin. Then they stopped in Watson Lake for the night. The next morning they went over the Teslin bridge and that scared Shawna because it looked solid, but that bridge moved and it was narrow too. They stayed in White Horse even though they got there early. Skip called a cab and he drove them around to some of the places where Skip went with his grandfather when he was a child. Skip and the cab driver talked a little bit about the history of White Horse, Shawna just sat there and listened she thought it was neat hearing about different things and the highway. from there they went to one of the bars for awhile. Then they went to walk around the old part of town of White Horse on the wooden sidewalks, and saw the biggest bookstore Shawna had ever seen in her life. After looking around the bookstore for awhile they went back to where the motorhome and truck was parked and went to the restaurant there, but Shawna didn't feel comfortable going in there the way she was dressed, but an older lady there looked at Shawna and her not to worry about it come on in and get something to eat. Her and family were very nice. After Skip and Shawna got something to eat they went back to the motorhome for the night. From there they went to Tok, Alaska, that's where Shawna had her first moose burger, and Skip had a steak dinner. Just before they left Shawna ordered another moose burger for later, she thought they were really good. Early the next morning they headed to a friend's house and stayed there for a couple days. Skip showed Shawna a couple of them and took her to a couple of them. Skip introduced Shawna as his wife. Chapter 2 When they left Mike's they went to stay in a log cabin right nextdoor to the Big Su Restaurant and bar. Where they also need to go to take a shower and use the bathroom if you needed to because the cabin didn't have a bathroom in it, and in the winter time it also didn't have running water. Once they started talking to people Skip told people about their drive up the Alcan Hwy and how Shawna did for the first time driving the Alcan Hwy by herself following Skip with the truck and trailer while he drove the class C motorhome. Shawna told them how she saw all kinds of animals. Shawna told them it was like driving through a wildlife Safari, but without the fences. She told them the only animal she didn't see was a moose. Since Shawna and Skip have been living in the cabin Shawna does the dishes and refills drinks and coffee cups and takes orders, but she will not touch the register though. Skip and Shawna went to redo Dina's and Paul's daughters, Chas's house but the fumes from the heater in the house made Shawna a little sick, so they had to open the windows so it could air out a little. it snowed again yesterday, but today it's raining. the next morning they went back to do some more mud work and taping on Chas's house. Wednesday Shawna and Chas work together in the restaurant, when there was nothing to do they would play Rummy. Shawna didn't really know how to play so Skip and Chas were teaching her how to play slowly. Shawna had one guy come in and give her a friendship rock for a tip everyone called him Starvin Marvin. He told Shawna if someone comes in and tries to give you a gold dont take it. Shawna asked why? Skip told her if the give you a gold rock they want to more than just friends, Shawna said, Oh. Yesterday we were really busy she asked everyone to be patient with her because she getting the hang of waitressing again, after everything slowed down Don, John, and Rose came in. Chas took there orders. While they were waiting for their orders Rose showed Shawna how to carry 3 plates and 2 glasses Shawna tried 3 but her hands are not big enough. Shawna is 4ft 9in and 105lbs soak and wet if she's lucky, brown hair, and brown eyes. In the middle of April Shawna and Skip started helping Marey Carey, Skip old school teacher. In the morning I would help Skip outside until Marey came and got me, then I would start cleaning and dusting, then she would do the dishes. Shawna likes doing the dishes because you 2 things done at once your hands washed and the dishes washed. Skip had to use the lawn mower but it broke so he had to wait until someone could fix it, and there was a lot of property too. Marey had a little store in the spring and summer months they would help her in when they weren't working in the restaurant. Marey sold little nick nacks and stuff like that. Shawna and Skip helped Dina for about 6 months then went up Cantwell to help Phil and Uno with some of the repairs that needed to be done. Shawna helped in the Bed and Breakfast, and Skip helped Phil with the repairs and other things. Uno shared some of her recipes with Shawna, and when Undo couldn't do the cooking Skip did it and Shawna would do the dishes. Uno was Korean and Phil was black. After Skip was done helping Phil with the repairs they went back to helping Dina and Paul in the restaurant. Shawna Skip eventually took over the restaurant and bar. Some people ask Shawna what it was like to drive the Alcan Hwy and she would tell them again it was like driving through a wildlife Safari but without the fences. She told them it was fun and scary at the same time. Tiny asked Shawna how she liked driving on the black ice and Shawna said what black ice? Shawna sat on the front porch taking a break from working in the restaurant and cleaning the cabin. She was listening to the radio just looking around. Shawna likes listening to Christian music, country, easy listening, and oldies that all way back to the 20's. It was a warm day in Talkteena, Alaska and the restaurant was off and on busy all day when they got really busy Shawna would go over help clean up afterwards, she would mostly do the dishes then go back to the cabin. Sometimes after she got the cabin clean she would go out and sit on the front porch and see moose walk right through the front yard, and sometimes they would lay down. Uloo their dog (pure wolf) would lay on the front porch and watch the baby moose play in the yard. When Shawna would wash clothes and hang them out on the clothes line to dry the moose would come up behind her and watch her. Sometimes when she got done putting the sheets out on the line the baby moose would grab them off the clothesline and drag them all over the yard, and Shawna would have to wash them again. She would get mad at them, but at the same time she would go out on the front porch and talk to them. Sometimes she would read her book she was reading to them and it was like they were listening to her too. Shawna likes reading her Bible, to her it's the best history book ever.