I Can Do This!

I Can Do This! traces the adventures of a newly married senior couple and their world traveler Chihuahua in a very large RV named Regina Victoria (sometimes as imperious as her namesake). The journey takes them through the wilds of Canada and Alaska as far north as the Arctic Ocean, ending eventually in Bagdad by the Bay (San Francisco). Somewhere between Moose Jaw (Canada) and Chicken (Alaska), the author, accustomed for 50 years to picking up the phone and calling for help, learns that he can do many things which he never would have thought possible. The mysteries of a huge diesel engine, arcane RV plumbing, leaks and squeaks, and mechanical bits that often went bump in the night were challenges to be overcome - often with humor and occasionally in sheer terror. Three highway trips on roads truly less travelled (and seldom paved) - the Dempster, the Denali, the Top of the World - provide major challenges with commensurate rewards. The story also details the conflict (and growth) between two very independent and strong-willed newly weds, both in recovery and learning about each other as they roll across Canada and wend their way north to the Beaufort Sea, then into Alaska, on through British Columbia, finishing Odyssey Part I on the Left Coast.