Burned Out In Inuvik

I must be reaching some level of burn out, some level of exhaustion within my emotions. Here I am on what many, including me, would consider a trip of a lifetime, and adventure beyond belief. Here I am well inside the Arctic Circle, under the midnight sun, where there's incredible scenery and widlife, and I am spending my afternoon in my hotel room, wishing I was at home.

Katherine is gone this afternoon; she took a tour to Tuktoyaktuk, to the Arctic Ocean. I could not, and cannot, go. It's a small plane with no room for someone in a wheelchair. Even jet planes struggle with me; imagine a little six-seater. Clearly I could not come along. I wanted Katherine to go; I've been there already, so it's not so bad.

After dropping her off at the tour assembly point, I followed the tour van to the airport and got a few pictures, from behind the fence, of Katherine and the other passengers getting on the plane. Oddly enough, the fellow passengers are a Chinese family from Vancouver. I asked her about them and she said "They only speak Mandarin, but the son speaks English so it's okay." Katherine speaks Cantonese. They are from mainland China whereas Katherine grew up in Hong Kong.

Once her flight was safely up in the air, I went for a drive around Inuvik. It was surprising to see how many of the buildings offered no access whatsoever to someone in a wheelchair. A few did, particularly those in newer buildings. Government service offices did. So did the RCMP. Must the local restaurants and bars are completely closed to me. Too bad; I want to go out tonight.

When I got back to the hotel, I had further discussions with management here about the lack of handicapped parking and the lack of safety bars in the bathroom. That whole thing pretty much wore me out. So I went to my room, about 2 hours ago, and have happily remained here since, surfing the web and reading. I know I should be out exploring; I just don't feel up to it. If you asked me what I really wanted, I would answer that I wanted to be at home. Yep, I must be burned out.