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As anyone who knows me knows, our vacations, at least the ones I plan, are jam-packed with stuff. Go somewhere; see four museums. In one day. So this trip has been weird. Drive 2000 miles and see three museums total? That is so not me. Today was better.
We drove from Teslin to Whitehorse under sunshine, so were able to see mountains and appreciate the views of Teslin River and Marsh Lake. Compared to the last few days, it was a very short trip.
Our first stop in Whitehorse was at Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre. The Beringia was the area not covered by glaciers during the last ice age. It included present-day Yukon, Alaska and Siberia. They have skeletons of the area’s animals, including a mammoth, steppe bison, Scimitar cat and others. They also had some pretty interesting information about global temperature changes. We watched a 35 minute BBC film about animals which enthralled Liam. He barely moved the entire time. The boys also went on a scavenger hunt for a toy mammoth and rhino, for which they received “mammoth hunter” certificates for finding. They then got to rehide them, which they thought was cool.
Our second stop,
The Alaska Highway
These historic mileposts appear at various points on the highway. This one is at Yukon Motel & RV Park.right across the parking lot, was the Yukon Transportation Museum. They had a float plane, old trucks, a dog sled, rail car, sleigh, etcetera. The boys had fun climbing in and out of the rail car, for the most part.
We then dropped off the camper and went to Klondike Rib & Salmon BBQ for lunch. Great choice! I had their chicken focaccia sandwich (see photo), while Jeff had a caribou sandwich. The boys shared halibut fish and chips. For a moment, I was worried they would finish it all. Liam loved it, and he was right. It was really good. Jeff & I are trying to decide if we’ll have time to stop on the way back through and all eat deep-fried halibut. Yummy!
We then drove around town a bit to see a few sites. We saw the Whitehorse Fish Ladder (no salmon running yet), the Whitehorse Dam, the SS Klondike, and the Yukon Government Building.
Our final visit was the MacBride Museum of Yukon History. It included artifacts from Klondike Kate, Sam McGee’s cabin and blacksmith shop, the Cluttertorium (a display of a variety of their holdings), photos of saloon girls (Yukon erotica), and
animals. Jeff & I reevaluated our labeling of the coyotes three days ago. The coyote at this museum was smaller than what we saw, and so we may have seen two wolves instead. Too bad we don’t have pictures. I also think the black bear we saw was adult. The information at MacBride said they don’t get more than 135 lbs and that was about right for the one we saw. Liam & Cole had fun in the kids area holding mountain goat skulls and bald eagle feathers and looking at animal poop.
We are spending the night at Hi Country RV Park in Whitehorse. I am so excited that their sites are all tree-shaded. The boys’ bedroom is actually dim right now. I thought it would be difficult to sleep with so much light, but it’s crazy! We covered the boys’ bunk windows with Jeff’s long-sleeve T-shirts and hung fleece blankets over the back windows. It should work well, as long as there are trees.
We took a walk around the park to look at rigs. Jeff’s always thinking about what we’ll buy next, even though our Mountaineer isn’t even 14 months old. Some of the Class
As look really impressive, but Jeff was most interested in a Safari Condo, which is a modified GMC Safari van. We were also looking at license plates, of course, and came across an unfamiliar shape and color. The owner happened to be outside, so Jeff asked what the plate was. Dutch! They had the Westfalia shipped to Baltimore and they’re taking a year to drive around North America. How cool would that be? Later on in our walk, we also saw a Studebaker in perfect condition as the tow-behind vehicle. Jeff talked to the woman in registration who said it’s not unusual to have people here from the Netherlands or from Germany. She was more impressed by the classic cars.
Conversation of the Day:
(just after eating at Klondike Rib & Salmon BBQ)
M: Liam, do you know what Dad had for lunch?
L: What?
M: Caribou.
C: He’s not a moose!
License Plates Noticed: AB, AK, MB, YK, ON, WY, OR, CA, IA, BC, PA, NC, MN, The Netherlands, SK, WA, CT, ID, TX, SD, MT, FL, AZ
High Temperature: 67o (Whitehorse, YK)
Low Temperature: 51o (Teslin, YK)
Miles: 131.6
Total
Time on the Road: 2:22
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Tot: 0.218s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 62; dbt: 0.093s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Lisa
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Excellent Adventures
I love the look on Cole's face by the giant beaver. It is great to see your pictures - you are a fantastic photographer. I purchased a Cannon Rebel per the Jeff/Kim recomendation - I practiced night shots on my family last night and no one even woke up! Thanks for the descriptions too - it is like watching a movie.