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Published: July 26th 2011
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Sunday, July 17 Yukon River Campground 11:00 when we left camp. 59 degrees and clearish. Mileage at 11936.
Slept in a bit and then had French toast that Valerie made out of the fruit bread. It took us an hour to cross this morning on the ferry as there were many vehicles waiting for a turn. Our book warned that it could take as much as 3 hours to get across. They take tour buses, 18 wheel trucks, and tankers on this small ferry.
Drove into Dawson City and parked near the gazebo to listen to the music being played. After listening awhile, we went down the road to the south, where we had seen an RV Park that also had a gas station in front. Filled Rosie with gas--$101 worth. That included a fee of $4. to fill our tank with fresh water and to dump our holding tanks. Yukon Parks have had signs at the water pumps at the campgrounds advising that you should boil their water for 10 minutes to be safe and we haven’t seen dump stations like there were in many Alaskan Parks.
Following our Park’s Map of town, we
wandered the streets around the rest of town and read the historical signs posted in front of the Park buildings. The Old Post Office was constructed in 1901 making it one of the oldest in the Yukon. It signified the commitment of the federal govt. to Dawson City. It is still used today. Another nice place was the Commissioner’s Residence. It has been completely restored and the gardens are very pretty with bright yellow and orange poppies mixed with several shades of blue delphiniums. Neither flower grows well in Atlanta and it was nice to see such pretty ones.
Found an internet café and had snacks that allowed us 20 minutes of free Wifi. Of course we paid $8.00 for a slice of banana nut bread and a berry smoothie. Valerie was able to send several blog entries before she ran out of time. The library was closed since it was Sunday. They shut down their internet when they are closed as we have tried connecting from the outside, which we could do when the library was open.
Went over about 6:00 and had dinner at Diamond Tooth Gerties, which is trying to be like an old time
gambling, dance hall, and saloon. There really was a dance hall queen by that name in the old days. She earned the name by wedging a diamond between her two front teeth. Most of the action in this place was at a couple of tables of Texas Hold-‘em and at several tables of blackjack. Valerie did well playing the slot machines. I didn’t even try.
We got there early enough to finish dinner before watching an almost, read barely, 45 minute show. They had 4 can-can dancers that were quite good and a female and male singer that were so-so. We were disappointed that none of the songs sang were from the era or even songs that were from a movie set in that time period . The male singer had on more of a cowboy outfit with fringed leather jacket instead of the bowler hat with a suit or straw hat and sleeve garters like barber shop singers wear. Barber shop singing was its heyday during this time period. Oh, Well! Can’t really complain as it was free entertainment.
It was 9:30
when we took the ferry back across the River and drove into the campground. With the Music Festival finished the 2-3 Rangers and Officers at the front campground station had left along with many of the campers. As we drove down the road, now inside the campground, we saw a smallish fox sitting in a clearing by the children’s playground. A couple of guys said they had been watching it being chased by a lynx. As we pulled into our camp spot it ran through and into the bushes. I was really glad as I didn’t want to watch the two animals tangle.
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Gaby Grzela
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Mme Emilie Tremblay
This summer we drove all the way to Alaska. My mother, Blanche Gravel-Tremblay was one of Mme Tremblay's godchildren. My goal was to go to Dawson City and visit Mme Tremblay's store, since my mother never had the chance to go herself. Unfortunately, we could not make it to Dawson City. I had seen the store's picture on a very old photo, so I am glad I could have access to your website to at least see an updated photo of the store.