A Day in Whitehorse

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First off, I need to put in a correction to something I said in my blog post about being stuck on the highway. I thought the nice couple in the camper went back to Eagle and told people we were stuck, but apparently, they found the construction camp and that's why the folks who showed up were the ones with the keys to the heavy machinery.

Our first stop today was at the Beringia Center. Beringia is the name of the land mass formed between Siberia and Alaska during the last glacial period. They have a nice woolly mammoth skeleton, as well as a scimitar cat skeleton and a megasloth. They showed us a film about the center, and how the First Nation people of the area have helped in fossil collecting.

Our second stop of the day was supposed to be at the S.S. Klondike, but it has closed for the season. So instead we drove a bit out of town to a scenic overlook for some photos.

Got back to the hotel around 12:30 and were on our own until 3:30. So I went walking down by the river, but it was a bit too windy for me. Stopped off at the Visitor Center for a bit. They have gorgeous stained glass windows there and an interesting mural outside. I walked back to Main Street and stopped off at one of the stores. But the clerks ignored me, so no fudge was bought.

Left the hotel around 3:30 for Muktuk kennels, a kennel owned by Frank Turner, a dog racer who has competed in the Yukon Quest 24 times and won once. Now, I'm sure everyone has heard of the Iditarod, and the Yukon Quest seems to be its ugly stepsister. The Quest runs from Fairbanks Alaska to Whitehorse (or vice versa, they switch the start every year) and has only 10 check points, while the Iditarod has over 20. So, it's a harder race to run, apparently. Frank has retired from racing, and now does sled dog tours. He seemed like a nice guy, but quite long winded, and easy to get off on tangents. Dinner was a buffet of 'local' foods, Atlantic Char, Elk and Bison along with baked potatoes and really yummy carrots.

Tomorrow is another long bus day, from Whitehorse to Tok. As I mentioned early, Tok is a Motel, not Hotel stop, and I doubt I will have any access there. I don't know what the situation will be in Valdez, but I may not get back on until we get back to Anchorage late Saturday night.

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Comments

[Pat]

Interesting
Catching up. It was interesting about the mine fires. The reference to the Yukon Quest being the ugly stepsister was funny. I love your bus towing adventure and am happy everyone survived your murderous hand.