Mellowing out

6/6/2016 Monday  Start Dawson City, YT   End Takhini Hot Springs RV Park

It rained all night and almost all day on our ride back toward Whitehorse.  Another long drive although the clouds provided a little diversion and I had my nose in the computer clipping videos so it seemed to go faster.  

Lake or river on the way back from Dawson City Hwy 2

Takhini Hot Springs campground 8:30 pm

We stopped short of Whitehorse at the Takhini Hot Springs and Campground.  We had leftovers and then went for a nice long soak in the hot mineral waters.  Very mellowing!

We’re now into our fourth week of traveling.  We’ve got a routine for getting up and going and setting up at night when we stop.  We meet fellow travelers as we go and chat about our experiences.  The Canadians we’ve met are invariably friendly and easy going.  We’ve spent a lot of time driving and being indoors and I’m looking forward to settling down in Fairbanks later this month and getting outside more.

The sun isn’t setting until almost 10:00 pm and if we keep the windows uncovered its harder to feel like going to bed.  Our campsite tonight is nestled in aspens and the breeze is tossing the branches, otherwise its quiet and peaceful.  

Re-living the 1890's in Dawson City

6/5/2016 Sunday  Start and End: Dawson City, YK, CN

We had a kicked back day here in Dawson City.  We slept in and then I took a shower in our teeny little shower; I’ve figured out the hot water!  RV living requires developing lots of new skills.

We went downtown to check out the grocery and hardware stores.  The food selection was amazing for a place so removed from the rest of the world.  

We then toured the Dawson History Museum. They had great displays and enthusiastic docents. Over 55,000 people, mostly men from the U.S., came here from 1897 through 1899 to find gold.  There are huge hills of tailings all around the valley from their desperate efforts to make a fortune.  Dawson City was the capital of the Yukon until 1953 when it moved to Whitehorse.  If we took the ferry across the river we could get to Alaska via the Top of the World Highway but its a gravel, rough road that we don't want to take the RV on.

Dawson City History Museum

Yukon River looking north from Dawson City dike

In the afternoon Mike went out to prospect and I stayed home editing videos.  After dinner we went for a walk along the dike that protects the city from the Yukon River.  

Mike as sie of the Discovery claim on Bonanza Creek

We drove out to where Mike found a speck of gold for his efforts and checked out one of the original dredges that worked the creek where the gold was first found.  It was a massive piece of machinery.

No 4 Dredge on Bonanza creek

Tomorrow we head back toward Whitehorse to pick up the Alaska Highway toward Tok.

Wrapping up Whitehorse and on to Dawson City

Friday and Saturday, June 3^rd and 4^th, 2016 Last Day in Whitehorse  End: Ride to Dawson City, YT

Friday was a down day.  We went into town and I got a print from the same artist I’d chosen back in 2004 when I was on the Alaska cruise with Dad.  We did some gift shopping and had a yummy lunch at the Deli operated by Yukon Meats.  We bought some soup and had the leftover sandwiches with soup for dinner.  We drove to Miles Canyon 

Miles Canyon, Whitehorse, Yukon

then Mike went and played 18 holes of golf, walking the course, and I updated paperwork, read and cleaned our little home.   

***

Saturday we were up and on the road by 7:30 am (Highway 2, also known as the Klondike Highway) to go to Dawson City, the site of the discovery of gold and the 1890’s gold rush.  It was a loooong, boring, ride and we had to fight to stay awake.  We stopped and got a giant cinnamon bun for sustenance.

The road to Dawson was 313 miles of mostly straight, level highway with aspen and small pines on either side.  Not many views and no breaks in the monotony.  Boy were we glad to see Dawson City!

We checked in at the Dawson City RV Park and got in the jeep and explored the town.  We visited the Jack London cabin and museum (he was The Call of the Wild author) who died at 40 and wrote almost as many books.

Jack London cabin in Dawson City YT

A Poem of Robert Service on building in Dawson City

 We also saw the home of Robert Service, a renowned poet of the era. I plan to check out his books, the poems we read around town and in brochures are inspiring.  He became very rich from his writing and moved to Europe.

The highlight of our day was going to Midnight Dome.  From the top of this mountain you can see 360 degrees to the mountain peaks and valleys that are still yielding thousands of ounces of gold to this day (41,000 in 2015!).

After coming down from that heady site, we stopped into Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Casino to pick up some poker chips and watch the can-can dancers.  The picture of the outside was taken after 9:00 p.m. at night!  

We plan to sleep in on Sunday and explore the Dawson area a bit more.