Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Road to Whitehorse

Today’s drive of about 100 miles from Skagway to Whitehorse was a fairly easy one, with a few interesting stops. The 11-mile climb on the 11% grade wasn’t nearly as hard as I had expected. With a speed limit of 40 mph, and some Class C motor homes going slower than that, I didn’t have to push our Cummins 360 diesel engine. We stopped to see a black bear climb back and forth over the guard rail several times but didn’t get a very good picture of him.

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This grizzly stood up immediately after I took this shot, then went back down before I could get the camera ready to take another shot.

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Here’s another black bear enjoying a mid-day snack on a steep slope.

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Our border crossing back into Canada was very quick and easy. The agent asked only a few questions and we were on our way in less than 5 minutes.

We tried to stop at the suspension bridge, but the parking lot wasn’t big enough for our rigs, and there was no outlet at the other end. Dennis and Carol had to unhitch their car to get turned around. While Don watched I managed to make a U-turn and head out without unhitching. One of the advantages of having a 36-ft coach instead of 43. Now when Dennis calls us “stubby” we just smile!

There was plenty of room to park our 5 big rigs and the one truck/camper at the Wildlife Museum at Caribou Crossing Trading Post near Carcross, YT. The animals displayed were very well-presented, and informational signs helped us learn more about them. Here are just a few.

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Outside we saw the Musher’s Camp with Alaskan huskies that pull sleds in the winter and go carts in the summer.

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Marilyn and I played with some of the puppies.

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The baby goats were cute, too.

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Mary and Carol fed some of the goats.

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Meanwhile, Dennis took their picture.

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It was almost exactly two years ago that my cousin Jim Cline and his wife Sylvia visited this place, and I enjoyed their report of the experience. They took a day trip from their cruise ship that was in port at Skagway.

Our final wildlife sighting of the day was a moose and her very young baby, with legs so spindly it was just barely able to walk.

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After we were all parked and settled in the campground, we pooled our food resources into a taco bar.

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Everything was yummy!

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Even the Margaritas!

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Dennis, next time, try eating with a fork.

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We’re looking forward to warmer, sunnier weather for the next few days, nice for both sight-seeing and sharing time outdoors.

3 comments:

  1. Enjoying your blog. The pictures
    are just the best. It seems you are all having smooth going with your rigs. Keep up the good
    'blogging'! Thanks

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  2. Sharon, you and Don are having a magnificent adventure for sure. We are having a ball following you! And you have certainly come back to blogging full-time! Yay for you!

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  3. We saw a bear our first week in the RV and haven't spotted one since. I'm hoping to make an Alaska trip in the next year or two, if only to catch some more natural-setting views of the fuzzy creatures.

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