Day 60 Walmart Parking Lot, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory We are staying here for two nights. It’s closer to town and of course the price is right. I purchased a bug zapper at the store. I had seen one of the guides on a Holland American tour bus waving around what looked like a badminton racket. Upon inquiring I learned it took batteries and would zap the mosquitoes. One local said “I couldn’t do summer without it”. I haven’t tested it yet since the bugs haven’t been too bad here. I wonder if it works on Florida “no see ums”.
The RV repair place was not able to find the source of Judy’s leak so that is still of concern. While it was in the shop, we toured the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre http://www.beringia.com/ in Big Mama. Good visuals on the receding water with glacial formation creating the land mass connecting the continents. In the last Ice Age Alaska, Siberia and the Yukon did not have glaciers but were a grassy cold windy tundra. I had thought this only occurred in one period of history but it turns out it was multiple times allowing numerous plants, animals, and humans to make the journey some arriving in this area and some along the coast. Frozen remains which are still being found, some by miners, are remarkable. A new exhibit will open next week featuring a 26,000 year old horse part of which was consumed by another animal but part of which was frozen and the guide said the hide looked as though it was from a horse that had died only a few years ago! Imagine the DNA testing that can happen with these findings. The knowledge that is being gained with the new tools will result in a number of changes to textbooks of the future. Perhaps it will be an advantage to learn on line to keep up to date. The building that houses the exhibit is remarkable in itself and the toilet rooms are unbelievable. They are individual bathrooms with very European style fixtures and painted purple! Unfortunately I didn’t photograph one of those but did the outside of the building.
We then drove over to see the DC3 wind vane. While there the wind shifted and the plane rotated! Wish I had a video. The plane was built in 1940 and served in WWII in flights to Indo-China area. It is billed as the world’s largest wind vane. The nearby airport has Condor flights from Frankfort Germany several times a week. Air Canada and Air North also serve Whitehorse.
We stopped in at the RV Rental place, CanadaDream. They offer class B rentals that are Pleasure Ways on a Ford chassis and are similar to Roadtreks. They rent for $205 Canadian a day with no tax added. Early bird specials can be reserved up until February to get some good deals. While I am happy I made the trip, renting would also be an option to save the long trip here. We are going to try to compare our costs with that of renting. Of course depreciation on our vehicles is difficult to calculate. If anyone is interested in this idea we can get more information.
We lunched on our incredible cinnamon “cake’ from Mom’s Bakery in the Beringia parking area. It is great to take your house with you. We then headed over to the fish ladder that assists the salmon get past the hydro electric dam as they are headed to their spawning ground. They won’t arrive until later in July but we had a nice visit with one of the staff who told how they count the fish and the markings on those that have been artificially produced (clipped fin and wire in nose). The count has been quite low the last two years and they expect the same this year. The reason he gave was the Pollack fishing off the coast of Alaska. They are also taking salmon which they throw overboard dead.
Later we toured the SS Klondike a steam paddle wheeler that served Dawson City until 1955. The primary load was cargo but there were accommodations for passengers and the first class were treated well. It took 4 hours to go down river to Dawson City and 4 days to come back. The river freezes over by mid October so it was a short season. As always an excellent interpretative guide from Parcs Canada, fluent in French and English.
We decided to repeat last night’s restaurant Klondike Rib and Salmon, which had excellent food. Arriving ½ hour later at 6 there was about a 40 minute wait and then we agreed to share our table. The other couple, residents of the Maldives, had just returned from a guided canoe/camping trip on the Teslin River and were continuing on for a horse/camping tour. We had a lively conversation sharing travel experiences. We finished just in time to go to the Follies vaudeville type show. It was very entertaining with talented high energy performers. Most of the audience was from tour groups and a few of them were brought up from the audience to be part of the act. Robert Service poems were acted out as part of the show. The Walmart parking lot was full of RVs and very quiet upon our return.
Day 61 Walmart Parking Lot, Whitehorse, Yukon HAPPY CANADA DAY! A day that started quite cloudy with a brief shower at the 11 a.m. start of the parade blossomed into a beautiful sunny warm evening that prompted me to take a long walk along the path that runs adjacent to the Yukon River. Here the Yukon is quite clear and a green color. We are not that far from its headwaters and it flows all the way to the Bering Sea making it one of North America’s longest rivers. I let my imagination roam and thought of Les spending time in Whitehorse in the 40’s, the stern wheelers loading at the docks still represented by large rotting bollards on the river’s edge near the train station, and the First Nation peoples using the river as their summer home so many thousands of years ago. I’ve come to appreciate Whitehorse, a working government seat that hosts tourists from many places.
The parade commencing the Canada Day (142nd birthday) was led by a Kiltie bagpipe and drum corps. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in their sharp red uniforms were striking. There were politicians, the Territory Commissioner, the Mayor, both women, and Member of Parliament walking and pushing his baby in a stroller which amused and pleased the locals. Fire trucks old and new, community groups, hand crafted floats, and a particularly colorfully costumed group of the Vietnamese Community with a thank you to Canada for welcoming them. The parade ended at Shipyard Park where the initial focus was on swearing in new citizens who represented many countries including the US. A young girl did a remarkable unaccompanied rendition of the National Anthem, Oh Canada, both to open the ceremonies and during them.
There were many young families in the crowd. I chose the Filipino food plate which was delicious. Free birthday cake and juice were served and we also had birthday cupcakes at the visitor center in the morning when we picked up our Canadian flags to wave at the parade. To get to the parade we took the Trolley which runs along the river and was a free ride for the day.
After watching young girls doing the Irish jig and Highland fling and sword dances as well as amazing show dog exercises we headed back via the grocery for a few items. Having learned that one of the hotels had internet accessible in the parking lot, we spent some time there catching up on email and internet activities. Dinner was leftovers but enhanced by a bread pudding dessert complete with ice cream. Judy had taken it from the restaurant last night and stored it in her freezer before going to the Follies. Another example of how great it is to carry your house around.
This is probably my 3rd or 4th Canada Day and I always feel good about the celebrations. The message today from the politicians and just by observing the people was one of inclusion. Yes there are divisions but I don’t think of the magnitude in the US. Perhaps being a smaller population makes it easier. The celebrations are more low key but very sincere with strong pride in their history and their people. It has been a privilege to once again be a part of their celebration.
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