August 28-30, 2006 (Days 96-98)

Monday:
We awoke to another dismal day. Skies were gray, the clouds were low, and it was 46 degrees. We left at 7:15 a.m. with the Steurer’s. Rivers remain high and churning from the recent rains. We have been lucky not to have any problems in our travels with the flooding.

We reached the Yukon border at 8:30 a.m. and passed through okay. This time, for the first, we had a lady customs agent who could actually smile and be friendly. Usually, agents are serious looking and almost bark at you. We are instructed to not speak unless spoken to and then only “yes” or “no” answers. This is so hard for Dan to do, and I have to warn him every time we cross the border.

We stopped for lunch in Haines Junction at the Village Bakery. They also served light lunches. I had a wild mushroom and leek soup which was very good, and a spaniopita. The spaniopita was made with phyllo dough and spinach and feta cheese. It was very good. Dan had a deli sandwich made of ham and cheese.

The roads were good. The sun was shining for a change. We noticed a lot of yellow color on the hillsides and in the forests. It was beautiful, and I found myself snapping pictures right and left. We got into Whitehorse, YT, around 2:30 p.m.

After getting set up, we went into town for supper with the Kolley’s and Ed. We found a nice Italian restaurant and had some good food.

After we got back to the campground, we gathered in the clubhouse and the Journal Committee showed the pictures that were entered in the photo contest. As I stepped out of the trailer door to head for the clubhouse, I turned to look at the end of the trailer, and there went a black bear! I yelled to Dan, “BEAR”! He grabbed the camera, but wasn’t fast enough. The bear, a little frightened as he wanted to find a way out of the campground, was running for the woods. It was funny at first, but then we all realized that this was a wild bear and not just there for our entertainment!

Each unit was asked to enter three pictures into a contest. These would be voted on by the caravaners and put on a video to show. We have some very talented photographers in this group, and we enjoyed seeing the pictures very much. They will be voted on and the winning picture will become the front cover of the manual for the Alyeska 2008 caravan.

We also saw a video of pictures of the Baja caravan that was taken last January and February. Three couples of our caravan went on the Baja caravan then. The video was set to Mexican music and was fun to watch, too.

Tomorrow, there will be a new adventure for us. Till then….


Tuesday:
We were up bright and early, or so we thought, to board a bus that was going to take us from the campground to the train station at Frazer to go to Skagway. At 7 a.m., I looked at my alarm clock, and was glad I had time to get ready without a rush. Then suddenly Dan said, “The bus is here!” What had happened was that we forgot to change the time to Pacific time (we had been on Alaska time) and we were an hour slow! I had just washed my hair and had it up in a towel. We were fortunately both dressed. I had no make-up on, still had to get my shoes and jewelry on, had to throw some granola bars in the backpack so we could eat some breakfast on the bus and flew out the door with wet hair and no make-up. When we got on the bus, everyone must have known we had overslept, because they greeted us with jokes and laughter.

It took me a little while to get woke up. Before reaching the train station at Fraser, the bus stopped at a little gold rush town of Carcross. We had a half an hour to tour this little town…not much time. Then it was back on the bus and to the train station. We were on a narrow gauge railroad the rest of the way to Skagway. It was very scenic as we rode through the mountains along a river. The narrator told us many stories of how things were back in the days this was an active community.

When we arrived in Skagway, we were given four hours before we had to be back to the station. Skagway was very much like Juneau. It was a tourist town and a cruise ship port. That day there were six cruise ships in town. Everything was very crowded. We did a little shopping and had a nice meal with the Kolley’s and Ed. I met a woman from Toronto who was of East Indian descent. She saw our tags (which we have to wear everywhere) and was asking all about our group, where we were from, how we got there, etc. She had good English skills, but we had a hard time communicating everything. She was on “holiday” with her husband for 30 days, and was missing her eleven-month-old granddaughter so much. We shared our similar homesickness for our grandchildren.

The bus ride home wasn’t as bad as we had thought, and it was beautiful as evening settled over the mountains. The bus stopped once for pictures as we were at what is called the smallest desert in the world. This unusual desert area of sand dunes, east of the highway is a site for ecological studies. The desert is composed of sandy lake-bottom material left behind by a large glacial lake. Strong winds off Lake Bennett make it difficult for vegetation to take hold here; only lodgepole pine, spruce and kinnikinnick survive. (Kinnikinnick is a low trailing evergreen with small leathery leaves used for tea.) Everyone was very tired as we returned to the campground.

Wednesday:
We were glad to sleep a little later this morning, and we did know what time it was when we got up, as we had correctly set our clocks to Pacific time. I did a little laundry while Dan worked on the newsletter for the club’s monthly publication. In the afternoon, we went into town and toured a couple of things we wanted to see. We were greatly disappointed that the salmon run was over and we did not see any salmon on the fish ladders at the river.

That evening, our group was divided into three groups for dinner. We were in the first group which ate at 4-5:30 p.m. It was a complimentary dinner at a favorite place in town that was called the Klondike Salmon and Rib BBQ. I had the best halibut I’ve had yet, and Dan had chicken.

In the evening, we had a driver’s meeting to prepare us for our trip to Junction 37, YT. We also voted on the pictures. That was a hard job, as so many were professional-like quality.

Till tomorrow, from Junction 37, YT…….