Whitehorse, Yukon

Today’s blog entry will cover two days. We are taking a break from driving to do the touristy stuff in Whitehorse and rest a bit. 

Yesterday we drove from the north end of the Cassiar Highway to Whitehorse. We covered the 250 miles in a quick 4-1/2 hours. The road was much improved over the last couple of days. We did hit one stretch of road construction and had to wait for one-lane traffic but it was just a few miles of rough road. The time went by quickly as we searched for wildlife along the way. We hit the jackpot. Two elk a-runnin’, two grizzles a-frolicking, two porcupines on the road (one roadkill), one fox watching and numerous loons a-floating. I feel like writing a Christmas song! The grizzly sighting was really amazing. We passed on open lot near the Swift River and the two bears were chasing one another. We stopped, reversed the RV, (again we were the only ones on the highway for miles) to get a picture but they ran into the woods. They watched us for a moment and then disappeared deeper into the forest. So far that’s the highlight of animal encounters. 

We arrived at the Hi Country RV Park in the early afternoon. We made a trip downtown for a stop at the ATM. We found the financial district of Whitehorse. It is one corner of Main Street with three banks and one Starbuck. In Seattle that would be three Starbucks and one bank. We found enough time for a little gift shopping for our favorite grandson and some laundry. Normally, when we travel we bring back gifts for our kids but I think this time Holden gets the lion’s share of our shopping dollars. ;) Sorry Stacey, Scott, Carin and Dustin. 

Yesterday the weather was a bit stormy and cold. Today we awoke to blue skies and cool temps. We wore coats and gloves in the morning and shorts in the afternoon. We spent the morning downtown with a stop at Starbucks, some more shopping for Holden and an hour’s stop at the McBride Museum. I would like to have spent more time studying the history of the area but Charlie can only be left alone for a short while. We had a great sandwich from a street cart and then returned to the park for a leisurely afternoon. It became quite warm so I laid in the sun and worked on my tan. After all, this is a vacation! Whitehorse has been a wonderful stop. The rest was needed. We are considering a side trip to Skagway and a ferry ride to Haines. It means less driving and new scenery with no backtracking. 

Prime moose viewing area - none seen :(

Whitehorse, Yukon

Yukon River

Whitehorse, Yukon

Marsh Lake

Marsh Lake