Day 49- Stewart

 July 30

Rainey Creek Campground

I think I'm over driving.  Or maybe it's just that we are on the homeward stretch.  I'm also starting to feel all the things I'll need to do as soon as we get home.  I started getting the pain in my hip and I have not felt it since the second day of the trip.  I have a feeling it's stress related.  Makes for a long uncomfortable drive.

The girls start school the Friday after we get back.  Monday will be an open house for Libby at her new school.  Davan has awards night for swim.  I have no school stuff yet, obviously.  Plus all the broken stuff to fix at work along with all the feed I'll have to make.

Also the rear camera and brakes not working are bothering me as well.  

We got going at a decent time this morning.  The Cassier Highway is in pretty good shape.  Most of it is rough chip seal, but does not have nearly the potholes as the Alcan did.  

It was partly cloudy today and every cloud was a rain cloud.  So we were in and out of showers all day long.  

We have not seen much wildlife lately.  Davan said she saw a bear in the ditch yesterday and Libby said she saw a moose in the woods today.  We all saw a black bear as it ran across the road in front of us this afternoon.  The guy that checked us in tonight said there is a grizzly and her cubs that wander the campground but they all stay away from people.  We didn't see them tonight though.  

We were flanked by lakes on either side of the road for much of the day.  Stewart is surrounded by mountains.  The campground is at the base of one.  You look up all you see is rock.  In fact it looked like  there was a rock slide at the back of the campground years ago.  

At check in we were told about the places to eat in town.  One was a Mexican place that we were told was excellent.  The other was a pizza place.   Unfortunately the Mexican place was closed so we went to get pizza.  Unfortunately it was not good.  The first came out burnt.  The second was fine but they had to make more dough and it obviously didn't have time to rise and I'm not sure if it was on purpose or not but the was little to no sauce.   Luckily they comped one since they had to redo them.  

When we got back the girls went in to watch a movie and I tried to troubleshoot the brakes a bit.  I didn't make any headway.

Day 48- Jade City

 July 29

Today was a travel day.  Since our overnight was going to be boon docking there was no rush to get going in the morning.  We did have to be packed and out by 11 though.

Everyone wanted my egg sandwiches for breakfast so I made those.  Packed and ready for the road by 11.  

Since the potholes on the Top of the World road my rear camera will not connect.  It works if I park behind the camper, but when in front the signal isn't strong enough.  Wondering if the antenna connection broke in the camera.

The other problem is I started getting a trailer wire fault.  All the lights work as they should but the trailer brakes were intermittently working.  As we traveled during the day they ended up not working at all.  I'm sure it's a loose connection somewhere so I'm researching what wires are what so I can trace it.  

We had to drive into Whitehorse to pick up our glass sculptures.  They turned out really well and the girls were excited to get them.

We then headed out of town.  We traveled down the Al-Can for few hours before turning on to the Cassier highway just before Watson Lake.  

Since we got going so late I was surprised at the number of people we saw coming from the other direction.  

Our overnight is Jade City.  It's a blink and you miss it place.  I think Wiki has it listed as less than 10 people living here.  The big draw is the Jade City Jade Store.  90% of the world Jade is mined here.  It appears that the owners of the mine also own the store.  They have artists onsite that create many of the items sold in the store, but there are items made by people world wide as well.  They had a show on Discovery called Jade Fever.

They also have a few cabins to rent.  For us, they have a lot next door where people can overnight for free.  

It works out well for us because to get here from Whitehorse was a 6.5 hour drive.  Our drive to tomorrow's overnight is roughly the same distance so this was a perfect stop for us.  When we got here at 7:30 there were 4 other campers already set-up.  I have not gone outside since so not sure if anyone else has set up or not.  

Fajita's were for dinner.  I was lazy and bought frozen veggies.  They were not as good as fresh.  

Day 47- Whitehorse

 July 28

I feel kind bad when we don't fill our day's with activity's.  We seem to stay up late and myself even later writing and uploading pictures for the blog.  

We were out of bed around 10. I had booked a glass blowing class for late afternoon so I wasn't sure what to do to fill the time.  Unfortunately a lot of stuff is closed Sunday and Monday in Whitehorse.  I really wanted to go to the Beringa Interpretive Center.  

While Davan took her shower I started researching things to do to displace the time we were going to be in Jasper.  About 30% of the town along with the forest has burned.  I was told Stewart, BC was a good place to go.  I intended it to be a side quest but it's about an hour off our route, plus there is a cool Glacier another 30 minutes away.  I decided it really needed its own day so I reduced our stay in Whitehorse a day so we are leaving tomorrow.  I also decided to add another day in Banff.  

Due to these changes I need to rearrange all my upcoming reservations.  By the time I got all of that done it was about 2 pm.  

Our first stop was the Yukon Visitors Center to get our final Yukon sticker for the camper.  Yukon does a great job with their visitors center.  It's not just a boring building with brochures.  They each have a unique display to check out.  The people working there are incredibly knowledgable and they have printed sheets for whatever route you're taking with waypoints of points of interest.  We have utilized suggestions from nearly every center.  So they were worth our time stopping.

After the visitors center I needed to stop at a grocery store to stock up on a Canadian roasted coffee that I really liked.  Atlin Mountain Coffee

We were about 40 minutes early for our appointment so we just sat in the parking lot.  I rested while the girls played on their phone.  

By suggestion from a friend I booked a glass blowing class at Lumel Studio's.  Each of us was able to pick a design and colors and with assistance make our own glass sculpture.  

Davan and I make a flower, Libby a bowl and Summer a duck.  The girls had a ton of fun.  We get to pick them up in the morning as they need to cool slowly.  

Since we had nothing else going on we stopped at a near by park.  On the way home we got some groceries.  

Once back at the camper we made dinner, burgers, and then just hung out.

Day 46- Whitehorse

 July 27

Caribou RV Park

I was a little concerned about today.  I had checked the Yukon 511 app and at 7 pm last night it said there was a portion of road closed at Stewart Crossing due to wildfires.  About 2 weeks ago the fires had reached to roadside and I thought it was under control. I'm not sure what made me want to check the app but I was really worried that I would have to take the Top of the World Hwy again and I most defiantly did not want to endure that.   When I check again an hour later it was open with a pilot car. I decided to not worry about is and see what it said this morning.  

When we got up there was no new info although the messages were conflicting.  The notice at Stewart Crossing said the road was open but south at Pelly Crossing it said the road was closed.  We decided to chance it, figuring if we had to just hang for a day somewhere it was better than going back the way we came.

Luckily the road was open the entire way. It was crazy seeing the forest burned right up to the road.  There was still pockets smoldering.  I'm not sure what the conditions where to close the road but the were no fires close by.  In fact, all we could see was smoke in the distance.  No visible flame.  Maybe weather conditions were suppressing the smoke to the ground reducing visibility.

The rest of the drive was uneventful.  We got to the campground in Whitehorse about 5:30.  We had a ton of laundry to do.  Not only clothes but all the bedding in the girls room due to the power like road dust that infiltrated the bedroom.  After checking things out closer most of the living space had a light dusting as well we had to clean up.  

The campground has a food trailer on site.  We were kind of excited to eat here but the offerings were a bit too pretentious for us.  We kinda of had a choose your own adventure for dinner tonight so I could concentrate on laundry.  Luckily no one else was doing theirs so I was able to knock it out pretty quickly.  

We decided to just chill and watch a movie tonight.  I'm not sure what we will do tomorrow.  There is a museum in town with a fully preserved animal, a fox I think, that is thousands of years old.  We also need to do some grocery shopping.  

Since we can't go to Jasper I booked an extra day here.  I was hoping to make a day trip to Skagway but there was a massive landslide blocking the way.  I'll need to check the progress on its clearing.  There has been so many washouts, landslides and fires that I can't even keep track of what's open and what is closed.  

Day 45- Dawson City

 July 26

While I was getting my tattoo Bee told me about the Moosehide Festival.  It's a 4 day festival hosted every two years by the Trondek people celebrating Han culture and traditions.

It was a no brainer that this is what we were going to do today.  Once we got up and moving we packed lunch and water as it was suggested to bring your own food as it is limited at the Trondek grounds.  

First I had to stop in town at the visitors center to get our sticker for Dawson City.  Then we had to find lotion for my tattoo.  Since we were in town we walked the downtown area looking at all the shops.  They kept the store fronts very period.  Even the sidewalks were built from boards.  

After we dropped everything off at the truck and ate our lunch.  Then we went to the river front.  The only way to the village was a quick boat ride down the river.  It was a bit of a wait, maybe a half hour or so.  

It was pretty hot and humid so the girls were in a bit of a mood.  When we got there, many activity's were going on.  Beading, learning native songs on the fiddle, making beaded earrings.  I unfortunately could not get the girls to do any of it.  They had an artist fair and kids area.

The first bit of entertainment was moose calling.  We got there just as they were wrapping up the male calls.  They then began the cow matting calls.  I guess it does not matter where you go, if it's a festival or fair there will be some kind of animal calling contest. 

Luckily the performances were about to start cause the heat was really making the girls cranky.  Did not help that they stayed up until I got back from getting my tattoo done so no one got to bed before 1am.

There were three different tribes that performed native songs and dances.  There was also traditional hoop dancer. Unfortunately her outfits and hoops were lost by the airline so the best she could do was give us a description of her dances and a short demonstration.  She did mention that just before she came on stage the airline called and had found her stuff and it would be delivered in time for tomorrow.  We were all a bit disappointed we couldn't come to see her full performance.

At 6 was the feast.  It is tradition that the host feeds their guests. I was surprised that the girls all ate well.

After dinner we had to head back,  I had promised the girls ice cream so we stopped at an ice cream shop in town.  

After ice cream we took a drive up to the Midnight Doom.  It's a look out high above the city.  Unfortunately it was hazy due to all the forest fires in the region so the view was not as spectacular as if it was a clear day.

On the way up and back down the Dome Road there was a fox just hanging out on the side of the road.  It would run off when a car passed but after a minute or two it would come back.

Back at the trailer the girls took showers while I changed out the tire with the spare.  I decided to run the spare,  I could have had it patched but I have road hazard and while I could get reimbursed that would be a pain.  I have a plug kit, but I didn't want to run a plug if I don't have to.  If I have any more issues I can plug it later.

Day 44- Dawson City, YK

 July 25

Bonanza RV Park

We got going way later than I had hopped today.  Everyone was kind of moving in slow motion.  Not sure if it was because we were leaving Alaska today or what.

We finally got on the road.  We were taking a different route to leave Alaska than when we entered.  We were going to visit Chicken, AK and our overnight would be Dawson City, YK.  I knew the road was going to be rough, but I was not prepared at all for what lied ahead.

The road to Chicken was paved most of the way.  About 3/4's of the way there it turned to a gravel road.  We did see a wolf walking along side the road.  We were all pretty excited about it as wolf's are not spotted often.  I unfortunately did not put my long lens in the truck with us and a car came from the other direction scaring it into the woods.  Slightly bummed I don't have any photo's, even blurry ones.

We stopped in Chicken.  If the story is true the people that settled the town wanted to name it Ptarmigan but couldn't spell it so they settled on Chicken.  

There is actually an RV park in Chicken and a self named downtown which is just a gift shop, bar, and cafe.  There is also a giant metal chicken statue to take selfies with.  

After some time we headed out of Chicken.  The road in was tolerable, but leaving is where it got bad.  It was another 30 miles or so to the boarder.  It was washboard and potholes the entire way.  You really couldn't go any faster than 30 mph.  

We finally got to the boarder crossing.  Again we breezed right though.  The road leading from he boarder to Dawson City is called the Top of the Wold Highway.  Appropriately named because you are traveling on the top of a mountain for about a hundred miles.  It was a bit unnerving to drive though because the road was barley wide enough for two RV's to pass each other and if your on the outside lane there is no guardrail and it's almost straight down the mountain.  If you slid off I'm not sure it would be a long time before your found.  

The dust off the road was horrible.  I must not have rained in forever and the dust was super fine.  Every storage compartment has this fine dust.  Also the rear cap is not sealed to the floor.  There is a bout an 1/8" gap.  I had thought about caulking it when I discovered it early in the trip but figured it was ok to wait.  That was the wrong decision as the girls bedroom is covered in this power like dust.  I'm going to have to wash all the bedding tomorrow.  

I was fooled by the first 20 miles thinking the Canadian side was in much better shape.  Then the potholes started showing up.  I was zig zagging across the road trying to avoid them.  Sometimes it was hard to spot them and I'd have to slam on the brakes last minute.  20,000 fb's combined weight really does not stop quickly on gravel so we would pretty much slide into the pothole hitting it as hard as if I kept on the gas.  I probably took 10 years off the trailer on this trip as nearly every day I find a new screw rolling around on the floor or a staple popped out of the wall.

I have had one tire that I have had to add air about once every week to week and a half.  I wasn't overly concerned about it and figured it was just the valve stem or the sensor I have on the tire.  Well I slammed into a particularly bad pot hole and all of a sudden the pressure started dropping in that tire.  Luckily we were just outside of Dawson.  Dawson is a river city and the only way across is by ferry.  While we waited I got out the air compressor and filled it back up.  It was at this point I could hear the hissing from a puncture.  It must have been just barley poking though the entire trip and it must hav been in just the right position for the large hit must have drove it in deeper.  

We road the ferry and it had already dropped 10 psi.  I was hoping to limp to a campground as I had booked a tattoo appointment and it was getting close to my appointment.

I didn't have a reservation.  The public campground before the river ended up being full.  I was going to try the other public campground on the other side of town but it was 20 minutes away and being pressed for time I didn't want to drive all the way out there and not have anything.  

Luckily I found a place on the edge of town.  I set-up quick, told the kids to make their own dinner and took off for my appointment.

I had been toying with the idea of a tattoo to commemorate our trip.  But I wanted to do it in or around Alaska, not at home.  I had met a person tough a Facebook group that lives in Alaska.  I asked if she had any suggestions.  She mentioned a few, but none of those locations fit my schedule.  She did mention a lady in Dawson, but she did not have any direct experience.  I decided to take a shot and contact her.  She was free pretty much the entire time I was going to be in town.  I asked if we could schedule as at as possible the night we got in as I didn't want to take away from exploring the city on our full day.

I didn't give her much to go on.  All I wanted was not something cliche.  I did direct her to this blog if that might give her some inspiration.  

Luckily she came up with something super awesome.  A mountain of course.  A puffin, simply because she likes puffins and it fit the theme.  She used the picture of the blue ice berg from our Valdez cruise and also a salmon from one of the pictures I took of them.  The three paws represent the girls and the large paw is an interpretation of a First Native's design but also represent's myself as the dad and protector of the girls.  I really liked it, but once I heard her interpretation of all the elements I was in love.  

The detail is amazing and it has just a touch of color on the iceberg.  This was the first tattoo that was truly just for myself.  

Bee is her name, or at least the name she goes by.  A very interesting person.  She's Irish, who didn't feel that Ireland was home.  She lived and worked in Vancouver and decided that life was not for her so moved up here.  Her partner was also given the all clear after a long battle with cancer so we talked about all that at length as well.  

So if you're in Dawson City and looking for a little ink, Bee is your gal!  Double Denim Tattoo