Day 17 - Whitehorse, YT

Gary and Sally Johnson #17                                                                           Friday, June 25, 2010

Aaahhh! Finally, our first free day since joining the caravan on June 17. Time to relax and kick back – NOT! We were up early to do laundry, walk the dog, wash the truck, and do a few other chores before exploring the Whitehorse area.

One of the more interesting things we discovered today was right in our RV park. We met several German tourists who were riding on a Rotel Tours bus and who told us about how the tour operates. This bus is like a regular bus in front, but the back half has berth-like sleeping quarters for up to 26 people, including the driver who also doubles as the cook. The cooking facilities are at one side of the bus, and all cooking is done outdoors with the help of the tourists on the bus. The tour company operates similar vehicles all over the world.

After watching the Rotel bus pack up and leave we headed into Whitehorse to the Beringia Interpretive Center. Basically, Beringia was the land bridge exposed during the ice ages and used by man and animals migrating between Asia and the Americas. The term “bridge,” however, is misleading because Beringia was 1,000 miles wide and twice the size of Texas. We learned that much of Alaska and a good part of northwestern Yukon was not covered by ice. Many mummified and fossilized animals have been found in those areas, including the wooly mammoth. Our museum guide also told us that Whitehorse was covered under a mile of ice at the height of the last ice age.

Next we visited the Yukon Transportation Museum which depicted every form of transportation used in the area, from airplanes, railroads, steam ships, and cars to dog sleds, horses, and snow shoes. In front of the Museum is the “world’s largest weathervane,” a 1942 airplane mounted on a pivot so it can turn with the wind.

We couldn’t have all culture and no play, so off we went to the Yukon Brewing Company where we met many other members of the caravan and sampled beers. If we’d just had some chairs we could have spent the afternoon there.

But culture beckoned again and off we went to the MacBride Museum of Yukon History. There we saw depictions of the gold rush, animals, minerals, daily life at the turn of the 20th century, and a picture gallery of the painted ladies of the gold rush saloons. There is also the original cabin of Sam McGee who Robert Service immortalized in his poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee.”

Last but not least, we visited the Whitehorse Dam on the Yukon River and the adjacent Fishway that provides access to the upper reaches of the Yukon to migrating Chinook salmon. The salmon travel almost 2,000 miles to spawn, a journey that takes them three months to complete if they’re lucky. But then they really aren’t lucky because they die. The salmon will reach the Fishway in early August.

Now as the sun doesn’t set, we are ready for bed. Like every day on our caravan, we’ve had a full day of adventure and new experiences.