Whitehorse, YT (Alaska Highway Mile 918)

June 13 and we were on our way to Whitehorse. It was an easy 130 mile drive along a nicely paved road.

We’ve learned to check out the RV parks before we decide to stay. (We’ve been disappointed by the Trailer Life ratings of the parks and trust our own judgment.) We selected the Pioneer RV Park just outside Whitehorse, and found it to be the nicest RV parks that we’ve stayed in. The sites are far apart, in the woods, and as nice as any provincial park. It’s also just a 5 min drive into town.

We made our first stop at the visitor’s center and we were treated to cake and a commemorative pin for the 109 year anniversary of the Yukon territory.( Lots of information, very friendly people, and a great video about Whitehorse.)

The next day we took an airplane ride in a float plane and saw the local area and wildlife from the air. It was a kick taking off and landing on water.

We took the tour of the Klondike II, a paddlewheel boat that took the gold rushers down the river to Dawson City in the late 1800’s. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. The boat would stop along the river and pick up wood to burn to power the boat. It would use a chord of wood an hour.

A short ride from our park was the narrow Miles Canyon of the Yukon River that the early gold rushers tried to run in their homemade rafts. This part of the Yukon River had treacherous rapids where many lost their lives trying to run it. The rapids have now been eliminated by the building of a dam down river.

The gold rushers came up the Chilkoot Pass from Skagway Alaska, then ran the Yukon River down to Dawson City, and then out to the Klondike gold fields.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Cellar Restaurant and then attended the Frantic Follies. It was an entertaining early 1900’s vaudeville revue. When we came out of the performance at 10:00 PM it was still very light. The sun is going down about 11:35 PM right now. Thank goodness for the blackout curtains in our rig.

We enjoyed the Whitehorse area very much and decided to extend our stay for 5 days. It’s a very nice town with friendly people, good shopping and good restaurants. We have particularly enjoyed the local Alpine Bakery with more varieties of bread than Berolina’s in Montrose. The sweets are also great. And, there’s a local fish market and a Wall Mart.

John had his Father’s Day dinner at the Klondike Rib and Salmon BBQ restaurant. He had musk ox stroganoff that he said was excellent. Pris passed on the caribou stew and had halibut topped with brie and a berry sauce. Yum, yum.