June 11, 2009 - Whitehorse, YK

We heard on the radio this morning that they closed the Alaskan Highway between Dawson Creek and Watson Lake again because of the fire. We are glad we drove that section earlier. Rex spent the morning rewashing the truck and 5th wheel (he could only use a bucket of water and a brush as they do not allow you to wash with a hose here). We then went into Whitehorse and visited the MacBride Museum which has some great displays about Yukon wildlife and history – from the First Nations peoples to the gold miners. The museum was really interesting.

We walked by the old log church and “log cabin skyscraper” the Yukon’s first high rise!




We toured the SS Klondike, the largest sternwheeler on the Yukon River. It is now a Canadian National Historic Site. The SS Klondike I was built in 1929 in Whitehorse and ran aground in 1936. The company immediately built the SS Klondike II using the upper decks from the SS Klondike I. The Klondike II steamed into Whitehorse for the last time in August 1955. We really enjoyed the tour and Rex is anxious to talk to his boss at the Dolly Steamboat about getting a bigger boat – what about it Jeff!




We watched float planes land on Schwatka Lake just outside of Whitehorse.




We drove to Miles Canyon, a narrow canyon that challenged the gold seekers when their boats and rafts broke up in the rough waters and sank here. The river has since been tamed by a dam, but the scenery is beautiful. We saw a red fox running along the road on the way out of the canyon.





After dinner we attended the Frantic Follies – a really fun 1890’s era variety show complete with cancan girls. Halfway through the show the lights went out as there was a building on fire about 3 blocks away and the fire department cut power to the whole downtown area. They gave us free tickets for tomorrow night’s show - we will go back so we can see the whole show.

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