Skagway, a special visitor, and Whitehorse.

 

Hello from Alaska!! We made it through another border crossing but did get our apples confiscated. We laughed because our neighbors got their pork chops taken and we figured they wanted apple sauce to go with them!  No complaints though as the view on the road to Skagway was amazing! We even saw an eagle fly right in front of us.

Our campsite there was nice and we were able to rinse off some of the road grime and bugs. We were right at the harbor and our view out back was pretty cool watching the cruise ships come in.

Even cooler was that one of the ships brought in my college roommate and Emma's Godmother, Teesha and her husband, Brian. They were celebrating their 35th anniversary with a cruise to Alaska and happened to stop at Skagway the same time we were there! It was awesome to connect even for just a few hours and we laughed that it took them coming all the way to Alaska to see us. 😎

Skagway is a cool little town and is known for being the port that brought all the people in for the Klondike gold rush. It has several unique buildings like this one to the left, the Arctic Brotherhood Hall. The whole face of the building is made from over 8000 pieces of driftwood. It is also the start of the White Pass & Yukon Route train. We didn't take the train ride as we were fortunate to get to drive in on the similar route but would highly suggest it if coming into town on a cruise.

My favorite souvenir from downtown was this beautiful wool scarf with a local artist's picture of the glacier with spring flowers.  I loved the colors but also loved supporting a local artist with a product made in Alaska.  Emma gave me a gift card for my birthday for some streaming time but I caved in and used the money towards the scarf (sorry Emma, but I thought you'd appreciate supporting the artist.😉)

We did a lot of walking around the town which was a huge advantage of camping where we did, as we could just walk right from the campsite. We also hiked to the Gold Rush cemetery and the Lower Reid Falls. 

The cemetery was quite sad seeing so many young people that died in pursuit of the gold.

The location was lovely however, with the falls just a short distance behind the graves.  

It was a cool little town but odd to see a cruise ship and not be getting on it!

Again, no complaints as our journey continued up the road back into the Yukon and breathtaking scenery. The snow capped mountains, the lush trees and water everywhere made for a beautiful drive. The lake below is called Spirit Lake and the colors were just amazing.

Next stop was Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. It was nice to be in a "bigger city" and get stocked back up again at a Wal-Mart. 😁 We stayed at Pioneer RV park which had lovely views from the "upper section" of the park (below). Too bad we were in the lower section which was right by the road and basically a parking lot. 😩Note for any readers who might take this trip, ask for the upper section.  

The downtown area was nice. I got some Christmas shopping in as well as my picture taken with the Moose mounty standing guard (shout out to my Canadian friends!). Be careful of downtown parking as the meters there will only let you stay in the same spot for 1 hour. We were OK but when we got to our spot both cars on either side had tickets! Not the friendliest memory for those tourists I would guess. 

What was very friendly was the visitor center and the trail system that followed along the river's edge next to it. We walked for miles and it was great to see so many people out enjoying it as well.

Dave enjoyed wandering off the trail and doing some rock hunting out in the river on a high spot. See him way out there!😃 

Now he's a little closer and back on the trail. It was such a lovely day and gorgeous views. 

Our next stop was just outside of Whitehorse at Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs. They have a campground right next door as well as many cabins so you can stay right by the Springs. They also have lots of hiking trails which we fully enjoyed. No cell service so my All-trails app wasn't working and the trails weren't clearly marked but we did eventually find our way back to the campground. We saw lots of pretty flowers along the way...

It started to rain a little on us and I loved how the droplets of water rested in the leaves of this plant. Maybe I was just getting "zen" and preparing for our next day at the springs and spa...not exactly the Persian Garden but I'll take it!

After that wonderful day of lounging on the heated beds, steam showers and soaking in the hot springs it was time to get back on the road again. The day started with more scenic views with purple flowers lining the roadway and then...no flowers and NO ROAD! It was just the beginning of our adventure towards Dawson City and the Top of the World Highway.  Stay tuned for the next post with more dirty details!