20030819                     Open new window with today’s pictures.

August 19, 2003
Tuesday


Start:   Skagway Mtn View RV Park, Skagway AK
End:     High Country RV Park, Whitehorse YT
Miles:   106
Hi Temp: 64.4
Lo Temp: 45.5


We got up when we heard the narrow-gage trains backing past the RV park to the depot and piers. We were eating breakfast when they came back up the track with people and headed up the hill.

We unhooked, hitched up and headed up the hill ourselves.  It's steep in places, going from sea level to 3,200 feet in about 16 miles.  We got a chance to see some of the railroad right-of-way on which we traveled on the far side of the canyon.  When we got to the Canadian Customs office (at Fraser), that train was there exchanging passengers with buses. Some people take the train to Fraser and a bus to Whitehorse, or bus from Whitehorse to catch the train going back to Skagway.

The customs person let us pass after looking at our passports and asking if we had any weapons (no) and where we were going (Whitehorse today, then on our way home). We made short work of the rest of the trip to Whitehorse. We checked in at the High Country.

Then we did our chores.  We got the two rear truck tires replaced (CDN$487, US$349, not too much more than at home). Then we returned to the little house to get our Canadian money and put the passports and our US money back in the lockbox we have for valuables. Next, we went to the used book store and got some more books, then to the Food Fair for groceries. At the other end of the parking lot is the liquor store, so I stocked up on Canadian white wines and a six-pack of ale.  We returned to the trailer to put all that away.

Then we went up the road to an RV supply place to see if they stock the blackwater tank treatment we bought in Newfoundland last year (no).  So we went on to another RV supply place we know of and asked the same question with the same answer.  I bought a wrench at their half-price sale (they're going out of business). Then we topped off the fuel and returned to the little house.

We changed clothes from jeans to khakis and put on clean shirts for our dinner at Panda's, our favorite European restaurant north of the 49th parallel.  They'd given us a coupon for 15% off after dinner on the way to Alaska.  Dolores had lobster bisque and salmon; I had rollmops (herring) and Madagascar Schnitzle (schnitzle with brown sauce and green peppercorns).  Everything, including the Canadian Pinot Gris, was very good. But Lizz told us they may sell the place this fall and move someplace warmer.  We hope they do well wherever they go, but we'll miss them here in Whitehorse.

Then we returned to the little house in the big campground for relaxation and computer chores.