We arrived at the landing at 6:20 to find several cars and a couple of motorhomes in front of us and a ferry just arriving. Cars, trucks and Rvs each had their own lane. We didn't make that ferry, neither did the motorhome in front of us. It would appear that one large rig per trip was the limit.
The motor home in front of us made this one, making us confident that we would make the next one.
While waiting for the ferry to return we watched a side wheeler thrashing it's way up the Yukon River against the current. The ferry too had to wait for the riverboat to pass. We took some good video of the ferry manoeuvering in the current. I'll have to figure out how to post it here.
Our turn soon came, here we are boarding the ferry at 7:00 PM. The ramp looked a little flimsy but the the big rig that crossed before us made it OK and so did we.
The crossing was fast and comfortable. As we drove off Art asked a deckhand if the job ever got boring. With a grin and a shake of his head he replied “60 times a day!”
Ten minutes after leaving the west side we arrived at Dawson City Campground a few kilometers south of town. While Art got the jacks down, slides out and the various connections made Gillian took a very dusty tracker to the car wash rack and blasted off the worst of the exterior dirt. The photos is an “after” pic of the car. Most of the loose dust on the rear of the motorhome had blown off. We haven't climbed on the roof to check the solar panels yet!
They had secure wireless so we would get on to the banks again to make sure we still had a little cash left. And yet again the satellite dish was able to find the satellite in spite of its low angle and nearby high hills. Nothing like news from home!
The inside dust was something else again! Dust had found a route from under the rig up between the wall and the end of the bed. The edges of the pillows and sheets wore a thick coat of dust. The bed side tables too were covered. Even in the drawers, which had remained closed, the top layer of underwear and socks was covered in fine dust. Happily the hanging closet remained dust proof. Fortunately beside the vehicle wash rack this RV park also has a laundromat!
Next day was of course dedicated first to laundry and cleaning then into town for a bit of sight seeing and picture taking. We had lunch at Sourdough Joe's, which occupies the first lot staked out in Dawson City. Some people were smart enough to not bother hunting for gold themselves directly, they would get their gold from those who had already found it! Joe was one, Diamond Tooth Gertie was another.
We spent the day wandering around looking and taking pictures. The Locomotives Storage Shed, next door to the museum, contains steam locomotives all of which had been used on the Dawson City run. Little number 4 has been restored to operating condition. There were no notes on the remarkable Traction Engine.
We had planned on getting to bed early as tomorrow's run down to Whitehorse would take 6 or 7 hours of driving time. But what with watching the news and working on the blog. . . . .
In the morning Art remembered something else that he wanted to do—up date our finance stuff while we had a reasonably secure connection so it wasn't until just after 11:00 AM that we hit the Klondike Highway southbound.
On the road out we remembered at the last minute that we hadn't taken a picture of the piles of tailings left behind by the gold dredging machines that scoop up the river bottom and wash out all the dirt and silt looking for gold. These huge piles of sterile gravel and rock are everywhere and line the roadside for miles.
A couple of hours later we pulled into Moose Creek Lodge for lunch. It was a funky little place with chain saw sculptures out side and an eclectic collection of antiques and knick-nacks inside. The food was basic but very good and there was an excellent selection of baked goodies. Art couldn't resist the butter tarts.
Back on the road again, this time with Gillian at the wheel and Art resting when not watching and photographing the scenery. There was some construction, the most disconcerting was on bridge leaving very little clearance between the mirror and the plywood barrier.
One interesting formation we saw for many miles was a white line just below the ground level. This is a layer of volcanic ash laid down around 700AD. What makes it so interesting is that there are no know volcanoes in the area. Geologist believe that it may have been a one time eruption and the vent is now buried.
We pulled into a rest area overlooking the Yukon River for a change of drivers and to have a look at Five Finger Rapids. The nearest channel is the only one that the paddlewheelers could use and they had placed a cable here so the boats could be winched upstream.
In a unanimous vote, before going to the RV park we drove down 2 Mile Hill into the city centre, planning on the Klondike Rib and Salmon once again.
As we approached we saw the lineup reaching along the sidewalk to the corner so turned the rig and headed for the much larger Earl's where we hoped for a table on the patio. Parking was easy here too as there was a large shopping centre across the street. We were soon sitting in the sun and ready to eat.
While waiting for our food we phoned our Yukon friends William and Margaret who hoped to be back in town today. Unfortunately, we had passed them some time ago, they were still on the job (Highways) in Carmacks and hoped now to be here Friday. We hadn't really planned to stay that long in Whitehorse this time but we really did want to see them. We'll just have to see what develop.
More laundry of course, more rig and car cleaning--still battling the dust! After a bit of investigation Art thought that a bit of weather stripping might improve things for the future so off we went to Home Depot, stopping at the car wash along the way to vacuum the interior and also decided to wash out the engine compartment which was coated in dust.
Together we tackled the bed, removing the plywood base and placing weather striping where ever we thought dust might be getting through. We couldn't stop everything but hopefully we have stopped the worst. We got so busy fixing things we forgot to take more pictures, other than Art lying down on the job.
We also changed the air filter in the heat pump as we had run the fans for a while to clear the air. The old filter looked like carpet! Doubt much air could have moved through it. We also discovered that the furnace ducts are full of dust. That is going to be a problem! We may try blocking all the ducts then opening them one at a time with the vacuum strategically placed!
Thursday we got the call that our mail had arrived at DHL so off we went in the car to fetch it. Along the way the "check engine" light came on and the heat gauge was reading off the scale! We pulled over and Art investigated--the radiator was cold to the touch! All the coolant had escaped. A phone call to CAA had a tow truck on its way. While Gillian waited with the car Art took his bike off the back and rode into DHL to get the mail.
Long story cut short--there had been rock damage to the radiator causing a leak. The rad was pulled and sent to a radiator shop for repair and late Friday morning we got the call that the car was ready.
Funny how things work out. Bill and Muggs are in town and we saw them tonight for dinner! They even picked up the tab! Art said that if he had known, he would have ordered dessert and brandy in his coffee.
We were back at the rig in time to watch the BC news on Global TV thanks to the parks cable connection. We found that since everyone else had gone to bed we could get a wireless connection in the rig, hence this last minute addition to the blog.
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