Days 7-8 Into and Around Whitehorse

Nice short morning drive from Johnson Crossing into Whitehorse. Whitehorse is a beautiful city and we were happy to see that it was actually a fairly large city (in Yukon Territory terms) and has both a Starbucks and a Walmart. I have probably mentioned that Walmart is a great place to stay with the rv for 24 hours while we unhook the car, get the lay of the land and find a place to stay for longer.

And Starbucks is just plain good! I haven't had one for a week and while I can't say that I was feeling overly deprived, it was nice to have my favorite coffee drink!

We did stay the first night at Walmart and it was actually a nice location on the outskirts of town and on a nice bicycle path right into the downtown area. We did some walking around the touristy areas and then took our bikes out for a longer jaunt along the Yukon River. It was quite nice! There was a waterfront trolley ride and a decommissioned paddle wheeler from the gold rush days to explore.

The next morning we moved to an rv park that is up on the hill above the Whitehorse airport and right on the Alaska Hwy. We were pleased with the location and the amenities and plan to stay here for two nights. Then we got busy all day being tourists and visited the Yukon Game Preserve, the Coppermine Railroad and a number of museums.

Life is good and we were tired. It was good though to be off the road and doing something different for a couple of days. We are going to bed early because tomorrow we are going on an all day bus/train trip to Skagway! Life is good.

Fireweed by the Yukon River. It's so beautiful and it's everywhere. It's the Yukon Territory official flower. The Yukon River flows right alongside the town of Whitehorse. It's quite spectacular!

Craig loved the engine room of the SS Klondike, a restored paddlewheeler now permanently docked in one of the waterfront parks.

Mule deer female up close and personal. She wanted to go home with us!

Moose in the museum. I am impressed with their size!

Stone sheep resting in the field. They climb the high hills in the game preserve.

This billy goat was making very aggressive sounds as Craig approached the fence.

Craig pans for gold in the History museum. We took gold panning lessons and quite frankly, it's a good thing that we aren't part of the gold rush. We would have been the ones who came back empty handed and broke!

Back at the Yukon Game Preserve, more mule deer. The males and females (these are the males) are currently being kept apart because they have an overabundance of mule deer in the park. Except that thestaff made a mistake and left one of the "baby" males in with the females thinking it would be safe for him to be there another year but as it turns out, he fathered a half dozen or so new babies. Surprise!

Those two specks in the background are a bull moose and a cow. That's as close as I could get!

This very large bald eagle was rescued by the game department and brought to the wildlife sanctuary. They can't fix his broken wing but they are giving him a good home in the Yukon.

Train ride through the shut-down copper mine. We are so easily entertained!

Life is good! These people were nice and sat ahead of us in the train. I don't know their names but I do know that they are from eastern Canada and they are traveling back home. After traveling for almost a month, the woman got pneumonia on the road and she spent a week in the hospital. It touched our hearts to hear their story and despite their significant challenges, they were so upbeat and friendly. It's nice to meet people on the road and get to know a little about them personally. We meet someone (usually a couple) on almost every activity that we do and although we just get to know them briefly and then move on, it's always fun and rewarding!