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Day 13 Thursday, June 29 Thursday June 29, we drove 398 miles from Dease Lake, British Columbia N58 26.206 W129 59.469 to Whitehorse, Yukon N60 43.196 W135 03.571
We left Dease Lake before seven in the morning. This morning it was still raining and several campers and trucks with trailers left about the same time we did. Rain will help to wash the dust off the car. The running boards will keep the mud off the side of the car. The temperature is cool, I have on a light jacket.
It is difficult to take a good picture in a moving Model A on a rough rocky road in the rain. The sign say's its 205 km to the Alaska Highway, then it will be good roads the rest of the way.
By the time we arrived in Jade City, the other vehicles had out distanced us and the weather was better. I don't know why the car doors are always open when I take a picture, the door latches work just fine.
Jade City is a nearly deserted town. When the Jade mines closed down the town folk had to move away as there was no other employment here. This shop and another one across the road are about all that is left. Not even a gas station is here anymore. This is the area where the Jade back at Cache Creek came from.
This car passed us several times, they would go speeding past, then stop for a picture and we would pass them, then it would start all over again. The funny part is they would stare and wave each time they passed us. I guess they liked the car.
Click on the picture to better read it.
Back on good road again. We stopped at the junction of Hwy. 37 and Hwy. 1 just west of Watson Lake for a late breakfast. The restaurant was like a factory built cabin with a fireplace in the corner. There are three tables. I got the feeling I was in someone's small home. The food was good.
Just after we turned west on the Alcan we saw this bear along the road. As soon as a couple of cars stopped he went back into the trees.
The road was not busy at all, I did not wait until the roads were clear before taking a picture, there just were not many cars.
Click on the picture to enlarge for better reading.
We are approaching Teslin and the Teslin Lake bridge.
This 1975 picture tells about the History of the area. Click on picture to read.
The bridge is long and built with a steel mesh deck so snow and water will drop on through and not get slick or freeze.
The mesh is hard to drive on, hang on to the steering wheel.
Once safely across the bridge it's time for gas and a much deserved break. There is a nice wildlife museum and gift shop here.
Teslin Lake goes on for miles and miles.
We stopped at Jakes Corner for a restroom call.
These bicyclists were ridding the Alaska Highway the hard way. Thirty years ago the road was in such poor condition and made from dirt and gravel with no shoulder, bicycling would have been suicide. Today the road is mostly paved with a nice shoulder.
I guess bridges are a site of interest along the way, we took pictures of a lot of them.
Click on picture to enlarge it.
When we arrived in Whitehorse, Yukon we stopped at the visitors center and looked at the information on lodging. Everything was over one hundred dollars. So we choose this B&B, at least that way we get a free breakfast. One reason we stayed here, was the write-up said it was once owned by Sam McGee. The Madam Proprietor said her husband worked at the Follies and we could be his guest at the ten o'clock show.
History of the show, Click to enlarge.
After a great dinner at the Klondike Salmon and BBQ, we went across the street where the tour bus groups were staying and the show was held. Every Follies has girls pulling up their skirts in it.
And they were good dancers too.
The guy on the left side of the stage, was our host and owner of the B&B we stayed in.
Now, I always thought Sam McGee was a fictional character in Robert Service's poetry, but as I was to learn, Sam McGee was a banker working and living in Whitehorse. Robert Service thought the name Sam McGee was poetic, and asked Sam if he could use his name in the poetry. I was told this was only one of several homes Sam owned while he was living in Whitehorse.
I did not know the room was pink when I paid my money. I doubt Sam would have approved of the color, but like Motel 6 says "when the lights are out and your eyes shut, we look just like all the others".
I awoke about 4am ready to go. It's hard to sleep when the sun is shining in the windows. Patty said the room is lavender not pink.
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