Summer Travel Map

Friday, July 31, 2009

A simple day's drive - NOT

July 31, 2009
Whitehorse, YT

The plan was simple: make the 250+ mile trip from Dawson City to Whitehorse, taking our time and stopping at some scenic overlooks along the way. Well, for the most part, it went according to plan: all three coaches left on their own with the route and end point in mind, but traveling separately along the road, free to stop wherever the mood hit us. It was still pretty smoky as we traveled south, although the sky seemed to be clearing the farther we drove, especially when the headwind picked up. We left first, and Rod & Jean passed us at our breakfast stop. We caught up with them at a scenic overlook for "Five Finger Rapids", a particularly treacherous section of the Yukon River where (duh!) there are five separate channels through the rocks.

Then, Bob & Marlene pulled in and we soon noticed that something was amiss: the front passenger's side window on their towed car was way too clean (we're all covered with dirt and dust from the roads). They left the window down? Uh, no - it imploded along the road! Glass and dirt everywhere inside the car. Ouch! After the most basic clean-up and a temporary repair with a garbage bag and some duct tape (the RVer's friend!), we were back on the road for Whitehorse. Although it cleared up somewhat later in the day, we could still see smoke plumes from nearby forest fires dotting the sky. This smoke will probably haunt us for some time, as we've heard that there are fires all over southern British Columbia.

Anyway, Bob's temporary repair held up and was replaced with a heavier plastic piece at the Whitehorse WalMart, but not before a runaway shopping cart tagged the side of his coach - definitely not a good day!

Click here for pictures.

We decided to move on tomorrow, having already spent a couple of days in Whitehorse on the way north. Rod & Jean are backtracking for Haines, and the rest of us are moving south to Skagway.

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