Saturday July 9th - Watson Lake to Haines Junction via Whitehorse

Finally a fast wifi.   Published more pictures to yesterdays blog.   It was a short night,  at 1am it was bright enough to read at 4 am the sun was bright in the sky.  The nights are only going to get shorter as we go north to the point there will be no night though there is little night now.

After brief visit to the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake and the posting of the JE decal on a post we set off for Whitehorse.  It was pretty much an uneventful day but more scenic than yesterday with lots of lakes, rivers and more mountain snows.  We ran into the Google guys again, they seem to be enjoying the trip to Alaska and are following the same itinerary we are until tomorrow.

Our first big stop for lunch was at the Yukon Motel and Cafe in Teslin.   The food was reasonably priced but the service left much to be desired.   There was a wildlife museum next to it that was pretty impressive and we spent a lot of time there.

Speaking of wildlife, we were disappointed that we didn't see much wildlife today.    Our route brought us thru lands and warnings about Bison, Antelope, Big Horn Sheep, Elk, Moose, Deer, Caribu and more.   We saw two moose, but could only get a picture of the female as they were way off in the distance and the male kept hiding.    We also saw a large black bear with two brown cubs.   The surprise of the day was at Swan Lake where we didn't see any swans but we did see a Bald Eagle dive in the lake for a fish and seagull chasing him for a short distance to try to grab it.

We stopped in Whitehorse and toured the historic part of town and at at the Klondike Rib and Salmon Restaurant.   A quaint place short on seating but long on service and quality.   A few of us got their special  a Bison steak with lobster ravioli, roasted veggies and a fancy bread.    They  also served an excellent fish and chips with Alaskan Halibut,  Reindeer Stew and Antelope Stroganoff.  Most excellent place.   We will be back for dinner on the way home.   When we were leaving there was a line of people from a cruise ship waiting for tables to open up.

We changed the itinerary somewhat and instead of staying in Champagne at a campground there we decided to drive another 90 miles to Haines Jct which would give us two short days tomorrow.

We arrived at our campground here in Haines Jct, set up camp and just about everyone now has gone to bed.  It's too light out for me so here I am.  Midnight and still very light out.    The view of the snow capped mountains and "glacier" is breathtaking from our campsite.

Tomorrow we will finally cross the border and will be at the Golden Bear in Tok, Alaska for the evening.

Sky at 1am last night

 Sign Post Forest - Watson Lake, Yukon

Black Bear and cubs

Yukon Motel, Cafe, Museum

 Moose in Lake

 Eagle and Sea Gull at Swan Lake

Klondike Rib and Salmon and Bison Steak Dinner

The Midnight Sky from our campsite