Jul 14, 2011 - White Pass Summit Train Excursion & Skagway

We had enough time between getting off the ferry and the train excursion to secure a camping site. Named Mountain View? it is in our opinion the only decent campsite in the area being the only one with any trees (the rest were pretty much parking lots). It is a huge campsite right beside the narrow gauge track and quiet if you don’t count float planes taking off, ship whistles blowing and trains chugging by starting at 7:00 in the morning. The cost was higher than any paid to date at $44 per night that included very poor internet, but...

Jul 13, 2011 - July 12, 2011 Day 39 Skagway

We wake up to a beautiful day. We can tell it’s going to be a nice day so we wear shorts. We head downtown and visit the shops. The town is alive with 8,000 tourists on 5 cruise ships! We wander around and pick up a few things. The prices are reasonable. The National Park service has some stores renovated and made into museums-free! You look up and there are call girls hanging out windows! Ha! It is really cute. There are still more buildings to renovate but we like what we have seen. We get hungry and decide to go to the salmon bake. One...

Jul 13, 2011 - Wrangell to Skagway on the Matanuska

The ferry trip to Skagway is a long 20 hours. The scenery is still beautiful, but you can only see so much before being satiated. Other than the scenery the only thing of note was seeing a large hummingbird 30 minutes out of Skagway. We couldn’t figure out where it could possibly find any nectar in this land of mountains, rocks and forest until we went on the train excursion in Skagway.

Jul 13, 2011 - Skagway

Skagway Wednesday 13th July 2011 We sleep in and many folk are already ashore in Skagway going on trips before we have breakfast – but the ship is a bit quieter for that. It’s yet another lovely day – so off we wander into the “town” – it has a resident population of 800 – and today there are four cruise ships in – so say 2,000 per ship, yes 8,000 people descend on 800! We walk up and down the main streets once passing by the restored Brothels that were once indicative of life here – now they are just museums – though some do have shows –...

Jul 12, 2011 - July 11, 2011 Day 38 Skagway

There is not a cloud in the sky today and at 9:00AM it is already in the 70’s! This is going to be the prettiest day we’ve had so far!! Jan takes Nicky for a walk up the hill and finds another carving like the eagle in front of the Trading Post. This one is a dolphin. The view is unreal from the hill. Down we go and before long, it is time to leave. We stop by the Post Office and mail some postcards and fill up with gas. $4.95/gal. At 11:00 we are ready to leave Haines. For an ocean town, this place has had the best weather. Jan thinks, “If...

Jul 3, 2011 - Fireworks on the Third of July ????

Another cloudy, rainy morning in Skagway. That seems to be the weather pattern here. Cloudy in the morning and then slowly clearing until there is partial sunshine the rest of the day. There also is lots of wind. This is caused by the geography of the area. Skagway is at the end of the Lynn Canal which is a 100 mile long fjord. Mountains on both sides of the fjord and then a long narrow cut out of Skagway up 3000' in 11 miles-this is what the road follows. Did some grocery shopping this morning and then after lunch went on a hike down by...

Jul 2, 2011 - Exploring Skagway

Rain this morning. Read and lazed around. Downtown just before lunch and checked out the waterfront. Two cruise ships from yesterday had left and two new ships were in port. Sun came out around noon and we decided to have lunch at the Skagway Brewing Company. Deep fried salmon chunks with a dill horseradish sauce and tater tots covered with chili and cheese. Our usual healthy lunch. Actually our grease levels were getting low and we had to top up. You can say what you want but it was delicious. I kept it under control and had a soda but the...

Jul 1, 2011 - R&R Day

Today is our last one here in Skagway; so we are busy once again doing laundry and some cleaning, getting ready to leave in the morning. We are leaving by ferry for Haines, Alaska. There is blue sky and sun is shining;campground seems quiet today. But you can hear the train and the cruise ships leaving.. We have enjoyed our stay; but are looking forward to seeing what is down the road at the next stop.

Jul 1, 2011 - Happy Canada Day !

Happy Canada Day! Woke up to the sound of traffic whizzing by on the street. That's one of the negatives about Camp Walmart. There are usually in busy spots. Filled up with gas and headed for Skagway. We are paying about $30-$40 more for a tank of gas in Canada. Why is that? A picturesque drive to Skagway on the South Loop of the Klondike Highway. Only 200 km from Whitehorse. Last 18 kms were all downhill. Serious downhill. I had to put the truck in 2nd gear and work the brakes. Should be a fun climb up when we decide to leave. At the USA...

Jun 30, 2011 - Skagway, AK

After a lazy morning we decide to do some sightseeing. First stop was the historical cemetery we passed by on the train; from there we walked to the Reid Falls. Next was a stop at the Klondike Goldfields where we saw a Gold Dredge and a Sled Dog show; we even got to hold some little puppies (5 1/2 weeks old)which someday could be running in the Iditarod race; we finished our tour with a cookie and hot chocolate. On our way back to town we stop by to take a garden walk and watch a glass blowing demonstration. Finishing our outing with a nice...

Jun 29, 2011 - Skagway - Whitehorse Train Trip

After finding the Train Station we joined other groups lined up to board the Whitehorse train to Whitehorse Summit. In conversation with the couple in front of us we learned that they were from Thornton, CO.; so after small chit chat we boarded the train. We left Skagway heading north up the Yukon River Canyon, the same route used in the Gold Rush. We passed the historic cemetery where "Soapy Smith" and other notorious characters lie. Then we were on our journey to the Summit passing beautiful mountains,waterfalls,lakes,even seeing some...

Jun 28, 2011 - Skagway, AK

Woke up to a cloudy,rainy morning in Skagway, Alaska. After spending the morning doing laundry and motorhome cleaning we were off to see what was happening in Skagway. Toured the downtown looking for anything that we couldn't live with out! Success.......Shirley found treasures along with Frank's homemade fudge:) The town is loaded everyday with a new load of cruise ship passengers. In spite of all the people from all over the world we still enjoyed the afternoon.