On The Road Again.

At last we are on the move again although being stuck at Liard Hot Springs wasn’t exactly hard. It would have been a bit better had we had full hookups (and didn’t have to use the ‘drop’ toilets all the time!!!) Still it was a pleasant stop and enabled me to regroup and catch up.

When Norm and I had gone to Watson Lake on Sunday we had noticed a turn off to Whirlpool Canyon so I looked it up in the “Milepost” book. It was a must see whirlpool on the Liard River but the pullout was not suitable for RV’s. Jim had been told by a fella that it was the most impressive site he had seen for some time and he had been visiting the whirlpool regularly on his way down from where he lived in Alaska. So the suggestion was made on Wednesday afternoon that we all take a drive down to have a look. WELL!!!

Of course the Liard River was very full at the moment and in fact had broken its banks in a number of places along the Highway so when we got to the whirlpool we were expecting quite a bit of water but were totally unprepared for the site that confronted us! It was spectacular!! There was this huge whirlpool with ginormous trees that had been ripped from the ground, going around and around in this massive whirlpool. A section of the river had been dammed by trees to the point that the water on one side of dam would have been six foot higher than on the other. I even got so carried away that I took a couple of videos of the river and they don’t even do it justice. I wouldn’t want to be white water rafting in that I can tell you.

The wild and woolly Whirlpool Canyon on the Liard River.

On Thursday we got an early start and made Watson Lake in time for lunch. It was quite an eventful drive with the first interesting site just out of Liard Hot Springs.

A couple (I assume) had pulled their RV off the road to stop for the night. They extended their slide and had made themselves very comfortable by the look of it. Went to sleep and woke to the site of 20+ bison grazing and sleeping all around their RV. As we drove past taking lots of photos we could see them through the RV windows and we waved at them. There was a big bison grazing just near the driver’s door. Can you imagine stepping out of your RV and seeing yourself surrounded by that many bison? Just so funny!!

Ah dear, there are bison all around us - your turn to start the car!!!!

We saw lots of critters, apart from the bison, along the trip. Mostly back bears but we did see a mama brown bear with cubs which was so cute.

We pulled in to Contact Creek for fuel (only $1.33 per litre woo hoo!!!) and the lady was telling us that they had seen a mama grizzly with two cubs and Norm and I were wondering if that was one of her cubs that we had seen on ’Sunday when we went to Watson Lake. We did see the cub not far from, Contact Creek. Not sure I would want to run into mama bear though!

Watson Lake was looking considerably less crowded when we arrived about lunch time. I decided to make use of the afternoon and did all the washing! Boring!!!

In the evening Rick, Karen, Norm and I headed over the the ’Signpost Forest”. This was started by Carl Lindley , from Danville, Illinois in 1942 when the Alaska Highway was being constructed. And while his original sign is no longer there, when they celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the highway he donated a replica sign to the forest. I might add there are approximately 75000 + signs there now. And they come from all over the world. While Norm and I didn’t have one we are coming back through Watson Lake on our way back to the US so we will do something about it in the meantime and we will be sure to leave a sign.

Just a few of the 75,000+ signs in the Forest.

After the Signpost Forest we watched a video of the history of the Yukon and the construction of the highway and then made our way over to the Northern Lights Centre to the Omni Theatre type of affair..

Here we watched a video about the size of space and our solar system which was very interesting however it was difficult to stay focused with the lay back seats with the video projected on to the ceiling. The second video held everyone spellbound as it was about the Aurora Borealis. I wasn’t aware of it, but the Aurora comes in green and red and very occasionally, blue.

The video maker had filmed in North America and Europe mainly and the film was amazing. I would love to see it for real however we are here at the wrong time of the year so Norm and I will have to make sure we go to Iceland in the winter so see it properly!!!! Yeah another trip!!!!

I have to mention the daylight up here!!!! It is daylight nearly 24 hours a day and absolutely messes up with the body clock. It is still daylight at 11.00pm and that is waaaay past my bedtime!!! We have had to stick foam in the bedroom skylight and vinyl in the exhaust fan so that we can get some sleep!!! The other night we were sitting around the campfire until about 10.45pm and it still wasn’t even twilight!!!

And the bad news is - it is only going to get worse the further north we move!! What a difficult problem!!! And that is probably the biggest hassle I have so I must be having a great life!!!!!

Friday we are driving to Teslin and then on to Whitehorse tomorrow where we will spend a couple of days. Rick and Karen have already gone on to Whitehorse in an effort to get some of their problems fixed. We will meet up with them when we get there.

Oops, forgot to mention that while I did the washing Norm went back to the clinic to find out if they had forgotten his tetanus needle on Sunday or if they had decided not to give him one. Bad luck there - had a jab in his shoulder. I guess that is better than getting Lockjaw!!

Okay signing off now. Catch you next time I have access to wifi. So until then take care of you and yours and love and hugs to our family and friends.

Ooroo!!!!