Meeting Interesting People In the Laundromat
Sunday was a lazy day. We’d accomplished everything that we seemed to be able to see in Whitehorse so we hung around the RV most of the day until we decided to make a trip to the laundromat. Now visiting a laundromat is not normally on the top of interesting things to do but we have each found that we meet interesting people in laundromats. Usually I meet traveling people and we exchange tips of places to go (or where to buy diesel). This time Robert met an interesting local gentleman. The man started the conversation with a question about our truck which was parked in front of the laundromat. (I’m beginning to understand that many men like to talk about trucks!) From trucks this conversation meandered to fishing and hunting, the two most talked about topics in Alaska and the Yukon. Our new friend described fishing when the grizzly bears come to steal your fish, being stampeded recently on a nearby road by a herd of bison, and coming home to find a quarter-hide of moose waiting on his front porch, a gift from his wife’s family who, as Native People, are permitted to hunt more moose than other Canadians. We talked about recipes for smoking salmon and which salmon are best for canning. He strongly encouraged us that we should try canning some of our fish. I always thought of canning as just another way of preserving food, and that freezing is easier. Alaskans, and apparently the fishermen from the Yukon, seem to prefer canning because you can keep the fish for a longer time and change the taste by adding additional ingredients during the canning process. I’m guessing that there is a historical factor as well. When people live in the bush they often don’t have electricity so freezing isn’t a reasonable solution. When salmon is your main source of protein, even salmon (which I love) could get boring. By adding spices during the canning process, the salmon doesn’t have to taste the same at every meal. The man in the laundromat explained that when his children were at home (now grown), he would get one moose a year and lots of fish. His hunting and fishing would provide most of their meat for the year, helping the grocery bill considerably. A big moose could provide 600 - 700 pounds of meat.
What Do Campground Hook-Ups Mean?
As an aside, it is not that uncommon for people in Alaska or the Yukon Territory to live “off the grid”. We have stayed at several campgrounds where all the electricity is produced on site by a generator. (And believe me, with all the rain, solar would not be an effective option!) Most private campgrounds have 30 amp service, some only 20 or 15 amp, a very few have 50 amp service. Public sewage systems are very uncommon; most places have a septic system although cesspools are not uncommon. While in the lower 48 most private campgrounds advertising “full hook-ups” would have water, electric, and sewer service at each site, in Alaska it has been pretty uncommon to have individual sewer hook-ups. An Alaskan full hook-up site has water and some type of electric service, there is usually (but certainly not always) a sani-dump station nearby. There are also many campgrounds that have only electric power to the sites, with a central water fill station and sani-dump. We have friends that stayed one place where the water service was, “we’ll pass you a hose out the door”.
Sleep In a TeePee
The campground where we’ve been staying has a few teepees for rent. This morning I decided to check out the teepees.
I was surprised to see that inside the teepee there was a fire ring and a wooden sleeping platform. While this doesn’t look too comfortable to me, I think it would be a fun place for kids to camp.
Sign Post Forest
Monday morning we left for Watson Lake. Watson Lake is the site of the famous “Sign Post Forest”. Apparently in 1942 a young, homesick GI working on the building of the ALCAN posted a sign on a tree that pointed the way and stated the mileage ot his hometown. People have been doing so ever since.
The town of Watson Lake now maintains the signs and puts up additional posts as needed. There are road signs and homemade signs from around the world. The signs are made of all difference materials.
The Sign Post Forest takes up the space of a city block. Alas we didn’t construct a sign to post, maybe next time. It’s difficult to show you the rows and rows of signs but here is a sampling.
And some are really electic:
The left of this sign says, "City of Yellowknife, Northwest Territory".
Northen Lights Centre
Our last reason to stop in Watson Lake was to visit the Northen Lights Centre. I had read about this place and thought it would be worth a stop. They have a dome shaped planetarium-type ceiling and show movies of hte northern lights taken in the Yukon. Although we had driven much further than we ever want to drive in one day (278 miles), we decided to make the effort to see the show tonight. Apparently the show is put on in part by the city of Watson Park, (I’m guessing to encourage tourists to stay longer than it takes to see the Sign Post Forest). The show was in two parts: the first part was a very pretty movie (with music, no words) showing the animal life along the Alaska Highway; the second part was a series of movies taken of the northern lights. While the first part was pretty and enjoyable, it wasn’t why we stopped. The second part, while interesting and very pretty, would have been much more spectacular if they had actually used the domed ceiling. The introduction was “global” but the movies were projected on a standard screen. Mmm???
Weather
The temperature today only reached 50 degrees for a short while but the road was SUPER. We were actually able to drive 55 mph for most of the day. Tomorrow we're headed to Liard Hot Springs (and probably a provincial park with no hook ups).
Map to Watson Lake
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Watson+Lake&state=YT#a/maps/m::4:60.062929:-128.714157:0::/e
No comments:
Post a Comment