Teslin to Whitehorse, YT

Leslie, Sunday, May 30, 2010
Caribou RV Park, Whitehorse, YT

We had a short (96 mile) trip from Teslin to Whitehorse.  As has been the case for the past week, the views have been spectacular.


We experienced one 10 mile section of construction.  Actually since it was Sunday, they weren’t working but the entire road surface had been stripped.  We drove on fairly smooth gravel.  Snowflake has an annoying engine fan that churns up lots of dust, but otherwise it was an uneventful trip.

Robert & I had stayed in the Caribou RV park in September 2008 on our way south.  It’s 7 miles south of Whitehorse.  We remembered that the RV park has an RV wash facility and adjoining the park is an excellent Swiss restaurant, the Wolf Pack Den.  Over the past few weeks as we’ve worked on our itinerary, every time I mention Whitehorse, I must say, “and there’s an excellent Swiss/German restaurant”  because Stan has taken to teasing me about “Whitehorse – they have an excellent German restaurant”.

When we arrived at Caribou RV Park we were met by NuWA Owner's Forum members Andy & Linda (Purl).  They weren’t expecting us but just happened to be walking their dogs as we pulled into the campground.  There are many forum members traveling to Alaska this summer and we expect that we’ll cross paths with most of them.

Our first stop at the RV park was the RV wash.  The truck and rig were filthy – so dusty that every time I climbed in my hands needed to be washed.  :-(  The RV wash takes loonies ($2) and toonies ($1) coins.  [Sometimes when we’re discussing the change in our pockets, it sounds as if we’re speaking cartoon-talk.]  Under a beautiful sunny sky, the four of us washed both trucks and RVs – WOW!  The rigs really are white!  As soon as we left the wash facility and pulled into our spaces, it began to rain.  Oh well, at least the rain drops aren’t making mud out of the dust on the rigs.  Spots we can take; mud is a bit too much!  The rain actually never came; just a few drops fell.

We were all a bit tired after our rig washing party so we were glad that we had planned to enjoy dinner at the Swiss restaurant.  Our dinner at this restaurant was by far the best meal we had in our 5 months of Canada and Alaska in 2008. Wolf Pack Den did not disappoint this time either.

I love goulash soup – a thick beef, tomato, potato soup that we had enjoyed in Europe many years ago.  The Wolf Pack Den cook shared her recipe with us.  Our Jager Scnitzel and Spaetzel were also superb.  Because I had to order both, we have ample of left-overs.  Oh gee, too bad :-)  -- I’m looking forward to my excellent lunch.  :-)  Stan & Connie agreed that the restaurant and food were excellent.

I’m sure we’ll keep writing about this for the next few weeks, but we’re really enjoying all the hours of daylight.  It’s 11:35 pm as I write this and I could easily take a photograph outside without flash.

Teslin to Whitehorse

Robert - Sunday, May 30
Today was a travel day from Teslin, YT to Whitehorse, YT. The campground in Teslin is OK for an overnight stop. It has a pretty view of the lake but that is about all. I keep reading the northern lights forecast and Sunday was rated as more likely than any recent day. So I stayed up last night (actually this morning) to check them out. The sun set at 9:58 p.m. and rose at 3:39 a.m. I went out at 1:15 a.m. and it was still light. There were a few stars visible but not many and the sky was clear. The problem is that the sun just isn’t very far below the horizon. I gave up and went to bed.
The drive was uneventful. Other than a few rough spots, the road so far has been good. I laugh when I read posts on forums about what extra precautions are needed when driving the Alaska Highway. I have driven on many major roads in the lower 48 that are far, far worse. This is like driving on a good, paved two lane highway with wild animals standing on the shoulders.  Of course, the worse is still to come as we still haven’t encountered any frost heaves. Frost heaves occur when the road is built on permafrost. The road cases short sections of the permafrost to melt and the road sinks 6-8 inches. Hitting one of these babies at 60 mph can loosen the fillings in your teeth.
We got to the campground in Whitehorse, checked in, and went immediately to the RV wash. The entire rig was covered with dust and grime from not being washed since Arizona. When we started for the site, we discovered there was an RV in it. I went to the office at the same time as the current occupant was walking in. He said he had tried to register for another day and no one was around so he didn’t get around to it until just them. The manager told him he had to move as the site he was in had been rented out by me. He protested that he was long–at least 50 feet long. I told him we were 60 feet long. He moved his rig to another site.
After we got set up, we walked to the restaurant next to the campground. It is one of the best restaurants we ate in on our trip to Alaska in 2008. It was still good. They offer Swiss, Itallian, and western food but the owners are Swiss and they have great wiener schnitzel.
After that we called it a day.