Hello friends and family!

We hope all are enjoying the fabulous fall weather. It is a bit sad that the fall foliage is disappointing this year but it is a beautiful season nontheless. Just thought I’d write a quick post to cover highlights of our travels through Yukon Territory. We took a small and quick ferry that exited us from Alaska and entered us into the Yukon Territory.

In Dawson City, we stayed at Gold Rush Campground which I would recommend since it is a short walk into town and there are lots of things to see and do in the area. I had wanted to see Cancan dancers and this is the place.

Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall is Canada’s oldest casino and during the season there are three Cancan showings featuring three different performances. The casino is a fun place to visit, a limited menu is available and you can enjoy a drink and a meal while watching the shows. The place is pretty lively, there is some audience participation, and the Cancan dancers are extremely entertaining and fun to watch. The costumes for the dancers are colorful, as are the people in attendance. Definitely worth the $15 to see just one show and the other shows would be icing on the cake. According to their website, dawsoncity.ca/diamond-tooth-gerties/ proceeds from the shows are reinvested into the community. That’s pretty impressive!

While there, we took a quick ride up Midnight Dome Mountain to see 360 views of Dawson City and the Yukon River. Great vistas and amazing topographies. Sunset there would be a spectacle to behold but during the time we visited the sun didn’t set until midnight. The Dome is also a place to view Northern Lights with best viewing late August to mid-April. Since we were not there at the right time, viewing the Northern Lights remains on our bucket list.

An easy walk around town brings you to Dawson City Visitor Center, Dawson City Museum, Jack London Museum, Robert Service Cabin (poet and writer), and Palace Grand Theatre. There are many other places to visit that we had to miss.

The last night in Dawson City we planned to visit the Downtown Hotel, home of the famous Sourtoe Cocktail. The drink is a shot of whiskey with a mummified toe in the glass. Sounds so horribly disgusting that, of course, both Kenny and Susan wished to take up the challenge. One must drink the whiskey and the toe must touch your lips (fondly called “kissing the toe”). If you swallow the toe, the fine is $2,500. Over 60,000 people have ordered this drink. Some people have in their will that they wish to have their toe donated to the hotel so there are backups available and, yes, some have actually swallowed the toe.

So off we went Downtown. When we arrived at the hotel, the patrons were sitting in the dark and we are told that the electricity is out in the whole area and they were closing. Those people already seated had to finish their drinks and leave. They were not serving anyone anymore. Electricity was expected to come back that evening. The whole town was shut down so there was no toe kissing that night. Therefore Kenny and Susan had no bragging rights that they had kissed the Sour Toe.

From Dawson City, we again stopped in Whitehorse. I’d like to give kudos to Klondike Rib and Salmon Restaurant. We had a great dinner on the way up and had another on the way back “to the Lower-48”. Known for their BBQ ribs and fish, all of our meals were delicious and you are sitting in a tent! The atmosphere was fun. Both times we lucked out and didn’t have a long wait to get in but we drove by it several times during our visit and there people lined up down the street. We just loved that restaurant. Even if you had to wait, it would be worth it!

We decided to take a little trip from Whitehorse to Skagway that was advertised in the camp store. A bus picked us up at the campground then we boarded a train that brought us to Skagway. The adventure was the scenic train ride which was narrated, traveled through tunnels and valleys then descended over White Pass. I thought it would be scary or I would be “train sick” but all was perfect. Once at Skagway, we had time for a quick meal then had to board a bus to return us to the campground.

It was a beautiful day to take the train, enjoy the views, and learn some history of the area. It was interesting that the train stopped in various locations and picked up hikers that been in the back country on their own adventures. The trip as described was $90/adult which is pricey. However, that covered two buses and a once-in-lifetime train adventure.

We next traveled to New Brunswick, Canada, to spend some quality time with our friends Ronnie and Patsy. Blog post to come. Stay tuned.

Until next time, we raise our glasses and toast to you:

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy