Saturday, June 28, 2008

Whitehorse YT 6/25 & 6/26

Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon Territory. There is a lot to see and do here, as it is still quite a touristy town. We toured the SS Klondike which is a ship that has been restored and is now owned by the Yukon government as a historic site. It was originally launched in 1937 and took gold prospectors up the river. It was operated by steam that was produced by burning wood on board. The cargo area held the cargo as well as the wood that was burned to produce the steam. The ship stopped along the river to pick up more logs for burning. The man that kept the fire burning worked a shift of four hours on then eight off. He had to put another log (4’ long) into the burner every 30 seconds. Talk about a tiring 4 hour shift. Once up river it returned with a load of silver ore.

And have you ever seen a weather vane this large?

We went to a wildlife preserve and got a good shot of a mountain goat.

For the most part though we thought that the pictures of animal we got along the highway were much better. Guess the preserve is more for the folks that are on bus tours or cruises and don’t get an opportunity to see them naturally.
The most interesting sight for me personally was when we got back to camp. A large tour bus like none that I’d ever seen before. This first one is taken looking down the driver side. It has seating in the front with the kitchen and pantry below (used from outside) and the sleeping berths in the rear.

On the other side you can see that a tent of sorts comes our and they enter the sleeping area easily.


Here’s a closer look at the cooking area and pantry.


We were in the laundry room looking out the window when we first noticed a lot of women preparing a salad. When I walked over I asked the gentleman if I could take pictures. He didn’t speak much English, but said “for a dollar you can take picture”. I laughed and starting taking pictures. I’m sure they attract attention every where they go. I would have loved to ask more questions, but the language barrier prevented it.


These last two photos were added when I discovered an interest from Bayern. Don't know if the interest is for the bus or the people. In case it's for the people I wanted you to see all that I took. Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear from you.

4 comments:

Becki said...

What language did they speak? Are there a lot of non-English speakers around?
Cool looking unit :)

Tammy said...

Very cool. Isn't interesting how other people or other country's do things.

siteseer said...

Harmony, I think they were German, but then I usually think they're German. Yes, there are a lot of foreigners. Guess we are too.

Anonymous said...

Judi, All I can say is Wow! Wow! Wow! Your pictures and discriptions are wonderful, you do a great travelogue. You're right about the tunnel in Whittier, a little too close quarters for me. Looking forward to where the next road takes you.
Karen