June 22 and 23 - To the Yukon!

Hey all! We drove up Canadian Route 37 today and lived to talk about it. Holy CRAP - what an experience! The road is a challenge for everyone we've talked to and for our bike, pulling the trailer, it was even more so. Jack managed to keep the rubber side down all day, but we are both exhausted and feel like we've won a heavy weight title. From smooth, beautiful blacktop, to huge potholes, jarring dips, and bumpy packed "gravelline", to loose gravel and mud that lasted for miles, we tackled it all. The only thing that would have made it worse driving would have been rain - and that's what our fellow travelers had to deal with yesterday. As it has been since we left, we missed the most awful weather by a single day, and this time, it made all the difference. Rain, on top of the gravel and mud, made for a slippery, dangerous mess yesterday. Today, at least we had dry conditions.

After spending the night on Sunday at a very neat little place (the Java Lodge in Prince Rupert), we took off up toward Watson Lake (where we are currently.) The day began rainy and cold, but cleared up after a while and the scenery was lovely. The road was fairly good and we drove until the fuel tank was registering empty and the indicator light was glowing pretty brightly. We'd filled our spare gas can with 5 gallons shortly after leaving Prince Rupert, so we weren't panicked, but we were happy to see a place to fill up, regardless. We had originally planned to stay in a provincial park near Iskut, which is about 1/2 way between Prince Rupert and Watson Lake, but drifted into a GREAT place called Bell 2, about 90 minutes south of our original goal. The resort is a "heliskiing" resort - they helicopter skiers to mountaintops and they ski down from there - and offers a nice coffee shop, restaurant, lodging, and rv/tenting sites. The place has a hot tub, sauna, massage services (during the winter season) and a gift shop, too. We set up camp and were disappointed to find out that their electrical service to the rv sites wasn't strong enough to support our little heater. Luckily we brought along our electric blanket and it kept us warm enough to deal with the 32 degree night.

We met the most wonderful people during our stay! Those of us spending the night last night included an international bunch of motorcyclists, all traveling separately, but all sharing the great experience of "the road." One couple had air-shipped their bike from the UK to Anchorage and were bound southward to LA. A single guy from Brazil was on day #59 from his home to Prudhoe, AK and back. Another guy, from Taiwan, had flown into Vegas with plans to visit the four corners of North America (LA, Key West, Newfoundland, and Prudhoe) and then there was us!! The UK guy, in 2005, had traveled with a group of 13 from Anchorage to Patagonia (southern tip of South America) on a motorcycle! By the time we got done talking to all of them, we felt like motorcycle wimps! :)

This has been the most outstanding feature of this trip so far - the people we've met! There is something about the culture of motorcycling in general, but driving the Gold Wing specifically, that seems to attract new friends. People are so open and friendly and generous with information and assistance. Everyone is anxious to share their stories and it's SO interesting. We've just loved it so far and can't wait to see what's still to come.

Well, just when we finished complaining about the lack of wildlife we'd seen, we had a close encounter with a moose! We had pulled off the side of the road, gotten out our chairs and little table and some sandwiches that we had in the cooler. We hadn't even finished the first 1/2 of our sandwiches when I looked up toward the side of the drop off at the edge of the rest stop and here comes this big ol' female moose! She was no more than 20 feet from us. Scared the crap out of me! I could only manage to say, "Jack! Moose! Big moose!" It only took him a second to turn around, but by that time, the moose had caught a glimpse of us and had taken off back over the ridge. We packed everything back into the trailer - quickly! - and looked back over our shoulders to see the moose in the road behind us. I've included a photo of her in the slide show at the right (Yes, I realize it's small and it's difficult to see her, but I was shaking and trying to finish getting ready to get the heck out of there!) MAN, those moose are BIG.

We are planning to visit the "signpost forest" here in Watson Lake tomorrow (I'll send photos) and then head over to Whitehorse, a comparatively easy 5 hours from here. I'm not sure if there is an Internet connection at that campground. If not, I'll post on Wednesay. Otherwise, "talk" to you all tomorrow night!

MUAH! - L