Steven and Betty RV Adventures

WHITEHORSE, YT. It is late morning on Saturday in the Yukon. This is the first time in days that we have been able to connect on the internet via WIFI using our Version Jetpack. I have no idea why I have access today, but hope to make good use of it while I am on.

This part of Canada is a frontier. There are very few roads once you are 100 miles north of the lower 48. The main road is the Alaskan Highway, which is a portion of Highway 97 that leads northward and westward from near the US/Canada border. Few places have internet or cell phone services. Some places have no electricity unless they have a generator or are "off the grid" with solar panels. Some places truck their water in and store it in large containers. The roads are often gravel and very dusty, with large pot holes. Slow bumpy travel, taking a lot longer to get anywhere than you would expect. If you have ever seen TV shows about Alaska and how desolate much of it is, you have a good idea of mid to upper BC and the Yukon.

I had read that most Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border; I now see what this means in terms of civilization. I have no idea why anyone would want to live up here except to work mines, oil, or hunt fish and game. All this surprises me, since we have seen Alberta to the east, and it is much better, even farther north. Once this tour is over, I do not think we shall ever drive anything here again, especially our motorhome. If you want to see Alaska, I recommend flying in and renting your transportation.

All of the aforesaid notwithstanding, there are indeed beautiful scenes (in good weather and good light), and one can see wildlife in large quantity, especially if you get up early enough.

We are in an RV park that has got to be among the worst in the world. We are parked so close together that we had to be careful how to open our slide-outs. Very dirty and full of loose gravel. Not a good place for a motorhome. 30 amps maximum, which is typical in this part of Canada. We actually had only 20 amps a few nights ago.

Pioneer RV Park

We got the car washed last night while it was still light around 10 pm. Very light. Like mid-afternoon. I hear the sun sets at 3 am, though I have not sat up to see for myself. It was a dollar for 3 minutes of wash time, do it yourself with a spray gun. You insert a "loonie" coin (one Canadian dollar). Even two dollars are in coin form (a "toonie"). Much of the change you get is in coins as a result. Thus, I have a pocket full of Canadian coins.

We ventured into Whitehorse, the largest city in the Yukon, to see the sites there. We stopped to see The Klondike, a preserved river boat from the gold rush era, ventured into town to see historic sites, then made our way to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.