Friday, June 13, 2008

Tim and Doug cooked pancakes while Deaune and Becky ran. It is always nice to have a warm meal. The temperature this morning is 53 degrees according to the thermometer in the suburban so it was perfect weather for a run. The younger kids went to the playground this morning after eating breakfast while the older kids helped with clean up and breaking down camp. They have motivation this morning as we told them they could get on-line after they were done. They can really get their work done fast when they want to.

Our Internet access seems to be pretty sporadic. Sometimes we find a campground with Internet but it isn’t a strong signal so we can get online but can’t stay connected very long.

Our drive today (Lord willing) is planned to be from the Continental Divide, YT (between Watson Lake and Whitehorse) to Dawson City, YT.

Our Milepost book says the Continental Divide where we stayed last night divides 2 of the largest drainage systems in North America—the Yukon River and Mackenzie River watersheds. Water draining west from this point drain into the Yukon River and continue a northwest journey of 2,300 miles to the Bering Sea (Pacific Ocean). Water that drains to the east forms the Rancheria River which flows into the Liard River (the Hot Springs river) and then the Mackenzie River. These waters flow northward and empty in the Beaufort Sea (Artic Ocean) after a journey of 2,650 miles.

The drive leaving from the Continental Divide to Teslin, YT was very dusty. The road was so dusty that when a semi (going the opposite direction) passed us we could not see for a little while. We couldn’t even see the lines on the road; it was a little scary. Then there was a street sweeper that was cleaning the opposite lane. Again we could not see anything at all. Several of the campsites have advertised that they have RV washes and now we see why.

The scenery today has been beautiful and the weather has been very nice. We have driven into a few sprinkles along the way but most of the day we have been in sunshine. At Whitehorse, we found the first Wal-Mart and chain stores/restaurants since Dawson Creek (almost 900 miles and two day of driving). Wow that is a lot of area without a real grocery store or fast food restaurant.

At Whitehorse we took the Klondike Loop north to Dawson City. This road had permafrost heaves (or at least what we think were permafrost heaves)



The only wildlife we have seen today has been about a dozen bunnies running for their lives to get off the road.