Before leaving the airport though, we had a couple of things to do.
First, we had to get a photo of the Watson Lake terminal building...
Watson Lake Airport.
The BC-Yukon Air Services Hangar.
Built in 1941, it played a key role in the American Army’s WWII lend-lease program as well as in the building of the highway.
From the wreck of an Avro Lincoln that crashed at Watson Lake in 1948.
And the other thing we had to do was to find a number!
Yukon Tourism has a contest going on this summer, and we want to win!
At the Tourist Info building in Watson Lake, you can pick up a Yukon Gold Passport. Inside, it lists 37 attractions in the Yukon that are part of the contest. If you get 10 stamps out of those 37 attractions, you get entered to win 1 troy ounce of Klondike Gold. If you visit 20 attractions, you could win 2 ounces of Yukon Gold!
I figure that not many people will play to win, so there won't likely be many entrants. At some of the attractions, such as the Watson Lake Airport, you simply have to find and write down a number that is somewhere in the airport. We found it!
We will have more fun collecting stamps over the next two months and then hand it in at the end of our trip to be entered in the contest!
We each have a Yukon Passport.
From the airport, we drove back into town and parked up at the visitors center. Lots of RV's coming and going!
And then, we had a knock at the door...
"Are you Kevin and Ruth?"
Yep, we are!
Terry and Mona from Kelowna, British Columbia have been following the blog and finally found themselves at the same place as Sherman. Funny though, they were parked up at the airport as well, but they didn't see us there because there is quite a lot of space up there.
Nice to sit and chat for a few minutes, and maybe we'll see them again at some point over the next two months.
Mona and Terry and their rig.
Then, we went for a hike around Wye Lake. The town of Watson Lake is not actually located right at Watson Lake. The original townsite was at the airport, which is actually located on Watson Lake. But the town was moved to "the wye" at some point, and now sits by Wye Lake.
Arctic Lupine. They are a very hardy wildflower.
Ruth, out for a walk.
Wye Lake.
There's a boardwalk on some sections.
About 3.5 kms around. Nice walk.
We went back to the motorhome and had some lunch, and then walked across the road to the Northern Lights Centre.
On the way over, we walked by four old British (right hand drive) cars that were obviously on some kind of mission. We didn't talk to the drivers because I figured I could find out about them on the internet. But I can't come up with anything!
I searched the internet for info about this, but can't come up with anything.
The Northern Lights Centre.
How many millions of miles from earth.
Not every day that you see Australian licence plates over here!
Three free computer stations at the Northern Lights Center.
Surround theater.
The Northern Lights Centre offers two movies shown on their surround screen. Both movies are included in the $10 adult admission, and they last a total of about 50 minutes. They explain the phenomenon of the northern lights, and these movies are your best chance of seeing the northern lights at this time of year! Comfortable seats that almost lie flat, and it gives you the impression that you really are watching the northern lights. Really good show!
Oh... don't forget to get your $1 off coupon from the visitors centre.
Then, we decided to get some driving done. With daylight lasting until pretty much 11:00pm, you can drive later in the day and still be able to see everything. We did another 130 kms (81 miles), then found somewhere to stop for the night.
Scenery along the way.
We love the mountains.
Sherman, taking a break.
We better get parked up before it starts to rain.
We pulled into a spot beside a picnic shelter at a tailhead. In Yukon, the only places you can't overnight are the places where it specifically says that you can't. Otherwise, it's all good.
And as soon as we got parked up, the skies opened up and the rain came down.
After supper, we walked down to the falls.
This was taken after the rainstorm.
The Rancheria Falls.
Ruth at the falls lookout.
Beautiful rugged scenery.
A little van had pulled into the parking area, and we met the occupants on the trail. The van had Chile licence plates. Yes, Juan and Lucia are driving from Argentina to Alaska. We talked to them for 15 minutes or so. A fun young couple on a great adventure. We didn't get a photo of their van, but I borrowed this from their facebook page...
Lots of fun meeting like minded people on the road.
Slept like a log, and this morning we are making our way to the community of Teslin.
We're going to make a detour north to a camping spot at Quiet Lake. It is highly unlikely that we will have internet access from up there, so if you don't hear from us for a day or two, it's not because we've been eaten by bears!
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Wow! the header picture about knocked me over! I see the trees are starting to look scrawny. Aren't you full of information & sites today! Love it. When I see pictures of Watson Lake, it's always of the sign forest and nothing else. I'm sooooo glad you posted pictures of other areas in town. Has your 'wildlife list' changed? Don't forget the loon. What fun to be in a contest with a awesome prize at the end (if you win). Yes, you are celebrities as RV bloggers & bound to meet lots of people who follow you...how exciting to share stories!! Unlike an RVer I follow who would probably freak out if a reader knocked on her door hahaha. To each their own I guess. I was reading 'Wheelingit' post this morning and they talk about shipping your RV across the pond to Europe and the cost of insurance was unbelievable!! I hope the US & Canada are more friendly...who knows (with our current administration we may not be). I saw the road to Quiet Lake loops around to the main highway but will miss Whitehorse. Awesome trip!!!
ReplyDeleteFunny that you should mention about the trees looking scrawny because we were just on a trail that mentioned that the trees on the trail were considered "tall" around these parts. ;-)
DeleteThe loon had already been added to the list when we had it posted in yesterday's post. We have seen a few animals but nothing new.
We enjoy showing off the little towns along the way, it seems that not enough people take the time to check them out.
The road to Quiet Lake does loop around and we were thinking of taking the Campbell Highway at Watson Lake up to Ross River and then down the South Canol Road to Johnson's Crossing but the South Canol Road is closed from Quiet Lake to Ross River, that is why we are going in from the Johnson's Crossing end up to Quiet Lake and then back down again. We will not be missing Whitehorse!
Were you able to speak Spanish with Juan and Lucia?
ReplyDeleteNo, their English was pretty much perfect. I did however speak Spanish to the people a few days ago at the laundromat.
DeleteBeautiful scenery:) I love those kind of airports, back in my flying days I spent lots of time visiting that type of airport...sadly those days are almost gone:(
ReplyDeleteNice that you were able to fly into some of these old airports back in the day. You are right they are now few and far between. It is nice to see one of them still around to enjoy.
DeleteAlways interesting to read your blog had to have a chuckle today when you photographed a fellow countryman’s vehicle whose travels I also follow.
ReplyDeleteToo funny, we would love to know their blog name so we can check them out too! :-)
DeleteLove the pictures of your trip! I've always wanted to go and this morning after seeing your pictures these last several days hubby said "you know I think we should go"..Yay! Love how you run into people that "know" you. Very nice that you can stay unless it says you can't. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteSo happy that we have inspired you to want to travel to the Yukon and beyond. :-)
DeleteAnother fine day meeting people and enjoying the scenery. Happy days!
ReplyDeleteYep, another great day!
DeleteWonderful scenery we love the mountains as well. Good luck with the contest hope you win as well. How have the mosquitos been so far? Very exciting adventure we can hardly wait for ours!
ReplyDeleteActually the mosquitoes have been great so far but it might have to do with the temperature being a little cooler but still very comfortable for us during the day. It gets pretty chilly at night though.
DeleteSimply Beautiful... we will do this someday... If we don't here from you soon it could be because " You were eat'n by BEARS " lol
ReplyDeleteYep, it is most certainly very beautiful up here. Lol, I thought about that when I read the post as well. ;-)
DeleteWhat a fun contest! That is something that I would do for sure.
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like a fun contest and we also think that it is a great way to get people to stop in some of these little towns/villages and explore them a bit because some of the stamps that are needed are in little off the beaten path places not just the bigger communities.
DeleteI wonder how often the Yukon has that contest. They had it going in 2013 as well but we didn’t participate but got the passport as souvenir. Thoroughly enjoyed that northern lights show!
ReplyDeleteMaybe they do it every year. We think it is a great idea, I hope that people will try to get to many of these places that they have in the passport. They will see and learn more about the area this way.
DeleteIf you have never seen the Northern Lights before then watching this show is almost like seeing them in person. It was great!
Love reading about your journey to the Arctic Circle!
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you are enjoying our posts. We are having fun bringing them to you and all our readers. :-)
DeleteDid you consider a passport each to double your chances of winning ?
ReplyDeleteOf course we each have one! ;-)
Delete