The ride out of Haines was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. After crossing the border without any issues we made the long climb to Chilkat Pass, elevation 3,510 feet, to stop and take our scavenger hunt photo. The last few days we really noticed the difference in the foliage that was now showing her beautiful autumn colors. The Haines Highway was tiring to drive with all of the frost heaves and potholes but absolutely gorgeous. The scenery was so different from our last stop in Whitehorse which was only slightly more than a month previous.
We stopped at the Da Ku Cultural Center & Haines Junction Visitor Center to turn in our Yukon Explorer’s Passport contest paperwork that was due by August 31, 2019. We only visited 10 locations so we are eligible to win one once of gold. We didn’t get to some of the locations to try for the 20 stamps for the two ounces of gold but since this was the last day for the contest it was time to turn it in. I wish Randy had come inside with me because they had marvelous moose hide artifacts similar to the one’s he has from his trip in 1966. I saw a pair of small beaded, fur lined moccasins marked c. 1980, similar to the ones his mom bought, priced at over $300. He would have thoroughly enjoyed the Center but he stayed at the RV so that he could get it turned around. He was not sure he could go to the right around the building and once he unsuccessfully turned left, he was too close to parked cars to make the turn. By the time I got back from turning in the contest paperwork, he had the RV moved and the Jeep hooked up again. One disadvantage of flat-towing anything is the inability to back up! And with our RV’s larger turning radius, we can easily get stuck in small parking lots.
Once we arrived at Pioneer RV Park, Randy took the time to wash the RV. It really needed it! We still had enough time to head to town for dinner and some grocery shopping. We went back to Randy’s favorite restaurant since joining up with the caravan, the Klondike Rib & Salmon. I was afraid it would be very crowded since it was Saturday night but we got right in. The hostess remembered Randy and called him “sausage finders” which she had nicknamed him on our last trip. We both thoroughly enjoyed the Caesar salad with salmon skewers. While paying, the owner of the restaurant came up to us and said hi. She also remembered us from our last stop and when Randy told her this was our favorite restaurant on our trip, she gifted us both nice coffee cups. I am amazed that she remembered us, and that we were headed back to Florida.
I didn’t get much sleep that night; constantly jumping out of bed to look for the Northern Lights. It was a cloudy night so none of us thought it would be a good night to see them. When I woke up about 1:30 it was lightly raining so I thought my chances of seeing a good show was over; however, when I woke up about 3 a.m. the stars were out. And even though my Aurora App was saying I had a 73 percent change of seeing the lights, the sky was clear of anything but stars. It wasn’t much later than Randy woke me up saying people were outside. I quickly got dressed and while Randy stayed in bed, I enjoyed the light show. Diane and I stayed outside watching the skies until almost 5 am when it was starting to get light. Every time I thought the show was over, I would see another display in the sky. The lights were more white than colorful but pulsating and swirling across the sky. A truly remarkable experience that I can cross off my bucket list!
