July 21st to 23rd - Skagway

July 21st – Sat – to Skagway
We had a short drive today so at 9 we moved the rigs to the Superstore parking lot and shopped for groceries. Dave checked the bike shop for a new rim for Margo’s bike – way too expensive – and we were on our way.
The road was so much nicer than yesterday and the sun was shining again. We stopped for pictures at Emerald Lake which is very impressive with bright blue lines and at the Carcross Desert. We spent quite a bit of time at a “wildlife museum and attractions center” which has sled dogs, goats, pigs and a few little shops. The gift shop had some really nice items which were a welcome change from the usual tourist stuff. Margo declared this a perfect day – muffins/doughnuts for breakfast and ice cream for lunch!
We had a couple of strange questions at the US Customs because of my “green” card. What was our relationship and, since I had been in the US since 1977, why not naturalization? We had no questions about food but Dave & Margo were asked about fresh meat and their hamburger was OK. When we got to the RV park, we had to phone the manager to come check us in. We set up, made a sandwich and Terry washed the filthy truck while I did some much needed cleaning in the 5th wheel. Dave washed his little car AND his motorhome.
We went into town to get some information and possibly make reservations for a couple of tours. We were late and stores were already closing so we watched a film in the park visitor center, visited some stores and came back to make baby backs for dinner for us and D&M.
The wind came up in the afternoon but it wasn’t too cold. Terry did his usual great job of cooking the ribs on the BBQ. Dinner was followed by a game of Wizard which I won.

July 22nd – Sun – Skagway
We bought tickets this morning for the train ride and a trip to Juneau and then wandered around some shops. Dave found a wheel for Margo’s bike and Terry got a nozzle so he can wash the 5th wheel. We came back to the RV park to have some lunch and then drove back to town to catch the White Pass and Yukon Route train which goes over the pass that gold prospectors had to climb over. There were 3 cars of “independent” travelers and about 12 cars of cruise ship passengers. It was our 8th day of sunshine (Terry was keeping track) and the scenery was gorgeous. Since we drove the opposite side of the valley yesterday, it probably wasn’t as exciting for us as for people who came in by water. It took just over 3 hours for the 40 mile round trip and we all considered it expensive for what was involved.
We were a little early for dinner so we went through more shops and Margo got some gifts for grandkids. Dave wanted to check out the Red Onion Saloon (bar, restaurant and brothel museum) so we had nachos & pizza washed down with a couple of pitchers of beer. None of us wanted to take the 15 minute “upstairs” tour for $5.
We were back fairly early so Terry decided to start washing the 5th wheel. He barely got going when the faucet blew off the top of the water standpipe. I had him hold a bucket over the “fountain” and phoned the offsite owner. By the time he got there, we had a lake under the back of our site and into Dave & Margo’s site. The owner turned off the water, reglued the fitting and left the water off while it dried. This ended Terry’s 5th wheel washing so we watched a movie (no TV at all here) and had dessert.

July 23rd – Mon – Skagway
We got up early to catch the Fjord Express catamaran which left at 8 to go to Juneau. We stopped at Haines in 45 minutes to pick up more passengers. On the way, the captain kept an eye out for whales and sea lions, both of which we saw. We also saw Dalls porpoises and eagles. The captain was also very good about telling us history of the areas we went through. There were slight swells but when the boat was up to speed it glided through the waves.
We docked about 39 miles north of Juneau and went the rest of the way in a bus, again with the driver keeping us entertained and informed. We had a little tour around old Juneau in the bus and then had 3 hours for lunch and sightseeing, both of which were great.
When we boarded the bus again, we were taken to Mendenhall Glacier and had an hour for sightseeing, going through the visitor center and taking pictures. Our bus was a little late to pick us up because there were 4 cruise ships in town and there were many buses discharging and picking up passengers in the 5 allotted bus parking spots. We had to wait for a pilot car through construction both ways but it didn’t delay us too much.
The weather was cloudy but there was no rain and it wasn’t cold. Apparently this is typical summer weather for Juneau. The Lynn Canal was perfectly smooth when we started back and didn’t get very choppy so we could enjoy our smoked salmon chowder without spilling on ourselves. We arrived back at 8:30.