July 4th - Dawson City , YT

July 4th, 2010

This will have to come in several sections. First Section is Dawson City. What a great town! Got in about 10:00 am their time and cruised the streets. First of all, it is still an active gold mining town. You can see that from all of the mine tailings as you enter town. But most of the town itself is set up like an old 1898 Gold Rush Town. After all, this was the heart of the Klondike. It is obviously geared for tourists – little shops, restaurants, etc. See pics – boardwalk streets, muddy dirt streets too – not paved. Only lacked the horses.

A nice little jewelry store where I bought Dorene a souvenir. And yes, it is all authentic , locally discovered 24 carat gold. They guy who owned this shop was an Inuvik person. We would call them Eskimos.

The Tour Center was great. They were not offended by Mr. Scuzzy Person from Virginia. They were all dressed in turn of the 19th/20th century garb and they were all very proud of the town. The even let me fill up a couple of water jugs.

Then came the crossing of the Yukon River to the Top of the World Highway. There were several steamships that cruised the Yukon for years. The Klondike Spirit still takes tourists The SS Keno is a museum. The ferry (don’t know name) is free. But it is one heck of a boat to fight the current in the Yukon River. Dirt Landings on both sides – see pics.