Cross Country Trip Day 2 - Whitehorse to Watson Lake

Day 2 (June 25): Whitehorse to Watson Lake

Today started out a little slower than expected, as we forgot to adjust our phones for Pacific Time zone - the ranch owner seemed a little surprised when we wandered in for our breakfast after 10 am.  After breakfast, we spent about an hour with the dogs again, most of it in the kennel playing with the 4 new puppies.  After about 20 minutes, the dogs all of a sudden started going crazy, running circles around their kennels and barking non-stop...we we wondering what was going on. after a few minutes we saw one of the ranch workers walking around rounding up "volunteers" to do some training - they all wanted to go.  We wish we could've stayed longer but had a lot of driving to do, so we packed up and got back on the road.

Alex enjoying some "puppy love."

The kennels were only a few miles away from Whitehorse, so the first leg of the trip was relatively short, as we ventured off to find the Yukon Brewery.  The importance of this visit was magnified since we were traveling beer free after the disappointment in Haines yesterday.  Half-expecting our sour luck to continue and find the brewery closed, we were quite relieved to find it open so we could fill our cooler with a growler of Yukon Discovery and a few extra bottles for emergencies.  With our cooler stocked, we were ready to get on the road.

Yukon Brewery in Whitehorse.

As far as wildlife sightings, it was a relatively slow day (we hope) 270 miles of driving netted 4 bears and a marmot.  Not a complete disappointment, but we're hoping more is waiting for us as we make our way to Jasper and Banff.  

We did come across the part of the road that washed away in the mudslides from 3 weeks ago....the damage was pretty impressive, and had to travel on a makeshift one-lane road for a few miles, but not too bad considering the shape it was in when it happened.

We stopped for lunch at an RB park in Teslin - unfortunately, it was quite chilly and we had to put on our sweatshirts back on - we were hoping those days were over when we embarked the ferry in Juneau.  A quick stop in the gift shop ended up with an unexpected surprise with a cool wildlife gallery with all sorts of taxidermied animals.  Very cool!

Chilly picnic lunch in Teslin.

After about 5 hours of road time, we ended up in Nugget City...after all the time we spent trying to find a suitable place near Watson Lake, we were very happy we made the choice to stay here!  We quickly noticed the mosquitos were not quite as plentiful nor as persistent as the Whitehorse breed we had deal with yesterday, although they were smaller and much more difficult to smash. When we made it into the room, we were greeted with a very nice welcoming gift, a bottle of white wine waiting for us in the fridge and some chocolates for the kids - compliments of the Clarke family, who stayed there 3 weeks ago...the wine tasted awesome, especially considering today we got to enjoy it chilled! We had a pretty decent dinner at the "Wolf it Down Restaurant" with an ice cream dessert for the kids.  Afterwards, both Ash & Alex took advantage of the jacuzzi tubs. By this time, it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night - although it took Ash & Alex about an hour to ensure that their queen size bed was evenly divided, and we're quick to protest any time their brother or sister encroached on their side!

Nugget City cabin #5

All things considered, not a bad day.  The weather has been beautiful. And we're all getting settled into the routine...tonight, we'll make sure the camera is fully charged and ready for lots of action.

Tomorrow: Fort Nelson

Wildlife sightings:
4 black bears
1 marmot