In the Midst of Vastness, Take Photos of Bridges And Dust. And, a Museum: The Estate Takes on Alaska

Copyright 2019, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

June 29, 2019

3:43 AM, I can see cross the parking lot.

No furnace or electric heater required.

Seagulls squawking.

At 7 I am up and happy to see what promises to be another sunny day.

Preliminary thoughts on the Mile Post. We have a current copy. It is useful. It is also rather overwhelming at times. It can take your views away from the road as you read it, it’s historical and informative, and overwhelming. Oh. I said that. LOL

Oh. And the bug population is heavier according to our windshield, and we have the carcasses to show for it. See, another volunteer for a suicide mission.

Despite the close parking on a level gravel parking lot, I was nicely surprised at how quiet and considerate everyone was this morning when they packed up to roll. Well played. And thank you. (Now if we could get peeps to take their barking/howling dogs with them when they out for the evening, but alas, I’m one up on considerate Campers/rivers, counting my blessings.)

A slow start day. Man cleaned and covered the stone chip with a circle tab thingy they gave us at the glass place. Hopefully will keep it from rusting from now?

The Chip - - and some bug remains, may they RIP.

And, the fix - -

Yesterday we also discovered we had lost a lug nut cover that holds the decorative hub caps on. He rechecked the rest this morning. And checked the oil.

Someone insisted on washing the scum off The Estate. Seems some of it is calcium chloride which will harden when wet? Or maybe the campground owner is just trying to earn a bit more $$$. That said he has two power washers right IN the campground. Yep, it’s a different kinda living here. Took over half an hour and Carol one pinch/blood blister. I tell you. Me and power washers are not in the best of relationships. Just saying.

Fueled up. Finally rolling about 11:15. Thank goodness we still have almost 12 hours of daylight left and our campsite for the night is confirmed. 

More bridges - -

  

Along the road, dirt embankments. Peeps taking stones and putting initials and names up. Most of these "memorials" are Sue & Sam type things, or names, or hearts, and they are done in natural rock. I happened to catch this one with painted rocks - -

The tall and skinny evergreens are tall and skinny so the heavy snows slides off the limbs, not collect, weigh down and break the limbs. 

Look at this, road, and green and road and green, it just keeps going, vastness on steroids.

And. another bridge - -

By 1:30 only wild life was one little bunny who almost met his maker and our tires, but decided to turn around. Smart bunny. The bugs, not as smart, suicide missions. 

The mountains surround us - - yes, there be snow up there.

The rivers run beside us, crossing under those bridges I love so much.  Some wide, some narrow, some fast, some meander, some teal, some dark blue.

Construction zones. Dusty. Loose gravel.

That's not fog or mist, that's dust - -

We stopped here for a quick fuel up and had breakfast, really good breakfast - -

They had a Motel, the building is common here, used by many of the oil field workers - -

Yesterday we started out with noises that seemingly overnight increased many times over. Ok. We knew this would be an issue. And, yes, we are seriously over sensitive. Acknowledged. So hunks of my time yesterday were taken up with mission SHUTUP! I wrapped things, I foamed things. I even taped slipnot to the interior of one of the kitchen cabinets. Today the roads are not as smooth as yesterday and it’s quiet in here. Stay tuned. This is an ongoing mission. I know. Silly me.

First two construction crews we passed, filling pot holes, 2 members each crew, all women. Bet they have great upper body strength. 

More construction dust - - with a bridge!!!

  

And. more water - - and, yep, seems like another bridge too.

Believe this bridge was at Teslin - - 

We pulled over at a pull off to get this photo of the bridge, and another one of these dudes showed up.

Teslin, fuel and George Johnston Museum. We have done very little stopping, it's been peddle to the metal, move along.  But, I saw the description of this museum and, well, he took photos!  Lots of photos!  He was a Tlingit Elder.  Go ahead and do a search for him, try the term George Johnston Museum Canada.  He was so interesting and clever.  They had a 50 minute film, frankly, we did not have that much time to devote, but, did watch 20 minutes or so.  And, did a quick browse of the displays.  This was a nicely done museum, it was definitely worth the stop!

Believe this was a sewing kit - -

This is a dog blanket, used when to travel to celebrations or other festivities.  Black velvet with embroidery, made by the Nahanni people.

George owned the first car in Teslin, what a story, shipped in on a boat, driven on the ice in the winter to hunt.  He even painted it white each winter to blend in - -

This is a Tlingit Mask, called "Hunter with Frogman", it features birch wood and human hair. By Alex Dickson in 2006.

Back on the road - - lookie here - - our first!  Momma moose, well, female, I think - -

Man pointed out this pretty cloud formation, so, of course, Sony III and I took a photo - -

One last bridge for the day - -

Stopped for the night about 3 miles before Whitehorse. Another gravel parking lot. 

I was not thrilled to be sleeping under this hunk o concrete, lucky for us, no rain while we were here and that concrete was still there when we backed out!

AT&T still DOA. And Sprint connects to Telus.

267 miles.

Practiced cooking and food prep in 100 square feet. Something new, cooking with the George Foreman grill on 30 Amp service. Burgers tasted good, or was that the 5 o’clock?

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