Yukon Territory

I have always felt that there is a sense of mystery associated with the Yukon.  Whether I was learning about Yukon gold miners in history lessons or watching The Polar Express, I have long been intrigued by the far north.  It was pretty exciting to me when we drove into Yukon Territory.

Our first stop in YT, Watson Lake, was one of the most interesting towns we passed through on our trip. The Milepost Magazine (a must-have if you are traveling the Alaska Highway - best $35 I've ever spent, and that's Canadian dollars!) gives this brief description of Watson Lake:

"Gateway to the Yukon"
Milepost 612.9 from Dawson Creek
Population: 1563

"Watson Lake is an important service stop on the Alaska Highway.  The community is also a communication and distribution centre for the southern Yukon; a base for trappers, hunters and fishermen; a supply point for area mining and mineral exploration."

"Watson Lake was an important point during construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942.  The airport, built in 1941, was one of the major refueling stops along the Northwest Staging Route, the system of airfields through Canada to ferry supplies to Alaska and later lend-lease aircraft to Russia."

"The Alaska Highway helped bring both people and commerce to this once isolated settlement.  A post office opened here in July 1942.  Today, the economy of Watson Lake is based on services to mining exploration and tourism."

There is a Signpost Forest in Watson Lake, where travelers can commemorate their passage through by adding a license plate or sign.  Now that we have our new Alaska license plates, maybe we'll send a Goofy II plate from Indiana or Ohio to add to the Signpost Forest.

The Signpost Forest extends to a Northern Lights Centre in the town, where they have signs to show the distance of planets and the Sun from Earth.  The Northern Lights Centre had one of the most amazing movies on Space that I have ever seen.  You want to feel insignificant?  Go hang out in the Yukon and watch a movie on Space.  You will become keenly aware of how very tiny you are.

We stayed at this charming little inn called the Air Force Lodge, which was originally built in 1942 to be pilots quarters and has since been restored.  They require that you take your shoes off at the door and it is impeccably clean.  Those of you who know of my hotel anxieties will understand why this was the best night's sleep I had on the entire trip.  Each room only has two twin size beds in it (think dorm style - just as it would have been for pilots in 1942), so the kids were in their own room and each had their own bed.  They thought that was pretty cool.

The owner of the Air Force Lodge is one of the most interesting people I've run across.  He is a German man with a heavy accent, but he and his wife have lived in Canada for many years and love it.  He is robustly friendly and made us feel right at home.  Their home is on a lot adjoining the Air Force Lodge.  It is a double-decker bus that they have re-purposed into a house.  I couldn't help but think of my nephew, Vincent.  I imagine him living in a house like this someday.

Behind the Lodge they keep horses and teach riding lessons.

It was recommended that we go to Bee Jays for breakfast.  We were warned that it looked frightening, but that the food is wonderful.  I don't know, what's frightening about a diner attached to an automotive repair shop?  Well, it was interesting, but we enjoyed our breakfast and then embarked on our ninth day of travel.