Dear Friends & Family,
I know that I spelled visitors wrong. I was quoting my Norwegian grandmother, Bertha, who could never pronounce her “v’s” so she would tell me, while I was visiting her, We are going to have some “Wisitors” today.
Still no bears or moose, it was Steve’s mom, Sally and her hubby, Tim!!! They had been on an Alaskan cruise and landed back in Vancouver, BC and turned around and flew to Whitehorse, Yukon. Dacotah and Seeley drove up to Whitehorse to pick them up, which is 244 miles from Haines. They came on Wednesday, and they got here about 9:30m pm. Thursday they played tourist and Travis and company, were their tour guides. Thursday night we ate at Alpenglow, a local pizza joint. Then we went to the Chilkat River for Seeley’s 1-year pictures with a professional photographer. If you saw her baby pictures, you’ll know that she wasn’t very cooperative. This time they got some FANTASTIC PICS!!! (see pictures attached). It was a beautiful night and we had a great time.
Friday we all took the fast ferry to Skagway. Skagway is where the Yukon gold rush began. We got there and ordered sandwiches from a local sandwich shop. We boarded the train that takes you up to the Yukon where they found GOLD!!! You HAVE to rent/watch White Fang, which is a show about the gold rush in the Yukon. It is ABSOLUTELY amazing to see where these men went just on the hope to find gold. They had to carry everything on their backs and climb up this mountain pass. They had to prove that they had 2,000lbs of goods or they couldn’t come over the border. They had to make many, many, trips through one of two trails in order to carry 2000 lbs of goods to get them through the winter. One was shorter but steeper the other longer but a little easier. Trust me, nothing was EASY!!!!
“The Canadian authorities required each of them to bring a year’s supply of food, in order to prevent starvation. In all, the Klondikers’ equipment weighed close to a ton, which most carried themselves, in stages. Performing this task, and contending with the mountainous terrain and cold climate, meant those who persisted did not arrive until summer 1898. Once there, they found few opportunities, and many left disappointed.”
This was close to 2,000 lbs which they had to carry across the pass on their backs. They tried to use mules but they couldn’t make it.
More than 3,000 animals died on this trail; many of their bones still lie at the bottom on Dead Horse Gulch. During the first year of the rush an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 gold seekers spent an average of three months packing their outfits up the trails and over the passes to the lakes.
After the train we headed for ICE CREAM! There are no ice cream stores in Haines. Their used to be a couple that made gelato, but they don’t anymore. They have a regular ice cream store and a soft serve place in Skagway. Then we walked around and looked at shops until dinner which was at Skagway Fish Company. Crab, Salmon, Halibut, Shirmp…all were enjoyed! We took the Fjordland ferry home and went to bed! It was a very long day!!!!
Saturday, we started out with the Farmer’s Market and then had a brunch of pao de queijo, Moqueca and Romeo and Julieta. We invited our landlords, Annette & Sam and Sam & Shannon. We had a wonderful time! Then we went out to the weir and Chilkoot Lake. We went out to Jamie and Vance’s where they gave us fresh salmon that had been caught a few hours before!!! We had a FANTASTIC Salmon dinner.
Sally and Tim left Sunday am on the Fjordland ferry to Juneau.
Sunday evening, we attended Seeley’s Birthday Party at the Russell’s. There were about 20 people and we had a beautiful cake with layers of guava, buttercream and strawberry buttercream! Seeley had an adorable whale cake! She really wasn’t sure what to do with it, but since we put her in her highchair, and put something on it, she was wondering if she was supposed to eat it? It took her a while, and we had to cut a piece out for her but then she was ALL OVER IT!!! She had really not had much sugar before this, so she was like, WAIT, WHAT??? Y’all been holding out on me! It was a great ending to a great week!
Kiss, Kiss,
Stephanie
Haines Happenings 