Monday, August 8, 2016

Watson Lake, YT - On the Road

We’re off, heading back to Iowa where we’ll land in September. We’re looking forward to it since we’ll be there for 6 weeks. Amazing. 6 weeks. We haven’t been longer than a week anywhere since late May.

First - how to start the day. Yep, cinnamon rolls at Johnson Crossing. We’ve heard that one of the icons of the Alaska Highway is the cinnamon rolls along it. Since we took the Cassiar Highway up to the Alaska, we missed lots of them but we’ve got to make amends to our tummies and here we are. From the original recipe of the Porsild/Davignon family who opened Johnson Crossing Lodge in 1949, shortly after the Alaska Hwy opened. Were these good or what?
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Our RV is still covered in mud. Very few campgrounds will let you clean your RV and we’ve decided that we’re moving on and exploring - cleaning is not our priority right now.
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One of the lodges along the highway is the Montague Roadhouse. Many roadhouses are still open but this one has closed and presents a unique picture.
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Roadhouses were built every 20 or 30 miles along the length of the Overland Trail. Each post was complete with roadhouse, stables, storehouses and cabins. A stage would stop at 1 or 2 roadhouses a day and horses were changed at each. Passengers paid $1.50 for meals and $1.00 for a bed for the night.
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A starcrossed roadhouse. Built in 1900 on the other side of a small river nearby. When it burned down another replacement was built here in 1909. It was used as a roadhouse until the 1950’s. The kitchen and the eating area were on the first floor and 2 bedrooms were on the second story. Two woodstoves provided heat and the interior of the building was lined with cheesecloth: to lighten the place and to prevent the moss and dirt chinking from falling into the rooms.
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Our next stop was at Moose Creek. We’ve had our treat for the day but this was supposed to be a cool lodge to stop in and see. Looks like these 3 buses beat us to the lodge. And - one of the bathrooms was broken. Oh, no.
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Which is the best view? a frosted cinnamon roll or these lakes?
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or these mountains?
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Here’s the only elk we saw in the elk watch area. I see signs like this and get out my camera to be at the ready. Today it was a waste of time.
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We did see this lonely rather skinny little bear. Must be a mother bear somewhere around.
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