Showers and chores in Haines Jt.

Started our day with a short hike up to Soldiers Summit, just south of our campground. This was the location of the Alaska highway ribbon cutting ceremony. The walk included interpretive panels about the construction. 8 months of building the approximately 1900 mile road, through horrible winter conditions. As with most of our history there are parts of the story that are heartbreaking, and the highway forever changed life for the First Nation people and Canada. Good and bad. The vista from the top was the south end of Lake Kluane, which is a huge lake.

Continued our drive stopping at the Parks Canada visitor center at Sheep Mountain. This time of year there are rarely mountain sheep here because they have gone to higher elevations, or cooler slopes. So no wildlife...

Ended our morning drive at the Visitor center in Haines Junction, another really nice building that is shared with the local First Nation tribe from this area. Every tribe has a cultural center put in place to preserve their history and culture, I think maybe 13 -14 different tribes....Similar to the US they have their own government, boundaries and agreements.

We had been without cell service the last couple of days, so found a local bakery with Wi-fi and had lunch and laptop time. I get most of my email taken care of with my phone, but I really need Wi-fi to update our finances and double check credit charges as we travel. Also needed to get some Canadian money, most of the government parks are self registration and we need cash to leave in the envelope...well and frankly, many of our bakery purchases are small enough they prefer cash! Most every one will take American, but you pay the full Canadian dollar amount!

Filled up with gas and since are overnight plan was at yet another government camp, we needed to empty our waste tanks, always a pleasant chore, especially in the full sun! And then found some public pay showers at the local laundromat. My shower was clean, and warm, and great water pressure! Felt so good after a warm day, which here, is low 80s, high 70s. If not the government camp, our choice was a gravel parking lot with power pedestals next to the Fast Gas station on the highway! The wooded sites always have a much greater appeal!

Drove out to Pine Lake campground and found a shady spot, and yes, wooded site, yay! This camp had about 50 sites, and since it is on the lake we had lots of families camping. This lake is not a typical glacier fed lake and had a sand beach and water warm enough for the kids to swim in! Enjoyed walking their lakeside boardwalk.

Back to the RV and set up my floor standing fan by using a small inverter that plugs into a cigarette lighter. Needed the fan because we cooked up a pot of spaghetti sauce (some things never change, think I could make this with my eyes closed!) for dinner and some future dinners! Enjoyed a call with my mom, and some reading time...Read more