Skagway, here we come

After spending two nights at the Oceanside RV Park in Haines,  we headed for the ferry terminal for a one hour trip to Skagway. It rained almost the whole time we were in Haines.

The view was fantastic crossing the 14 mile channel to Skagway.  This was Sadie’s first time crossing water; Kolohe (cat) however crossed from Kauai to AZ for his first trip and this was his second.

There was one cruise ship in the harbor when we got into Skagway, but there were 4 by the time we got up the next morning.

We had reservations at Pullen RV Park which is right near the harbor, train station and town. It was not the greatest campground, however. We walked around Skagway which is very touristy, but cute. They have made the shops so they remind you of Main Street, Disneyland. Again, you can see it’s raining.

One of my ex students used to work at a cruise-owned jewelry store here in Skagway. So I found the store and then found these ladies who had known Dennis.  I sent the pictures to him.

The next afternoon we had reservations on the White Pass Narrow Gauge train. This is a 3 ½ hour trip to White Horse Pass. Several people told us you shouldn’t miss it.

 

It was a slow moving train since it had to climb towards the pass, but we saw some beautiful scenery. Thank goodness the rain had stopped and the views were spectacular. There were even real conductors.

At the top, White Pass, our engine broke away from the train and then moved to the end of our train to pull us back to Skagway. That meant everyone inside had to change sides and flip the backs of their seats so they are now facing forward. Crazy, but it worked.

While we were sitting and waiting for the engine to reattach when we got a great view of a real steam engine pulling the train that traveled past us.

On the way back we were able to get pictures of things that we missed on the way up. A glacier, fireweed, train on lower track, and a view back to Skagway.

 

One of my students, Dennis, is a jeweler and used to work in Skagway through a cruise ship line. So I went to the store to see if anyone there remembered Dennis, and these two ladies did. So, I sent their pictures to Dennis along with the front of the store.

After getting sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls at the Lemon Rose bakery in Skagway. Then having dinner at the Skagway Fish Company where we had the best halibut fish and chips we have ever had, we headed out on the Klondike Highway.

Next post, on our way out of Alaska, Yukon Territory and Canada.