Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada

 Good morning, my friends! It was a short and easy drive to Watson Lake yesterday. As we pulled out onto the main highway, this was our view.

We passed by Liard River for the last time.

And on down the road, we came across a herd of bison grazing by the side of the road. We pulled off to the side.

They were on the driver's side, and so Mike took these pictures. There were some young calves.

When we reached the tiny town of Contact Creek, we crossed over the border into Yukon Territory. We're in the hinterlands here, my friends. I don't know about you, but I've never been this far north. Neither has Mike.

Contact Creek consisted of approximately one small building. Here's what our Milepost had to say about it.

Here's a little blurb about the Yukon.

And take a look at those mountains off in the distance. 

The road dips below the border into British Columbia for a few miles here, but we crossed again just before reaching Watson Lake. Our drive was about 130 miles yesterday, reaching Watson Lake around lunch time.

Here's what our Milepost had to say about Watson Lake.

Right away we saw the Sign Post Forest, and this is truly the object of our desire here.

Just across the street is the Northern Lights Centre. We'll see that today. There are hourly planetarium shows. 

There aren't many places to choose from for a stay here in Watson Lake. We're in what amounts to a parking lot with full hook-ups. We're also walking distance from the Sign Post Forest. In the image below, I was standing next to the hood of our truck. Look off in the distance there, and you can see it across the street.

Mike was prescient enough to think about bringing a ladder, and so we ended up driving across. He had the sign, a screwdriver, and the ladder. I had my cell phone, my cell phone tripod, and my point-and-shoot camera, and so there was plenty to carry. The image below was where we parked.

And, oh my goodness...so many signs!

It was a little overwhelming. You know how you feel when you walk into a giant fabric store? You see lots of fabric, but not any one thing? That's how I felt about the signs. I could see lots of signs, but not any one in particular.

A couple of them caught my eye.

This one seemed especially romantic.

We walked on and through looking for a place to hang our own sign.

This sign told us all we needed to know about the place.

We finally selected a tree. Mike erected his ladder, and he hung our sign at the tippy top of the others located there.

And ta-da!!! We're documented, baby! We're told there are 90,000 signs here. Now there are 90,001.

And here's our sign one more time for those in the back:

Take a good look because that's the last time you'll see it. When we move on, it'll be left to care for itself for all of eternity. 

We decided to stay two nights here in Watson Lake so that we could see the planetarium show, and it also seemed like a good place to do some laundry and pick up a few groceries. One of our four jacks on the camper has stopped working, which is annoying. It means hand-cranking it up and down (it usually runs on an electric motor). The other three are still working fine. Mike tried to figure out what was wrong with it, but he doesn't have the tools he needs here. No worries. We don't always need it, and hand-cranking will get us through.

So breakfast is next. We'll get the laundry done this morning, and then we'll have the rest of the day to spend however we like. 

Little Manatee River State Park

It started raining last night. I was awakened this morning by the distinct sound of a drip. Drip, drip, drip. It sounds as if its inside the RV, but I've looked all around and can find nothing. When I stand near the front door, it sounds as if its outside. Hopefully that is the case, and we aren't in for some nasty surprise sometime this morning.

It was a short drive to Little Manatee River State Park yesterday.

Once we'd checked in and started making our way to the campground, we noticed signs informing us we were visiting "the real Florida." If you want to see what the real Florida looks like, then feast your eyes.

You might notice right away the absence of billboards, tall buildings, and Mickey Mouse ears. There's plenty of soft sand, however, and it made for a bit of a fiasco as we pulled into our campsite. There are no pictures of this. As I tell you the story using just my words, you'll begin to see that taking pictures would not have endeared me to the Resident Engineer.

The first problem was the sign post designating Site 16. We were in Site 15 across the road, but Site 16's post was situated in such a way that it made backing into our site impossible without bumping said post. Back and forth went the rig, but try as we might, we could not negotiate that tight turn. Finally, I stood right next to the post (me, being easier to see), and then realized it was quite wobbly in its hole. I simply lifted it out of the hole and tossed it off to the side. (Claps hands together. Problem solved.) We could always put it back when we were finished.

With much backing and forthing, we (actually, he) got the RV situated and hooked up. I was busy doing my things inside...carefully opening cupboard doors, opening the slides, doling out kitty treats...and I always expect a bit of a lurch when the RV and the truck uncouple. This time, however, the expected "lurch" felt more akin to something measured using the Rickter scale. I'm putting it at about a 7.6.

Out of the trailer I flew like a flash...
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
(Still have Christmas in my head.)

And what to my wondering eyes should appear?

Mike, smiling sheepishly, head in hands, trying to decide his next move. It seems when the RV and truck uncoupled, the RV rolled backward about a foot. It was up on some leveling blocks, and Mike hadn't installed the accompanying wheel chocks to prevent rolling. Ordinarily, this wouldn't have mattered, but being on soft sand added a degree of instability that turned this into a problem. The front of the RV was now resting on the truck's bed rails. Mike's most immediate concern was whether the truck was damaged. As it turns out, it wasn't.

So...no harm done really, except to our nerves. He used his portable jack to jack the trailer up so that it could be hitched up again, and then leveled the trailer once again. Then, with the necessary wheel chocks firmly in place, he uncoupled the RV from the truck and life proceeded in its usual fashion. Only...in all that maneuvering, he'd run over the hole where Site 16's post was supposed to be and the hole was gone. Not a problem. We could dig a new hole. (By "we," I mean "he.") But first...lunch.

We were starving by this time. I'd had a yen for egg salad and I'd made some up that morning. All I needed to do was slap it on the bread and lunch was served. While we were eating, the campground host was making his rounds. We watched him stop at the site across the road (the infamous Site 16) and begin fixing the post. Mike went out to meet him and offered to dig the hole, but the campground host couldn't have been less bothered. "We do this all the time," he stated emphatically. Okay. We suspected as much when the post was so easy to remove from its hole, even by a 63-year-old woman. Apparently, no harm done to anything or anyone.

Disaster attempted, and averted. Moving on.

* * * * *

As you might imagine, we were both a little shaken by this sequence of events, even though nothing really happened except a little inconvenience. Mike drank a beer with his lunch and then took a nap. I embarked on a stitching marathon, filling in almost the whole of my hoop. This piece is moving along at a record pace. It's about 2/3 finished now.

After I moved my hoop, I stitched in the one bit of color going onto this block...the burgundy heart.

Sadie buried herself in the covers.

Smitty likes to express himself in closer proximity.

And all is well at the Three Cats Ranch Traveling RV this morning.

With the rain, we'll probably visit the aquarium today. It's an indoor activity, and so it seems like a good way to spend the day. On the other hand, we might decide on a chill day. We only need one day of sight-seeing at this stop, and we've scheduled two. It feels like a luxury.

Exploring Fort Abraham Lincoln: Part 3

Well, I didn't expect to finish all three parts before leaving here, but there's still time, and so I'll keep going. This is Part 3 of our visit to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. You can find Part 1 right here. Part 2 is right here. We drove to another section of the park to see this blockhouse section. This is the part I'd seen in books and other sites about the state park. Below, you can see an image of what the fort looked like when it was in use.

Here was the information greeting sign on the way to the blockhouses. This was an "infantry" post as opposed to what I showed in Part 2. That portion of the fort was a "cavalry" post. The Google told me that soldiers on horseback belong to the Cavalry, and those who work in communications and soldiers specially trained to fight on foot are members of the Infantry.

Moving on, this is what we were just about to see.

Walking on, these buildings are also authentically reconstructed. The two in the image below were open.

Along the way, I caught this image of a grasshopper. We've been seeing these all over. They are absolutely thick here in North Dakota. I wish I could capture them in flight because their wings are beautiful. They are black and tipped with yellow. In flight, they look like butterflies. Sadly, they only open their wings in flight, and so they are impossible to photograph until they've landed and folded their wings again.

Walking inside the blockhouse, one was first confronted by a single flight of stairs. You can also see the gun ports on the far side of the image below.

Looking through the gun port, we could see our truck in the parking lot. We come in peace...no shooting, please. You can see Mike standing toward the rear of the truck. He was flying his drone. I'll share his footage after he uploads it, but that will have to be a separate post.

Climbing the stairs to the second level, there was a ladder to get all the way to the top.

From above...oh my...what an incredible view. Nobody was going to sneak up on them with a view like this.

Looking off in the other direction, we could see a third blockhouse.

Looking north, we could see the State Capitol building. Also, note the sign to the right of the blockhouse. I'll show you the sign about the hospital in just a few more images. Here, you can see one of the cornerstones on which it was built.

Taking a pano from the second block house, this is what we saw:

There were other structures here in its day, but none left standing now. Still, the information about the places was interesting. All that remains are the cornerstones on which they were built.

On the far side of the parking lot, one could walk to the Post Cemetery.

And what a lovely location to have as one's final resting place.

Walking out to it, I passed this lone sunflower growing among the native grass.

I took a lot of pictures of the headstones here. It was interesting to see the many ways they met their demise. 

Some of them died from diseases that no longer exist in vaccinated people. This one was just a child. 

"Consumption" was the word used to describe tuberculosis.

Our exploration of the park was coming to an end here, and we made our way back to the campground. Along the way, we visited the stables where the cavalry horses were housed and cared for. It was a very long building.

On the right side, you can see a chimney. Horses had to stay warm too.

Here's how it looks inside.

And here's a little information about the horses and their care.

Outside were these two wagons.

The first one had this label.

Lifting up the lid there was a place to store some hay.

The second wagon had this label. I can recall my dad having a Studebaker when he drove me to kindergarten in 1959.

Okay...well, we made it! I'm happy to have been able to finish all three posts since internet access is in no way guaranteed at our next stop. Before I go, a little update on Smitty. He's doing much better, although not at all happy about being dosed with an antibiotic twice each day. (I believe Mike and I are at least as unhappy as he is.) He's still sleeping a lot, but purring more and sneezing less, and generally seems to be on the mend.

Sadie is doing just fine. She's also doing really well this trip. For all the anxiety she experiences as we're getting ready to leave, she's a pretty cool customer on the road. She can be seen lounging on the back of the couch much of the time.

After so much walking yesterday, it seemed like a good day for a Dutch Apple Pie for Two. I brought along a can of apple pie filling that's been sitting in my pantry at home for quite some time. I bought it to do something else, and then never did it. The topping was in my freezer from yet a different apple pie bake sometime in the past.

We'll be moving along from here after we've finished our final preparations. We have three nights at Fort Ransom State Park, and then we'll be on our way to Minnesota. I'm hoping we'll talk again before Minnesota, but just in case...take good care, my friends. I'll see you on the other side.