6/11/18 – Yukon Transportation Museum

I’d asked George if he wanted to go to on a hike, go to a wildlife preserve or a transportation museum. He opted for the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse.  We’d driven past it several times on the way between the RV park and Whitehorse.

There’s also a big airplane on a pedestal out front.  We parked near it and walked over—the sign says it’s the “World’s Largest Weather-vane”.  Seriously???

 

I got the Yukon Passport stamps inside, paid for discount tickets at the Transportation Museum and Beringia, and we wandered, sometimes together, sometimes not because when it comes to old vehicles, we simply aren't interested in the same things.  Often what George considers classic, I consider junk.  

This is definitely a trains, planes and automobiles kind of place.  Trains come in the model variety as well as passenger cars. Planes are suspended from the ceiling.  Automobiles are restored...sometimes.

There’s a seal skin qayaq (which I thought was spelled with k’s, not q’s) next to a birch bark canoe.

Since it’s snow country, there are sleighs and dogsleds.  (I remember when I was a kid watching a tv show called Sgt. Preston of the Yukon about a Canadian Mountie patrolling the Yukon with his dog King.)  

Back around a corner and in a big open room are some of the projects that aren’t quite completed.  Some are in pieces, and some are just rusty.  For some reason, I’ve noticed that men often have no problem with this. I tend to think that if it's in a museum, it should be at least cleaned up, and oxidized metal just doesn't do it for me.

 

 

I was surprised when we went back outside and the weather-vane plane had turned almost 90 degrees!  (Compare the direction of the plane in relation to our dirty blue truck.) The ball bearings in that pedestal must be very well balanced!  I was skeptical when we got here, but an hour later I’ve changed my mind--a DC-3 is the world's largest weather-vane!

More pictures here:  Yukon Transportation Museum 

6/10/18 - S.S. Klondike National Historic Site

Same day, different museum.  The S.S. Klondike is a big sternwheeler riverboat that worked on the upper Yukon River from 1929 – 1955.  

It’s actually a Canadian National Historic Site, so there were park rangers in the Visitor Center.  Going aboard the old vessel is free, but we bought a Self-Guided Tour brochure for $2. The ranger recommended checking out the paddle-wheel first before going inside.

After looking at the back of the boat (and checking out the line of fishermen in the river), we went up the ramp to the Freight Deck and went inside.  They've got it set up to like it would have been when the boat was in service--except the cartons would have been full. These are printed to look like they were made years ago, but for some reason, they all look empty.

                      

Beyond the boxes and barrels is the Engine Room with steam pipes and pistons and other mechanical pieces, most of which I haven't a clue without asking George.  These are real.

After wandering around awhile, looking at things about as interesting as an auto parts store, we went up a very narrow staircase to the Sun Deck, where the sky is becoming ominous.

 

They’re doing some renovations on-board, so there were some areas (the most interesting ones!) we couldn’t go into:  Dining Room, Passenger Cabins, Observation Lounge, Boat Deck and Wheelhouse.  Second-class passengers were limited to the freight deck and the sun deck, which was all we got to see.  I don't know why we couldn't go first-class!

We could look through the ship's galley into the Dining Room.  (Seems to me that Karla said this stuff was closed last year too.  Apparently the Canadian parks service is as slow as NPS--I suppose it's all budgets and priorities, but I really wish they'd get their acts together.)

Looked like a big storm coming, so we didn’t linger.  We did detour to a tent they had near the barge to watch old pictures and movies of the riverboats in action.  

More pictures on Flickr:  S.S. Klondike NHS 

6/10/18 - Old Log Church Museum

Whitehorse, Yukon, is the first "big" city that we've been in since we left Spokane--if you can call 25,000 a big city--so we had to go check it out.  We went to the Visitor Center first, then since it was nearby, we went to the Old Log Church Museum.  The church was/is Anglican (Church of England, I think), and ministered to First Nations people. 

Some of the displays have gorgeous beadwork trade goods. I especially liked the flowered stole that the minister would have worn.

Apparently Reverend Stringer and another guy once got lost in the mountains and were forced to eat their boots or die of starvation.  He’s wearing them in this picture.

Just around the corner from the church is the Log Cabin Skyscraper.  It’s a 4-story log cabin, bottom part is a business.  Kinda funky.  

There are a few more pictures on Flickr:  Old Log Church Museum