Vacation!

We started our 1400 mile trip to Hains and Skagway Alaska on Thursday afternoon. We weren't sure how Maddison would handle being in the car that long but she did pretty good. It was a beautiful drive with some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen.

We saw a lot of wildlife on our trip including: 2 black bears, a porcupine, caribou, bald eagles, a wolf, geese, and moose.

Our first camp site was at this beautiful lake. Maddison had fun playing in the sand. It only took one taste of the sand to convince her it was not worth eating.

 

Hains use to be a military post and you can see the military housing in this photo.

First time on a swing. I think she liked it.

Just about the only thing to do in Hains is go to the Hammer Museum....so we did. But lest you think we are becoming too boring in our old age, you will be happy to know we also visited the Brothel Museum in Skagway.

From Hains we took a one hour ferry ride to Skagway. Here we are waiting to drive onto the boat.

 

Skagway was one of the starting points for the Klondike Gold Rush. It only lasted three years (1896-99) with 100,000 people attempting the trek to the gold fields. From Skagway it was a 530 mile trip - 30 miles over a mountain range and 500 miles down the Yukon River. In the end, only about 4,000 people found gold. Many of the original buildings constructed during the rush still stand along Skagway's Main Street. And yes, we did buy some fudge at that fudge shop in the photo and it was excellent.

We took a train ride along one of the original prospector routs.

Keeping clean.

On our way home we passed this amazing lake most fittingly called Emerald Lake.

Rush hour on the Alaska Highway.

We arrived home on Tuesday, tired and happy.