Skagway, at last

We arrived in Skagway after 17 days and just over 5,000 miles of driving. We didn't kill each other but 17 days in a fully loaded Honda Element would probably even strain a pair of saints.

The Klondike Highway from outside Whitehorse (British Columbia) to Skagway starts off in relatively scenic fashion - - think Blue ridge Parkway - - for about 30 miles and, in the distance, the Mackenzie Range which takes over when the Rockies stop looms larger and more snow covered with each mile. About 70 miles into the 100-mile drive we really got into what the trip was really about: surrounded by awe inspiring mountains, snow all over everything and blowing across the (mostly) dry road. Think following a curvy, up and down pencil line across a very white crumpled piece of paper. The pics we took convey some, but not all of how neat it really was. It was, maybe 20 miles, and a bit less than an hour, but the whole 5000 miles and 17 days were totally worth it.

We are staying / living in a cabin on the property of the company we'll be working for. /basically it's one big room including a small kitchen and bathroom with shower. For Significant Other this is heaven because we've unpacked and aren't living in the Honda anymore. It seems to be quite ok even more so because the cell phone works and we have wireless internet connectity - - at least right now.

The weather is typical for near 60-degrees latitude. Check a globe or atlas and you'll see that Moscow and Oslo and some parts of Siberia have that address also. this means 40s with rain likely and since we're surrounded by mountains on three sides and have what they call the Lynn Canal which is really an open water passage for cruise ships to come to Skagway and dock. So, for now, I'll reserve an opinion on Skagway except to say that it's probably better than I expected.