Skagway

Left Whitehorse this morning at 8am, picked up near our hostel by the bus which was nice, 'cause we have a lot of stuff. (our tent, sleeping bags and mats are in an extra bag, plus our packs and food bag). It was us and 8 seniors rattling around the full-size bus, which was fun. Stopped in Carmacks on the way down, and got neat stamps in our passports, which was neat, and got to the train. That's when it clouded over, and stayed cloudy and downright foggy(the worker on the train used the words "quite socked in"). So, we didn't get to see any of the spectacular moutains that we heard so much about. Once we got a bit lower, we could see up the valley, which was a small consolation...

Now we're in Skagway, which is cruise ship central. Cute little town, but there are SO many people walking around, it's crazy!! Each ship holds 2000 people, and there were 4 boats in port when we got here this afternoon. Just had a nice supper at the Red Onion Saloon, which had a lot of character--guy playing saloon tunes on the piano and singing, and servers in period costumes, complete with boobs up to their chins. $5 for 15 minutes (tour :) ) in the brothels upstairs, same price as in 1898 apparently, but we passed on that one. Decided to get some Bailey's to make yummy hot chocolate later(it's really cold and rainy), then remembered we aren't allowed alcohol at the hostel. So, we went to Starbucks(first time in my life!), bought hot chocolate, mixed in the Bailey's in the bathroom and wandered around looking at the big boats enjoying our warm drinks. What rebels we are!! haha

Day 2 in Skagway--we took free bikes from the hostel, and headed to the Gold Rush Cemetary. Neat place to look around--wasn't a very healthy place to live though, judging by the ages of the people buried there. Up a trail to some nice falls just in behind, then back on the bikes and an adventurous bike to a scenic viewpoint. To the Corner Cafe for lunch, which was nice(halibut and shrimp gumbo!), and now we're at the library where we've been reading books on Alaska and waiting for the computers to free up. Still cloudy and a bit dreary here today, which is too bad. The mountains don't look quite as nice covered in mist and clouds. We're going to head out, and pick up some ship grub at the grocery store--apparently on the boat there's a microwave and hot water to use for cooking. There's a solarium too, that we'll be able to set up our tent in. Isn't that neat?? Camping on a ship. Beats paying for a cabin! Sounds like it'll be a neat ride, apparently lots of scenery and wildlife. We take a similar route to the cruise ships, in almost the same amount of time, so it should be good. It'll just cost us a few thousand less!!