a mirror for the sun

i checked the weather before we left thursday, and all along our route, it said rain. rain, showers, rain. cold, miserable, terrible driving conditions. i’m not wanting to jinx anything, but so far that report has been mostly wrong - with the exception of yesterday morning, we have had really nice weather. also, a minimum of insects, and the road is in much better shape than advertised. so far it’s paved and everything.



and one of the oddest things about this trip so far has been our strategic alcohol purchases. it’s not like we’re lushes or anything, but we are on vacation, after all :) but there are limited places and times you can buy alcohol in canada, and the obvious solution (stock up) is hampered by the duty-free allowances when we cross the international borders. so we’ve had to put more thought into this than really seems necessary!



anyway, today was a nice drive from muncho lake to whitehorse. made a couple of stops for short hikes, one to get the kinks out and another to see a double waterfall. we also saw sheep, meeses, lots of bison, and a bobcat while driving. we have as yet (thankfully) had no animals blocking the road, or personal encounters.



crossed into the yukon territory around lunchtime and stopped at the signpost forest. this was apparently started by some guy who added his hometown to the standard list of cities on the highway signpost, and has been perpetuated by almost every passerby since. nearby shacks (all closed for season) will make you a sign, or you can make your own – we saw road signs, license plates, frisbees, boots, and even a bedpan. a ton of signs from germany...either a lot of germans come through, or the ones that do like to steal road signs. or maybe both.





ate some surprisingly good burgers in a disturbingly pink shack across the street - the only local place still open (apparently when seasonal places say they are open till mid September they actually mean they close sometime in august.) spent the rest of the afternoon gaping at the views, and from all reports we haven’t even gotten to the pretty part yet! late afternoon we pulled into the hot springs north of town to camp and soak. now i’m all mellow from hot-tubbing (hot-springing?) and beer, and mark has the campfire started, so, i think i’m done typing.