Tokin Tina’s Travels Ep.4

Last week while road-tripping we had our axle fixed and met some really great people. 

This week we head back to Whitehorse and a 54,000 year old puppy. O.K. let me clarify. It was a mummy.  A puppy mummy. Or is it a mummy puppy? How exactly would you say that? I would not have guessed this would ever be an issue for me, yet here we are. 

It all started when we pulled into Caribou RV park. A sweet park with some great amenities. Amenities that include fresh eggs. If you get to them early enough in the day, that is. The eggs are extremely popular with campers so they go quickly. One would say, in this case, the early bird really does get the worm.

The bathhouses are a very important, yet often overlooked amenity when road tripping. We were both impressed with the ones offered here. 

The main door was coded, and each bathroom/shower combo had its own entrances. Personally that is my favorite bathroom setup by far. Having a lock when I’m showering at night in the middle of the woods, it’s a must for full shower enjoyment. Otherwise, it’s got total thrasher movie vibes. It’s a big fat nope from me. My park has the scary kind. A dream of mine is changing that one day.

This is where I mention that when I’m not traveling, I’m spending my summers in Alaska. My husband Patrick and I are camp hosts in a very large, rather unknown campground in the interior of Alaska. The park has a slough from the Nenana River that borders the park. It’s a beautiful spot in the Denali Borough. I have the benefit of living really close to lots of great outdoor activities. One of my favorites is Hiking in Denali Park. It’s a destination everyone should experience at least once. Come in the summer, and bring bug dope.

Ok enough about us, back to the road tripping. The bathhouse and laundry room (where you can also find a fridge where the fresh eggs are found) were located on the bottom floor of a two story building. The top floor being what I assumed to be the camp host residence. It’s an assumption that I made after we pulled in and the office that was closed for lunch break. Not to worry though, quickly someone from the residence upstairs came out and yelled down to us the instructions for checking in. Exactly the vibe we needed. We were tired, and they were super helpful, in a really comfortable laid back way. We now had enough info to find our site. Even better, we were able to pick one.  

That truly is a benefit of traveling in the shoulder season. The most desired sites are now available. This happens with almost empty parks, getting ready to close for the season. This results in having more epic sites available to shoulder season travelers like us.

After the fiasco of the last few days we deserved some much needed down time.

It was early when we pulled in, so we had some time. It was the perfect time go do some errands real quick. Leaving the next day for rest and chores. Perfect opportunity to sleep in and hang out. Even if hanging out meant tackling laundry. UGH..I hate laundry. However, I hate stinky clothes even more. So for me, when it’s time to do laundry, it’s also tokin time. Have I mentioned, a lifted Tina is a productive Tina?

First though, we needed provisions. When I say provision, I mean food. Not just meal time food. We needed snacks. We heard the BEST place to find those was the DOLLARAMA. That was not a joke, let me tell you, that place is a stoners paradise for cheap snacks.  

It wasn’t just snacks at the DOLLARAMA, not at all. They carried everything, at really inexpensive prices. It’s where I found the baskets that hang on the walls of my little condo on wheels. RV living means create storage space in fun ways, wherever you can. Just so you know, baskets are a beautiful thing. Especially if they can be attached to walls. I also stocked up on some things like aluminum foil, and paper goods. To find those little things to make life easier, as well as affordable, go to dollar stores.

In the Yukon, DOLLARAMA is THE spot. To be honest, I haven’t found a dollar store since that matches it.

On our third, and last day in Whitehorse we decided it was time to play proper tourist. Patrick made us one of his incredible BlackStone breakfast creations. I do love when he makes sure we have the fuel needed to explore whatever town we are exploring. One can certainly appreciate the way that man handles a BlackStone Skillet and some eggs.

Our first stop was the Yukon Beringia.

It’s a museum where we found the mummy puppy, or puppy mummy. Ugh, I’m still not sure what to call it.  Anyway, moving on. I have a fascination for history. The people, the places, the good and the bad. History is why we are the way we are. Learning from it helps us grow. Having said that, it should come as no surprise to learn that museums are some of my favorite places.  

This one had me hooked as soon as I walked through the front door. 

Right away I saw the complete woolly mammoth skeleton that was towering over the next room. I was so excited. I left Patrick at the entrance to pay our fees and almost ran to further investigate. Keep in mind, this isn’t a huge museum. It’s actually rather on the small side, but its absolutely worth the stop. The exhibits it had were already really cool, but they were complimented by the very knowledgable people they have giving tours. We happily spent a couple of hours. Between the guided tour, a movie, and the exhibits.

I saw what had to be the largest known sloth to have ever walked the earth, and it lived in the Yukon. I found out that the oldest known specimen of mummified animal remains were right there in that little museum, being studied and being prepared for display. The Yukon is uniquely situated in a way with no glaciers that preserves bodies naturally. This is why the remains displayed there are so very old, yet so remarkably preserved. We both walked away feeling like we truly learned so much about the area.  

After we had exhausted all the exhibits and info that Yukon Beringia had to offer we decided to head into the downtown area and play tourist.

This is something we enjoy doing in pretty much any place we visit when road tripping. We head downtown and check out the tourist traps. If a town is big enough to have a downtown, that’s where you will find the tourist shops. This is also where you will generally find info about the history of an area when it comes to its people. Downtown is usually where it all starts. also, never overlook visitor centers.  Always a great resource for local info and history.

The aesthetic of whitehorse as a city was lovely.  If you find yourself road tripping the Alaska highway up to Alaska, make sure that you give this little city at least a day and go explore. You won’t be disappointed.

Have you ever heard of a sign post forest? next week I’ll tell you all about it and about floating around in a rustic hot spring.

Until then, Stay Blessedly Lifted.