After a great week in Whitehorse, the four of us piled into our rented SUV and headed north 560 km to Dawson City, in the heart of the Klondike.  Tel and I are in HEAVEN….we love, love, love it here, and are beyond thrilled to be back!

The drive here was…..interesting.  And long.  All along the Klondike highway, you see big patches of burned out areas, with signs indicating the year of the forest fire.  I think we saw 5.  And at two points, we were stopped for 20 minutes or so due to construction.  This is the only road from Whitehorse so our options were kind of limited!

We arrived in Dawson ready for cocktail hour, and Tel and I immediately brought my folks to one of our favourite bars ever–the Westminster hotel.  It is not a tourist bar, but it is a place full of characters!!  The tavern (aka the “day bar”, aka the Snake Pit) is open from 9 am until the end of the day at which time the Lounge (aka the “night bar” aka the Armpit) opens.  My folks loved the Pit, even making friends with some of the folks that live here in Dawson.

On our first full day in Dawson, we took my folks out to the Goldfields area, where gold was first discovered in the Klondike.  We visited Discovery Claim, the first place on the Bonanza River where gold was found.  Each claim along the River is named according to this claim…so we also visited claim 6 above discovery and claim 3 below discovery.

At claim 3 below, we were given a fantastic lesson on how to pan for gold. We all mastered it within 20 minutes or so.

After our lesson, we took our pans and shovels and headed back down the road to claim 6 above where we spent a bit of time gold panning in the Bonanza River.  It was a ton of fun, and my Mom was so into it–definitely the most committed of us all!

We all found a few dollars worth of gold each!  My Mom got hers put in a locket that she can wear around her neck and Tel and I have ours in a vial.

Dawson is a fascinating town, full of opportunities to learn about life during the Gold Rush.  We honestly love it here.

My folks and I are just leaving to go and hear a reading at the Robert Service cabin, and Tel is just about to start a women only poker tournament!  One of us will be back later to tell you how she did and write more about our time here.

Bye for now, and thanks for reading!

Mel

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