rushthecat
Novice
We spent Thursday through Sunday in Haines which is a really neat place. We are very glad that we detoured to go down there.
This is looking down Main Street. Our campground is just to the left of this restaurant.
Our campground was 20 very tight spots that overlooked the Bay. The vista was absolutely beautiful so we were able to overlook the tightness. We set up our screen room and put the sides and back down so our view was out the front and we had our privacy.
The first night there the campground had their last crab feast for the season. We were so delighted that we were able to participate. It started at the dock. The crabs were alive and you had to crack them open and clean them and then the owner cooked them. I couldn't do the kill--didn't have it in me. We met the cutest little family there with two girls--10 and 12. The two girls were so delightful to be around. The little one talked with her eyes--we got such a kick out of her because she told it like it was. She reminded us a lot of our granddaughter, Haydan. We just happened to follow the girls and their Dad down the ramp and he was moving really slow and he told us to go ahead. We told him we weren't in a hurry so started talking to him. He had had a knee replacement two and a half years ago after an avalanche accident--he was an Alaskan State Trooper and was doing a search and rescue when the accident happened, Something went wrong with the replacement and they can't figure it out. He is in a lot of pain and his leg is really swollen. We felt really bad for him because he can't do the things he loves, flying, hiking, etc.
It ended up that we were in the same campground in Skagway too so I think they adopted us or we adopted them--I am not sure.
Haines was a cute little town. It did amaze me that things closed very early there being that they have such a short season. We walked up to get ice cream after dinner and everything was closed. We did our usual end of the road trips. We found a cannery where we bought sockeye and silver salmon and halibut. We ate really good there. The seafood has been awesome and we have been spoiled. We love looking at all the cabins and houses--many of them are beautiful log cabins. There was a cow moose that walked in front of our car driving to the cannery. I had the camera and got so excited that when I thought I was taking the picture I actually shut the camera down. Fortunately, she wanted to pose for us so she kept going back and forth across the road looking at us so Mike was able to get a good shot.
The other end of the road led in the Chilkoot State Park where there was a weir and a beautiful lake. We had been told that there were bears out there so every night we made the trip. The first time we saw them it was so crowded we couldn't get out of the car to see them but the next night we were earlier and we had a ring side seat. The weir is where the man sits to count the fish going upstrream. They have a fence across the river with a hole in it where the fish swim through allowing them to count as they swim through. Seemed like a pretty boring job to me with the exception of watching your back all the time for the big old grizzly. The bear are not stupid so they hang around the weir and catch the fish before they go through the fence. We saw a momma bear and her cub.
If you look closely, you can see the man counting fish and the bear counting man!
The last night there we discovered that the White Fang movie had been filmed there so we went up to see where the set was built. It is a cute little street with stores along the way. There was a pizza restaurant there and a brewery. Again, the brewery closed at six o'clock so we only had a tiny glass of Spruce Tip Beer--it was very good. The pizza looked yummy but we had salmon back at the campground to cook so we decided we should eat our fresh fish.
One of the other couples that we became friends with at the campground came down and told us they had just seen another camper like ours. We had only seen two tear drops so far. Once we got hooked up to go to the Ferry we ran through town to get our last Cinnamon Roll at the Bakery and there we saw not only another Camp Inn but the same exact model of ours. We waited around to see if the owners came back but it was getting close to Ferry time so we went on to the Ferry. A few minutes after we checked in the other Camp Inn arrived so we got to meet them and spend some time with them. They were from Michigan and their was about six months older than ours. What a coincidence--two Raindrops in the small town of Haines.
We are off to Skagway next.
This is looking down Main Street. Our campground is just to the left of this restaurant.
Our campground was 20 very tight spots that overlooked the Bay. The vista was absolutely beautiful so we were able to overlook the tightness. We set up our screen room and put the sides and back down so our view was out the front and we had our privacy.
The first night there the campground had their last crab feast for the season. We were so delighted that we were able to participate. It started at the dock. The crabs were alive and you had to crack them open and clean them and then the owner cooked them. I couldn't do the kill--didn't have it in me. We met the cutest little family there with two girls--10 and 12. The two girls were so delightful to be around. The little one talked with her eyes--we got such a kick out of her because she told it like it was. She reminded us a lot of our granddaughter, Haydan. We just happened to follow the girls and their Dad down the ramp and he was moving really slow and he told us to go ahead. We told him we weren't in a hurry so started talking to him. He had had a knee replacement two and a half years ago after an avalanche accident--he was an Alaskan State Trooper and was doing a search and rescue when the accident happened, Something went wrong with the replacement and they can't figure it out. He is in a lot of pain and his leg is really swollen. We felt really bad for him because he can't do the things he loves, flying, hiking, etc.
It ended up that we were in the same campground in Skagway too so I think they adopted us or we adopted them--I am not sure.
Haines was a cute little town. It did amaze me that things closed very early there being that they have such a short season. We walked up to get ice cream after dinner and everything was closed. We did our usual end of the road trips. We found a cannery where we bought sockeye and silver salmon and halibut. We ate really good there. The seafood has been awesome and we have been spoiled. We love looking at all the cabins and houses--many of them are beautiful log cabins. There was a cow moose that walked in front of our car driving to the cannery. I had the camera and got so excited that when I thought I was taking the picture I actually shut the camera down. Fortunately, she wanted to pose for us so she kept going back and forth across the road looking at us so Mike was able to get a good shot.
The other end of the road led in the Chilkoot State Park where there was a weir and a beautiful lake. We had been told that there were bears out there so every night we made the trip. The first time we saw them it was so crowded we couldn't get out of the car to see them but the next night we were earlier and we had a ring side seat. The weir is where the man sits to count the fish going upstrream. They have a fence across the river with a hole in it where the fish swim through allowing them to count as they swim through. Seemed like a pretty boring job to me with the exception of watching your back all the time for the big old grizzly. The bear are not stupid so they hang around the weir and catch the fish before they go through the fence. We saw a momma bear and her cub.
If you look closely, you can see the man counting fish and the bear counting man!
The last night there we discovered that the White Fang movie had been filmed there so we went up to see where the set was built. It is a cute little street with stores along the way. There was a pizza restaurant there and a brewery. Again, the brewery closed at six o'clock so we only had a tiny glass of Spruce Tip Beer--it was very good. The pizza looked yummy but we had salmon back at the campground to cook so we decided we should eat our fresh fish.
One of the other couples that we became friends with at the campground came down and told us they had just seen another camper like ours. We had only seen two tear drops so far. Once we got hooked up to go to the Ferry we ran through town to get our last Cinnamon Roll at the Bakery and there we saw not only another Camp Inn but the same exact model of ours. We waited around to see if the owners came back but it was getting close to Ferry time so we went on to the Ferry. A few minutes after we checked in the other Camp Inn arrived so we got to meet them and spend some time with them. They were from Michigan and their was about six months older than ours. What a coincidence--two Raindrops in the small town of Haines.
We are off to Skagway next.
) 