Brrr...but it's a wet cold!

Yes, things in Skagway are very different from Tucson.

We had rain a couple days ago, then clouds, a few hours of sunshine and we woke up to rain this morning. I've been riding my bike to work lately (much easier on the feet at the end of the day)and it was certainly a chilly ride to work this morning. As the day continued, it got colder. We keep our double doors open at the quilt store as do most of the businesses in town. I don't usually get cold because my main job is out on the floor helping people and restocking (climbing and schlepping). This morning I worked mostly by myself so I was at the front counter, closer to the door and considerably cooler. I think it may have gotten up to 44 or 45 degrees today. Skagway is a Tlingit word that means: bitter wind, north wind, wind-chopped waves, stiff wind...I think you get the idea. The wind right now sounds like Arizona monsoon winds but not dry and hot.

I am not complaining...just observing!!! I brought my polar fleece jacket, my rain jacket, my windbreaker, my gore-tex jacket, my flannel shirt and my fleece-lined jacket. So far, I've only worn my polar fleece jacket and/or my rain jacket. Not bad, eh? (a little Canadian speak there for ya.)

And, beginning next weekend Bill and I may have a day off together. Our last day off together was May 8. It wasn't working out with the schedule the boss was creating and she said if I could figure out a way to re-work the schedule she'd see what she could do. I was feeling pretty bummed so I figured out a way and presented it yesterday. I think she's going to go with it!!!!

Normal is different

Today is rainy with low clouds and temps in the 40's for the third day in a row. We are told this is normal for Skagway this time of the year. It is different in two ways: our temp was HALF of Tucson's yesterday; up 'til now we have had mostly clear with 50's and low 60's.
Wednesday the railroad suffered a rock slide late in the day. Yesterday they could not run. That put hundreds of extra people on the streets looking for something to do. Every tour company in town sold out. We had three full buses when usually we only use two partially full. I even tried to refer some to Don, but he was out of jeeps. My group was made up of people who wanted to get to the Yukon Territory. So I drove 25 people to the 'Welcome to Yukon' sign. We saw 14 dall sheep. These are the resident dall sheep at the Yukon sign. And we saw 3 bears. I did not recognize any of the bears. One appeared to be very young, maybe 3 or 4, because he was more skittish and bouncy than most.
As to recognizing the bears, the coloration is sometimes unique enough to tell them apart, and they are territorial, so when you see one in the same area that looks the same, you recognize it. You may have noticed that I have named four. Mabel, and her two cubs, Blaze and Cindy. Blaze is black with a white blaze on his chest (I didn't say I was creative), and Cindy is cinnamon colored like her mother. Mabel appears older and experienced, like these are not her first children. She is very casual, but when she calls the children away from the road, they come immediately. Coffee, obviously, is the color of coffee with light cream. Yesterday Don's tour saw the cubs so Don got on the radio and told everybody they were Blaze and Cindy. Some were astonished that he knew their names. He said, well when you see them all the time you recognize them. So a bunch of people now think the bears in the Yukon have names.
So today will be normal. We woke up to a drizzle, the trains are moving down to load up, we have the two usual tours ready to go, and Peggie is dragging herself out of bed for her usual half day Friday. I have the short run today and have to work the phones because Dave is in Whitehorse getting repairs on one of the buses. Hopefully, I will see the two as-yet-unnamed bears that frequent the road to the summit, and some goats on Goat Mountain, but the cloud cover may be so low that all I see is gray.

What did Peggie see?

Yesterday I saw: bear, moose, deer, elk, horses, wolves, eagles, salmon, puffins, ducks and people.

Oh, that's right, those were all in fabrics at the quilt shop.

Oh well.

Not 1, Not 2, Not 3, Not 4, Not 5, Not 6, But 7!

Yes, Bill saw 7, yes 7 bears yesterday!! SEVEN! That's one, two, three, four, five, six, SEVEN!!!! Actually, he said he saw one...two...three,four,five...six...seven. I do believe that is still SEVEN!!!

Just in case you're wondering.

Let's have salad!

I had today off from work so I planted my garden! I have Thai Basil (what do you think about that Casey-girl?), regular basil, two kinds of lettuce and either crookneck squash or zucchini. There is a little greenhouse on someone's front yard that sells plants to the public. The lady there thought the squash might have been labeled wrong but wasn't sure. I'm willing to take my chances. The way the plants have been growing around here during the few weeks we've been here makes me think we'll be eating yummy stuff from the garden in no time at all. I could say I just wanted to be practical and healthy and have fresh greens (the barge brings food for the grocery store on Tuesdays). Actually I'm excited to have a garden! Probably not the most economical after buying the plants, the planters (2 small ones came from home) and the soil but that's TWTWS.

Three Weeks in Skagway

We have been here three weeks and three days so some of the newness has worn off and we have some routines. We have modified and rearranged the space so that living is more convenient. We have library cards, cable TV, and DSL in the trailer. Up to 6 trains a day go by both directions (that's 12) less that 50 yards away and we don't even notice them all. We know our way around town. We no longer rebound at prices, since there is only one of everything, you pay the price or do without. There are fewer surprises at work, but the customers keep it interesting for both of us. It feels like we go to bed early because it is dusk at 11:00 (we haven't stayed up late enough to see dark). Morning comes early because no matter what time you open your eyes it is already light.
We have been told that this great weather (sunshine and 60) is a never-before-seen phenomenon. I heard on the radio that nobody can remember this many dry weeks in a row.
TWTWS con't.....the Skagway Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD) is holding a fund raiser today. A carwash and BBQ. They closed off a block of 5th Ave. between Main and State St., put hose trucks on both ends of 5th and funneled cars in from Main. The trucks set their hoses to spray over the whole street so the cars get wet down as they enter, then volunteers hand soap the car before it passes the second spraying truck and emerges onto State sparking clean. This operation did not disrupt traffic since no one really has to use 5th instead of 4th or 6th and the tourists seldom wander off of Broadway.

I wrote all that this morning. Then Peggie got off work early so we decided to go for a drive. Sounds crazy since there is only one road which I drive 6 days a week already. But that means I get to see all the changes and wildlife and Peggie doesn't. So we drove the 65 miles to Carcross and she was just as amazed at the scenery as all my passengers are. Plus the changes in snow cover since we arrived is amazing. The only wildlife we saw was a porcupine and the resident dall sheep and mountain goats on Montana Mountain. On the way back Peggie commented that the battery on the camera was about to go, so I suggested we save it in case we see a bear. And we did. And it was on the edge of a large pull-out instead of on a narrow blind curve. We stopped about 100 ft away and took pictures (3) until the battery konked out. We continued to watch it grazing on the grasses as I moved slowly closer. I had to stop at the verge but it continued to graze closer. Finally, it passed within 6 ft of the front bumper, all the while showing no interest in us. We could see its teeth and the pink skin inside its ears! After about 15 minutes, during which no other vehicles went by, it went down hill and we left. Yes, we stayed safely in the truck the entire time. Scroll down for the best of the three photos.

Look at what I won!!

Last Friday was Spring Stroll. It's a time when the seasonal employees pick up a card to be stamped, coupons and advertisements and race through town to visit every participating store in the three-hour time period. Maria asked me if I wanted to join her and since I had the day off and hadn't visited any of the stores since I've been here I said yes. Maria is a full-time resident who has worked at the quilt shop for four years. She has a 6-month old baby and she's a stay-at-home mom for now. We began our tour shortly after 3:00 p.m. but found that we were stopping so often to visit with people that we were going to run out of time to get to all the stores and fill up our card with stamps--necessary to be entered into the Grand Prize drawing of $100 from the Chamber of Commerce. That's when we began racing from store to store--cut the chatter! Most of the stores had drawings for gift items and I won this bag filled with these goodies valued at $100 from the White Pass Railroad Gift Shop. Very cool! And I found out that there are more shops than just the quilt shop and grocery store--who knew?

Today I also learned about a four-ship day and an RV Tour and what happens to business. It GROWS! At lunchtime I found a picnic table near the Masonic Temple and the streets were crowded with people. The weather was unbelievably wonderful and my 30 minutes went by way too quickly. On my walk home I looked at Pullen Creek that weaves in and out and thought it might be nice to soak my sore feet in it. So...that's what I did...for about four minutes...and my feet were then numb. Pure bliss!

And here is my internet setup in the RV. Guess where I spend my time...besides work, and the laundromat and the creek (now that I know how effective that is).