Day 27: Saturday, July 30 “Moosehide
Gathering and off to Tatchun Lake”
After we had a quick breakfast,
and Jonathan had dealt with paying (and not paying for the faulty dryer), we
drove back into Dawson City where we got to Cheechakos around 10am for a yummy cinnamon
bun and breakfast sandwiches and coffee. They had really cool wooden “live edge”
tables in there, and very nice original artwork for sale. After breakfast,
Jonathan unloaded the chariot for me so I could wander around with the kids
while he took the RV to the NAPA/Automotive place. Amelia proceeded to fall into
a big mud puddle within minutes and I managed to get her changed before
Jonathan left. No use using up the clean spare clothes in my bag right away…
odds are I will need them later! Man, these kids get dirty fast. Mud puddles
are like magnets for these two doodles.
Ollie and Amelia and I walked up
the bank and along the river walk. Oliver showed us the Shaggy Manes (he
insists they are hairy manes… perhaps they are) that he and Ezzie had seen two
days before. Amelia was very interested in having a closer look. She is a very
good student when Ollie is the teacher. Very sweet. Farther down the path,
Oliver climbed a tree to explore the berries it bore and I tried to read some
more information about Dawson and his exploits. Man, it must have been tough
times out here 150 years ago. Crazy stuff.
Jonathan got a ride into town
from a gal at the mechanics shop. Thank goodness, the fan part had already
arrived that morning and they said they would call when it was installed. Perfect. We walked together to the Visitor Centre
and got more details about the Moosehide Celebration Gathering that was on this
weekend. It takes place every 2 years apparently. We walked down to the dock
and found the organized line ups for the metal fishing boats that were taking
people 3km up river to the Moosehide retreat. There was no line when we walked
down, which was perfect. They had life jackets for us all, and we hopped
in. Well… what an exciting ride! Oliver
was over the moon at the speed of the boats ripping over the waves through the
water up river. It was really fun. Amelia thought otherwise. She did not enjoy
the wind whipping her hair off her face and the wind in her eyes. She cried the
whole way. Not screaming or afraid, just not impressed and wanting it to be
over. Poor gal. Oliver had a grin from ear to ear as the wind whipped his hair
back. He loved every minute of it. It was pretty darn fun. To make things even more interesting, when we arrived at the shores of the Moosehide Retreat, there was a side-by-side quad waiting at the dock that took Ollie and Jonathan up the steep hill - not because they couldn't walk it, but because the lady thought Ollie might enjoy a ride. (of course he did! will have to find the photo and post this... so cute). I hoofed it up with Amelia in the chariot.
At the small grounds there were booths set up with art and carvings, a kids section, face painting, and information booths. There was a main covered area with a stage for singers and dancers and drummers. We listened to a woman sing some traditional sons and drum. The kids seemed to enjoy this just as much as we did, it was really cool. We just relaxed and wandered about. Ollie got his face painted and convinced Amelia to have a "dog dog" done on her cheek. We ate hot dogs and grilled corn at some picnic tables. The atmosphere was lovely... we watched them wrap up huge salmons in foil to get ready for the potlatch. We had decided that we would not stay for the potlatch as we should get back and see if the RV was ready and figure out where we would sleep that night. We did not have to wait in line for the boat ride back, which was great. Oliver, again, was soooo excited! He was hooting and laughing the whole way back. Amelia was fully aware of what was ahead of her, and she braved the return trip by putting her soo-soo blanket over her face with both hands and just cried behind it until we arrived safely at the other end. She was totally fine as soon as we got out of the boat. Funny kid. The line up was huge for people heading into Moosehide... presumably they were all headed over in time for the potlatch. It would have been neat to stay for that, but the idea of such long line ups and more crowds over there was less than desirable. We figured that we hit the timing just right for our little family excursion.
Jonathan called the mechanic and the fan hub would be finished in 1/2 hour, so we wandered a bit and popped into the tourism place again. I cannot remember if we saw the model train replica of Dawson City at that time or earlier... but I snapped a few photos to show my dad. The model was meticulously done. Very cool. I walked the kids over to the playground (oh boy have we been to some playgrounds on this trip!!!) while Jonathan got picked up by the same gal from the mechanic shop and taken back to the RV. We had a good play and watched as daddy rolled in across the street to the gas station to fill up. Our RV is like driving a regular van now... the fan is so quiet and only comes on when needed. the old fan was super noisy and it was hard to hear each other when we were driving. This little fix was a huge improvement to the old gal. Jonathan is in awe of the new found quietness. :)
We said our farewells to Dawson City and headed south to Tatchun Lake. We spotted a fox with another plump rabbit on the way out in the same location as we saw it before. We arrived at Tatchun Lake around 9pm. Sure enough, our new friends Devon and Maggie and kids were there. We parked in a site across the way from them, and jumped out to say hello. Ollie and Ezzie did some bike riding. We had a late dinner and while I put Amelia to bed, Ollie and daddy watched the bats flying overhead between the campsites. Oliver was very excited to come and tell me about them and bring me over to see the bats. Pretty special.
At the small grounds there were booths set up with art and carvings, a kids section, face painting, and information booths. There was a main covered area with a stage for singers and dancers and drummers. We listened to a woman sing some traditional sons and drum. The kids seemed to enjoy this just as much as we did, it was really cool. We just relaxed and wandered about. Ollie got his face painted and convinced Amelia to have a "dog dog" done on her cheek. We ate hot dogs and grilled corn at some picnic tables. The atmosphere was lovely... we watched them wrap up huge salmons in foil to get ready for the potlatch. We had decided that we would not stay for the potlatch as we should get back and see if the RV was ready and figure out where we would sleep that night. We did not have to wait in line for the boat ride back, which was great. Oliver, again, was soooo excited! He was hooting and laughing the whole way back. Amelia was fully aware of what was ahead of her, and she braved the return trip by putting her soo-soo blanket over her face with both hands and just cried behind it until we arrived safely at the other end. She was totally fine as soon as we got out of the boat. Funny kid. The line up was huge for people heading into Moosehide... presumably they were all headed over in time for the potlatch. It would have been neat to stay for that, but the idea of such long line ups and more crowds over there was less than desirable. We figured that we hit the timing just right for our little family excursion.
Jonathan called the mechanic and the fan hub would be finished in 1/2 hour, so we wandered a bit and popped into the tourism place again. I cannot remember if we saw the model train replica of Dawson City at that time or earlier... but I snapped a few photos to show my dad. The model was meticulously done. Very cool. I walked the kids over to the playground (oh boy have we been to some playgrounds on this trip!!!) while Jonathan got picked up by the same gal from the mechanic shop and taken back to the RV. We had a good play and watched as daddy rolled in across the street to the gas station to fill up. Our RV is like driving a regular van now... the fan is so quiet and only comes on when needed. the old fan was super noisy and it was hard to hear each other when we were driving. This little fix was a huge improvement to the old gal. Jonathan is in awe of the new found quietness. :)
We said our farewells to Dawson City and headed south to Tatchun Lake. We spotted a fox with another plump rabbit on the way out in the same location as we saw it before. We arrived at Tatchun Lake around 9pm. Sure enough, our new friends Devon and Maggie and kids were there. We parked in a site across the way from them, and jumped out to say hello. Ollie and Ezzie did some bike riding. We had a late dinner and while I put Amelia to bed, Ollie and daddy watched the bats flying overhead between the campsites. Oliver was very excited to come and tell me about them and bring me over to see the bats. Pretty special.
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