"You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe"
After being on the road a better part of a month it was good to take a few slow days in one location and Dawson City was a great place for this. After saying goodbye to Katrina and Will, we took a few days to rest up, to do some maintenance and laundry and of course take some more time visiting the local sights.
We had been in Dawson before our week in Tombstone and again before our trip up the Dempster to Tuktoyaktuk, so it seemed that spending a few more days might be a bit of overkill - I couldn't have been more wrong. We set up in a full service pull-through site at Bonanza Gold Motel & RV Park, so with water, power and sewer, plus an on-site laundromat we were set for a few days stay over the Canada Day long weekend.
The weather was very hot and there were some wildfires in Alaska and the surrounding area. We routinely saw helicopters with water buckets. Later in the month parts of the Klondike Highway between Whitehorse and Dawson City would be closed due to fires - this would impact many tourists' travel plans as the only other way to get to, or out of, Dawson City is through Alaska.
We were very happy to spend Canada Day in Dawson City
We loved Dawson City and leisurely took our time to top up in supplies, visit the Klondike Goldfields and attend the Canada Day activities. We attended the Canada Day parade - clearly a small town affair, but everyone came out for the parade, locals and tourists alike. It was nice to see so many Americans and many visitors from other countries dressing up in red and getting into the spirit of things. Later in the day we caught some of the Yukon Gold Panning Championships and visited Robert Service's cabin.
Don't cheat yourself - try the Sourtoe Cocktail
Of course we also made our way to the Downtown Hotel to have the legendary Sourtoe Cocktail. Almost a rite of passage for any visitor to Dawson City, the Sourtoe Cocktail is a simple shot (we chose Yukon Jack) with a human toe that is dropped into he glass just before you drink it. In order to become a member of the club, the mummified toe must touch your lips. There is a bit of ceremony involved and you do walk away with a certificate. We are members 98,922 and 98,923. Later in July they would serve their 100,000th Sourtoe Cocktail. There is quite the line-up of folks wanting to do this. The Sourtoe Cocktail is served from 8:00 pm so we went early for drinks and appetizers in order to get our name on the list at 7:30 pm. "You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe".
The next leg of our trip was to take the ferry across the Yukon River and then take the Top of the World Highway into Alaska. The ferry runs 24/7, but only allows one tractor trailer or large RV unit along with the smaller vehicles for each crossing. We got up early and were out of the RV Park by 06:30 am in order to beat the rush and were soon on our way to Alaska.
Dawson City was a fun little town; we recommend it to everyone and we look forward to a return trip.
Remember: If you go, don't cheat yourself - try the Sourtoe
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