Monday, June 8, 2015

Day Five - Fort Nelson BC to Watson Lake YT 319 mi.


                 It feels like we’re getting close!  Eight days will have gone by fast by the end of our trip.  Today we crossed into Yukon Territory and we said bye to British Columbia.  Aside from a big sign saying “Welcome to the Yukon”, not much else changed. 

                We swam in the hotel pool in the morning and enjoyed our waterslide free-for-all again before we left.  It was nice to make a couple stops to play the bagpipes and just take a break from the driving.  We saw some buffalo (or maybe they were bison) lying in the sun, and we proceeded to see more of their kind as we drove along. 

                One of the favorite places for tourists to stop is Liard hot springs.  So, like all good tourists, we stopped too.  These springs ranged from lukewarm water to about 126 degrees Fahrenheit.  For the amount of people that we have seen on the road (not very many) the hot springs had several more than I would have expected.  It was a nice stop to make, but I didn’t get any pictures. 

                After the hot springs we saw some brown mountain goatish type specimens.  There was a herd of probably ten adults and four or five kids.  Can anybody identify them from the picture?  If so, leave a comment.  Can buffalo and bison be used interchangeably?  If you know, leave a comment about that too. 

                We did not reserve a hotel for this segment so after reaching Watson Lake we had some hunting to do.  Out of three hotels, we had to choose one.  The one we did choose did not have an elevator or carts to truck our stuff to the second floor with, so…  We did it all by hand – how original:)  Also, from the TV in the lobby of one of the hotels we found out what we all had been dying to know (well, I might be exaggerating about our actual feelings) if American Pharoah won the Triple Crown.  He did!

After dinner we headed to a Northern Lights Center and watched an hour long documentary about black holes and of course, northern lights.

Other than that, not much else has happened.  We have talked to some interesting people and have seen some intriguing things, and nothing devastating has happened.  So far it’s been a magic carpet ride.      

Sorry for the delay in posting, the internet was slow and the pictures did not want to upload.




Dad and Mairyn

Buffalo/bison things


Entering Yukon

Maycie

Scenery 






Goat things



Alaina and our fuzzy friend 

5 comments:

  1. Rock Mountain Big Horn Sheep and Yes I believe you can use buffalo and Bison interchangeably. Good thing for spell check that word was a mouthful. Thanks for the Blog and Pictures. Ken Wibert

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  2. Bison aren't related to buffalo--they just looked like it to early Europeans in N. America, thus the misnomer "buffalo," like "Indians," which has stuck. So nope, they're bison, but we all still usually call them buffalo, and since they're aren't any true buffalo in N. America (except in zoos), we all know what we mean by "buffalo."

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  3. You know me as "Germs". I would think if either (a Buffalo or Bison) were running after you, it wouldn't much matter what you called it, it would probably keep coming? Your pics make miss that hwy and want to drive it again. I first saw it through the front windshield of my '52 Ford pickup. Thanks for posting the pics.

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  4. And you add too the others...
    Today the word Buffalo is a widely accepted term for American Bison. However, they are different each with their own distinct features. The animal that most Americans call abuffalo is actually a bison! Buffaloes are found in Africa and South Asia, while bison roam in North and South America. The easiest visible distinction is Buffalo have No Hump & No Beard, while Bison have a Large Hump and a Think Beard. I know you'll be researching this online at some point!
    My curiosity peaked years ago when we traveled through Yellowstone.
    ~ Shannon S

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  5. I love the goat pictures.

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