We hit McDonalds before 8:30 and soon after we were out of town getting gas to be on our way. Before we reached the city limits John spotted a back road leading to a float plane operator and we agreed it would be worth the 5 miles to check it out. We discovered a pretty lake, three bush planes ready to go, and a nice office being watched over by two friendly dogs and a nice woman named, Janet, who, with her husband, owned and operated Alpine Aviation.
We told her we'd be interested in going for a ride but, unfortunately,she had no one available until afternoon around 4pm.to take us out.
So the trip was out but that's when the stories and pictures began. In the office there was a picture of her with a big, 50 pound lake trout she landed in Fox Lake.
We asked her if she flew and she did but did not like the responsibility and of course who would tend the office? We cajoled her into letting me take a few pictures to add their organization to our blog. This is just the kind of place I would come back to for a fly-in fishing trip. It was neat, organized, friendly and reasonably priced. I hope to return some day for some fly-in fishing.
We only lost about an hour on the stop and were back on the road heading toward Watson Lake. John is a good driver, determined to get us to our destination a couple of hours past Watson Lake at Linard Hot Springs where I was looking forward to a relaxing soak in the naturally thermal mineral waters. While admiring the views and pristene lakes we were passing along with the mountains full of fall yellow foliage John spotted a sign for the Teslin Tlingit Heritage Centre so we pulled in to check it out.
The center honored and recognized the "First Nations" People" of North America. The inland Tlingits are comprised of five clans, symbolized by hand carved posts in the picture of Eagle, Frog, Wolf, Raven, and Beaver.This place looked very interesting from the outside but it did not appear to be open. There was one car in the lot with what appeared to be a senior First Nation woman inside. John decided to walk around while I was assigned to see if this woman could tell us about this place. She told me her name was Jane Smarch and after she acknowledged me, we engaged in some conversation. She was there to meet her son who was going to film her in documentary on the final smoking of a moose hide in the curing process of tanning.
She gave us a brief overview of the history of the Teslin Inland Tlingit of which she belonged to the Eagle Clan.
This was the cultural center that they invested into for education, recreation, ceremonies, events and council meetings. It was a beautiful building in design, scale and materials that was nested in some trees on high ground overlooking a beach with clear blue lake below.
The center's doors were unlocked finally and we wandered in to see the displays and treasure area (gift shop). The lady who opened the doors, Roberta Jackson, 
a pleasant individual indicated that the center was closed" but took one look at us and then said "what would you like to see". John said the gift shop and that was all it took...to get in and....consume another 45 minutes of time.....Now we really had to make up some time if our schedule was to be met. On the road again and while we were talking about the highway building, John asked if I had seen the exhibit back at the museum in Ankorage about an all black army batalion that worked on the Alaskan Highway. We could not place all the details but both of us recalled some bits and pieces of the story. Then a few more miles down the road, right after we crossed a beautiful bridge over the Testlin River,
we decided a picture of the bridge and river needed to be taken. No sooner did we pull off than we come upon some old trucks as relics, historical markers and story boards. 
When we got out of the van to see what all of this was about, we discovered that this spot marked the beginning of the Canol Road and Pipeline project....
the very one that involved the black US Army unit we had been discussing a few miles back up the road....
On those "story boards", The entire story of a pipeline project,including the black battalion of army engineers was told. We thought it ironic of how these things seem coincidental. The Canol gravel road sign ahead of us said 220 K (kilometers) and we wondered what treasure lay ahead on that journey if we were to take it. Better judgement took over and we settled for getting back to the river to take some pictures of the bridge. That turned into a maze of roads with private property and unwelcome, ie Keep Out, signs until we found the access to a great viewing spot. Got some great shots and again we were on our way with haste.Our next stop for gas caused us some more time looking over the items at the gift shop. And again we found our time slipping away. However, we were determined not to leave the Yukon without a decal for the van or a pin for John's hat. His cap is getting quite heavy at this point of the trip with pins and things plus free space on the van for decals is becoming limited.
We wanted to make Watson Lake early enough to confirm at the visitors center that Linard Springs Lodge was open and had rooms. Of course we were on the look out for large wildlife. We think all the migrating and other birds were headed south. We did get to view some trumpeter swans, ravens, ducks and the like but our real interest were caribou, bison, moose and elk. About 5:30pm, we stopped in Watson Lake for gas and to check on availability of rooms at the Linard Hot Springs place.
Juanita, the gas station manager from Panama of all places, phoned ahead for us and was informed that all they had available were two "rustic" cabins with outhouses and it really didn't matter much anyway because they were going to close up in half an hour! So Juanita tried "Plan B" and called a place called Rocky Mountain Lodge at Muncho Lake, a short distance beyond the Hot Springs. They had a couple of rooms available and we grabbed them. Before leaving we ate a quick dinner (the spaghetti special, which was very good) at Kathy's Diner and headed on down the road. Shortly after we left Watson Lake, we spotted some elk that another driver ahead of us was stopped for. 
Along the way we spotted a few caribou and bison along the road....and drove very carefully to avoid hitting any of them! They are magnificent creatures. We pulled into the Rocky Mountain Lodge about 11:00pm, "pooped out" and very glad to be there! The cabin rooms we stayed in weren't very fancy...lacking showers, hot water (that night, anyway) and much in the way of heat. But we got a good night's sleep and were ready for what opportunities and sights awaited us on Tuesday.....
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