Fantasy Caravan Day 17 - Watson Lake to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

On Monday, we continued our drive west and north, toward Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake -- we were pretty packed in!

It was a little smoky as we started out... and the day was rather grey and rainy (which might be good for getting the fires out or keeping them from spreading).

We stopped at a pullout marking the Continental Divide (the white lines were cracks in the surface of the display, not part of the information).

This Continental Divide separates rivers flowing to the Pacific and those flowing to the Arctic Ocean.

We stopped at an over look (unfortunately pretty overgrown) to see the Nisutlin Bay Bridge that is the second longest span on the Alaska Highway. The bridge is currently being replaced with a new structure. There was a fellow there at the overlook who said that he was a truck driver and had carried some of the materials for the new bridge. He indicated that most of the bridges along the Alaska Highway are receiving major work or being replaced as, when they were built, they were expected to last 50 years, and they are now past that point. He said that the new bridges are being built with an anticipated 100 year lifespan.

One of the information boards at the overlook had information about the journey of the Chinook Salmon to this area.

As we were crossing the Nisutlin Bay Bridge, we got a picture that also shows the construction going on next to it. We had been cautioned that the metal grating on this bridge would "pull" your tires to one side and then the other and to take it slowly.

It was a cloudy day, and so we didn't get many pictures...

... until we got to Whitehorse.

After getting settled (we had been cautioned that we might be really crammed in at this campground, but they have a large group of Airstream trailers that got the really tight spots -- which aren't so tight for them since they are shorter and don't have slides) -- Carl and I headed into town.

A view of mountains a bit to the east of us.

We stopped in the Yukon Visitor Information Centre.

Interesting displays and information about all of the areas of the Yukon Territory.

We had signed up for an optional activity for the late afternoon -- glassblowing...

Our group met up at Lumel Studios.

We could select from 6 different types of items to make for our project (on the top of the barrel just in front of me).

After a brief safety instruction...

we selected which type of item we wanted to make (I decided to make a paperweight, Carl is fighting allergies or a cold and decided to just take pictures)...

... and we also decided which colors we wanted to include in our project.

They could work with three of us at a time, and I ended up waiting and watching other folks from our group working on their projects. At the beginning, the owner of the studio had introduced all the folks who would be working with us, and two of them were from Ontario and here as interns. I started chatting with one of them, asking her about her schooling, what she planned to do with her degree, and she said, "Are you ready to do your project?" and so I got started.

She started by getting a glob of molten glass from the oven...

I dabbed it into the three colors I had selected.

We heated it again...

... it was a little misshapen, so I rolled it back and forth in the oven until it was more even.

Then it was time to shape the glass that would form the inside, decorative part of the paperweight...

I used tongs to twist and put air bubbles into the glob.

A video of the shaping:

Making more swirls.

Once we had the glob sufficiently twisted and pulled, she put more clear glass on the blob that makes the outside of the paperweight.

Rounding the object with a wooden cup-like tool

Then she instructed me in pulling it down and making a neck that would eventually be the place that it was broken off.

We took it over to an area where we would be finishing the piece...

Tapping it off of the stick:

Flattening the bottom

My instructor (intern) then took my project piece over to a cooling oven (I think it is warm and prevents them from cooling too quickly). We would be able to get our project pieces the next day.

Carl and I then headed out for dinner -- there are a lot of choices for eating in Whitehorse. We selected Big Bear Eatery & Taphouse...

... and got Shawarma Poutine to share.

Description in the menu -- it was really good, and plenty for both of us!

We will be in Whitehorse for 3 nights -- and Fantasy has activities planned for us to learn more about this area. We're looking forward to all we'll learn!