Pop Goes the Weasel

Today we travel back along the lonely road to Tok. At the halfway point we see three of our RV's stopped at the top of a hill. We pull up to find that one guy, Bill, has hit a big bump and lost his drive shaft and maybe his air brakes and a tire. It is a mess as the RV can't be moved to a safe place and there are no services on this road. One of the other group members offers to drive Bill into Tok and hopefully find a mechanic and tow truck even though it is Sunday. We waited with Bill's wife, Carol, her sister, Sue, and her husband, Chick, until Bill returned about an hour later. He had found a mechanic, but they can't tow him until Tuesday. Bill got a ride back with an 84 year old man who was sitting at the gas station. This guy used to drive a tow truck and told Bill about every place along the road where he had picked up a vehicle. On top of the talking he asked Bill to fill his gas tank to the tune of $100. The group packed up some clothes and essentials and drove off in their car to make arrangements while leaving the RV on the two lane road. We headed south into Canada. As soon as we crossed the border the road deteoriated and made for a bumpy ride. We finally got to Beaver Creek, parked the RV and ran to the adjacent hotel which houses the Rendevous Theatre. This is one of our favorite stops on the trip. It is a dinner show that is really worth the drive. It is all owned and produced by Holland America and full of cruise ship passengers on their land tours. The dinner is okay, but the show is dynamite. The male lead has been doing this role for 20 years and his leading lady and the pianist have been here for 10 years. They are so fresh and professional that we enjoyed it as much as the first time. It is a revue of the area from the gold rush days until now. They include some Jeannette McDonald/Nelson Eddy duets and other silly stuff. Their voices and acting are really top notch and it was a pleasant end to a grueling day. Best of all was our four group members drove down from Tok to spend the night. We were all happy to see them.

Next morning we took Sue and Chick with us to Whitehorse while Bill and Carol, went back to Tok to sort things out with their RV. The road was still bumpy, but we broke up the ride with a lunch stop in Haines Junction. We had stopped here on the way north, but now got a chance to photograph the "muffin" which has life sized animals on a 24 foot sculpture. Also saw this tiny church built in 1943 in an old quanset hut.