earendel's "North to Alaska" trip - day 8
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:39 pm
This was what I called a "staging day" - nothing happening other than a long (8+ hours) bus ride from Whitehorse to Dawson. No side excursions and few noteworthy occurrences. The first of these was a "breakfast stop" at a cafe out in the middle of nowhere where we got perhaps the best-tasting cinnamon rolls that I've ever tasted. They were huge (and the cost was commeasurate with the size, but worth every Canadian penny) and we kept one to have for breakfast the next day. Our lunch was at another roadside cafe, this one run by the family of the territorial governor of Yukon (or so we were told). The family cooked the food but it was served by our tour director.
Which brings me to mention our tour director, whom I haven't referred to before. To begin with it would be very difficult to keep 40+ people together without someone to take responsibility and Holland-America provides each of their tour groups with just such a person. Our director was Todd Rubie, a twenty-something from Washington who had been doing this work for five years. If he ever thought about trying out, and if he could pass the test, he would be the perfect BAM contestant - young, energetic, telegenic, etc. Of course the older couples on the trip "adopted" him as a grandson. He did an excellent job, too, making sure that we got our room keys every night, keeping us posted on schedule, coordinating excursions, and providing commentary to boot (along with the various bus drivers). For this long otherwise uneventful journey Todd had the group play a game he called "Two Truths and a Lie". Each person wrote down on a piece of paper three things, two of which were true and the third was a lie. Then he would read the three items and the rest of the group had to decide which of the three was the untruth. It was a great way of getting everyone to know everyone else and there were some very interesting truths revealed as various people played. My three statements were:
1. I can read and write 8 different languages.
2. I scored a perfect 1600 on my SATs.
3. I was a contestant on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" with Regis Philbin.
Most people guessed the wrong one.
Another feature of the day was a DVD of a History Channel program about the construction of the Alaska (also known as the ALCAN) Highway. (NOTE: We were traveling on the "deluxe" coaches which had swingdown screens so that the DVD could be seen no matter where one was on the coach. In fact the cabin of the coach was very much like that of an airplane, complete with overhead luggage racks, nozzles for air and little lights.) This was of particular interest since it was the Corps of Engineers that was responsible for the construction. Like the transcontinental railroad, there were two teams, one that started in Alaska and built east, the other started in Canada and built west, meeting at a place named Soldiers Summit. The idea of a road had been around for a long time but the attack on Pearl Harbor and the later invasion of Attu and Kiska by the Japanese gave impetus to the idea. Construction started in March, 1942 and finished in September of that year despite cold winter conditions during the first few months and the problems of building on the tundra during summer months. The highway was designed to connect airfields that were used as stopping points on the route from the U.S. to Russia (part of the Lend Lease program).
We rolled into Dawson about 4PM, with nothing planned for the evening or the next day (another layover day). Todd encouraged us to attend a show (similar to the follies we had seen in Whitehorse), noting that there were three shows and the last show was rather "bawdy" (his word). He also invited us to go over to the Downtown Hotel and partake of a "sourtoe cocktail". This is a drink served with a mummified human toe in it; those who comsume the drink and allow the toe to touch their lips ("kissing the toe") become members of the Sour Toe Club, complete with certificate. As elwing and I are non-drinkers we didn't participate in this charming little ritual, but several in our group did. And because I didn't go, I can't confirm whether it's a real toe or not, though according to the stories surrounding this drink, it is. There's also supposed to be a $200 fine if you swallow the toe, and you have to replace it somehow.
Which brings me to mention our tour director, whom I haven't referred to before. To begin with it would be very difficult to keep 40+ people together without someone to take responsibility and Holland-America provides each of their tour groups with just such a person. Our director was Todd Rubie, a twenty-something from Washington who had been doing this work for five years. If he ever thought about trying out, and if he could pass the test, he would be the perfect BAM contestant - young, energetic, telegenic, etc. Of course the older couples on the trip "adopted" him as a grandson. He did an excellent job, too, making sure that we got our room keys every night, keeping us posted on schedule, coordinating excursions, and providing commentary to boot (along with the various bus drivers). For this long otherwise uneventful journey Todd had the group play a game he called "Two Truths and a Lie". Each person wrote down on a piece of paper three things, two of which were true and the third was a lie. Then he would read the three items and the rest of the group had to decide which of the three was the untruth. It was a great way of getting everyone to know everyone else and there were some very interesting truths revealed as various people played. My three statements were:
1. I can read and write 8 different languages.
2. I scored a perfect 1600 on my SATs.
3. I was a contestant on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" with Regis Philbin.
Most people guessed the wrong one.
Another feature of the day was a DVD of a History Channel program about the construction of the Alaska (also known as the ALCAN) Highway. (NOTE: We were traveling on the "deluxe" coaches which had swingdown screens so that the DVD could be seen no matter where one was on the coach. In fact the cabin of the coach was very much like that of an airplane, complete with overhead luggage racks, nozzles for air and little lights.) This was of particular interest since it was the Corps of Engineers that was responsible for the construction. Like the transcontinental railroad, there were two teams, one that started in Alaska and built east, the other started in Canada and built west, meeting at a place named Soldiers Summit. The idea of a road had been around for a long time but the attack on Pearl Harbor and the later invasion of Attu and Kiska by the Japanese gave impetus to the idea. Construction started in March, 1942 and finished in September of that year despite cold winter conditions during the first few months and the problems of building on the tundra during summer months. The highway was designed to connect airfields that were used as stopping points on the route from the U.S. to Russia (part of the Lend Lease program).
We rolled into Dawson about 4PM, with nothing planned for the evening or the next day (another layover day). Todd encouraged us to attend a show (similar to the follies we had seen in Whitehorse), noting that there were three shows and the last show was rather "bawdy" (his word). He also invited us to go over to the Downtown Hotel and partake of a "sourtoe cocktail". This is a drink served with a mummified human toe in it; those who comsume the drink and allow the toe to touch their lips ("kissing the toe") become members of the Sour Toe Club, complete with certificate. As elwing and I are non-drinkers we didn't participate in this charming little ritual, but several in our group did. And because I didn't go, I can't confirm whether it's a real toe or not, though according to the stories surrounding this drink, it is. There's also supposed to be a $200 fine if you swallow the toe, and you have to replace it somehow.
