Day 69 - Wednesday July 26/17

(posted on Friday August 11th, 11pm, at Dawson City RV Park, Dawson City Yukon, sitting in the laundromat waiting for laundry to dry)

We were underway by 9:30 under low cloud. It was a chilly, damp 13 C with clouds hiding any trace of the mountain we had seen across the river from us last night. This a travel day for us today, with a bit of ‘touring’ on the way! From the state park on the Matanuska River near Sutton, at a place called "Chickaloon", to Seward. (map)

Our first goal for the day was to tour the Musk Ox Farm near Palmer. We arrived just in time for the 10:30 tour. (For those of you who are Jeopardy fans you will know that Alex Trebek is associated with this non-profit organization and his favourite animal is the musk ox.) The musk ox here are domesticated and raised for their fur called qiviut. Qiviut (kiv'-ee-ute) is the soft down under-wool produced by musk oxen that is gently removed by combing. This wool is used by local indigenous women to knit intricate scarves, hats etc. The sale of these products provides them with a sustainable income. The modern muskox is the last member of a line of ovibovines that evolved to exist in the tundra. It was fascinating to be able to see at first hand and up close the size of the animal – 4 to 5 feet tall and 600 to 900 pounds, its apparently calm nature and the unusual horns that span the front of the head. The guide told us of the cleverness of these animals at opening gates with their horns and finding the weakest area of the fencing in order to affect an escape. (photos)

Shortly after we left the farm, we found ourselves on modern four lane highway that began near Palmer and stretched south past Anchorage. It was strange to be back both on a four-lane highway and in a big city. We stopped at a McDonald’s for lunch and to get Wi-Fi. From there we located a Costco to get the cheapest gas. We also did a little grocery shopping at a Carrs store. This chain is affiliated with Safeway. A very kind cashier found a way to give us the ‘members’ price’. We felt we had made efficient use of our time in the city.

Back on the highway we were into heavy traffic which somewhat spoiled the beautiful drive through the Kenai Peninsula south from Anchorage to Seward. Low clouds and mist continued to obscure the magnificent views we knew were hiding all around us.

We arrived at a private campground, just outside of Seward AK, with full amenities, including for the first time cable hook-up. It was before 6 pm but the office was closed. As we didn’t have a reservation we chose a site from the list of available options posted in the office window. This campground is little more than a parking lot and the cable hook-up only allowed us to get one channel (TLC) as we don’t have a remote tuner to allow us to change channels. 
Before calling it an early night we booked a glacier viewing tour online for tomorrow. The weather forecast is promising.