8/31/2009

August 30, 2009 – Wooly Mammoths, Cars, and Follies

Our morning and afternoon were spent at two museums.  The first was the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center. 

“The lost sub-continent of Beringia dates back to the last great ice age.  While the rest of Canada lay frozen under massive sheets of ice, a region encompassing eastern Siberia, Alaska and Yukon remained untouched by glaciers.  Sea levels dropped and a grassy tundra appeared, supporting a variety of animal and plant life.”

“The new world’s earliest human inhabitants moved into what is now North America from western Beringia at least 24,000 years ago.  Following the herds of mammoth and giant bison, the First People of the ‘New World’ were resourceful and well-adapted to hunting the large mammals of the steppe tundra.  Ultimately, they survived them.”

What a neat place.  We found out that as miners were digging in the permafrost for gold and other minerals, they unearthed some of these bones.   Some are also found after flooding in the river beds.  Amazing.

The Scimitar Cat

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The Wooly Mammoth in the center and the Giant Sloth on the left:

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From there we went to the Yukon Transportation Museum right next door.  This plane is actually the world’s largest weathervane (and we did see it move – WOW!):

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The museum contained all modes of transportation in the Yukon from dog sledding to modern vehicles.  They had a nice section on trains and the part they played from the gold rush thru the wars up to modern tourism.  There was a section on building the Alaskan Railroad and the suppliers.  Here are two of those vehicles:

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And one of Andy’s favorites – a 1928 Chevy.

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We also saw some interesting movies in each of the museums.  We would definitely recommend visiting the both.

Back at the MH, we relaxed and then this evening went to town to see “The Frantic Follies” – a vaudeville review.  What a wonderful show!!

Tomorrow we head out.  We are still not sure if we are going to Carcross or just head to Watson Lake area so stay tuned – :-))

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