A minor glitch

From Watson Lake, we traveled further north in the Yukon to Teslin, home of the inland First Nation People.  The Tlingit Heritage Center is working hard to keep their culture and heritage from dying out by educating the public and offering opportunities for the elders to pass down their language and culture to the younger generation.

This is where we saw our first totem poles.  The First Nation people belong to the raven, frog, wolf etc.  You cannot marry within your clan.  The children take on the mother's clan.  These totem poles each represent the raven, frog, wolf, etc.  You have to admire the way the First Nation People lived off the land. 

There was one adventuresome Tlingit man, George Johnson who decided he needed a car.  This was back in the 1920's.  Now the interesting thing is, there were no roads in Teslin back then.  He went to Whitehorse, purchased the vehicle, took a quick driving lesson on the airfield and had the car put on a boat for delivery to Teslin.  He would drive the car on Lake Teslin when it froze over in the winter.  It was hard to hunt with a dark car that the animals avoided, so every winter he painted it white..like the snow.  He also hired some men to help him build a short road.  Then he was paid ....as in today's taxi drivers...to give the others in the community rides.  He was a man so far ahead of his time!!  His memory and life lives on in a museum...The George Johnson Museum.  The museum is loaded with pictures that he had taken with his camera and developed himself.  As I said, he was way ahead of his time.

We had our first taste of Bannock at the Heritage Center.  It is a flour, salt, baking powder, water dough that is either fried or baked.  Ours was served fried. 

While at the Yukon Motel and RV Park, we enjoyed a nice site behind the Motel and Restaurant.

It was as great place to spend and extra day....and a much better place to take care of our 'glitch' rather than somewhere on the side of the road. 

We pulled in our slides and got ready to hitch up on Sunday, but when Dad started the truck he heard some strange sounds and shut the engine right down. 

That's our broken serpentine belt....but no problem....we had a spare with us....BUT.....it seems the bearing on the water pump went out causing the shaft to shift which caused the belt to slip and thereby tore it up.  So that means a new water pump as well and we DIDN'T have one.  Man, I'm so glad Dad is such a great mechanic!!

Well, the closest parts store was at our next stop about 90 miles north...Whitehouse.   Luckily we are traveling with Aunt Janice and Uncle Robin who departed for Whitehorse on Sunday as planned.  They located a water pump...no, not at Napa as they don't carry any pumps...but at Canadian Tire...they have a marvelous parts inventory.  Aunt Janice and Uncle Robin delivered the part on Monday and Dad and Uncle Robin installed it quickly so we could join them in Whitehorse.

Just a minor glitch in our plans......but all is well.  Someone is watching over us for sure.  You couldn't ask for a better place to breakdown....at a nice campground instead of somewhere along the road without cell service.  And the campground even had a great restaurant.  They serve baked bannock with their homemade soup.

Hickory

.....on the road again