May 25 - Sandy

May 25

We can’t believe it’s been a month ago that we arrived in Skagway, going from 3,830 feet  in altitude to 50 feet,  in 15 miles.  We had burned out the brakes even in low gear, so the last two miles was done with minimum braking power.  Oh what a way to arrive!   So far this has been an awesome experience.

Many people here have a greenhouse of one sort or another.  We found out that tomatoes and okra don’t grow well here outside – it’s too cool.  Beans, squash and cool crops do very well all summer long.  AND rhubarb grows wild.  By the end of the summer the rhubarb will be five feet tall.   There is one rhubarb plant that’s 160 years old.  There’s a protective fence around it, and a sign asking people to only take pictures.

Local dogs—I still haven’t seen a small dog that actually lives here.  All the dogs are of musher size and all look to have the same gene pool.  We were on the dog field (no not a dog park) when a couple brought out their dogs.  Their dogs were afraid of our little RV sized dogs.  The lady told us their dogs have never seen small dogs such as ours.

The school!  Skagway built a new state of the art school complex for 8 million dollars.  It’s complete with a greenhouse, salmon hatchery, and state of art technology.  The territory of Alaska was bought for 7.2 million in 1867.  The school has an average of 70 to 80 kids per school year from kindergarten to twelfth grade.  This year three seniors graduated.  The prom is open to all high schoolers as well as the whole town. It’s a big community affair! 

Everything is celebrated!  We joined in the city wide clean sweep before the tourists began to arrive.  Businesses donated prizes and trips, there was a meal for all “sweepers”.  The next weekend there was a city wide garage sale to benefit the school, where again the whole town shows up.  As one old timer said,  “We just pass around the junk!” It was fun.  We got to meet quite a few locals.

We are known as summer locals, and get discounts in stores and free tourist trips, when there’s space.  For example:   We can hop a ride on an airplane tour that lands on the glacier and just pay a tip.  Any of the shows are free. 

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