May 25, 2010

Oil change, Braeburn Lodge, Drive toward Dawson City

 

So far we have driven over 3000 miles on this adventure.  Whitehorse was the last city of any size we would see for four of five hundred miles,  much of which will be nasty road.  After topping of the gas tank we headed to the equivalent of Jiffy-Lube.  Including wait time for vehicle in front of us it took about thirty minutes.  While waiting our turn, there was another couple also waiting.  They took one look at Sue and said “You’re the lady from Auburn, California” (see yesterday’s blog).  They had been at the show last night.

55 miles up the Klondike Loop we came to our first have to stop of the day.  Actually our only have to stop of the day.  Braeburn Lodge is similar to most of the roadside lodges along the highways of the north.   This one is nicer than most  The grounds are neat, the buildings are in good repair and pleasant to look at.  Like most it has a restaurant,  several cabins, and a gas pump.  This one also has a small landing strip across the road.   The restaurant is a decent size.  Could probably seat over 50 people.  Good basic meals.  Nothing fancy.  The thing about Braeburn Lodge is the quantity of that good basic food.  While we were there a woman came in and ordered ham and eggs.  The slice of ham was about 5 inches across and at least 3/8” thick.  Two very large eggs.  Looked like tater tots on the side and a separate plate with two pieces of 1 1/2'” thick toast.  All breads, pastries, etc, are baked there.  Another customer told us about the time she ordered a bowl of soup.  The ‘bowl’ was the size of a tureen.  Hard to get a doggy bag for the leftovers on that.  One item that is literally world renown is their cinnamon bun.  It is tasty and HUGE.  Close to nine inches in diameter.  We got one to snack on for the next two or three days.

 

Another couple were just finishing half of their hamburger.  The whole burger is over seven inches in diameter.  The patty goes all the way to the edge of the bun (homemade) and is covered by lettuce, tomato, onion, sautéed mushrooms, bacon, cheese, and maybe a couple of other items.  We got one of those too.  Meals for a day and a half.

I asked how many cinnamon buns they make a day.  She said that with the season now getting going they will make over 200 a day, seven days a week.  With the buns and all the other pastries they bake nonstop 18 hours a day.

Side light:  When we walked in the Breaburn Lodge restaurant, two separate couples said, “You’re the lady from Auburn, California”.  :)

The distance between Whitehorse and Dawson City is over 300 miles.  We did see one large black bear on the way.  Nothing else. Because of our later start we stopped about 2/3 of the way at a very nice provincial campground.  Over 40 sites and only one other site has occupants.