This morning we got up, and took only the truck up Dyea Road to check out a campground we had heard about. The road is narrow and winding, but if you go slow even big rigs can negotiate the trail. There is a nice National Forest Campground at the trail head to the Chilkoot trail. There is a free campground just past that, but unfortunately there is a narrow bridge to get to it with a clearance of only 11’4”. We decided to stay where we were because it was closer to town for doing our tourist stuff. We were rewarded for our drive by seeing 2 young grizzlies (perhaps their first year away from mom) playing long the bank of the river.
We also saw two adolescent bald eagles. They don’t get their white head and tail until into their 4th-5th year. One was just starting to get some white feathers and will probably be all white by next year. 
We drove into town to take a town tour where we learned that the National Park Service is restoring many of the original buildings in Skagway. The ranger talked about the facades on the buildings meant to be appealing to the eye to look more important than what they were, most being of Queen Anne Victoria style. 
They get between 6-10 thousand tourists daily from the cruise ships alone. Each day there are 2 -4 cruise ships docked, but it did not feel that crowded to us.View looking towards Cruise ships
The Visitors center
The famous saloon for a cold one
We also visited the Golden Nugget cemetery, the place where the most famous and infamous characters of Skagway are buried like Soapy Smith. The days of 98’ show is about Skagway and him. 
From the cemetery there is also a short hike in the woods to beautiful Reid Falls, named after Frank Reid who shot and killed the most notorious con man in Skagway Soapy Smith. 
We also visited Jewel Gardens, one of Ellen’s favorite stops. It is amazing how things grow in the land of the midnight sun. The flowers, scrubs, herbs and vegetables all grown to enormous proportions. 
A cabbage the size of a basket ball. My dad would love that!
We also visited the Golden Nugget cemetery, the place where the most famous and infamous characters of Skagway are buried like Soapy Smith. The days of 98’ show is about Skagway and him. From the cemetery there is also a short hike in the woods to beautiful Reid Falls, named after Frank Reid who shot and killed the most notorious con man in Skagway Soapy Smith. We also visited Jewel Gardens, one of Ellen’s favorite stops. It is amazing how things grow in the land of the midnight sun. The flowers, scrubs, herbs and vegetables all grown to enormous proportions. A cabbage the size of a basket ball. My dad would love that!There is also a glass blowing studio and we were lucky enough to be there when a demonstration was going on. There is blown glass art in all the gardens and they have a wonderful gallery with many pieces for sale from small glass balls to beautiful bowls, vases and other artistic pieces.
All for today...........
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