If Hyder counts, and if Skagway counts, then I'm about to enter Alaska for the third time, this time up at Tok.

Skagway was a beautiful drive, and the town is a cool tourist destination--the 17th most visited cruise ship port in the world.

Everyone gets off the boats and goes right into main street (Broadway) for gift shops, jewelery (they seem to specialize in Tanzanite, Mary, you should get up there) and seafood.

I treated myself again--this time to an Alaskan salmon filet. Not that different from home, actually. The locals are mostly seasonal. You can't get an apartment in town--at all--until winter. People come in to work the tourism trade; busses, bikes, jeeps, planes, and the aforementioned services. The town is historically significant, along with neighboring Dyea where I camped, for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. Thousands of people heard about another gold strike to rival the 1849 strike at Sutter’s Mill. Off they went carrying tons of gear, enduring harsh conditions, building boats, surviving rapids, etc., only to get to the Yukon and find all the claims taken. 100 years before the dot com rush we still haven't learned our lesson about easy riches. I dropped my bike after dinner--right in front of the picture windows and all the diners inside. So embarrassing. Busboy came running over and helped me right it. What are you gonna do? It's heavy!