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Mawlers’ Big Adventure ’04:
The Great White North

Accommodations...

We have a tendency to swing wildly from one type of accommodations to another. We once stayed in a hotel, just outside Algonquin Park in Ontario, that was two nights, full day canoe rental, and breakfast two days for less than $100 -- Candian. (By the way, that was a great hotel. We recommend it to everyone!) We also stayed, for two friends' wedding, at a FROOFY place in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, that was upwards of $700 Canadian for two nights, no breakfast or canoe. Well, this trip is really no different, except that we probably won't be staying in any many-hundred dollar a night hotels... That is partly because we have a lot of nights to stay, and partly because there just aren't any hotels like that up here. Some of the hotels are kind of expensive, but only because it is expensive to haul little bars of soap up here... the routes we're taking are the only ways in and out... We call the froofy hotels "fluffy towel" hotels, borrowed from a friend of ours who takes way more exotic vacations than us (thanks, Indri). So, some of the hotels below are not fluffy towel at all, and some are a little fluffy towel. Some of the rooms even had fluffy towels. I like to take pictures of the rooms (I started on the first trip we made to Canada, a long time ago...) so those are posted here. The ones without pix of the outside have pix of the outside coming. I just forgot northbound. ;-)

in edmonton, we stayed at a day's inn, called the nisku inn and conference center. generic hotel, really. nice courtyard and very convenient to the airport with a free shuttle. we give it 3 fluffy towels. (night one and two)	in Dawson Creek, we stayed at the alaska hotel. If you care to read about this one, go to the travelogue and look for "Do you want to see the room first?" (night three)	here is the room at the alaska hotel. we give it 1 fluffy towel.
I love stitching pictures. This is the Bluebell Inn at Fort nelson. It was a great efficiency, with a refrigerator (where we froze a zillion water bottles for the cooler) and high speed internet. 3 fluffy towels. (night 4) Note, the ratings are what type of hotel, not really price or how we liked it. We really liked the Blubell Inn. If you go there, ask for a new room (they added on) so you can have high speed internet).
inside our room at the Bluebell Inn.	the towels at the Bluebell Inn were actually quite soft and fluffy. :-)	i picked the cedar lodge hotel in Watson Lake because it wsan't a chain. And, well, it was on the internet, and, well, their site plays a Peter Gabriel song. one fluffy towel and a washcloth. (night 5)
cedar lodge was a cabin, with a kitchenette and a couch-seating area. it was a little dark, but then it was a cabin. the towels - not so fluffy.	on the bright side, it had its own bathroom, and a kitchenette, where we cooked dinner, since no restaurants were open when we got to town.	welcome to chez mawler portable. (night 6) we give it five fluffy towels.
at the Dawson City Bunkhouse we had a great suite, with a double bed in one room and a single in the other, and our own private bath. (night 7)	this is the single and the bath. it was all decorated with what reminds me of this end up furniture. very sturdy, but very nice. and, they had soft, green towels. we give them three fluffy towels.	eagle plains is a very interesting place. it's just a place on the road with a hotel, gas station, store, and restaurant. there's no town other than that. (night 8)
the place we are staying in inuvik is the Arctic Chalet. this is the main building/house and reception, along with some interesting lawn decorations.	the back of hte main house from down the street while we were on a walk.	Arctic Chalet has little duplex or triplex cabins. this is a long shot of our cabin... note our jeep parked.
this is our particular third of the cabin. the green tarp is our tent ground cloth, drying out from faro´s rain.	this is the inside of our cabin at Arctic Chalet. We give it two fluffy towels and a washcloth.	on Wednesday, we are supposed to camp, but a combination of days of cold and rain, and a swarm of killer biting insects, led us to seek the comforts of an actual motel.
the mackenzie is expensive. but, at 2 in the morning, it is the only option we can find, and we take it. we actually get a suite of sorts. this is the sitting room.	we push the two twin beds together and make one bed large enough to sleep on... the television was in that position when we got there, and we didn´t bother to move it.	they did have very large, very fluffy towels, but they lose points for the "never-gone" toilet paper dispenser in the bathroom. we give them 2 flufy towels.
after our non-camping night at the MacKenzie, we were back to the Arctic Chalet, except this time we had a room in the main house.	the room upstairs had beautiful windows and a screen door to a future deck where we had a great view of the sunsets.	the signs for Arctic Chalet show it has a bit of an identity crisis... they are a chalet, a bed and breakfast, and an inn...
...and here it is a guest house and cabins.	on the way back down the dempster, we stay at eagle plains, again. here's what it looks like in the sun.	we stayed one night in Dawson City at the El Dorado because of a mix-up at the Bunkhouse.
the El Dorado is basically just a hotel... two fluffy towels	after that night, we went back to the bunk house. the room was the same, so here are some pix of the outside.	we were on the ground floor both times we stayed there.
the bunk house has some original canoes and a very strange "subway" station.	again we were going to camp this night, but fires kept us from the campgrounds. something about the huge line of industrial fire trucks lining the road outside the campground made us think twice.	but, this motel was open, and it turned out to be quite nice.
we give it two fluffy towels and a wash cloth.	in Haines Junction, we try two motels before we find vacancy. what is it with that?	we find a room at the Kluane Park Inn. this place was fine, and inexpensive, but it was a little dark, and the beds were... well... not optimal.
we give it one fluffy towel and a washcloth.	in Haines, we stay in the Halsingland Hotel, which is the officers quarters of Fort Seward, the old fort in town.	it was right off the main harbor and has lovely views.
because we (again) have gotten to Haines during a local attraction, the state fair, we are lucky to get a room, here. We end up with a shared bath, but it was very inexpensive, and just a lovely hotel.	the "quad" was our view out the window. you can see a native/first nations lodge with totem poles... we give this one 2 fluffy towels and a wash cloth.	sadly, stuart is way too efficient, and dismantled chez mawler portable before i got a picture. this was our spot in the campground. lovely weather... great scenery... this one is actually in Kluane Park. we give it five fluffy towels..
next, we get to Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory. We stay in a hotel downtown and have a king size bed.	it was a nice place, although we had a third floor walk-up... i'm so lazy... anway, we give it two and a half fluffy towels.	although i had to fuss about 3 times, i managed to keep chez mawler portable up long enough to get a picture this time.
beautiful view, personalized service... this is accommodation at its best. and, at a turnout alongside a lake (no campground) the price is definitely right. again, five fluffy towels.	this hotel was nice. the bar was definitely hopping for a monday night!	we give it two fluffy towels.

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All materials © 2004 Lea Ann Mawler & Stuart Mawler