
A few years ago Micah and I found ourselves in desperate need of a weekend away from noisy condo life and insane neighbors (I wish I was exaggerating). As the weather was just on the cusp of winter and our getaway location was narrowed to places we could maximize our weekend time with a day on either side for travel, we settled on Whitehorse, Canada. It had everything we were looking for. Most importantly, it’s fairly close, only a ferry ride and a two hour drive away, but still involves leaving the country. Having been to Whitehorse several times before, I’ve stayed in many of the Whitehorse hotels/motels which are perfectly adequate, but for this trip we decided to search for a quiet B&B or cabin with amenities (I wanted an indoor, non-communal bathroom for my stress-free weekend, thank you very much). The B&B I stayed in with my family during my childhood no longer exists. It was owned by an old couple and the wife used to bake cookies and knit hats with super large pompoms on top for my brother and I. This couple exemplified the Canadian stereotype of gracious hospitality and general warmth of personality. I had no doubt we would be able to find somewhere equally as welcoming now, and I wasn’t wrong.
Our internet searches turned up several cabins available for rent in Whitehorse, it is after all a winter tourist destination for outdoorsy types, but many of these cabins are without electricity and water and have a communal bath house. And then we found it, Muktuk Adventures, Guest Ranch & B&B. This place offered a dog lot full of Huskies to pet, a lodge where we could join the staff and other guests for breakfast and dinners (for a small extra fee), and three different types of guest housing: rooms in the main lodge with a shared bathroom down the hall, a couple rustic cabins lacking electricity and running water, and one cabin, Shilo’s Chalet, with electricity, a wood stove, and an indoor bathroom with hot water on demand. Maybe it’s because every child in Alaska grows up with a soft spot for Huskies because of the story of Balto- the sled dog that saved a village by delivering medicine when all other means of transport failed. Or maybe it’s because I just like dogs, but there was no question. Shilo’s Chalet sounded like everything we were looking for.
Meg says
How on earth did you manage to return home without six dogs in your car?
Wanderlusting Elizabeth says
It was difficult.