Day 80 – May 29– Dawson Creek

It is 2:50 a.m. and Sadie is pacing at the bottom of the bed.  She finally jumps down and I follow to see what she is up too.  She is not above a little tinkle on the floor.  This time she is just looking for a drink of water and comes back to the bedroom, and looks at me to pick her up so she can go back to sleep.  I lay there like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for the day to start.

At 4:30 a short rain shower falls, lasting maybe 2 minutes.  Some people would feel it was an omen of the start of a bad day.  I think its angels tears of joy as they share my excitement for the coming day.  For two years I have been researching the trip: following threads on RV websites, reading other peoples blogs and reading every book I could find on the highway and Alaska.  Now it was all coming together and just seemed unreal to me.

I finally fall asleep some time after 5 only to wake at 5:35 (I was looking right at a clock).  Again I fall a sleep and wake at 7 and wait until 7:15 to start the generator so Dorrie will have hot water for her shower.  At 7:30 we are all up – the dogs want to go out.

We drove down the washboard they call a road out of Tudyah Lake Provincial Park around 9 and headed toward Dawson Creek, BC.  On the way we drove through mountain passes where at some places there was still snow in the shaded area of the trees.  At one point we stopped at a rest area over looking a lake that still had ice and snow on it.

We stopped at the town of Chetwynd, which is known for chainsaw art works.  They are all along the road and at the visitor’s center the town has a large display of some of the winning pieces from the competition the town sponsors each year.

From Chetwynd we continued on our way to Dawson Creek, the starting point of the Alaskan Highway.  We got campsites at the Milepost 0 Campground, set up the campers, and then drove into the main section of town to find a place to eat.  The winning restaurant was named Stuies and was a 50s style diner.  We all ate the Marilyn Monroe burger – it had a special sauce somewhat like that used in coleslaw.  Afterwards we went to the visitor’s center to watch a film on the construction of the highway, toured the museum, and got some souvenirs.

The sun is shining bright at 8:30 p.m.; it doesn’t get dark here until about 10 and then the sun is up the next morning around 5.  After 80 days on our journey to Alaska we are finally at mile zero of a trip of about 1,200 miles from Dawson Creek to just inside the Alaskan border.

Day 79 – May 28 – Second Full Day of Driving in British Columbia

We were on the road by 9 o’clock this morning driving towards Prince George.  The sights were pretty much the same as yesterday, not as many scenic mountains with the river beside us.  This was more like driving through forests.

When we got to Prince George we stopped at Treasure Cove casino to see if we would have any better luck in B.C. than we have in the states.  I guess we are just not lucky gamblers.  After less than an hour we were out of the casino.  Rick was off using the free Wi-Fi after having lost all of SEVEN DOLLARS!  Finally he returned to the camper after about 30 minutes and we continued on our way.

Do you think the real Prince George looks like this?

We went through some small towns along the highway and stopped at a rest area to stretch our legs.  Rick and I walked down to the nearby river and I took a couple of pictures – nothing real outstanding.

About 30 minutes before we came to our stopping place Rick called on the CB to look to the left in the valley.  I said what is it – his reply “I’m not sure”.  I slowed down and we saw what we at first thought was a deer.  It didn’t look quite right for a deer, so I stopped and back up (yes on the highway) so we could see it better.  It was a young moose in a clearing.  Before we were able to get a picture, it stomped off into the woods and out of sight.  This is our first moose sighting since 1979 when we went to Yellowstone National Park.  We have looked for moose in Maine, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Colorado but have never seen one.  It was Mary who spotted it from their camper.

We pulled into Tudyah Lake Provincial Park around 3 and found a place to park.

There was only one other camper that we saw when we pulled in.  While we were out talking about our site the neighbors walked over and introduced themselves.  They are Joe and Jan from Georgia.  They had passed us on the road earlier in the day.  They are also on their way to Alaska but said they had to be home for the start of college football season.  On the back of their motorhome they have a big sign of a bulldog in a football helmet and jersey.

Day 78 – May 27 – Driving in British Columbia

We pulled out of the campground around 10 o’clock; being retired allows us not to hurry to get on the road in the morning, so we take it easy most days.  Drove north on the Trans Canada Highway (highway 1) until it turned eastward.  Highway 97 had joined highway 1 a few miles back (still think in miles instead of kilometers) and we stayed with highway 97 north towards Dawson Creek and the start of the Alaskan Highway.

When we went through customs at the border the agent had asked how long we would be in Canada.  I said we were on our way to Alaska and would probably be in Canada 2 weeks or so.  She laughed and said so you are visiting someone.  I said no, just driving through.  She said it should take 2 or 3 days.  I agreed with her and we went on.  She thought it was so funny she told Rick and Mary what I had said.  Well, we are finished with our second day of driving and are maybe half way to the start of the Alaskan highway, so I know it will be closer to my time span than hers.

Today the sky was clear in the morning and the scenery is just outstanding.  We drove around mountains beside the swollen Thomson River and then across the mountains in the afternoon with a little light rain from time to time.

Train going through tunnel

Waterfall along the route

At times it would look like high desert on one side of the highway and on the other would be an irrigated field so green it looked out of place.  We both marveled at the beauty of the scenery.

 

A church along the road

Rick and Mary going through rock

Another church

Dorrie started taking pictures of the road signs that we don’t see in the states, but so far she has missed the best one – a badger crossing.

Sure we have these but the antlers are correct on this sign

Dump truck crossing

Reduce speed ahead

Rough road

We are currently parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Quesnel, British Columbia.  When we crossed the border, we turned our phones to airplane mode to avoid the international roaming charges.  That takes away my hotspot ability so finding Wi-Fi is hard.  Luckily, Wal-Mart has a free guest service, which is what I am using to make this post.  I will continue to write summaries and will post when I can.

Day 77 – May 26 – O’ Canada

We made it to Canada!  After traveling for 76 days we are now out of the United States.  We left Lakeside RV Park about 10:30 and headed north on I-5.  At Bellingham, Washington we got off the interstate to top off the gas tanks and then continued on towards Sumas, Washington to cross the border.

There was a line at the border crossing and we waited for 10 or 15 minutes for our turn.  Dorrie was really nervous about going into Canada.  I am not sure what she was worried about – we answered a few questions and were on our way.

The hardest part of the whole thing was squeezing the motorhome through the post on each side of the crossing station.  Rick was behind us and he made it through without any issues.

We turned on the highway east towards Hope, BC.  We stopped a couple of times to talk and finally made it to the town of Hope.  We pulled into the campground and decided we didn’t want to stay there, so we headed back out towards a provincial park on up the highway.  All day long the clouds were hanging low over the mountains and it rained off and on. 

We pulled into Skihist Provincial Park and found camping places. 

The sky had cleared off and was bright blue.  The campsites are tucked on the hillside among the pine trees; truly a beautiful location.

We fixed hot dogs and brats on the grill.

Since we don’t have any hookups we tried not to dirty many dishes, so we warmed the baked beans in foil on the grill and Dorrie made a salad for us from stuff we had left over from our taco salad the night before.  Everything tasted great and the setting made it a really enjoyable meal.