*side note- Today is water Delivery Day!! Don't worry I will dedicate a whole day to the things we take for granted in the 48 that are a luxury here! *
Day 5 September 5th
Bothell WA to Prince George British Columbia 550 miles in 12 hours
Wildlife: dead something raccoon maybe?
Temperature: 75
Time Zone: Pacific
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| Hello Canada |
Today we said goodbye to Jon and Sonya and started our trip North. This is where we started using our Mile Post Book (Thanks Mom and Dad!!) and this is a must when traveling! It’s a great book that literally goes mile by mile on your trip, tells you where the next gas station is and most importantly next pee break :) 2 hours from Jon and Sonyas we crossed into British Columbia and had zero problems going through Customs- WAHOO!! I was pretty nervous (due to the fact that they could have taken EVERYTHING out of our trailer and we would have had to repack it all) and had all our paperwork and the animals ready and she only wanted our passports. We crossed the border and first stop was Tim Hortons for Coffee- yum. It was here that we learned the American Dollar is crap, I mean not worth a dime, I mean almost equal to the Canadian dollar. I used to be able to take $20 American and get $32 Canadian 8 years ago and that was great- not anymore. We had to have poutine for dinner and it was as good as we both remembered! We had a pretty uneventful trip today and stopped for the night at a place called Grammas Inn- Gramma and Grandpa still run it at 91 and 93 years old respectively!! Sweet dreams!
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| At the Inn- I move for 2 seconds and I lose my spot! |
Day 6 September 6th
Prince George BC to Mile Marker 175 BC 425 miles in 11 hours
Wildlife: Deer and Moose
Temperature: 68
Time Zone: Pacific / MST
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| Top of the Rocky Mountain Trench |
Today was out first day of construction slow down. We lost 2 hours due to standstill Traffic coming down the Rocky Mountain Trench. It was fortunate that we planned our trip when we did; this pass just reopened a week prior to arrival. Earlier in the summer the river washed away and took entire homes with it and now 4 months later it is passable-thankful we didn’t have to do the 400 mile detour! We made it into Dawson Creek British Columbia around 5 pm MST and went to tourist destination of Mile Marker 0 for the Alaska Canada Highway. After dinner at Stuies diner (Dale ate a deep fried hotdog wrapped in bacon covered in meat sauce!) we continued North. We were hoping to make it all the way Fort Nelson BC but when night fell it got dark, I mean no city lights near and no moon to guide the way dark. We saw lots of deer and moose, dead and alive, on the road and it just wasn't worth driving in the dark. We attempted to stop at the Sasquatch Inn but no pets were allowed and it was also past tourist season and the rooms were all reserved for “crews”. Crews meaning the guys working in the oil fields- not us. After another 30 miles in the pitch dark, we pulled into the Buckinghorse River Lodge at Milepost 175. They were already closed at 10:00 pm so we slept in the truck. Tuke, Foster, Dom, Crystal, Dale and I all cuddled up in the bed of the truck- good thing we all like each other;)
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| Mile Marker 0 |
Side note: fountain soda machines don't exist in Canada;( having to buy water to fill our nalgenes and for dogs. BUMMER! Also, the road signs in Canada are highly entertaining (I somehow managed to get zero pictures of this).
Day 7 September 7th
Mile Post 175 BC to Mile Post 710 Yukon 535 miles in 14 hours
Wildlife: Caribou, Rock Sheep, Moose, Bison, Brown Mama bear and 3 cubs, Black Bear
Temperature: 61
Time Zone: MST/ Pacific
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| Beautiful sunrise through our cracked and dirty window |
We were on the road by 7:30 this morning- earliest day yet! We have encountered a few sprinkles on the way, but nothing heavy, which is good. I saw fire weed for the first time and wow- beautiful. It's a pink tall weed that is only in full bloom when summer is over. In the spring the top is barely pink but when the whole weed is pink the locals know summer is over-sad to say summer is over here!! We started to see fall colors a yesterday but wows are they beautiful today!! Coming over Summit Pass we could see the entire valley and all the colors- reds, oranges, yellows and everything in-between. The lakes are very plentiful here and the colors are so amazing- I now know where the color aqua marine comes from! It was on this pass that we also saw tons of wildlife. Caribou and Rock Sheep were plentiful and everywhere! We stopped for lunch in Toad River BC at this super cute little lodge. They actually had a veggie burger and it was amazing, Dale had the bison cheeseburger and said his was pretty tasty as well and we can't forget the poutine;) next stop -Laird Hot Springs! Just before the hot springs we encountered a large heard of tatonka, just hanging out in the grass. As we rounded the corner and were slowing down to pull into the springs we spot a mother bear and her 3 cubs - in the ditch on the side of the road!! Mother bear was mostly brown with a bit of black and 2 of her cubs were black and the other all brown. We watched them play and eat for almost 30 minutes- beautiful amazing creatures;) Laird hot springs was great -we refreshed in the stinky water and soaked our travel weary bones;). We were by far the youngest people here, by at least 20 years. Shortly down the road we encountered our first black bear, lazily walking across the road and he gave us "the look" you know the " I'll take as long as I want because I can" look and we let him. Although Foster thought they could be friends...we kept him from barking as best we could:) Next stop was Watson Lake sign post forest. This is an awesome "forest" of over 70,000 street, city, state, homemade signs from around the world. It was a great place to let the dogs run and stretch our legs. We stopped for the night at Rancheria Lodge at Historical Mile Post 710. What an awesome eclectic place! Mum and Pa and they dog Shep ran the place. We pulled in late at night and the kitchen was already closed but Mum said don't worry I'll fix you some soup and a sandwich. We sat down in the "lounge" with Pa and all his stuffed creatures. Pa pointed to the fridge and told us to grab a beer if we would like and we drank beer and ate while they commented on Americas Got Talent and then of course talk turned to hockey;) Our room was a steep $60 and worth every penny.
Toad River British Columbia. Yes those are all hats on the ceiling, 8,048 were hanging when we passed through.
Just your typical, very small, bear just meandering across the road at his pace.
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