Best Western Coachman Inn Fort St. John

Just a few miles north of Fort St. John we arrived at Charlie Lake, where we finally met Victor's second cousin Rick and his lovely family - Linda, warm and intelligent, and their beautiful daughters Gillian and Meagan. This, then, is the purpose of our long journey north into the oil and gas country of Canada, through some of the most stunning views of the Rockies we could have imagined ...

Reached BC (Back to Civilization?) and started meeting loads more vehicles on the roads; BC also paved the lower part of NWT’s road to Fort Liard to show those northerners how much more money they have to spend.

Bought supplies, including cheaper beer, in Fort Nelson but decided against staying in a motel at ridiculous rates. So we ended up staying at Andy Bailey ...

Today we left Whitecourt, AB and drove into Bristish Colombia. We didn't stop except to eat lunch and fill up with diesel. We have been paying around .80/ltr to .89/ltr. Today we paid .93/ltr. We entered on the Alaska Hwy at Dawson Creek. We drove through rolling hills today and again with many cannola and grain fields. The road got rather bouncy today, like riding a ...

No moose, but a herd of elk visited us from across the river last night.
We decided to take the long, but potentially more interesting route to Ft St John through Prince George and Hudson Hope. It was scenic in places and the roads were good. We visited Chetwynd to see wood sculptures carved using chain saws. Stopped at WAC Bennett Dam. Its one of the largest earthen dams in the world. We had a black bear run in the road in front of us and saw big horn sheep, elk and deer, but no moose.

Another day on the road. We made it into Fort St. John, BC about 1330 local. Put the canopy out and now just resting and relaxing.

There hasn't been much traffic. See the pictures of near empty four lane highway.

I have added some scenic ...

... It has a population almost the same as Decatur's, and even has a Wal-Mart.

The sky is overcast, with occasional light rain. Rain is not forecast overnight, which is good.

OK, now I'll try to upload pictures. the WiFi signal strength is low. No pictures this time. Sigh.

Til later!

Well, now it's later. I'm in a campground in the little town of Charlie Lake.. Let's try the pictures again.

Sue ..

... the entire province, do I comprehend those words. We stopped in Ft. St. John for the night and the next day completed the entire 1,522-mile Alaskan Highway in Dawson Creek (technically "Mile 0" since we drove from finish to start). On Sunday, we entered the Rocky Mountains for a two night stay in the elegant Jasper Park Lodge - a welcome pampering to ourselves after weeks of travel.

Miles: 300 Weather: Warm but Pleasant Finally the ALCAN! Arrived today in Dawson Creek mile 0 of the ALCAN. The ride up from Prince George (PG) was brisk and scenic. BC 97 between PG and Dawson Creek was what I was expecting, We stopped at a gas station adjacent to the MacKenzie exit and there was this 'cute' fox begging for food. I mean a real four-legged fox trotting ...

... but I think the record was 6 or 7. Charlie Lake was pretty big compared to the lakes we had worked on in the Kootenays, but there wasn't a lot of development. One interesting feature was the abundance of swallows' nests in the cliffs, we also saw several osprey and a few eagles. We worked with Graham while we were in the Peace region and he was really knowledgeable about the area and gave us some good ideas for things ...

... the shower. Those who know me can guess where this leads - we ended up spending the day at the bar and left around midnight after racking up an $80 bar tab! It was well worth it - one of the best days of the trip, sharing drinks and fun with the three guys who were working that day, as well as a couple of fellow travelers who came and went during the day. You can check this place out on the web, too - http://homeranchbottoms.com The next day we left for Canada ...