|
  | |  |
Thursday to Saturday
Entry 29 of 41 | show all | print this entry |
Thursday, July 28
Did I write about meeting the couple from Nebraska when we were in Seward? I think perhaps I did, they are from southwest of Beatrice. Well our paths crossed again in Jade City and down in Hyder. As a matter of fact we soon discovered that they (Larry and Corinne Wilkinson) had been at Riverside Campground in Fairbanks while we were there and even had been invited to eat at the dinner Pat and Tina organized for the caravan. We went to breakfast with Larry and Corinne and they drove us to watch the bears.
Fortunately there was a rather large grizzly walking up and down the stream looking for just the right salmon to catch for his breakfast. The stream was loaded with salmon so I don't know why the bear took so long to pick one out. Perhaps he was just putting on a show for his audience as he walked way down the stream, turned and came all the way back up, then in a quick move, he stuck his head in the water and came up with a very large salmon, directly in front of Pat.
I think I said they have bleachers for the tourists, they do not. They have a raised walkway along the stream and you can move up and down to get the best vantage or photo opportunity. Mr. Bear took his fresh catch to the bank (of the stream) where he deposited it, got a better grip on it and then proceeded into the thick brush where he could enjoy it without an audience. Quite a show put on by the US Forestry Department and their bear. The folks who went up last night got very wet but they did get to see three bears. We stayed dry and saw a good show, not a bad trade off.
We then proceeded up an old mining road for about 15 miles and three thousand feet elevation to look down on Salmon glacier. It was an outstanding experience. The scenery on the drive up and the glacier were awesome. The road was not too bad but not without some fairly scary moments - narrow, hairpin turns, and vertical drops of hundreds of feet all contributed to the experience!
Following our morning activities we were on the road by 11:30. We stopped in nearby Stewart, B.C. to gas the truck and to get the trailer tire repaired. We were on our way again about 12:30. The drive up the canyon from sea level to about 2,000 feet was beautiful with spectacular waterfalls, snow topped mountains and even several glaciers. We even saw a small black bear cub eating grasses along the shoulder of the road. After about an hour we were back on the infamous highway 37, heading south. The road was much better and because there was no rain we got to enjoy the scenery.
We stopped for a piece of pie at the highway 16 junction before heading east. The rest of our journey to Telkwa was uneventful, except for the black bear that crossed our path. I had to hit the brakes to keep from hitting him as he was crossing the road to get where the grass was greener and the fish more plentiful. We went through many Indian villages, saw lots of logging trucks, and the always present mountains. When we arrived at Fort Telkwa RV Park I was able to power wash the truck and trailer, removing most of the heavy accumulation of road grime and mud. Neither one is clean but you can now tell their color is not dark gray. After getting our trailer connected to utilities we relaxed and waited for the two units remaining from our caravan, who were planning on stopping at this campground. The others had either fallen behind or were way out ahead or had gone home a different route.
Soon they arrived, we cooked hamburgers and hotdogs and had a good dinner with Tom and Pat and Barbara and Janet, but not until Tom and I removed a blockage from the holding tank on Barbara's and Janet's motorhome. They had been having trouble with it for a long time but I think we finally got it corrected and drained. After dinner we said goodbye for the last time and retired to our trailer.
Friday, July 29
We really returned to civilization on our drive today, we even saw hay being baled! The fields looked great although the hay was not very tall. I guess it was the first (and only) cutting they have up here but the hay looked pretty good to my uneducated eye. The mountains receded and were further away although still visible, and the farms looked prosperous. We had decided to only drive about 250 miles today, to Prince George, B.C. We arrived at about 2pm and after unhooking the trailer from the truck we drove around the city of 80,000 people, seeing the sights recommended by our RV Park host. The town looked clean and attractive but there was not much that held our attention so we went to a grocery store for provisions and returned to our trailer. Pat wanted to prepare a good dinner tonight so we had pork tenderloin, potatoes au gratin, and peas. After dinner I tried unsuccessfully to get on line to send this journal entry.
We briefly debated about heading straight east to Jasper instead of continuing our journey on to Vancouver because we had enjoyed that area so much when we drove there with Katie and Leo Ryan five years ago. We decided to continue south, but as Vancouver is at least an eight hour drive (we don't do that much anymore) I think we will drive about six hours and stop so we will have only a short drive Sunday and arrive in Vancouver at an early hour. Monday is a holiday, British Columbia Day or Civic Day depending on who you ask, so there are a lot of travelers for the long weekend and that may change our plans. Stay tuned.
Saturday, July 30
Not much to report today, it was strictly a travel day with no sight seeing or stops at roadside attractions. We did see buffalo (at a buffalo farm!) and one deer. As we traveled south we did see a lot more hay fields, even quite a few that were irrigated (one center pivot but most were a simple rolling pipe or sprinklers laid out on the ground). We traveled 280 miles and the only cultivated field we saw was just north of Cache Creek, BC, the town where we stopped for the night. What was the crop? Vegetables, it was a truck farm!
We did see a number of very pretty lakes during our drive and one first - people were actually out on the water in their sport boats rather than fishing boats. We are getting far enough south that the water temperature is warm enough for water sports, if not swimming. I think the holiday weekend also played a role in our seeing folks enjoying the water. There was a lot more traffic on the road than we have seen since we left Edmonton back on June 18. That was a bit of a shock but we will adjust, particularly when we head in to Vancouver tomorrow. By the way, we drove back into (or very close to) more mountains. As we approached our destination of Cache Creek we dropped rather quickly off a plateau and as we did the temperature really shot up - from about 74 degrees to over 80 degrees. We will just have to adjust. (That was for all of you who have been enjoying the 90 to 105 degree temperatures of the past couple of weeks.)
I am going to walk to the RV Park office where I am told they have a high speed internet connection and send this on its way. Then it will be cocktail hour and time to assist the chief cook in dinner preparations. Well, at least help the cook by eating what she prepares...
Tomorrow we drive to Vancouver, about 250 miles, find a decent campground, and tour Victoria and a bit of the island, hopefully by ferry so I do not have to drive. By the way, I hear that Washington State has a mountain or two.
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from British Columbia, Canada or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
4 votes 
