We are very happy to put our very muddy campground, Tubby's, behind us for another day of sights. The drive began as an easy one of rolling hills for quite a few miles. The drive was a pretty one with some steep grades, but nothing crazy. Our excitement for the day was spotting a beautiful gray wolf silhouetted by stately fir trees along the side of the road. We haven't seen much wildlife, but what we have seen has been really amazing. It was a fairly easy day of driving. At a fairly large RV Park in Fort Nelson, The Triple G Hideway, we visited with an older couple who were heading South., back to Tennessee. This was their second time driving the AlCan - in their Casita, a little travel trailer like the one we sold in February. Just wow.
Happy 17th Birthday to our sweet granddaughter, Anna Rose. We will celebrate when we get home - I promise!
DAY 25, Wednesday, August 7th
Rain and fog and cold temperatures greeted us this morning. Heading for Watson Lake today.
The signs were warning us to watch for Bison and Muskwa (bear). Will today be the day for wildlife sightings? About 10 miles down the road we realized we had forgotten to check our gas tank. A huge no no. The distance between services is so great that you never head out without a full tank. Wisely, we turned our buggy around and headed back to Fort Nelson. My eyes were tightly closed as Jim did a u-turn, trailer and all, on the AlCan Hwy.
For some reason it seemed like we were about the only ones on the road this morning. After traveling quite a few miles we had seen only two motor homes and one car. By the afternoon that changed, but still the Hwy does not have a lot of traffic on it. The roads are a little rough today, sometimes fairly wide with nice shoulders, and other times narrow with no shoulders. The scenery? Spectacular! Mile and mile of spectacular! Lunch was soup and chili at the Toad River Cafe. It was an interesting place, with hats left by customers, stapled to ceilings and walls. I couldn't convince Jim to part ways with his Meeks hat, though.
The gas pumps did not have a credit card reader, so Jim went inside to pay before he pumped gas. The lady told him to just fill up and tell her how much it was. Wish there was more trust like that in this world. The sun finally broke through the clouds mid-afternoon, warming the day up to the 60's Perfect weather.
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| Toad River |
We stayed at Coal River Lodge and RV - a metropolis of 7 RV sites and sleeping rooms that I am pretty sure didn't have bathrooms or showers. There were quite a number of people using the community facilities. We were the last camper to head out this morning and I decided to make one last trip to the bathroom. I was more than surprised to hear someone in the shower. All I can figure is that someone from the "lodge" was getting ready for the day.
When we arrived at Coal River Lodge, Jim headed over to the guys in the garage to see if he could borrow a crow bar to fix our trailer step that had gotten bent somehow. This old guy with longish hair, wearing an old cowboy hat and dirty jacket that saw him through every job he needed to do (think Clint Eastwood at his scruffiest) turned to Jim and offered him a drag of his cigarette! What the heck! Jim said the guy had a genuine smile and meant well, so he just said "No thanks, I never took up smoking." Confession time: I always thought Clint Eastwood was hot.
Lesson learned: Sometimes people get it terribly wrong when they give things names.DAY 26, Thursday, August 8th
We headed out in cool temperatures, mist and fog this morning. Each morning heading down the long stretch of highway, we are reminded of the vastness of this area of the country we are in. Miles and miles of nothing but beauty and the occasional little town and, of course, tourists.
Today we finally exited BC and entered into the Yukon at Watson Lake, The Gateway to the Yukon and home of the famous Signpost Forest. The Signpost Forest was started in 1942 by a soldier working on the construction of the Alaska Highway. For some reason, I expected a post with signs pointing the way to places. I couldn't be more wrong. The Signpost Forest is a forest of posts with signs left by travelers year after year since 1942. There is an old building centrally located as you enter the "forest". Do you remember the expired license plate fiasco and the efforts of many to get our new license to us? You guessed right, the SHEPRD expired, banged up by deer, license plate was left behind in the Signpost Forest. It is almost impossible to find a unused spot on the many posts, but for some reason a plate had been removed from the little building, so we proudly added SHEPRD to the collection!
Stayed at Dawson Peaks Resort, a tranquil former RV Park on a lake. They still provide electricity, but no other services. Payment is by cash, left in a box on a building. With only two tent campers and us, the peace and quiet was a nice change from the busy parks we have been staying at. Unfortunately a mosquito almost took off with Sadie Jo and we were driven inside much earlier than planned.
We have now entered the time of the sun hardly sets. This picture from inside the camper was taken at 11:00.
2 comments:
It was meant to be that your plates expired!
Truly an adventure you are on! I think if more people were honest, more people would be like that gas attendant lady who said just let her know what your hubby pumped in for cash. I think most people want to be kind and do business this way but most people have been taken advantage of and that's why there are those rules out there to pay before pumping etc. Such beautiful land you are seeing! Such good lessons being learned too!
betty
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