Day
12 – 5-23-15 Saturday We departed the CG at 7:55 AM MST. We had
planned to make a stop in Grand Prairie Alberta at a Wal-Mart for
some groceries but the GPS took us on a bypass around the city so
that was good as we had less traffic. The divided highway ended this
morning. We crossed into British Columbia Canada this morning so we
are now on Pacific Standard time or 3 hours behind EST. As we came
into Dawson Creek we had a couple of miles of road construction to
deal with. As we approached the city we saw a Wal-Mart so we pulled
in to get some groceries. There were a couple of RV already there.
There was also a McDonald's in the Wal-Mart so we used their WiFi to
update the blog, then shopped for groceries but this was not a Super
Center so they didn't have any vegetables or fruit.
We
unhooked the Toad from the MH and went to a car wash nearby and got
it washed. Then we drove on into town to the official beginning of
the Alaskan Highway at mile marker 0 to get some photos and get some
information at the visitors center. We stopped at the Pizza Hut for
lunch and then went to Safeways to get the vegetables and fruit that
we needed. We returned to the Wal-Mart parking lot to take the MH to
the same car wash we used earlier because it had two large truck
washing bays. This morning the bays were not in use but this
afternoon both were in use and trucks lined up to use them. Dumb me
should have of went back this morning when there were not being used.
I finally was able to pull the front half into a bay behind a dump
truck pulling a dump trailer. I was able to wash the front half of
the MH but after waiting for awhile for the dump truck driver to
finish I got permission to back out – turn around and back the rear
into the bay and finish the washing. Cost $9.50 Canadian (CAD) for a
Basic Wash on the Jeep which was a automatic wash and $27.29 CAD for
the MH which was done by using a spray wand by hand but it did a good
job and the MH looks much better, to bad it will not stay that way as
we go forward. They charge $1.15 a minute for the truck wash bay. The
clerk told me it takes the truck drivers up to 2 hours to wash their
trucks. Sure glad I'm not paying their wash bill. After getting the
MH washed we drove across the street to top off the fuel tank at a
CO-OP Cardloc station. We were getting tired at this point and since
we didn't have any reservation for a CG we decided to go back to the
Wal-Mart and stay the night there with about a dozen other RV'ers.
We
had planned to stop tomorrow at the Historic Kiskatinaw River Bridge.
It is a timber bridge about 12 mile past Dawson Creek, Rather than
waiting until tomorrow we drove the car there today and got some
photos. The bridge was built in 1942-43 as part of the original
Alaskan Highway. It is 531' long, is sloped and has a 9 degree curve
in the bridge. It is the only original timber bridge built for the
Alaskan highway that is still in use. They have make a new route
around this area but this portion of the old road is still open.
We
stopped at a Tim Horton's on the way back to the MH to try their
Lattes and use the WiFi again. If this Latte was typical for all Tim
Horton's they will not be getting much of our money on this trip. Even
McDonald's Lattes are much better.
We
got another rock chip in the windshield today kicked up by a pickup
truck on a nice smooth section of road and the split from the other
day has expanded by an inch. Some travelers get rock chips on the
rough sections of the Alaskan Highway and we are getting them on the
nice smooth main highways. I wonder what our luck is going to be
later on in the rough sections.
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