Day
13 – 5-24-15 Sunday We departed the Wal-Mart CG at 6:06AM PST and
drove out of Dawson Creek with the goal of getting to Tetsa River
Services and
Campground
355 miles away. We didn't cover many miles yesterday so we need to
cover a few extra today. It has been daylight since about 4:30 so we
are not driving in the darkness.
I
forgot to mention yesterday that we saw a herd of Bison (Buffalo) in
a pasture as we were bypassing Grand Prairie. We also saw one deer
standing beside the road. Today we saw 3 black bear near the highway.
There is very little civilization along the stretch of road we are on
today. All forest land. We climbed several hills and went down
several 6-10% grade hills. There are signs up warning about the steep
down hill grades so you will not come on them unexpected plus our GPS
tells us they are coming up. An hour or more between the little named
places along the road was normal. Traffic was very light except for
the RV'ers headed to Alaska and the oil field workers. There are
roads leading off Hwy 97 that we are on, to the many oil field work
sites. We passed a number of Work Camps were the oil workers live in
something similar to mobile homes. There were dozens of them in these
camp. The men live here when they are working. We got our third rock
chip in the windshield today. This one from a dump truck headed in
the opposite direction. That makes three all on good roads.
We
stopped at the Visitor's Center in Fort Nelson to get some
information brochures and to eat lunch. About 5 miles from our
destination we came upon some highway construction. We had to wait
for a Pilot Truck for about 15 minutes. We were glad we were the
first vehicle behind it, thinking we wouldn't get much dust on our
clean vehicles. But about half way into the construction area they
had just watered the road down to keep the dust down but that made
the road muddy because the water hadn't soaked in yet. Now the MH and
Jeep has got tan colored dust all down the sides. Oh well just part
of the adventure.
I
checked in and pulled to our site under a canopy of spruce trees.
They advertise power, water and WiFi. We didn't know they get all
their power from their own large generator that is turned off at
10PM. The power to our site was supposed to be 15AMP, which is enough
to keep the batteries charged but the amperage was so weak we could
not use it. The power was supplied by a long drop cord to the site.
They have a bakery on site in the office building and are well know
for their baked bread and cinnamon buns. After we set up we got two
of them but ate one and saved one for later. Yummy. We sat outside
and talked to two other couples that are parked near us. One couple
is making their third trip to Alaska, this time to work camp in the
Kenia area.
The
owner of the CG and bakery is the third generation to live here and
run the business. The site is the former site of a laundry the US
Army used during the building of the original Alaska Highway. The
boiler used to heat water is still standing on the property. It is
quite and peaceful here and the owners were very friendly.
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| Our first Cinnamon Bun |
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| The Co-Pilot eating her Cinnamon Bun |
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| Tetsa River CG Office & Bakery |
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| The Pilot ready for a Canadian Winter |
Day
14 – 5-25-15 Monday We ate breakfast, bought a few liters of some
really expensive Diesel Fuel to make sure we would get to the next
destination and departed at 8AM PST. We were expecting the first half
of today's driving to be up and down hills, curves, etc. and we were
not disappointed. Canada does a great job with road signs on the
Alaska Highway warning of the downgrades with the percent of
downgrade for 6% and higher, curves and posted speed limit that I
think is gauged just right for a RV or large vehicle. The scenery was
rather breathtaking. Rivers with the water splashing over rocks. The
Canadian Rockies were beautiful. There were mountains all around us
and lots of wildlife. We saw 15-18 Long Sheep on the road and on the
shoulder, 8 or 9 Black Bear, 5 or 6 wild Bison on the shoulder
grazing on Dandelion plants. There was one mommy bear with a cub. The
mama bear crossed the road in between the car in front of us and our
MH. The cub ran in the bushes and didn't cross so the mama bear
crossed back over to find her cub. Lena was trying to get a photo but
in her excitement pressed the wrong button on the camera and didn't
get the photo. I think we captured them on the Dash Camera we are
running. It is difficult to get good photos of wildlife while
traveling because you come up on them before you know it and can't
slow down quick enough sometimes and you are not supposed to stop on
the road due to the danger of causing an accident.
After
2 hours we stopped beside Muncho Lake for a break. We parked right
beside the lake and made some coffee and just enjoyed the scenery. It
is 7.5 miles long and a mile wide. Before we got to Muncho Lake we
passed Summit Lake it was also beautiful. If we ever come again we
will probably camp at one of the lake campgrounds. Beautiful
settings.
We
had heard about a hamburger called Rav-On Burgers so we stopped at
The Fireside Truck Stop to try them for lunch. This place was not
much to look at, actually kind of ratty looking. They had a little
grill in what looked like a small mobile home and two tables outside
to sit and eat. They don't sell fuel anymore so it is just a place to
stop and eat, use the outhouse (they have a His and Hers) and a small
CG. I'm not sure what is so great about the burger. I have had much
better for a lot less money. The burger and a very large serving of
Tater Tots was $10 Canadian. They have scripto pens on the tables and
ask that you sign the outside of the building, so we did.
We
had planned to stop at the Liard Hotsprings and take a dip in the
springs but missed the turn in and there was no place to turn around
so we kept going. We arrived at Watson Lake about 2:30PM and checked
into the Downtown RV Park. It is just a dusty gravel lot with lots of
full hookup campsites that are very close together. We needed to do
some laundry so this was a good place to stop for the night. They
have WiFi so I might be able to get this posted tonight. Three or
four of the RVs that were at Tetsa River are also here.
After
blowing several 12 volt fuses today I found the problem to be the
power cord to our tire monitor. So we won't have a monitor to monitor
the tire pressure until I can get one shipped to us which will not
happen until we get to Alaska probably.
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| Long Horn Sheep |
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| Long Horn Sheep |
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| Muncho Lake |
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| Muncho Lake |
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