Wednesday July 21/21 Fort Nelson

 Yesterday we drove 470 kms. Today we drove 622 km for a two day total of 1092.

We left GP about 9:30 and drove through ,at times heavy smoke/fog sometimes coupled with heavy rains.

The highway continued to be a four lane divided until close to the BC border.

We did a quick drive through Dawson Creek with Caro managing to snap the following photo.

Our drive up to Fort Nelson was uneventful. There were a couple of really beautiful scenic spots on the way but other than a drive around Fort St.John and a gas fill up we just drove. The highway is in great shape with relatively few vehicles on it however every time a big truck passes by us we cringe waiting for a rock to smack our windshield. The rain had finished much earlier in the drive and we had occasional sunny breaks.

Tonight we are at the Woodlands Inn. We checked in about 3:30 (BC time) and after driving around the town exploring we came back to rest before going to supper at the on-site restaurant. The reviews of this restaurant said it was great and they were spot on. We had a wonderful prime rib hamburger and fries meal. Absolutely delicious.

Thunderstorms are all around us but so far no rain. 

We are gassed up and after the hotel supplied breakfast we will be heading towards Watson Lake and Yukon's check of our vaccinations and (hopefully) official entry into the territory.

Tomorrow we also hope to visit Liard Hot Springs about half distance through our planned day. Fingers crossed we can get in (covid has limited the amount of people allowed at any one time )

Yukon trip 2021

 Tuesday July 21/21

After waiting for nearly 25 years to go up north we are on our way to Dawson City. I cannot wait to visit that town!

We left home at about 9:30. Just as we passed under the Namao train overpass this happened!

Damn!

Back to Fort Sask. We had only gone 28 kms. Our first stop was Crystal Glass but they were full for the day so they sent me to their competitor, OK Tire (they have recently started doing glass).  OK Tire (and Glass) ordered the windshield and scheduled the install at about 2:30. The windshield turned out to be for an upgraded 2013 Escape but after a short discussion we decided to get it installed even though it was meant for a dimming rear view mirror and had a different mirror mount than the original. 

By 4:45 we had the Escape back, so we ate some Wendy's burgers for supper and were on our way by about 5:15

We made it to Grande Prairie by 9:30 and with help from Lisa (Thank-you) we got my password for Hotels.com and got a night at The Sandman Inn.

This night was almost completely paid for by Expedia because we had previously stayed 10 nights using Hotels.ca. I had trouble booking on line with my ATB card so I switched to my "Brim" mastercard. When I double checked my ATB mastercard  it showed about six or so pre-authorizations that I didn't realize had actually completed because of issues with my "on-line". I will have to watch to see if they are removed by Hotels.ca.

The bed was very comfortable and we had a wonderful sleep.

Waterton Lake

 We left Blairmore this morning after so-so sleep and went to Waterton Lake via secondary highway 507 to Pincher Creek. A spectacular drive on a road we have never been on before.

We got to Waterton town site by about 10:30 AM and knew fairly quickly we wouldn't stay there long because there wasn't much open and the winds were horrendous.

Lots of snow still around

We headed up through Cardston, then up to Fort Macleod where we had a bite to eat at Time Horton's. A discussion on what we could do with most everything being closed and it quickly became apparent that we might as well go home. We had a wonderful two full days of road tripping and we finished it off by stopping at Famoso Pizza in Sherwood Park. Yummy

Fernie April 6/21

 ROAD TRIP!

We left town at 0850 this morning for an approximate 6 hour drive to Fernie B.C. to return a mountain bike  (that I had chosen not to purchase) to Lisa's friend .

We had a beautiful blue sky trip down and by mid afternoon we were in Fernie and had delivered the bike.

After a consultation by phone with Lisa about hiking spots we made an attempt on a mountain trail but too much ice remained making it dangerous in our street shoes. 

We relocated to a trail along the river at Lisa's recommendation which was perfect.

A nice walk enjoyed by many people.

 Yup, two people floating down the river. The one fellow said only his hands were frozen. The temperature outside was 13 degrees, but the water,-BRRRR!!

We drove back to Blairmore rather than stay in BC because due to covid restrictions BC doesn't allow inside dining in their restaurants whereas Alberta still does (until Friday).

Our meal in the Kanata Inn attached restaurant was FANTASTIC! It was Italian food main course followed by homemade gelato.

Thursday Sept 17th Valemount

 We left Quesnel this morning about 9 AM and drove through light fog until Williams Lake where we gassed up.

After driving further south to 100 Mile House we turned on highway 24 and headed east towards the Valemount-Kamloops highway.

The first part of highway 24 was fairly boring however the second half had really nice views of various lakes.

I really like this photo in black and white. The far end of the lake has smoke from the major forest fires in the States.

We made it to Clearwater after about four hours driving. I took a wrong turn in Clearwater, expecting to go to Wells Gray Park but instead driving through the town for a bit before getting back on the proper route.

After a quick bite to eat at Timmies in Clearwater we headed into the park. Our first waterfall was called Spahats. It is about 200 feet high.

Next we headed much further into the park. Our next stop was called Dawson Falls. Very beautiful in a very different way,

The last falls ( and by far the most spectacular) were the fourth highest falls in Canada. Helmcken Falls at 462 feet. I remember this one from when I was a kid.

We were out of the park by 4 PM and two hours of driving later we were at Valemount.

Supper was at a pub nearby with great food but by the looks of it nobody there was aware of the covid pandemic! Very full and no masks in sight anywhere.

We have found on this trip that there were many restaurants closed or take out only, so our choices were quite restricted. Pools closed in both hotels and no breakfast served in Quesnel but the motel here in Valemount has a "grab and go" breakfast.

It appears that the highest price for gas was McBride at 119.9 with the other fill ups a cent or two lower.

Barkerville Sept 16th/2020

 After a great sleep last night we ate bananas and raisin bran muffins for breakfast and were on our way to Barkerville by 9 AM.

After 20 kilometres of foggy weather the sunshine broke through and it was a nice trip from then on.

A quick drive through tour of Wells was followed shortly thereafter by getting to Barkerville. A day that did not disappoint!

We were some of the first people to get there (and as only 200 are allowed in daily due to covid restrictions I had pre-paid our entrance). The entrance lady gave us the run down on how to get about in these pandemic days and a couple minutes later we were exploring. The town itself is only about half open so there were many buildings we couldn't get into however the town did not disappoint.

 

We knew we had lots of time so we took the opportunity to read all informational plaques and look into all the buildings we could (including the closed ones).

Lunch was in a Chinese restaurant and it was when we were leaving that the really interesting things started to happen. Just outside the door a old time miner man "in character" asked where we were from and when we said "Alberta" he stated that we were "Overlanders" and did we come on the boat down the Fraser (from near the Alberta/BC border) or did we come by raft? Caro said "Raft" so he commented "Oh you don't have money". Anyway he invited over to his little speaking area where he gave us a complete description of how the gold was actually found here and the history of the mining (and the tremendous wealth it produced). He was really awesome and I kick myself for not getting a photo of him because he really looked the part! We walked away saying that he was fantastic.

We continued our exploring visiting most of the other buildings (except of course where the horses were stabled).

Caro stopped in a building to chat with the fellow and I followed shortly thereafter. He was not in character but instead was wearing his native clothes as he obviously was native. He said that Barkerville only started having Indian (and he used the word "Indian") representatives two summers ago and again, just like the "old miner", he was great telling us stories from the native perspective. Very,very interesting (and not political). I told him at the end of our conversation that Caro was 60% Mexican Indian and that seemed to really please him and he commented that he had goose bumps hearing that. Cool! He seemed to be a very genuine fellow and it was obvious he was proud to be there telling tourists the history of his people from that area.

We left town after five hours exploring. I imagine that a complete full day would be needed when all facilities have been reopened.

An hour drive back to Quesnel and at 5 PM we went to an Italian restaurant that had great reviews with one stating "be sure to get there early". Unfortunately, due to covid it was not open tonight so we instead carried on to a very popular steak house. It was hopping with many people so we knew it would not disappoint, and it sure didn't. We split a Caesar salad  and a pasta plate. MMMMM good.

The evening was nicely finished off by walking about 2.5km of the Riverfront trail along both the Fraser and Quesnel Rivers. Very beautiful. Along the path is the Old Fraser River Bridge which is the longest wooden truss walking bridge in the world (831 feet). Of course we walked it both directions.

After doing virtually no walking yesterday we did almost 9 km today. Gotta work off that pasta!

On our way to Quesnel

 Sept 15/2020  Viva Mexico!

We hit the road for our mini BC vacation at about 9;50 AM (a bit delayed due to our ordering new carpet for the house that just took longer than I anticipated).

We drove 9 hours and 20 minutes which included 5 very quick stops along the way to stretch, gas up and go to the bathroom. Caro drove the first three hours (to Hinton) and I did the rest. Six hours seems to be my upper limit before I start to get tired.

Along the way we saw a few mountain sheep, an elk, and a black bear.

The weather was sometimes drizzly but not too bad for the first half and by McBride we began to see sunshine. We really like the scenery in the McBride area.

Our hotel room at the Travelodge in Quesnel is nice and after a stop at a nearby Subway we settled down in our room for some quiet time.