Leaving Dawson CreekJun 5, 2012
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Paula has taken some great photos of our rig on this trip....
Driving through some scary road construction. They are adding a lane!
We have gone up so many hills. Always slower than Norm would...
What can one say about Dawson Creek? We eagerly anticipated our arrival here last Saturday afternoon. After all we had been on the road for what seemed like forever and knew we would be parked here for four whole days!
It was going to be a period of catching up on the laundry, cleaning the RV and getting acquainted with our two other traveling partner couples. But the park is just sort of OK (unlevel sites and electric power and wi-fi that aren't as reliable as we are used to in the States. But we don't want to be seen as complaining, spoiled Americans so we keep our own counsel about the situation. And once you have seen the visitor center and the film about building the Al-Can Highway and stock up on groceries there's not much else to do! So we wait for Wednesday morning to arrive to get back on the road and continue our trip north. But, I worry that it will be more of the same on the way and but then have to remind myself of all that I have read about and know that it will be one beautiful sight after another.
Dawson Creek is the beginning point for the Al-Can Highway. It was built in 1942 in response to attacks by the Japanese on the Aleutian Islands and the real fear that it was a prelude to an invasion on US territory. It was a combined effort by the US and Canadian military with the provision that the Canadian portion would revert to their control 6 months after the war. So Dawson Creek is considered Mile 0 and our campground is even called Mile 0 Campground. As one drives north there are posts that at one time were called 'Mile Posts' but the Canadian ones are now called 'Kilometer Posts' since they use the metric system here.
It is considered part of the ritual of driving the Al-Can Highway to have your picture taken at the Mile Post 0 landmark, so we did that yesterday with the Aussies. We had already seen the movie at the visitor center, which was so boring! The narration was in a monotone and the music was soft and lulling, We all had a bad case of the head bobs!
Yesterday we met the fourth couple in our group Nancy and Steve. We had met Jim and Jan when we arrived. Both couples are from Minnesota and have been friends for many years. They are both very pleasant people and should be enjoyable traveling companions. We all had dinner together last night. Paula and Norm had all of us to their place for soup and garlic bread and then over to Jim and Jan's for dessert. We then had a great discussion about the upcoming days and our plans for the traveling. We have decided to pack lunches and eat at a nice pull out, hopefully with a great view.
Today it is raining and gloomy and more is predicted for tomorrow. We shall keep our fingers crossed that it is clear in the morning for breaking down. We will do as much as we can tonight so that we can get going by the 8:00AM deadline. Will let you know how that goes!
More later!
Stats:
Diesel fuel at Safeway $1.29
Animals sighted None
Campground fees $34 a night
