World Canada British Columbia Fort Nelson

ON THE ROAD WITH RICK AND KAREN

Mile 300 Jun 7, 2012

We now have two days under our belt and we have reached the 300 mile marker, Fort Nelson, BC. It was raining the day we left Dawson Creek, and by the way it was raining for at least 2 days before that. So we hitched up in the rain and when we arrived at our overnight spot, Rick had to set up in the rain. I think he might be getting moldy by now! We had 2 short days of driving thankfully.

Our first night was spent in a tiny little spot on the road called Chief Sitkanni and the campground was very cleverly called Sitkanni River Campground. The river plays a huge roll in our stay at this campground.

The owners were very friendly and introduced us to their Coon Dog, who never so much as listed his head to even look at us. He was much too cozy sprawled on the floor in front of the wood burning stove. He even kept his nose pressed against the hearth. We also met their black cat and yellow cat and their red eared slider turtle! He like to pose for pictures!

They had 4 spots for us down by the river and assured us that the river never has flooded their park. Famous last words. And the spots would have been wonderful if it weren't for the rain. The park had turned into a muddy mess and we were a mess tromping around in it. Naturally it was tracked into the RV.

There was a homemade marker at the edge of the river with an eagle at the top and then four plastic ties spaced down the pole. Number one was almost under water when we arrived. The owner said it never came above the second tie. Wrong! When we went to bed it was nearing the second one and at 3:30AM it was over the second! Well, that was that. It was time to boogie! So the folks in the RV closest to the river, Jim and Jan, Rick and I in the second, and Norm and Paula in the 3rd spot all decided to move. So at 3:45AM we decided to have a moving party. We girls took care of stuff inside and the guys took care of the stuff outside and we moved uphill. Steve and Nancy, in the forth spot decided to stay put since they were on pretty high ground.

Here I must mention that it was actually quite easy to move since at 3:30AM it is LIGHT OUTSIDE!!! Almost light as day, in fact. Remember we are quite far north, latitude wise, and we are getting mighty close to the summer equinox so we are experiencing more and more hours of daylight. So though it makes it easy to work outside at night, it makes it hard to do things that are normally done in the dark, like SLEEPING! We have put sun reflecting shades in the bedroom windows and we are now closing our bedroom sliders, just keeping it open enough for Jerry, the cat, to go back and forth between the bed and his dinner bowl. You just never know when a cat has to have a midnight snack! Keeping the doors nearly closed blocks the sunlight from streaming through the skylight over the shower. The idiot that thought skylights in showers were a good idea never went to Alaska in the summertime!

To get back to the rising river, in the normal morning hours, we went outside to see where the waters were and they had really come up into the campground area and were up to the third ring and they were still rising. So we all agreed that we did the right thing.

As we were getting ready to get under way the sun started to come out. It was a great sight. We still had a few showers during our ride to Fort Nelson but they very light and short lived.

We arrived in Fort Nelson around lunch time and got set up. Then we drove around town for a little while. Not much to see. This started out as a trappers town but has evolved into an oil town. Since the roads in the oil and gas fields aren't paved there were lots of very muddy trucks in town and the streets turned dusty as soon as the sun came out and started to dry things out.

Oil and gas exploration brings high wage jobs to an area but it also encourages high rent prices and grocery and gas prices and does terrible things to the environment. I don't think that these are things we need in the US for some short term jobs.

We also visited the Visitor Center to pick up brochures and the local museum. We enjoyed the museum especially the car museum. The collection of cars were owned by a gentleman named Marl. He is in his 80's and is the chief mechanic to keep all of the cars running. And all of them can and do run. Mainly in local parades. He is also a very cleaver bicycle rider. Made it look very easy.

So now it is almost time to turn in. It is hard when the sky is blue at 9:30PM but I want to get this one off to all of my loyal readers. So for now, Goodnight! Note: I have 5 more photos to add but the internet is too slow. Will try to add them when I have wi-fi again.