A great first day on the Alaska highway!

Okay, bear with us... long blog post today with lots of pictures because we saw lots of neat stuff!

We said goodbye to Wayne and Karen, and thanked them for their hospitality. Great to meet people along the way! Forgot to get a photo of Sherman's overnight spot... we had parked in the storage area of the little community where Wayne and Karen live. Their motorhome was in for service work, so we were able to use their spot.

On the way into the center of Dawson Creek, we saw something interesting!

We had to stop and take a closer look...

Sherman's twin brother!

The exact same unit.

Some minor differences though. This one did not have the optional driver's door that Sherman has.

Sherman has been missing his left front wheel cover for years now, and I haven't been able to find an exact match replacement. Sherman's twin had only two good wheel covers left... they wouldn't miss one, would they? I would have gladly paid them for one! I knocked on the door, but unfortunately there wasn't anybody home.

Anyhow, we carried on down the hill into the city of Dawson Creek, British Columbia (pop 13,000).

We had picked up a walking map at the tourist office, and set off to explore the city...

There are lots of murals in Dawson Creek.

This one has some standout figures.

The Worker's Memorial Sculpture.

Interesting that the artist of this sculpture is a woman. Local artist Emily Mattson was commissioned to produce this memorial for workers killed or injured in the workplace in British Columbia in all eras including workers on the Alaska Highway.

A depiction of life in old Dawson Creek.

Ruth going into the 5 cent to a dollar store!

Me, at the Mile 0 marker!

The Alaska Highway was built in 1942.

It was the biggest American construction effort of World War II.

This radio station is built around an old log cabin.

In 1947, an old log cabin became the home of CJDC radio. At the time, this was the furthest north radio station in the British Empire. 1955 saw an expansion of the building that was built around the old log cabin making it inaccessible and invisible. During a 2007 renovation, a portion of the outside wall of the original cabin was discovered. It had been encased for 52 years and was in perfect condition. The wall was left on display as part of the renovation. Interesting stuff!

An artists drawing of the original log cabin.

 Sherman, and the restored grain elevator at Dawson Creek.

We didn't see anything.

We made a detour off the highway to see a section of the original road. The highway today does not always follow the exact route of the original Alcan (now called The Alaska) highway. So sometimes you have to make little detours to see things that were part of the original route.

We stopped at Kiskatinaw Provincial Park. They want $20 a night for dry camping, so we passed on that. But, we stayed for lunch and then took a walk to see the Kiskatinaw River Bridge...

All wooden bridge.

About the bridge.

Here we go!

Ruth took a video for you, so that you can cross the bridge with us!

There's Sherman, crossing the bridge!

Coming down into the Peace River Valley at the town of Taylor.

The Peace River.

Prospector statue at Taylor.

We had no need to stop at the city of Fort Saint John, but Ruth had read about a fantastic view of the Peace River Valley. So we took a 3 km detour south of the city to see the view. It turns out that there is a big gravel parking lot there, and it's no problem to spend the night in your RV. 

Gorgeous view of the Peace River Valley.

We still wanted to do some driving though, so we didn't stay. But, there was one old trailer there and it looked like it had been there for a while. A guy came over to change out a trash bag, and we started talking to him. Ronnie lives in that trailer, and has been sitting here for a month. He's a bit of a character, and is from the area and knows a lot of it's history. In fact, he asked us to sign "his" book. 

The book was written in 1963 and is a collection of explorers writings of the area from the mid 1850's to the 1950's. It had all kinds of other people's signatures in it, and I guess this is just what Ronnie does. 

He insisted we stand there and read a couple of paragraphs. Like I said, Ronnie is an interesting guy.  

Ruth and Ronnie, with "his" book.

Nope. 

Still didn't see anything.

We pulled into the Inga Lake Campground. This is a free British Columbia Recreation Area.

The road to get in there was a little rough, but it's only 2 kms off the highway.

We finally saw some wildlife... a deer jumped across the road as we entered the campground. 

Perfect!

GPS 56.617591, -121.634678

The view out Sherman's window.

Ruth, watching the fish jump out of the lake.

 Pretty butterfly.

We sat outside with a glass of wine and played backgammon.

And hardly any mosquitoes!

What a gorgeous spot. Not suitable for anything much bigger than Sherman. There was one other couple there with a motorhome slightly smaller than us. 

After supper, we grabbed the bear spray and went for a walk. Lots of indication of moose in the area, but once again we didn't see anything.

This was at 9:00pm at night.

A little later.

We went to bed just after 11:00pm, and there was still a glow in the sky to the north. Sunrise is now around 4:10am!

Yesterday's drive, 152 kms (94 miles).

Where we are now!

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