And every little town has an interesting story to tell. Yesterday was a good example.
We drove from Fraser Lake, B.C. to Prince George, B.C...
Yesterday's drive, 171 kms (106 miles).
We left at 10:30am, and didn't arrive at my Uncle Dave's until almost 3:00pm!
And most of it, we had British Columbia's beautiful scenery hidden due to the forest fire smoke. Seems there is no escaping it!
Constant smoke in the air.
Yuck.
We stopped in the town of Vanderhoof where there is a free museum with some interesting stuff.
Welcome to Vanderhoof.
Original Mounted Police office from 1914.
Ruth at the Smithers House
An interesting story was told inside the Smithers House. Tommy Smither had built this house with his wife Molly, and they had three children. But all three children were accidentally killed in three separate incidences!
The first one was when their then 12 year old son was killed in a grain silo.
Then, their adult son Ken was electrocuted while working as a lineman for B.C. Hydro.
Next, their adult daughter was killed in a plane crash flying from Vancouver to Prince George in order to attend the funeral of her brother Ken!
Click on the photo to make it full screen.
And the plane crash itself is an interesting story. In 1965, a CP Air flight from Vancouver to Prince George crashed near 100 Mile House, British Columbia. They have proof that it was a bomb that went off (I guess they had terrorists back then too!), and they narrowed down the suspect list to four possible people, but never had enough proof to close the case. It is still an open unsolved case today!
Here's a relatively recent Globe and Mail article about the crash...
The museum in Vanderhoof, B.C..
From there, we stopped for gas, being able to fill the tank at $1.32 per liter ($3.82 USD per gallon) the cheapest we have seen gasoline since May.
We had some lunch in the gas station parking lot, then decided to put in some propane as well. Still a little pricey, at $1.00 per liter ($2.90 USD per gallon) but I only put in enough to get us somewhere cheaper.
We arrived at my Uncle Dave and Aunt Melissa's at just before 3:00pm. They live in a nice spot in the countryside, but you pretty much have to drive through the city of Prince George to get to them. Uncle Dave is my father's youngest brother. Their daughter (my cousin) Michelle was visiting for the afternoon so we got to have a short visit with her as well.
Melissa made us a nice roast pork dinner, and we had a lot to talk about. Dave and Melissa have also done a lot of traveling, and still do... they were in Peru for a month earlier this year.
Melissa, Dave, and Ruth.
We were here in September of 2006, but we've seen them several times at other places since then. The last time was in April of 2015 at Kodachrome Basin State Park in Utah. We're going to stay here for another night and they're going to show us the city of Prince George today.
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What a tragedy for the Smithers family. Cool and smokey here today, enjoy PG.
ReplyDeleteYes, we can't even begin to imagine how sad that would have been for the parents.
DeleteIn Quesnel on Friday 2pm it was like night time, all the street lights came on, couldn't drive without headlights!! Yesterday it cleared, so glad as we had an outdoor wedding to attend!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, we know what that feels like from when we had to drive down from Dease Lake to Iskut, it was a really eerie feeling when it is so dark and it is only the middle of the afternoon. Prince George was like that too, the day before we arrived but since we have been here it hasn't been too bad. It seems to get worse as the day goes on and then starts to clear again with the cool evenings. I hope it stayed clear for the outdoor wedding you attended.
DeleteIt would seem that the "Read Clan" have a bit of a travel bug that goes around.
ReplyDeleteMy sister lived in Prince George for a couple years (or maybe three?) and she had some interesting anecdotes. One that stands out in my mind is the time that she just happened to glance both ways before entering one of the intersections, and lo and behold, a logging truck was barrelling through! I think his brakes failed.
Would have crushed her! So, do be on the lookout for logging trucks.
Yes, there is definitely a traveling bug in the Read clan!
DeleteSo glad that your sister kept her eyes open and saw that logging truck barreling through. We definitely keep our eyes open for them, they really zoom down the highway, sometimes we can't get over how fast they are traveling!
Mala suerte for that family.
ReplyDeleteYep, it is pretty sad, definitely bad luck for them.
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