The Catch-Up Edition Aug 13-24

August 13 - Telkwa BC

We have used our stop here to get up to date with a lot of internet stuff. The wi-fi at Telkwa RV Park is amazing, the best we have ever had. In the morning we traveled in to Smithers to check the town out. We tried out a local brewery and did some shopping.

In the evening, back in Telkwa we walked into town along a seldom used path along the river. Local kids were jumping off the bridge into the river. We had an ice cream cone and strolled back to the campground. On the way into town we had noticed bear poop along the trail, but we are now used to seeing it. There is a lot of bears in Briish Columbia. Suddenly, off to our right and no more than 15 feet away we heard a snort and then a bear cub shot up a tree. We never did see mom but we heard her and got out of there smartly. Luckily we had not come between her and her baby. Gets the old heart rate up though!

August 14 - on to Prince George

We had booked an appointment with the local Honda dealer to get Sully a wheel alignment, if not more work. As you may recall, we have put the Honda Pilot over 450 kilometers of logging and mining roads in the past three weeks. The front end was making a few unusual noises, so we had booked an appointment for the 15th, in Prince George.

We set up camp at Hartway RV Park, in the north part of the city. A nice little campground. We have noticed in this part of BC that there is lots of vacancy at the RV parks. This one was barely half full and many of the people in the park appear to be here for work reasons, not pleasure.

August 15 - Prince George

We got Sully into the Honda Dealer for a 10:00am appointment. Two hours later we got the car back, with just a wheel alignment as the cost. The tech checked the car out and found that some rust on the front brake rotors had likely fallen into the brakes which was the source of the unusual noise.

We met up with an old work mate of Jenny's for lunch at the Dragon Stone Mongolian Barbeque for lunch. We had a good chat with Sue Perron over lunch. Sue and Jenny worked together in Moose Jaw back in the 1980's. We will continue meeting up with old friends throughout our travels this year.

August 16 - On to Dawson Creek

Jenny and I lived in Dawson Creek in 2005 so this was a bit like going home again. We really enjoyed our time in Northern BC and make some good friends. The town is set in a bit of a bowl and you can see it from several kilometers away. The weather was great on our arrival. One of the great things about this area is the size of the sky. It seems to go on forever. It was good we got to see it on the way in because the next two days were cold, foggy and rainy.

We stayed at the Mile 0 RV Park, which is actually at Mile 1 of the Alaska Highway. The town is the jumping off point for trips to Alaska and the Yukon. We have made the journey north three times in the past. The park has a number of RV's show up every night, and they take off on the long jaunt the new morning. The park is showing signs of wear and could really use an update. Most of the sites are not level which causes a lot of consternation for the big rig owners. You want your RV level...life is so much easier is you are not walking uphill to get to bed!

August 17/18 - Rain in Dawson Creek

It was a good thing we saw the open sky on our way into town, for by the morning of the 17th it was raining steadily and with very few breaks it rained right through both days. We barely left the comfy confines of TaJ, and our heater was working overtime to cut the chill and damp. It was 4 degrees both mornings.

August 19 - Last Day in Dawson Creek

The final day cleared by mid afternoon. We spent the evening with our good friends Al and Mary Mottishaw, whom we had known since our days living here. We had a great dinner of Halibut, caught by Al on one of his fishing trips to the coast. It was great catching up with them, and hopefully they will visit us in Nova Scotia next year.

August 20 - Beginning the trek eastward.

We left Dawson Creek early, for we have miles to go before we sleep. Our destination for day one of our trek is Elk Island National Park, about 35 kilometers east of Edmonton. The road is good, we share the driving, with Jenny doing about 3 hours in 2 stints and I covering the other 5 hours. Just outside Grande Prairie Sully reached middle age...he turned over 100,000 kilometers.

They have great moose signs along the Alberta Highways:

Otherwise, the road looked pretty much like this for the whole day:

We cover 700 kilometers and arrive at Elk Island at 5:30pm. A quick supper and out to see the Bison. Barely out of the campground we come upon this beast.

August 21

We spent the day at Elk Island. We went to the south part to try to see the Wood Bison, but they were off in the woods. Wood Bison are bigger than the Plains Bison that inhabit the north park of the park. The park staff told us that Elk Island is home to about 650 Plains Bison and 500 Wood Bison and combined, the two herds are the greatest concentration of pure bred bison in the world. Bison from here have been shipped to parks all over the world to improve the stock level of this once almost extinct animal.

We did two hikes over the course of the day, but they were marred by recent rains. The paths were muddy and difficult to navigate. We did get in a good walk though, which we need on the road.

August 22-23 - Yorkton Walmart, on to Winnipeg

Our goal for this period of time is to re-position ourselves for the coming month. We spent almost a month on the prairies while heading west in May and June and have plans to spend three months in Alberta and Saskachewan in 2021, so we don't need to dawdle on this journey. It is 1310 kilometers to Winnipeg and we are going to cover it in two days. We pound along HIghway 16 for 9 hours on the 22nd and arrive at the Walmart parking lot in Yorkton at 7:30pm. A light supper, a short walk to get the blood flowing in our legs and off to sleep we go. This Walmart is a great overnight stop as it closes at 10:00pm and does not open until 8:00am, so no overnight traffic.

On the morning of the 22nd we start with a 40 minute walk to get the blood flowing before sitting all day in the car once again. We don't do many of these two day jaunts, but we can certainly cover a lot of ground when we do them, By late afternoon we arrive at Arrowhead RV Park, about 25 kilometers south of Winnipeg. We stayed here on our way west and it was a great stop. Good wi-fi, reasonable prices and the best bathrooms of any RV park we have stayed at. Really nice owners as well.

August 24 - Day in Winnipeg

We have things that need to get done on this stop, We make a list and head out. Sully needs an oil change...done. We want to go to the Forks Market and get a walk in along the river. By noon we have a 5 k walk under our belts and are ready for lunch. On our walk we got a great photo of the Museum of Human Rights, which is well worth a visit if you come to Winnipeg.

We missed the Trans Canada Brewing Company on our last visit, it was hemmed in behind road construction barricades then, but we get in there this time. Jenny had a Czech Dark Lager and I had a Lamplight Amber Ale.

Back at the campground it was time to get our kit in order for the next leg of our journey. The long run across the prairies has come to an end. We covered 2100 kilometers since leaving Dawson Creek. So laundry is on the agenda for Sunday the 25th.

Beginning tomorrow, we slow down the pace and will spend the next 34 days in Ontario. Several stops are planned, and most of them will be three days or more at each stop. We have places to go and people to see. Life is good. We are happy and content to be on the road across Canada this year.