And the adventure begins……………………
We are now 9 days into our travels north. I can’t begin to describe all the beautiful scenery we have seen, but I can tell you that we certainly have not been disappointed.
We left home May 21 and met our friends in Kettle Falls, WA (north of Spokane). We stayed at a decent RV park along the edge of a lake…….we thought……euuuuuuuuuuu – it was a rather smelly sewage treatment pond. Check that RV park off our list!!
The day we crossed into Canada we traveled in the rain and observed rivers near flood stage. (South in Spokane there was some flooding.) On the road we had no problems. We crossed into Canada at Laurier – piece of cake - We were asked about fruits and veggies, and weapons – maybe 3-4 questions and we were then on our way to Kelowna.
At Kelowna we stayed at Holiday RV Park north of town. This WAS a nice RV park with lots of shrubbery – perfect for the many mosquitoes present in the evenings – just a taste of things to come, I’m sure.
We spent the next day exploring Kelowna – it is a fast growing and very attractive city along Lake Okanogan. We enjoyed the sun as we walked along the beach walk, visited a local Thunderbird car rally, spent time in a small Japanese Garden, and enjoyed generous tastes of beer at the Tree Microbrewery. We also walked around the grounds of Geert Mass – a modern sculptor. It was a bit over the top, but fun anyway. We finished our day with visits to two wineries….a good start to our adventure.
June 25 we left Kelowna and headed toward the town of Williams Lake. We passed through Cache Creek where they advertized the largest jade rock on display. We passed through the town of 100 Mile House where they display 39 foot high skies. (The Milepost is a MUST HAVE if you are going on this trip to Alaska.)
We ended the day in Williams Lake at the Information Center – a large and amazing log structure. The gals at the desk were so very nice and told us we could stay in the parking lot at the center. We did!
Then it was on to Prince George. We stopped at the Caribou Gift Shop along the road (a suggestion in The Milepost) and succumbed to the sweet aroma of the home-made fudge. In Quesnell we parked the RVs in the Walmart parking lot and drove 50 miles to Barkersville – a renovated gold mining town. There were all the standard businesses, a Chinese section, a church, a waterwheel, several stores, etc. It was early in the season so the main street was very muddy and several locations were not yet open. Many folks were dressed in period garb and talked as if they actually lived in the old days. This is Mr PG - he welcomes visitors to Prince George.
Then it was back to the RVs and on to Prince George. There we stayed at Southpark RV. This was a pleasant park with full facilities. We spent two nights here and spent our day touring Prince George – the Train Museum, a local park and a driving tour of town. The day we arrived the town’s large lumber mill burned down – actually resulting in a state of emergency, as the timber industry is the main industry in the area – it was stated that up to 300 people would be out of work. Ashes from the fire started fires in three additional businesses which also burned to the ground. Here you see the beautiful yellow flowers that decorate the landscape all along the roadside and in the yards and fields - yup, dandelions.
It is also interesting, but depressing, to see the devastation caused through the province by the pine bark beetle. There are miles of dead trees – some areas look like they’ve been burned; but the beetle is the culprit. We learned that the trees killed by the beetles can be harvested soon and used to make furniture – they call the wood Bug Wood or Blue Pine – it’s beautiful. The wood has areas of a blue hue. Unfortunately, with the downturn of the housing market in the United States, much less bug wood and regular housing wood is purchased, causing a huge depression in the logging industry in Canada – entire small communities are dying because of the decline in logging.
And to add to the gorgeous scenery, we have been thrilled to see several deer, 5 black bear, and two moose – What a thrill!!! And so far the roads have been just great – no problems at all. We are now (May 29)in Dawson Creek, but I’ll tell you about that next time.
Good-bye for now!
