Oops and arriving in Dawson Creek.

We are now in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada and tomorrow we start our journey north.  The other three couples are all here and as I type this it is raining cats and dogs!

Before I get into the last couple of days I must tell you about the drama as we drove from Phoenix to Bullhead City in Arizona. 

We were driving along Interstate 40 and turning north through Kingman when we had to stop for a short stop for Karen.  We pulled into a parking area and Norm got out to check things out (it was our first day on the road).  He jiggled the spare on the fiver and decided to tighten it as it was a bit loose.

A guy had driven up in his truck and told Norm that he was glad he was changing it!  Surprised Norm, who wasn't changing anything and explained that to him.  This bloke went on to explain that he had been behind us and had noticed a problem with one of the tyres on the fiver.  He pointed it out to Norm and explained that we had some 'tyre separation'.  He asked Norm if he wanted a hand to change the tyre and then said that if we drove a little way up the road we could use his tyre business facility.


To cut a very long story short, half an hour later we drove out of his business with four new 10 ply tyres to replace the 8 ply ones that were standard on the fiver!!!!  We are still not sure if he was trolling the interstate drumming up business or if we were just extremely lucky that he saw the problem.  When we inspected the suspect tyre it did look damaged and being the optimists that we are, we will choose to believe that we just got very lucky.
The reason for this story is that last night we were advised to get the truck tyres checked as our good Samaritan thought they may be a bit low for the long haul to Alaska and back.  And no, we don't think this Samaritan doesn't own shares in a tyre business - do you Jim??????


     Lac La Hache

My last blog came to you from Lac La Hache, BC.  From there we moved on to Prince George where we were going to stay at Mama Yeh RV Park - closed!!!!!  So we moved on to Bee Lazee RV Park which was fine for an overnight stay.  Norm and I drove into PG to organise a new pre paid phone card so now I have one for Canada, one for the USA and of course one for Australia.  Certainly heaps cheaper than roaming from Australia and the USA.  Coverage up here is a bit like that of West Aust.  - very patchy in rural areas - or which there are a lot up here!

From Prince George we have now moved to Dawson Creek.  The drive up was absolutely spectacular.  We drove through snow covered mountains and high valleys, grazing and farming country, along river courses, and just stunning scenery. 

  


We also passed a moose on the side of the road.  I was driving and Norm was snoozing so no photos of course.  I must admit I scared the proverbial out of Norm!  He was snoozing and I start yelling 'Moose, moose, moose!'.  He jumps up yelling 'Beep the horn, beep the horn!'  Of course I did and the moose took off into the bush.

A bit later a bald eagle flew in front of the truck but even I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a photo.  Hopefully we will see more wildlife as we go along and the camera will be ready.

Dawson Creek is the start of the Alaska Highway and yesterday we went off to watch a video of the construction of the Highway during WW2.  What an amazing engineering feat and such a short time frame in which to get it done?!!!!  After watching the video we went to the Mile 0 Marker and took some photos and yes I will post them - soon!  And here it is!!



We really have been taking it easy since we arrived in Dawson Creek.  Norm has gone off to have the tyres checked and I am trying to get this up to date and do some more chores.  For such a small home there sure is plenty to keep busy.  Mind you I think I create 'stuff' to do.  I keep rearranging cupboards in an effort to be more efficient and safer.  We had had an accident when we arrived in Prince George in that one of the cupboards had popped open with all the bumps on the road, and Norm's cereal box had burst open on impact with the floor.  I cleaned up but needed to find a way to keep it from happening again.

The rest of our traveling companions are now all here in Dawson Creek so last night we all had dinner together and had such a lovely time.

Tomorrow we head out early in the morning to go on the first leg of our trip to Alaska. So until my next post I wish everyone a safe and happy time.  Our love to our family and friends and we think of you all often.

Ooroo!!!!