Winterscape

Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson

Our trip so far

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Date:            5/22/2013                                    Time Zone: PDT

Location: Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada                                               

Travel leg of journey: 11                        Day of journey: 16

Miles traveled today:            280                        Miles traveled since departure: 3785

Percentage of travel completed: 34.4%

U.S. states visited today: British Columbia

Critters observed today: none, amazing still

We had planned on departing Dawson Creek yesterday morning, but we learned of a snow storm along our planned route and decided to stay a fourth night in town. We had no other option, as there are not a lot of Plan B routes in this part of the world. Asphalt plants for roads up here are not a growth industry. The rest of the day Tuesday it rained and sleeted, and was just miserable all day. A fitting landscape painting, matching our mood this sad day.

We left early today with the temperature barely above freezing. The roads were clear but with off-and-on fog. We encountered the results of the snowstorm about 75 miles out. The roads became more hazardous as we drove, but we moved along with little problem. The fir trees up here are cleverly designed by a higher power, with their branches growing at a steep angle downward, the better to shed snow as it falls. But they still held plenty of snow and were quite beautiful to see. This stretch of the Alaskan highway is heavily wooded, but with natural gas and oil pipelines in abundance. Most of the pipelines are buried, with the ancillary facilities concealed a good distance off of the roadway so as to make a minimum visual impact on the surroundings.

The total lack of critter spottings since we entered Canada is baffling. I have this mental image similar to Gary Larsen’s [The FAR Side] cartoons: the critters are huddled behind the trees near the roadway, chatting. One of them suddenly shouts “ here comes the speeding breadbox. Stay hidden and don’t move until they have passed!”. And it may be true, since other travelers we have met on this trip, traveling behind us, did see 4 bears just west of Fort Nelson today, and yesterday a moose, while we saw not one.

We traveled through a few small towns and crossroads today. Most were established to serve the flourishing fur trade in the early days. Now, most negotiations regarding fur trade occur in the late evenings in the local bars and saloons. We also passed several camps right off of the highway. The camps consisted of many sturdy modular buildings, perhaps 10-20 each. These housing units are provided for the oil, gas and logging workers in the area since there is little development for miles in any direction.

This RV park is very rustic, definitely not a resort. But great wifi [when it stays on], and even cable TV! We are now watching TV for the first time in 6 days and enjoying getting caught up on local and world events from the Canuck perspective.

Fort Nelson is the lowest elevation on the Alaska Highway. Over the next few days we will climb to the highest elevation and traverse some of the wildest areas of our trip. We will experience the true Alaska Highway wilderness experience. It will be slow travel and communications will be challenging until we reach Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

I have included in this post a few photos from our stay in Dawson Creek.

Nancy at Milepost zero

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Maggie is gone

I am very sad to say that Maggie May passed away today at Dawson Creek, British Columbia. She will be sadly missed by all who knew and loved her. I will try to continue this blog in her memory.

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O' Canada

Camping under Calgary Olympics ski lift [background]

Our Trek so far

Our travel since last post

Date: 5/16/2013                                                Time Zone: MDT

Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada                                               

Travel leg of journey: 8                        Day of journey: 10

Miles traveled today:            339                        Miles traveled since departure: 2921

Percentage of travel completed: 26.6%

U.S. states visited today: MT, Alberta

Critters observed today: eagle, Royal Canadian Police mounts [horses]

Today was an uneventful drive along interstate type roads. The border crossing was time consuming but not a problem. Calgary is a big city of nearly a million inhabitants, but thankfully we skirted most of it. We stayed at Calgary West RV Park, almost at the landing zone of the ski jump for the winter Olympics of a few years back [see photo].

Driving north in MT with the Rockies off to our west side, we encountered an interesting energy resource dichotomy. On the east side of the road appeared many oil wells, the first we had seen in a few hundred miles. All were new, bright and shiny, just pumping away. They are all sucking on the huge subterranean oil deposit known as the Bakken oil field. This oil field find has caused the eruption of thousands of new oil and gas wells across northern MT and ND in the past few years.

And on the west side of the road, there were no wells at all. Instead, on top of a large butte were perhaps 30 large electricity-generating windmills whirling slowly in the fresh breeze. This wind farm consists of windmills all manufactured in China, and paid for with money borrowed from, you guessed it, China. And this wind farm is just one of dozens that we have seen in the many states that we have crossed on this trip. Indeed, they are found all across our country, particularly in TX.

So here before us in front of our massive windscreen, we find a truly unique energy and technology struggle, one to surely cause one to pause and consider. At least I did. Still am.

We had a woman come to our rig who has a daughter that lives in Rodanthe on the Outer Banks. She saw our license plate and just wanted to come over and chat. She was very nice.

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Date: 5/17/2013                                                Time Zone: MDT

Location: Whitecourt AB                                               

Travel leg of journey: 9                        Day of journey: 11

Miles traveled today:            292                        Miles traveled since departure: 3213

Percentage of travel completed: 29.2%

U.S. states visited today: Alberta Canada

Critters observed today: none, disappointing

Not much of a ride today. Mostly farmland, but we did pass through a huge area of surface mining for coal. Giant tracked cranes are moving slowly across the land with only the top portion of their booms visible. They gnaw at the earth overburden and toss it aside, then sink their steel teeth into the mother lode and scoop the coal onto conveyor belts that follow the cranes. The conveyors feed the black gold directly to the power plant that is just a few hundred feet away. And less than two miles away in the distance there is another power plant no doubt being fed by its own traveling cranes and conveyor belts. A novel idea for sure, but not one to bond fondly to the hearts of the tree huggers.

The RV park at Whitecourt is one of the best that we have encountered, except for poor wifi. The people of Alberta are very friendly and nice.

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Date:            5/18/2013                                    Time Zone: PDT

Location: Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada                                               

Travel leg of journey: 10                        Day of journey: 12

Miles traveled today:            287                        Miles traveled since departure: 3500

Percentage of travel completed: 31.8

U.S. states visited today: Alberta, British Columbia

Critters observed today: none, amazing

Another ho hum ride today on interstate type highways. The lack of wildlife so far is disappointing. We see plenty of signs warning of moose crossings, but apparently the moose can’t read. Dawson Creek is disappointing also. I had expected a quaint village type atmosphere, but instead found a typical small town setting similar to many in the U.S., complete with fast food restaurants, gas stations, mobile phone stores and bars. We have encountered surprisingly few churches in Canada so far.

We plan to stay 2 nights here for additional R&R. Maggie is feeling the stress of travel even more than us.

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Lewis & Clark country

Date: 5/15/2013                                    Time Zone: MDT

Location: Great Falls MT

Travel Leg of journey: 7                        Day of journey: 9

Miles traveled today: 348

Miles traveled since departure: 2579

Percentage of travel completed: 23.4%

U.S. states visited today: MT

Critters observed today: cowgirl in chaps

We originally planned on 2 nights in Great Falls, but decided to add another day to see some sights and rest more. Dick’s RV Park was well situated near the Missouri River, was quiet, had cable TV and good wifi. What more could you want? We toured the city and visited the Lewis & Clark interpretive museum near the great falls. There are actually 5 falls at Great Falls, and they proved to be a major obstacle for the Corps of Discovery on their epic trip to the Pacific Ocean. Adjacent to the museum is Giant Springs, the largest fresh water spring in the world, pumping 1.5 million gallons of crystal clear water each day into the Missouri [see photo]. We also did some minor maintenance on the rig and added some “armor” to our car to better stand up to the bad roads ahead in Canada and Alaska.

On this trip we experienced an interesting concept, rent-a-bee. It seems that individual farmers, or groups of farmers, contract with beekeepers to lease bee hives and use these movable bees to help pollinate their crops. The boxes of bee colonies are mounted on pallets, 8 hives per pallet, and usually about 100 hives at each site. For ease of handling, the pallets are placed just off the shoulder of the secondary roads. It took several encounters with these strange groups of boxes for us to realize what they were and what was happening as we passed. Since the hives are located close to the roadways, there are many, actually thousands, of bees flying about nearby, and over the roadway. And we, in our traveling breadbox doing 62 MPH, naturally crossed paths with these busy flying workers. The sound of this encounter is what provided the clue as to what we were experiencing. It wasn’t a “splat”, but more subtle. Kind of like the sound of a grape when it hits a hardwood floor when dropped from a height of, say, 40 feet. Plump. Plump, plump. Staccato plump. Machine gun plump. Bee carnage. Sad. We have become unknowing bee assassins. A win-win situation for the farmer and beekeeper, but not so much for a lot of bees.

It’s interesting how our values change over our lifetime. I hunted for about 40 years starting when I was in high school. I’ve hunted all kinds of game from doves to elk. When I was younger I hunted every weekend of hunting season, to a fault, and I loved it. But as I have aged, that attraction has wained, and now I have no interest at all in killing another creature. Even an insect. Especially an insect beneficial to our food chain. From my viewpoint, wild creatures have been here long before my ancestors came over in small boats from Europe. We should let them live their natural lives too. Even insects.

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Giant Spring pouring into the Missouri River

Big Sky Country

                                                                    Our trek so far

 

Our latest journeys for this post

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Date:            5/12/13                        Time Zone:  MDT

Location: Miles City MT

Leg of journey: 6

Miles traveled today: 285

Miles traveled since departure: 2231

Percentage of travel completed: 20.2%

U.S. states visited today: ND, MT

Critters observed today: pronghorn antelopes, buffalo, trailer trash

This was a relatively uneventful travel day, all interstate highway. Passed rolling farmland and open range. Miles City is a throwback town, a genuine slice of Americana. They have their own museum, Range Rider Museum. I enjoyed spending time there seeing the cowboy artifacts: guns, chaps, riding accessories. Across the road they were setting up for a major horse race with contestants from all over the state. Throughout the town were cowboys, horses and horse trailers everywhere. The RV park was not much, but was quiet and had good wifi.

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Date:            5/13/13                        Time Zone:  MDT

Location: Great Falls  MT

Leg of journey: 7

Miles traveled today: 347

Miles traveled since departure: 2582

Percentage of travel completed: 23.5%

U.S. states visited today: MT

Critters observed today: pronghorn antelopes, pheasants

A great travel day, nearly all off-interstate. On these back roads you become more intimate with the land and the inhabitants, human and otherwise. You get to see a close-up of the buildings and enterprises, the farmhouses, churches and architecture that make up the lives of those choosing to live here. When rolling slowly through these small towns you get a snapshot of what is important to those living and working here. The number and types of businesses, from drugstores, hardware [or equestrian products] stores [many], churches [surprisingly few], restaurants [everywhere], and casinos [surprisingly many] somewhat define the character of the local economy. I really enjoy these observations.

Great Falls is a small city along the Missouri River with lots of green spaces and small parks along the river and throughout. Several waterfalls exist on the river. This is where Lewis & Clark abandoned their boat that had brought them here from St. Louis, and continued their epic trip by canoe and horseback. We are among the many tourists who come here to learn more about this part of our country’s history. We plan to do just that tomorrow.

We are enjoying a 3-night respite from our travels here at Dick’s RV Park. The RV park is well-run and a good place to take a breather. A lot of other rigs are here on their last stop in the US before heading into Canada and on to Alaska. We are almost halfway to our final outbound destination of Homer Alaska.

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High Plains Drifters, May 11, 2013

                                                                 Our Trek So Far

                                                                 Our travel Today

Date: 5/11/2013                                    Time Zone: CDT

Location: Bismarck ND                           Bismarck KOA

Leg of journey: 5

Miles traveled today: 363

Miles traveled since departure: 1946

Percentage of travel completed: 17.7%

U.S. states visited today: MN, ND

Critters observed today: 1 camel toe [at truck stop in MN]

We awoke to bright morning sun, our first such experience on our 5 days of travel. This far north, there are more daylight hours than in NC at this time of year; sun up 6:13a, sun down 9:06p [CDT]. And we still have 5 weeks to go before the summer solstice. On that day we will be in Alaska and there will be nearly 20 hours of usable daylight in the 24 hour day. The sun didn’t last long and before we could finish preparing to roll, it started snowing on Maggie lying outside. No accumulation, just a flurry, but surprising nonetheless to us Southerners.

We noted that in IA and southern MN, the terrain was almost entirely open farmland, with no “woods” as we know them. The few trees here are regulated to palace guard duty, completely surrounding and interspersed within the farmhouse and outbuilding area to guard against the cold winter winds and the heat of summer. Elsewhere, as far as one can see, there are no individual trees as the land has been cleared generations ago for growing crops. The crop is corn, nothing else was observed. In northern MN and eastern ND, corn is still king, but hay and grassland pastures are also evident. And “woods” begin appear again in many areas. Surprisingly, there are lots of lakes, ponds and wetlands in eastern ND.

The winds today were fierce, about 40 mph from the north creating a strong and nearly constant crosswind that made driving very difficult. Fighting lane drift while driving proved challenging. Once we had to pass an oversized load, one that occupied a travel lane and a half. It was a modular office building. But as I crept past it on the edge of the pavement, it looked as large as a shopping center. We passed a large lake that appeared to have white caps, but on second look it the whiteness turned out to be large chunks of thick ice that was breaking up. Some areas still have patches of snow left from the recent spring snow. The high plains of ND hold tight to their winter weather.

The campground here is not much, with a large number of sites, and nearly full for the weekend. Another of many parks where we have stayed in the past that are to be avoided in the future. No photo attached.

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North to Alaska May 10, 2013

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                                                                 Our trek so far

                                                         Our travel today May 10, 2013

Date: 5/10/13                                    Time Zone: CDT

Location: St. Cloud MN        Saint Cloud Campground

Leg of journey: 4

Miles traveled today: 428

Miles traveled since departure: 1583

Percentage of travel completed: 14.4%

U.S. states visited today: IL, IA, MN

Critters observed today: Recently departed road kill, assorted species

More rain today, but not as bad as the previous days. We enjoyed a delicious roll through more of the cornbelt today in Iowa. The off-interstate portion was particularly nice. Flat to rolling landscape, with farms as far as you could see. Many were quite large, some were megafarms, but surprisingly few were mom & pop type farms. All were immaculate. We saw the occasional silent sentinel farmhouse or barn, no longer used, except for visual appreciation. Paint-less and weather beaten, stark and dark, but still proudly standing. Surrounded by rich, moist soil, and enveloped by gray clouds beyond, almost eerie looking, you couldn’t help but think what stories they could share, of lives and loves that they had once touched. Reminders of staring faces; some with dark squares for eyes, where hayloft hatches had once been. Others with a dark square mouth where the barn door once stood to admit tractors or mules inside for shelter. Some have lost their exterior siding, standing naked now, but hanging on still.

These farmers are chomping at the bit to get in their fields. Planting season is marching on, but the soil is still far too wet to allow plowing and planting.

In Cedar Falls, we enjoyed the aroma of warm cooked oats as we passed the Quaker Oats plant next to the road. The pastoral scenes of Iowa were soon replaced by mostly barren prairies in Minnesota. The poor road conditions in MN certainly did not enhance the enjoyment of our ride here. And we encountered our first major city, Minneapolis, with accompanying traffic snarls, delays and backups. This will be duly noted for our return trip home.

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