Another Canadian Fire?

We left Dawson Creek yesterday and after driving 400 miles we were still unable to get out of the smoke from the forest fire that's to the southwest (Williams Lake -- there's another one a little northwest on the Cassiar Highway).  We stopped in a little town called McBride at a very nice RV park that is all grass and it's right beside Fraser River.  This valley is situated between the Cariboo Mountains and northern tip of the Rocky Mountains.  The views are supposed to be gorgeous, but with all the smoke it's a little hard to tell.  We just listened to some CBC news and this smokes goes all the way east to Calgary, Alberta, so it doesn't look like we'll be driving out of it for a few days.

We opted to spend another night here after the long drive yesterday -- we like to keep it under 300 miles, but out here you have to go with what's available, too.  Twice yesterday we turned around and went back for gas when we read how far it was to the next "services available" and we're both glad we did!

So I may be relaxing and taking it easy, but Wayne is in the process of rewiring the TV and all it's various antennas.  There are local channels available where we are, but we are unable to receive them -- so he's troubleshooting the problem.

When we had Ziva groomed in Anchorage, I didn't notice at the time that they left the hair on her front legs longer and I think it looks like she's wearing legwarmers!

Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway

We are in Dawson Creek, British Columbia!  We have been unable to post as frequently as we would like due to sporadic internet service (or no service).    This is the signpost stating that this is Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway!  It's actually 1.5 miles away from where it used to be located, but vandals tore the other one down.  At that point, local government/businesses decided to place it a little more strategically so that guests to the area could also see their downtown.

We have managed to drive the whole of the Alaskan Highway, albeit backwards.  Wayne wasn't able to drive from Chicken, Alaska, to the Top of the World Highway in Yukon Territory because once again it was washed out by rains.  A few of the people in our tour group were able to travel back that way.

After the tour was over, we went back to Anchorage for a couple of days, then we headed to Valdez at Prince William Sound for eight nights.  It was relaxing and we actually had sun for two of the days.  After that we drove to Tok, Alaska, hoping to find out that the highway had been reopened, but it wasn't, so we headed back to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.  

While in Whitehorse, we discovered the water heater wasn't functioning - so we got it worked on there.  A part was installed, a wire replaced, and we were good to go.  We headed towards Watson Lake, but the smoke from the Cassiar Highway fire was so thick in town we decided to drive further.  After another 100 miles of travel, we were still in smoke and tired, so we stopped for the night. We saw more wildlife on this day of the trip than we have the whole trip so far!

The next day while winding our way towards Dawson Creek, we noticed that there was a crack in the rim of our right front tire -- not a good thing.  We drove a little slower to the campground we were staying at for the night and had Good Sam roadside assistance come out and change the tires for us.  

Once we got into Dawson Creek, we headed for a Ford dealer.  The rim was covered under warranty, they ordered one from Edmonton, it came this morning and we went back to get them switched out and the spare put back where it was supposed to be.

After this, we're headed towards Prince George and on towards Calgary.  We're not in any particular hurry, so we'll just drive to where we want for the day and spend a day or two when we find an interesting place.

We enjoyed the tour, and are now enjoying our trip back home!