Our drive to Grande Prairie from Prince George was quite nice, although it was hot. I basically started the truck in the morning, put it in gear, and turned on the air conditioning. Shawna and Hanna arrived about 9:30 PM the night before, so we formed our own little convoy to head bravely east.
We stopped for a bit in Chetwynd for a bit of a break. Oddly enough, I met a guy there while waiting for Shawna to get gas whose children are in Whitehorse. Yes, the world can be reasonably small.
Our next stop was Dawson Creek. We ate there, and it was also still quite smoky.
Once we headed into Alberta, I cheated and took Highway 59 to bypass going through Grande Prairie to get to Clairmont. This was good, because I didn’t have the address where we would be staying. I meant I had to stop and meet Ernie at the car wash. Suffice to say, the camper needed a good scruffing.
We arrived at about 6 PM. I find there’s a huge gas mileage difference if I stick to 100 kph, and I’m quite happy with that speed. I really didn’t get time to take many pictures on the road. We stopped at two rest stops, both situated for convenience in the distance they were apart.
We took a little time to get settled the next few days. I met Devon and Charlie’s neighbours and had a few beers at their place last night. A few more than I needed, but that happens.
Today has been dedicated to decorating, which I’ll willingly concede is not my strong point. We did, however, construct a balloon arch, with me, Katrina, Ryan and Shawna tying balloons until there’s far less skin on my fingers. The finished product is quite nice, mind you.
I’ll post some pictures, but trying to do this tethered to my cell is not working well. At least, if I keep notes, I can show them after I get back to Whitehorse and have a reasonable internet connection again.
This morning did start with a small chore after I had my tea. I had to turn the motorhome around and back in. Apparently, the bylaw department does not allow you to park a motorhome driven into the driveway. It must be backed in. The alternative option is a $500 fine, so turning it around, not a huge chore, is far easier than the alternative…
Posting has been a little difficult. The wi-fi has been spotty and I seem to be constantly disconnected. Posting the other day took two days to get the post up.
This is our third day in Prince George. We got in the other day and were too tired to do anything. Last night, though, I went to dinner with Mike and Ashleigh and Katie. We went to Kelly O’Brien’s. Since both Mike and Ashleigh work there, it seems like a good enough recommendation. Actually, I’ve eaten there before and it’s nice. It’s more a pub than a restaurant, but the food is good.
Now, we are waiting for Shawna and Hanna to join us. The original plan was to meet them at a slightly easier place to find than the RV park. I thought the Walmart parking lot would be a good choice, since there is overnight camping allowed there. Just park with your camper facing the front of the store and park on the right side of the parking lot.
We have made a slight change. We are staying at the park here. Having a place to plug in is a necessity, since the air conditioner requires it. Clara doesn’t like the noise of the fan, but there don’t seem to be too many complaints.
Yes, the sending unit is in the shade.
I guess I’ve been a northerner who hasn’t left the north in too long. Actually, I haven’t been south in more than two years. High 20s is my idea of hot, and this has been hotter than that. The last few days have been 32° for a high, but this is more than I like and it’s not 4 PM. The temperature here seems to climb until 6 or so. I don’t want to know where this ends. Plus, the bottom number is the inside temperature, with the AC running. It eventually made it to 36.
I did catch a cab to Canadian Tire today, to see if I could get a bug screen for the camper. It would have to be ordered, so that didn’t help. Maybe I’ll get one in Grande Prairie. I walked across the lot to Walmart, though and did pick up a few groceries. No, I did not forget the bacon this time…
Our starting mileage, 104,701.9. We arrived at Prince George at 6 PM, mileage 105,165.4. Our trip was 463.5 km.
We left Brian’s and Pat’s, but not Brian and Pat. We went into New Hazelton for a few things, including visiting the Farmers` Market and dumping the RV tanks. The town has one RV dump at the information centre, but it`s free use. I would rather not carry the extra weight down the road and for some reason, don`t like thinking in terms of having a wonderful vehicle that`s used to transport raw sewage.
The drive was uneventful. I did stop to get a few pictures at the Bulkley River look off. The actual location was Hagwilet, a former Carrier village.
Hagwelet.Interpretive sign at Hagwelget.
We did stop at the SafeWay in Smithers to pick up some groceries. I went for a few staples, but managed to forget bacon. How do you do that?
The drive was nice, although there were lots of hills, but nothing serious. We did arrive at the campground, the Blue Cedars RV Park in Prince George. It was hot, and Clara hates the noise the air conditioner makes so be prepared to cook.
I called the kids to try and set up dinner tomorrow evening. When the sun and the temperature drop a bit, I’ll wander off to get a shower and cool off that way. Meanwhile, since cooking makes me think I’ll die with the heat, 28°, I think I’ll just do a sandwich and salad and enjoy the drink of rum in front of me…
I suppose these days don’t really count as a road trip. We’re in the Kispiox River Valley, about 17 miles north of Hazelton, BC. For the devoutly nerdy among you, 55° 27.17′ N, 127° 43.51′ W,
We’ve been staying with friends, having a wonderful and restful time. Clara has had a bit of a headache and I’m fighting off a cold. I had the additional joy the other night of breaking off a bit of tooth.
The Bulkey River at Hazelton.
This is where the Kispiox, Skeena, and Bulkley Rivers meet and the junction of three valleys. It’s a rather pretty place, with mountains and rivers, and lots of history. There are two Gitxsan villages in the area and a vibrant Gitxsan development corporation. There is also a home where Emily Carr stayed for a while.
On a side note, in 1918, Carr tried to pay her rent one month by offering her landlady a painting instead. The landlady refused.
One of The Sisters, behind the hospital at Hazelton.
We are still here until tomorrow, when we head a bit further down the road to Prince George. I’m hoping we get a chance to take my nephew and neices out for dinner. Unfortunately, my brother and sister-in-law are out of town, but sometimes, my timing tends to suck and that’s that.
P.S. One of Brian and Pat’s cats, supposedly a bit shy, has the idea of relaxing before the next stage of the road trip well in hand…
Our starting mileage from the gas station at Dease Lake was 104135.8. I got $80 of gas at Dease, where it was $1.63/l. I gassed up again at Hazelton, where the price was a bit better, $136.9/l. We used 48.8 l to get to Dease Lake from Junction 37 and 136.6 l to get to Hazelton. Our mileage for the day yesterday was 566.1 km.
The highway from Dease Lake to the Junction with the Yellowhead Highway was considerably better. There was a centreline and fewer frost heaves and pot holes. There was still plenty of scenery, which the Cassiar does have in spades. If you were taking your time, and not travelling between destinations, you could get a lot of great pictures.
It was raining in Dease, quite hard at times overnight. It did rain a few times as we went down the road and at one point, we did have heavy rain on the drive.
Tanzilla River, near Dease Lake, BC.Road warrior.
The area around Gnat Pass Summit was quite nice and that’s where we say the first bear of the trip. It was a big boar, solitary so you can guess the gender, and one of the biggest black bears I’ve seen. This guy tipped the scale at probably 400 pounds and was right by the highway. We went about half an hour down the road and saw a juvenile on the highway edge, answering the age old question about what bears may or may not do in the woods. About 200 m from there, we met a cyclist heading in that direction, so I waved him down and pointed out the bear. He figured he’s wait a bit before carrying on for some reason…
About an hour later, we saw a sow and two cubs. She was tiny, probably only about 125 pounds. All three watched us pass them on the road.
Moose meadows, near Gnat Creek summit.Rest area, Bob Quinn Lake.
We stopped for a snack at Bell II crossing. The lodge is quite nice and the prices, particularly for refilling my coffee thermos were pretty decent. Then, it was back on the road again.
Nass River.
We eventually got to Brian and Pat’s place in the Kispiox River valley about 7:30 or so. They have a really nice place, although I do understand why they’re widening their driveway at the moment. We had a wonderful dinner, roast beast smoked and cooked on the BBQ with fresh veggies. After a bit of a visit, we settled down for the night and slept the sleep of the just.
After packing the camper over several days, we finally left this morning. We were slightly delayed getting out of Whitehorse, owing largely to me forgetting to register the vehicles and having to wait until Monday morning to do that.
Our starting mileage was 103462.1 km. I got gas at Junction 37 Services (108.61l/437.9 km, or 4.03 km/l). It’s not as good as we got on our first trip to Faro, but not as bad as last time. I suspect our mileage is largely dependent on who fills the tank and how much gas actually gets put in it.
The Alaska Highway is in really good shape. There was only one minor construction area between Whitehorse and the junction with Highway 37 and you missed it in a hurry. However, the first 85 km of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway were terrible. There were lots of frost heaves and this was the most winding part of the road. The speed limit is 80 km/hr., but there is no way you can actually drive that fast. After Km 85, it did get much better until about 25 km before Dease Lake.
The first stretch was so bumpy some of the plates actually fell, opening the cupboard door and exploded on the floor. Some sweeping was called for on the side of the road.
This last run for the day was on even worse highway. There are many frost heaves, gravel patches, and pot holes. Drive carefully through here if you are coming this way. I’m left to wonder that the rest of the Stewart-Cassiar will be like for tomorrow’s drive. We have about 500 km to go on it.
Our daily travel mileage was 672.9 km. It’s not a bad day per se, but I didn’t get as much sleep as I could have last night and I am more than happy we got this far. We stayed at Dease Lake RV Park, which is right in town, or as in town as Dease Lake has. The park is basic, with a full hookup site with pull through costing about $28.
Yukon River Bridge, near the rest area west of Whitehorse.Cassiar Mountains.
Cassiar Mountains.
We got into the RV park about 8 PM, counting in the time it took to level and hook up the camper. We waited a bit before making supper and then went to bed.
I’m still having a few issues in trying to get the driveway fixed. You can’t find an excavation contractor to come in and change the slope of the driveway before September or October.
This leaves me the choice of not taking the motorhome out of the driveway before then, or doing something else. I opted for the latter.
I figured that, if I removed the pavement from the bottom of the driveway, at least when I scrape, I’ll hit something softer rather than several inches of asphalt. This meant that I would have to rent a jackhammer and use one for the first time since I was about 17 years old.
The name is Hammer. Jack Hammer.
It took a little longer than I had hoped, about 3 hours of work, but I did get the pavement out. This took longer because it was 8″ thick in some places. I suspect there has been multiple patch jobs done by simply over-paving a previous bad job. Note that in part of the area I did, the asphalt was just laid down on sand, with no gravel. It isn’t hard to guess why there may have been a multitude of patch jobs done in the years previous to us buying the lot.
That being said, the job was semi-successful. I still scrape, even with extra weight on the front by putting the storage rack in the front bumper hitch and putting my 4000 watt generator on it. However, it’s a lot nicer to just scrape in gravel than the alternative…
I’ve mentioned before, when we bought the motorhome, I had to have part of the hump in my driveway removed. This fixed the scraping issue when we pulled out or into the driveway most of the time. But, it still occasionally scrapes.
The other day, I backed into the driveway and it scraped. When I walked around it, about 18″ of bumper was hanging on the ground. Actually, it was the fibreglass bumper cover, but it was still heartbreaking.
I started to fix it the other day, I bought a bit of aluminum bar and used it to put straps across the bumper pieces to reattach the cover. Then, with a big acetone cleanup to follow, I reinforced the bars with several layers of fibreglass cloth and resin.
The bumper end reattached.
Now, it was time to put on my body work hat and make it look pretty. A few days ago, I took the actual part to Canadian Tire and went through their auto touchup paint rack. I found two possible colours, one from Honda and one from Toyota, to paint over the repair. I also picked up some paintable caulking to seal the bumper when it was attached.
I filed the crack, knocking down the high points and covering where I had countersunk the screws from the repair. Sanding, cleaning and painting followed, and then replace the rubber strip that runs across the bumper.
Finished job.
All in all, it turned out well. The colour isn’t exact, but in a few weeks, a little rubbing compound to feather the edges will make a big difference. Hopefully, I can get the driveway done properly and this issue becomes a thing of the past…
We started off intending to go to Fox Lake on the May long weekend, but things weren’t quite ready. Clara was tired. I was even more so. I tried to find the ambition to get the camper ready and repacked for the new season but just couldn’t get up for it. We did have company coming on Wednesday, the 14th, which would have been the best day to get out and get a spot at the lake. We did have to do a bit of work for that, including getting the guest room ready.
So, we decided to wait until the Monday to let the campground clear and give me a few days to get it ready. There are still some forgotten things, but we will probably survive it.
We hit the road about 3 PM, after getting gas and propane. With all of the trips we did last year, and having the tank refilled after the May long weekend last year, I was expecting the propane tank to take quite a bit to fill. Turns out, we burned $35 of propane last year. I was quite surprised and was expecting a larger amount. I guess things are more efficient with a new camper and newer appliances.
The campground was rather quiet. It did rain on the way out, although not hard. I did manage to get the camper levelled and lay under it to put up the stabilizer jacks without getting soaked. It did sprinkle much of the evening. However, by bedtime, we got quite a soaking rain.
I don’t have too many details on the temperature. I bought a wireless thermometer for the camper. I put batteries in it and put the sensor outdoors on the back deck. However, I couldn’t find the receiver to bring it camping. Hint: it was a bit chilly.
Tuesday, May 20th
By the time we got up, the rain had ended. It was cloudy most of the morning and early afternoon, but the sun came out by 2 o’clock. It was a lovely day in that regard, although temperatures were still quite cold and the furnace was on throughout the day.
I really didn’t have much in store for plans for the day. I did get around to running the little generator twice to bring up the batteries a bit. The furnace does take its toll and the sun didn’t come out quick enough to bring them up a bit. I also needed to recharge the laptop a bit.
The repairs to the old generator seem to have worked. I do notice that I can’t run the microwave on it without blowing the breaker on the generator. This is not a huge issue, although it is nice to be able to reheat a cup of tea that has gone cold. The big generator has no problems with this, but the lighter weight (58 lbs. vs 120 lbs.) are a nice bonus and the little one is far quieter than the new one. Both, however, make too much noise for my liking. I do enjoy the convenience but don’t like the noise.
The little generator in its little house.
One thing does become obvious though. With the furnace running and the cloudiness, neither the small generator or the solar panel can keep up with the battery draw. We had to turn the furnace off overnight and still had very little battery left.
The high point of the morning involves my benchmark for a nice camping trip. About 11 AM, there was much squawking and flying around of a flock of about a dozen birds. They were circling the campground and were too high up to see what they actually were. An hour later, I went for a walk around the campground and saw two floating on one of the few open areas of the lake. The loons are back, and I got a few nice pictures. I still haven’t heard them singing yet, though.
The loons have arrived.
Wednesday, May 21st
We woke up and it was cold. It was probably below freezing overnight. There was 0.1% of the battery power left. At 7:30, even though it was still a bit early, I started the truck and ran it for an hour to get a bit of juice into the RV carriage batteries.
New fallen snow on the mountains.
I eventually discovered a light had been left on in the cargo compartments under the truck. Also, I looked in the battery compartment and the connections could use cleaning. This is a project for after we get home.
It clouded over today, and didn’t get very warm. However, the clouds should keep the heat in and mean that it won’t be as cold tonight as last night.
I made an interesting discovery. I found a campsite here that I had never noticed before. Once the lake opens and we come back, I’m going to try to get that one. We went for a walk around the campground and Clara likes the “new” spot, too.
Thursday, May 22nd
It was a bit warmer overnight. It obviously didn’t go below freezing, which was an improvement. We spent the morning getting the site packed up after breakfast and stowing some of the things in the camper. The first trip isn’t known for its packing efficiency. A short drive home and thus, endeth, the first camping trip of the year.
I do have two pet peeves with camping in Yukon campgrounds: firewood and quiet hours.
In Yukon government campgrounds, firewood is provided. This is a huge bone of contention with the territorial government environment department. Providing firewood is expensive, and usage has increased dramatically over the last few years. There is a departmental budget for firewood, and when this is used up, that’s all there is. For example, for Fox Lake, Twin Lakes and Labarge, the total quota is 90 cords of wood.
We were camping in Fox Lake two weeks ago, and apparently, the week before, there was no wood. The weekend we were there, they restocked the firewood. However, when I went to the box, I got quite a surprise. There were bits of cut up plywood, sawmill ends, some chopped up 2x6s, and even the seat of a hardwood chair that had been chopped up. My guess is that the quota has been used up and, if you’re headed there, you may want to bring your own.
What causes this, since that’s a lot of wood. When we used to heat the trailer with wood, I’d go through about 2½ cords a year. In short, there’s enough to heat almost 40 poorly insulated houses for a year.
I don’t use much firewood, since it normally only takes about 3 or 4 pieces to have a fire through the evening. However, I’ve seen people with fires with flames 4 feet high, and I’m not sure what they’re trying to accomplish beyond wasting wood. Whenever I see one of these huge conflagrations, I want to walk over and pee in their campfire (you’d have to drink a lot to have any effect other than a symbolic one but I think people might take a hint).
The other issue is quiet hours. Yukon government campgrounds have quiet hours between 11 PM and 7 AM. During this time, you’re not supposed to make excessive noise, run generators, play loud music, etc. It doesn’t happen often,but enough times to be annoying. There are campground officers, who enforce these rules among other things, but they can’t be in all campgrounds at all times.
My problem is that there shouldn’t be a need to have an officer in every campground at every time for the sake of keeping quiet hours. Surely, people should have enough sense to not run their generator after 11 PM (why would you be running it at that hour, anyway?) or to be blaring music late at night in a campground. If you want all the comforts of home, why are you out in the woods?
Well, there’s my rant du jour. I suppose it’s my two cents worth, although with the demise of the penny, I guess it’s rounded down…
Doug Rutherford 