Day Thirty-One - Dease Lake to Stewart, BC

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My alarm went off at 6:30 and I kept snoozing it until 7:00. Mike is always up way before me. He gets his coffee going, makes his toast (warm, dry bread), and feeds Charlie. After Charlie finishes his breakfast he has gotten into the habit of jumping up on the bed and going back to sleep ... tight against my head!

Our routine of breaking camp went smoothly. So smoothly in fact that we left 15 minutes ahead of schedule. I could have hit that snooze button three more times!

Just before we left, while Mike was in the park's bathroom, I showed Dave the giant bug that pinged off Mike's arm yesterday. It was still in the door cubby where it landed after I shook out my blanket. Dave said, "Yeah, that's a giant fly. The state bird." (Provincial) He took it out of its temporary resting place and held it up and I took a picture with my phone. He got a mischievous look on his face and started walking around the front of the truck. He opened the door and gently set it on the top of the steering wheel. It took a couple tries to get it to stay upright and on the wheel, then he gently closed the door and we waited for Mike's return. Mike came back and I started rolling video. Mike didn't cooperate, though. Instead of getting in the truck he and Dave decided they needed to investigate how to safely get out of the campsites. The rig in front of us was parked in a way that could have made it a bit tricky. They concluded that we should be able to make it out without much difficulty and Mike finally took his seat. He didn't notice the fly until he reached to put the key into the ignition. He stopped short, leaned back and looked at me. He inserted the key and looked at me again. I chuckled. "What?" I asked. "Oh," was his response. "Oh? That's all you're gonna say, is 'Oh'?" "Oh. Yeah. I remember him. I killed him yesterday. I killed him daid! He hit my arm and died!" Dave was watching and asked if Mike wanted him to get the fly out of the truck for him. Mike declined and gently picked up the oversized bug by the wing and dropped it in the wastebasket we had sitting on the transmission hump. It didn't fall into the trash bin, but landed on a fold of the plastic bag liner. I snapped a couple pictures then tapped the edge of the bin and sent him flying one last time into the bottom of the garbage bag.

The morning was bright and sunny, with blue skies and a few wispy clouds. Today would be about a six-hour drive according to Teri's adjusted calculations.

A little less than halfway through our drive I saw a black bear ahead of us walking along the shoulder. I alerted Teri and Dave over the walkie. Mike slowed down and I was able to take a few pictures before it ducked into the trees. It was so far ahead of us that it looked like a dark blob in the pictures. I had to zoom in quite a bit to see it.

The road was in really good shape. At one point it became smooth blacktop with actual divider and fog lines painted on it! After several miles of this Mike threw caution to the wind and stepped on the accelerator. We were now going 50 miles per hour in a 90 km/h zone! 90 km/h is about 55 mph.

About an hour and a half after seeing the bear on the shoulder, we saw another! This one was nibbling the grass on the oncoming shoulder. Mike slowed to a crawl so we could all get photographic evidence. He took a video while I depressed the button on my camera several times. It wasn't until the bear ambled across the road that I noticed the cub down in the ditch getting its midday meal. As we inched closer the cub ran off into the shrubs, mama bear meeting junior out of sight of us.

Because of no WiFi at the park and the remoteness of our drive today, we were unable to get the Googler to give us directions to our next stop. Good thing Dave had one of those paper things with the blue and green background and the squiggly lines all over it.

Once we emerged from the trees yesterday, the drive had been very scenic. It continued today; the views were beautiful. At one particular spot we stopped at a pullout on the left side of the road next to a river. Across the river was a wall of mountains. In a valley between two of them was a glacier that came nearly to the river. Many pictures were taken.

Mike asked me how close to Stewart, BC I thought we would have to be before we had cell reception. At that time were were about 100 miles away. He said 50, my guess was 25. We were both waaaayy off. We were about TWO miles from the RV park when my phone pinged, alerting me to a text message. I had internet service as well, so I quickly tried to get directions to the park. We passed it as Google was looking!

Our sites were in the corner farthest from the entrance. It sounds really far, but the park wasn't all that big and the office, restrooms and laundry were about halfway back. We set up the trailer and took Charlie for an exploratory walk. Around the corner from us and hidden by the trees and bushes was a large grassy area that looked to be a group gathering area. There was also a small covered dining area, a fire pit and a picnic table. At the far corner of the group area was a wooden sign tacked to a tree: Brooklyn's Bridge. The wooden footbridge crossed a small creek lined on both sides by trees and bushes that nearly blocked out the sun. Crossing the bridge, stepping through the foliage on the other bank, we arrived at a dike above the Bear River. To the left was the highway we drove to get here. To the right were views of nearby mountains.

By the time we got everything set up we were hungry and nobody felt like cooking so we went into town and looked for somewhere to eat. Our options were limited. Most of the eateries were closed for the day. We checked out the menu for the restaurant in one of the higher priced hotels. The menu prices matched the hotel prices so we passed. Our other option was a small cafe and pizza parlor. It must have been everyone else's other option as well. It was packed. There was a small outdoor dining area wedged between the exterior walls of the cafe and the building next door so we grabbed a table there. Shortly after we got settled it started to sprinkle. Thankfully the rain never got serious. If it had, Teri and Mike would have gotten wet because the roof of the building next door came down above their heads. There was another couple out there and after some time, the waitress came out with their food. We asked if we could place an order with her. She said they were really busy inside and that she had to take care of those customers before she'd be able to see to us. Then she went back inside. Well ... this could be interesting. We waited, and waited, and waited. Finally she came back outside with menus. We took a look at our menus and waited, and waited, and waited again for someone to come take our orders. We got tired of all the waiting and the guys finally went inside, waited (yet again) in line and placed our orders at the counter. While we were doing all this waiting we struck up a conversation with the father of a young family that sat at another table outside. He worked for the Provincial Park System and it sounded like he and his family were outdoor enthusiasts. He gave us some good information about driving to the Salmon Glacier, one of the items on our To Do list while we were here. Finally, our food arrived. By this time the deck was full of people waiting for tables, waiting for food or waiting to order. Lots of waiting at this place. I suppose that's what happens when you're one of only two restaurants open on Sunday.

After dinner Dave suggested a drive to see how far away the border was between Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. At least a couple of the activities on our list for the area were in Hyder so we'd be crossing the border several times. None of us were quite ready to call it a day so we ran for the border. Five minutes later we arrived. We weren't able to cross into the U.S. because not everyone had their ID with them (me) so we turned around and drove the two miles back to town. Sorry guys.

A little blogging then to bed. We have places to explore tomorrow. This time I'll make sure I have my license with me. We'll talk again soon.

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