August 2 and 3--Fort Tekwla to Prince George, BC


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North America » Canada » British Columbia » Prince George
August 16th 2011
Published: August 16th 2011
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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 Ft. Telkwa RV park. Starting mileage was 13732. 53 degrees with high clouds but sunny. 10:00 starting out time.


A free RV wash came with the fee for the night’s stay, so we both washed our rigs first thing before starting out. Both of us had picked up some tiny dots/spots that looked like tar all over the outside, maybe from road construction. After taking some wild flower and other pictures of the river and mountains in view, we took to the road.

The highway continued through ranch land. The animals seen were now of the domestic variety---cattle, horses, with a few instances of goats and sheep. Saw large lumber mills in several of the small towns. Also saw mining activity. Silver, copper and molybdenum are mined around the town of Houston. This is a lake district with a great number of lakes for fishing and recreation. Seeing summer homes along the lakes now.

Came into Prince George down a steep hill past the Wal-mart we had stayed in before. It was a noisy place before, so drove to the bottom of the hill to check out the Costco lot where other RT’s had stayed previously. They allow free parking, so decided to stay there for the night. Went back up the hill to get gas and do some shopping. Gas was at 13957 mileage. Station would only allow $100 charged on the card so, couldn’t fill the tank. Will have to get some more gas before we leave here.

August 3, 2011 Happy Birthday Valerie!!! Starting mileage from Costco parking lot in Prince George, BC, this morning was at 13963. Clear blue sky and 64 degrees at 9:45.


Before we started out this morning, we were greeted by Jim, Diane, and Rocky. They had birthday cards for Valerie and some gifts of several kinds of jams. They also gave her an individual zapper for mosquitoes. It is shaped like a small tennis racket and fries the little suckers when it comes in contact with them. She has been really pestered lately by mosquitoes and has several bites that have really swollen from their venom.

We drove through downtown to the Prince George Visitors’ Center and picked up booklets and brochures. We all decided to go to a small railroad and forestry museum.

The museum housed a collection of old railroad cars, maintenance buildings, a round house, a depot, and various other railroad equipment. It also had some very old fire equipment and logging machines. I found three exhibits very interesting. The first was a HUGE wooden snow plow engine contraption built in 1902 that cleared snow off the railroad tracks ahead of the train. It was used until the 50’s when steel replaced the wood.

The second was an exhibit/display put together by the Ukrainian Cultural Society. It showed a typical railroad bunkhouse in which the 12 workers who would do maintenance and repair on the tracks lived. When the job was completed, the bunkhouse would be loaded onto a flatcar and moved to the next section of track. What made it fascinating to me was that the display showed the items used by the workers-- bunks, clothes, dishes, shaving mugs, etc. and then gave the life stories of about 6 specific men who worked and lived in such a building. Apparently, the railroad company recruited heavily from the Ukraine with the result that 90% of the railroad workers were from that country.

The third interesting item was the Penny Train Station that was a built in 1914 and served the town of Penny. We had not realized, until seeing this depot that the stationmaster and his family lived in back and upstairs from the ticket and waiting room. They had the living area displayed as it would look if a family actually lived there.

Since it was Valerie’s birthday, she wanted to treat all of us to lunch. We had checked out the casino in town and found it didn’t have a buffet, so had asked at the Visitor’s Center for a recommendation for a place to eat. The Cariboo restaurant in town was suggested. It had a very nice buffet and we all enjoyed the meal. As Valerie was getting ready to pay the bill, she mentioned to the server that it was her birthday. The server told her that her meal was then free. This was a very nice surprise and then to top it off, she brought Valerie a piece of carrot cake with a sparkler in it.

After lunch, the two groups split with Valerie and I heading for the town library. We parked underneath this strange building and then spent two hours sending out blog entries and checking out our e-mail.

On our way to the casino for Valerie to play the slots for awhile, we climbed up Connaught Hill to the park that allows you to look out over the city. The park also had a flower bed full of a wide variety of flowers in bloom, everything from Asiatic and day lilies to roses. All the flowers have such a short time to bloom that flowers we have in Atlanta that bloom one after another from February to November, bloom all together at the same time here. We noticed that in Alaska also and I might have mentioned it before now.

Valerie played the slots at the casino for about an hour and came out 50 cents ahead. As she says, for her it is an enjoyable pastime, for me just a waste of money, so I watched.

On the way back to Costco, we got gas at the Canadian Super Store, same company that was in Whitehorse. They give you points based on the amount of gas you purchased that equals money to spend at the store. Bought a few things then at their very nice grocery store---have to spend our $1+ bonus money !!!. Rosie II took 29 liters to top her off @ $1.269 per liter. Mileage at this point is 13977.

Drove into Costco and settled down only to hear the nearby truck running his generator or refrigeration motor. Both rigs decided to move away from the noise and called it a night. After our big lunch we had a light dinner and then did some reading. It is now getting dark at night.



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24th January 2012
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14th September 2012

I would love to see a photo of the PGE /BCR bunkhouse in the late 60s 70s
Hello. You have fascinating photos here, it is surely a pleasure to look at them. I am looking for a photo of the Prince George bunkhouse during the late 60s and into the 70s. The bunkhouse I am thinking of used to be just off to the right of the tracks coming into Prince, and there was a gas / restaurant called Husky ? not sure, within an easy walk from the bunkhouse. I would appreciate any information I can get on this. Thanks Roy Phillips
21st September 2012

Bunkhouse
I don't recall a bunkhouse, except for the train one. I will scan through the pictures I didn't post and see if i can see what you are describing. valerie

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