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Excitement! The Alaska Highway starts here in Dawson Creek. Known as the Alcan Military Highway, it was built in 1942 to bring military supplies to bases in Alaska to protect the US from the Japanese. The 1500 mile road, built by the US military, was started on March 9 and finished on October 25, 1942. And today we have the privilege of driving on this historic route to Alaska.
Our day started off a little confusing. Up at 6 am, ate breakfast, packed up and left the campground for the local supermarket. As we approached a nice lady told us that they opened at 8 am. Checking our watches, we saw we only had an eight minute wait. After ten minutes we approached again, and again we were told that they opened at 8 am. Seeing our confused looks, the nice lady told us it was 7 am local time. Even though Dawson Creek does not observe Pacific Time like the rest of British Columbia, they also do not observe day-light savings time.
So at 7 am we walked around the quaint downtown area without encumbrances. There is an alley with murals painted on the walls which made for
nice photos. The Alaska Highway House, a museum about the building of the highway, which we wanted to see didn’t open to nine. Not wanting to wait 2 hours we bought coffees and started our journey on the Alaska Highway.
Snow covered mountains loomed off to our left as we drove. The Rocky Mountains finally. We have been waiting to see the Canadian Rockies for days. What fantastic scenery today. Approaching Peace River in Taylor, BC we drove down grades of 10 %. This trip is not for the faint of heart. We knew this wasn’t going to be a shorts and bathing suit trip, but it has been unusually chilly. As we drove from Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson, the temperature was in the 30’s. We are prepared for almost anything and onward we march.
We had some sun today and some showers. Actually about ever 10-15 minutes it rained and then the sun came out. In Fort Nelson the temperature actual rose into the low 50’s. We stopped for lunch at Buckinghorse River Lodge. We arrived 5 minutes before a bus load of people - great timing. We gassed up in Fort Nelson and have set
a new record for the price of a fill-up - $80.00 Even Dave with his large tank in his truck has never paid anywhere near this. The $1.43 per liter is $5.50 per gallon and we only got 15 gallons.
We are camped tonight in the West End Campground in Fort Nelson. It cost $30 for a crummy site with electric. It’s a rip off, but they do have wireless if you stand outside the office or in the laundry room, which I did and sent out yesterday’s blog. Hallelujah - I am caught up on the blogs!
This is our first disappointment in the campgrounds we found in 8 nights. The only saving grace was the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum next door, which was very interesting.
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