Road Trip Cont...

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Day 6. After walking through the very nice town of Prince Rupert and saying goodbye to Shawn, we left town around one o'clock and headed back to Terrace. We stopped at A&W for lunch as Micha had never had it before then went in search of Walmart as I wanted to buy some snow boots. My joggers are going in the bin, they leak and no good to me when my feet are getting wet. Oh well, gives me an excuse to buy some new joggers too. I found some nice warm boots that are good for temperatures of down to twenty below, they're pretty comfy too so that's good. We then climbed back into the car and headed north. We were actually hoping on driving through the night. We made it to Bell II and had dinner before realising that we may not pass any gas stations, so before we got any further we made our way back to Stewart. We stayed in a hotel above a pub as everywhere was booked, it was called Prince Edward Hotel. When we walked into book the room we had to do it in the pub, there were about eight men sitting around a table drinking, one guy invited us to stay in his room as he had a spare bed. Ahh, thanks but no thanks. When we left to go and get our stuff from the car and go up to the room, I heard one guy yell, "oh girls, come back." I laughed and kept walking.

Day 7. At breakfast the next morning, I realised why they wanted us to stay in the bar, the majority of the population of the town were men, ratio being 1 woman to ever 5 men. I woke up not well this morning, I had a really sore back and neck I'm thinking from the really soft matress and pillow. After breakfast I wasn't feeling the best, when I went to the bathroom I realised I was looking pretty pale, so Micha drove for most of the day. We had a pretty cool drive today, in and out of snow, going through the tiniest of towns and driving on a highway with no road lines. We made a few stops along the way to take some photos of the mountains. We stopped at a couple of the towns for the bathroom and food etc. But there wasn't anything to look at. Around 5:30pm we left British Columbia for the first time on our trip and entered the Yukon where we planned to stay the night at Watson Lake. When we got to town however, there was a big convention on and all the motels were booked out. We decided to drive to the next town to see if they had anything, they didn't so we headed back to try again and found a motel with two rooms left woo hoo. We were told that the Northern Lights would be pretty good tonight, but unfortunatly, they didn't come out. I think I'm gonna make a trip on the greyhound in the winter up here so I can see them better.

Day 8. Well after a good nights sleep, my back now feels a little bit better, but my neck is still sore. We took our time getting ready today and left the lodge around 11am. We went to the Northern Lights Center that they have in town. It was another thing that is only open seasonal but we were alowed to have a bit of a look around and the guy even put on a dvd about how the Northern Lights (Aurora) happens. It was really interesting, I wish we were able to actually see them last night. After that, we explored an attraction that they have in Watson Lake called the Sign Post Forest. And what it is, is rows and rows of street signs, signs that people made from everywhere in the world. I only found one from Australia and it was from Queanbeyan lol, I couldn't find anything to make a sign to put up, I'll have to try and make something up for when I go back in the winter.
We then made out way south again down the Alaska Highway. Wow, what a road. We saw lots of wildlife, deer, moose, bison, and something we have to ask some locals what it is as we have no idea. The drive itself was amazing, the rivers and lakes that you drive past are spectacular with the water being a bright blue colour and mountain range was forever changing. We reached Fort Nelson around seven thirty, but we continued on through the night. Micha took over driving from Fort Nelson and drove four hours through the night to hit Fort Saint John. We filled up the petrol, I took over and kept going on to Dawson Creek.

Day 9. We arrived in Dawson Creek around 4am. We found a cafe that we could sit in for a bit to waste some time till in got light. Robin's Doughnut's. We had something to eat, watched an episode of 7th Heaven, went back into the cafe and got a doughnut, sat talking for a bit then went back to the car and watched a movie. I wanted to get some souviners before leaving the town. Luckily, the tourism info center opened around 8am, so we went in there to buy the souviner's and have a look around, then we wandered around the town to explore a bit. Once we were done, we headed off in the direction on Edmonton, not Edinburgh as I keep saying for some reason. Edmonton, Edmonton, Edmonton. How hard is it to say???
Along the way, I made a bit of a detour to Grand Prairie as I was told it was a nice place to visit. The people who told me that were right, it is nice, however, it'd be good if these places had some souviner shops. I couldn't find any patches or keyrings or decent postcards, so I have nothing to show of me being in Grand Prairie.
We left Grand Prairie and headed for Edmonton, only about 400kms. Although on a long straight road, it seems a hell of alot further. I got us til about 100kms out of Edmonton and I couldn't drive any further, I got Micha to take over for the rest of the way. When we arrived, we checked into a hostel which was pretty nice. We had showers then we sat checking emails and stuff. I met another German girl named Connie. I told her about our trip and she wanted to go to Winnipeg, so she's gonna think of joining us between Calgary and Winnipeg. We then went out to find a pub and have a couple of drinks. When the waitress told us about the specials, we told her what we wanted, thinking that we were ordering cocktails. When they came, they were the size of two shots, $8 for 2 shots, was not impressed lol.

Day 10. After checking out of the hostel, we headed to West Edmonton Mall, only the biggest mall in the world, and I can understand why it is, with a Casino, amusment park, waterpark, ice skating rink, cinema, water show with seals, and so much more, including lots of shops. We then went in search of some souviners, I couldn't find any patches at all in all of Edmonton, it's the capital of Alberta for god's sake. Anyway, we left to head to Jasper, yeh Elbie. We didn't realise we had to pay to get into Jasper National Park, for two people it cost $19.60 per night, luckily we only spent one night there. While we were there though, we stayed in a very nice guest house, witha lady that gave some really good advise about seeing different things in Jasper and about the trip. That night, we headed out to Jasper Park Lodge where Elbie is now working. I then took her and her new friend Laura into the town for some dinner and a drink, pop for me as I was driving. We caught up for a bit at a place called the Whistler Inn before taking them back to the staff housing.

Day 11. So our morning in Jasper was basically spent hiking, eewww! Cheryl, the lady that ran the guest house, advised us to go to a viewing point on top of two boulders. So we went to Old Fort Point and climbed the boulders which alomost killed me, I'm so unfit at the moment. The view we had when we made it to the top was pretty nice though. After we made it back to the car, we headed to town to print some resumes out, Micha applied for some jobs in Jasper. Then out to Malagne Canyon and walked to you 3rd bridge, was very nice, but then had to hike back up to the car, what is it with this place and hiking??? We then went back to the lodge to try and have lunch with Elbie, but we didn't hear from here, so we left to got to Patricia Lake which was very pretty. So, next stop Banff, yehhh, Troy. We headed down through the national park winding through the mountains, it was so beautiful, passing different lakes that were aqua blue, there were so nice. We visited Lake Louise, it was overcast but was still very pretty. The Chateau Lake Louise has a prime spot on the lake that's for sure. We got to Banff around 7pm and met Troy outside the the staff housing at the Fairmont. We had a pizza for dinner then headed out to a new nightclub, Dancing Saskwatch. When we reached downtown, we witnessed three fights in the space of ten minutes, was unbeleivable, apparently that's what happens when the Calgary people come out on a Saturday night. I guess it's the same when Sydney siders come up to the coast. The club was pretty good, had lots of funny drunk people trying to dance. Around two, we left as it was closing, early for a nightclub I know. We got some Macca's and went back to Troy's.

Day 12. This morning we went for breakfast at Phil's, $10 breakfasts, so yummy. We then dropped Troy back at the flat so he could go to work and Micha and I went for a drive up to Mount Norquay to see if I could apply in person for a job, unfortunatly, no one was there from HR, so I left my resume with a guy that works there and he said that he'd pass it on for me. We then headed out to Sunshine Village which is another ski area near Banff, but there was absolutly no one there at all. Then I realised it was Sunday, no wonder no one is around. We headed back into town and wandered up and down the the main street and in and out of shops for a little while before heading back to Troy's, having some dinner and watching a movie. When our first movie was over, we went for a walk across to the Fairmont to see how Troy was going and to get a hot chocolate, mmm, hot chocolate. We kept him company for a bit and I also saw Kyle there too, so had a little chat with him before heading back to watch Bran Nue Dae, such a stupid movie, was pretty funny though. Before long Troy was back from work and he watched some of the movie with us before we all went to bed.

Day 13. This morning, we headed out to Sunshine Village again and I was able to talk to someone about getting a job, unfortunatly, they held a job fair a few days before and they hired the majority of the seasonal staff already, boooooo! So we headed back to town and I took my resume to the Rim Rock Hotel at the top of Banff, then dropped Troy back off at his place and took off in the direction of Calgary and Joe and Justin. We got into town around 3pm, so we went for a walk through the city for an hour or so before heading to Joe's place. I'm very impressed with myself as I remembered how to get there. We then headed out for a drive, he took us to see Costco, wow, what an amazing place the store is. We then met Justin and his girlfriend at an Irish pub for dinner. When we walked in, we got told they had 1 cent wings, no, that's not a typo, they were 1 cent, unbelievable. I got myself ten wings and a schooner of Coors Light, at the end of dinner, all I had to pay for was $8 for the beer. Joe picked up the tab for all of our wings, it only worked out to be 80 cents after all lol. When we got back to Joe's place, it was time to check emails and try and catch up on my blog, epsecially since I'm about five days behind. I think I'm doing pretty well to remember though.

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Photos

This is actually where the Alaska Hwy ends, we did backwards
All the signs is part of what's called the Sign Post Forest. It's in Watson Lake.

Dawson Creek, where the Alaska Hwy starts.
Or where it ended for us