Additional Scenery Between Fort Nelson & Laird Hot Springs

Stan . . .

Connie & I standing alongside the shoreline of Muncho Lake enroute to Laird Hot Springs. The waters of the lake were an extremely deep emerald blue color very reminiscent of the waters in the Mexican Caribbean.

We were told that the ice on Muncho Lake had only begun to breakup within the past few days when we arrived (that's ice piled up on the shoreline!)

We encounter lots of snow capped mountain ranges along our route from Fort Nelson to Laird Hot Springs that were simply indescribable!

Not sure of the name of this lake, but the ice had not yet broken up on it as it had already done on Muncho Lake.

Fort Nelson to Laird Hot Springs

Stan . . .

Traveled about 190 miles from Fort Nelson to Laird Hot Springs and were treated to some wonderful wildlife sightings along side the highway right of way ! The black bear pictured above was very close to the edge of the highway and was oblivious to our stopping on the other side of the road to take his picture----he was more interested in eating the yellow dandelions that were scattered all along the right of way.

Another picture of the black bear as he wandered along side the road eating dandelions.

We encountered these bison several miles further down the road, also intent upon eating as many dandelions as they could.

Our campsite at Laird Hot Springs Provincial Park was well back into the woods and was our first night of truly boondocking (no water, electric or sewer hookups) since we left Texas starting this adventure.  We used our generator setup for the first time and everything worked exactly has expected and the boondocking experience was a very pleasant one.

Sikanni Chief, BC

Stan . . .

More of the awesome scenery found throughout this part of British Columbia between Dawson Creek and Sikanni Chief.

Sign announcing the entrance to Sikanni River RV Park where we stayed for 4 nights over the Canadian Victoria Day holiday on May 24th. Our campsite was right along side the Sikanni River.

View of our campsite at Sikanni River . . . the river is about 30 ft. behind the rear of our trailer. The campground had 20 amp electrical service and water at each site. We used the dump station to drain all our tanks on Monday morning when we were departing for Fort Nelson, BC.

Murals in Downtown Dawson Creek, BC

Stan . . .

There are murals painted on the sides of many buildings and alleyways in the downtown Dawson Creek district. Pictured here is just a sampling. The above mural depicts the arrival of U.S. Military troops to start the construction of the Alaska Highway.

This mural was located on the back of a building at the end of an alleyway--note that the telephone pole and guywire located just in front of the wall were painted to blend into the mural.

Just another of the murals on the side of one of the downtown buildings.

Standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ Dawson Creek, BC (to paraphrase a lyric from the Eagles).

Dawson Creek, BC

Stan . . .

Arrived today in Dawson Creek, BC today and checked out the Visitor Center and did some picture taking at the Mile O markers recognizing the start of the Alaska Highway that was built over a nine month period by the US Military in 1942. The Alaska Highway started in Dawson Creek, BC and covered approximately 1600 miles terminating at Delta Junction, AK just short of Fairbanks, AK.

There are two different Mile O markers in Dawson Creek. The first one above is the actual starting point of the highway, while the second picture is several blocks away located in the center of an intersection in the downtown area (rumored to have been placed there in an attempt to draw the tourist trade into the downtown shopping area).

This sign is located just to the right of the first picture located at the traffic circle which was the official starting point of the Alaska Highway

A picture of one of the picturesque buildings in the downtown area of Dawson Creek.

Chetwynd, BC - Chainsaw Sculpture Capital of the Workd

Stan . . .

Chetwynd, BC refers to itself as the Chainsaw Sculpture Capital of the World, and this is just a sampling of the approximately 75-100 sculptures that can be found all over town. Chetwynd annually hosts a chainsaw sculpture contest, inviting 10 sculptors from around the world to enter the competition held over a 4 day period each summer. Chetwynd provides the wood for the sculptors and all of the sculptures must be completed during the competition, and are then judged to determine the annual winner.

All the sculptures remain the property of Chetwynd and are then displayed at various locations throughout the town each year after the close of competition.

Just an old Cowboy.

Connie & I sitting on a remarkable bench of eagles with outstretched wings.

Prince George, BC

Stan . . .

We arrived in Prince George, BC on May 12th and left on May 15th. Prince George is the largest city in the northern part of British Columbia with a population of approximately 75,000 people. We were able to choose between several large supermarkets for our grocery shopping as well as get service work done to the truck (also had work done on an balky EGR sensor that would intermittently give a check engine warning light). Prince George also has a Costco, so we also stocked up on various bulk purchase items on our trip to Costco. The above picture is a rather imposing wood sculpture located outside one of two Prince George Visitor Centers.

The chainsaw sculpture in the above picture was located inside the second Prince George Visitor Center. This sculpture was on loan to the Prince George Visitor Center from the city of Chetwynd which is touted as the Chainsaw Sculpture Capital of the World.  We hope to be able to see many more of these chainsaw sculptures as we will be traveling to Chetwynd after we leave Prince George

Boston Bar, British Columbia

Stan . . .

We spent our first two days in British Columbia, Canada at the Canyon Alpine RV Park located just north of the village of Boston Bar.  The first picture is of our campsite which was situated among some beautiful pine trees and was a very peaceful setting.  Several miles south of Boston Bar along side the Fraser River is an area referred to as Hell's Gate due to the narrowing of the canyon walls causing the river waters to cascade down the river at a "gallons per minute" rate supposedly greater than the rate of water flowing over Niagara Falls.  The second picture above of Connie and me was taken just before we boarded the aerial tramway to take us from the cliffs on one side of the river down to the lower cliffs on the other side of the river.

The two of us "posing" inside a gondola basket "suspended" over the rapids of Hell's Gate.

After getting off the aerial tram on the lower side of the cliffs there was several buildings housing a restaurant, a gift shop, a museum and a pretty garden area that had numerous hummingbird feeders that had a very active group of hummingbirds swarming all around the feeders.  I was able to capture this picture of one of the hummingbirds actually sitting on the feeder instead of hovering.

Old Town Sacramento

Connie...

We arrived in Sacramento on April 15 and pulled into the CalExpo RV campground. It located next to the state fairgrounds and is very nice. Our friends Carole & Henri are retired also and have their rig parked there. They also work part-time there and enjoy traveling in their Hitchhiker. We spent the week with them and it was great being in the same park. Sacramento is a beautiful city with lots to see. Right next to the campground are wonderful walking trails that go along the river or will take you all the way to Old Town Sacramento. Carole & I enjoyed the morning walks.

We took a tour to Old Town Sacramento. There's so much to see there. It feels like you've stepped back in time although you are in the big city. Of course we found lots of fun & silly things to do; carriage rides and trying on funny masks.

Carole & Henri showed us a great time. Henri is such a jokester and kept us laughing most of the time.

Day Trip to Sequoia National Forest

Connie...

From our campground in Tulare, we took a day trip up to the Sequoia National Forest. The drive up was full of wonderful sights. After entering the park, we stopped to enjoy our picnic lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day with just a slight crisp spring breeze. The picture above is Tunnel Rock which previously in the younger days of the park, the road went under the rock.

After lunch we made our way up the mountain to an elevation of 7000 feet. The higher we climbed the more spectacular the view as the snow from the previous day became deeper and deeper. The roads were slick in places and there were a lot of twists and turns. At times I was a bit uneasy, but then the beauty would overtake fear. At the top it was so incredible. Never have we seen trees this large. So majestic!!

All the while we drove into the park this is what we saw, time after time. From green to snow in such a short time. We did stop at one point near the top to install the snow chains that we rented, but after a bit of a struggle decided to chance the drive without them. We did just fine. What an amazing day!!

Sequoia National Park

Stan...
We traveled from Tulare to Visalia, then turned east traveling thru Three Rivers and entered the Entrance Gate to Sequoia National Park.  Park Ranger informed us that we had to have tire chains in our vehicle, so we had to return to Three Rivers and rent a set of chains for the day (it's a big business at several locations in Three Rivers) and then return to the Park.  We bought our Senior Lifetime Access Pass at the Entrance Gate and then proceeded into the park.

Barstow 1880's - 1950's

Stan...
We arrived in Barstow early Saturday afternoon and found that we were camped near a ghost town named Calico which was a silver mining boomtown during the 1880's, but the boom busted and Calico was a ghost town by the early 1900's.  Calico is located at the base of the mountain were the mining was done and was an enjoyable afternoon excursion.  Walter Knott (founder of Knott's Berry Farm near Disneyland) bought the mining location in the early 1950's and set about restoring what was left of Calico.  The restoration is now operated by the San Bernadino Historical Society.

We then came down from the 1880's to find ourselves in the 1950's at Peggy Sue's Nifty 50's Diner where we decided to have dinner.

We left Barstow on Sunday morning and traveled along the Mojave Desert, then up thru the mountains at Tehachapi (beautiful area) coming down into the valley and on thru Bakersfield up to Tulare.  We encountered extremely high winds and blowing sandstorms from shortly before Bakersfield all the way to Tulare (the proclaimed agriculture center of California).  By nightfall the winds began to die down and we then had rain move in for the night and it lasted most of the way thru Monday.

We are going to do daytrips out of Tulare on Tuesday & Wednesday up into the Sequoia National Park and will hopefully post pictures at that time.

We are now in California

Connie...
It's hard to believe that we were at the John Wayne RV Ranch for two weeks.   The rally was such fun; we connected with old friends and made some new ones also.  The weather was great all week. Very warm during the day and very,very cool in the evening, although the winds played havoc with our campfire attempts. 
Today we arrived in Blythe, CA and will stay here until Saturday, then head toward Barstow, CA.  Our traveling buddies took another route and we will meet up with them in Seattle around May 3.  Then we will be together the rest of the trip to Alaska and beyond.
We are going to visit Connie's sister in Salem, OR for a week.  Will arrive Salem around the 25th of April. Looking forward to rekindling relationships with family.
Will keep everyone posted on events and points of interest as we go along.