Now it’s OFFICIAL - On The Alcan!
We made it to the beginning of the Alaska Highway (or “The Alcan” as it is commonly referred). It’s official - WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO ALASKA! Dawson Creek is where it begins and, no, you’re not crazy if that sounds oddly familiar - it was also the name of a TV show from back in the day (i.e.,1998-2003). I never watched it but the name immediately rang some memory bells! We arrived on Friday and we had the whole weekend in Dawson Creek. We stayed at Milo 0 Campground “Mile 0” (as in ZERO)…get it?! After checking in and parking the trailer we decided we couldn’t wait until the following day and walked downtown to take a gander at the infamous sign signifying the beginning of the Alaska Highway. That’s the photo that I used for the cover of this post - I was so damn excited! When we returned to the campground I realized that although the sign was awesome, we had somehow missed the OTHER famous sign that signifies the start of the Alcan - so famous that is is depicted on the “Welcome to Dawson Creek” sign. (I’ve included that pic below so you see what the heck I am referencing!)
So on Saturday, which was a nice sunny day, we walked back downtown to find said sign. We first returned to the awesome “World Famous Alaska Highway” sign and posed with it again since there were lovely blue skies and there were a lot of people there capturing their memory as well, and it was fun to share in the excitement of the occasion! I also wanted to make my mark on the “Sticker Forest” which is right next to the sign where people stop to leave their mark! I had decided the previous day that I knew what sticker I could leave and added a SC State Parks sticker (which is where we “winter” in our trailer - as all my devoted blog-ees know!). It was fun to find a spot for the sticker and know that all the people traipsing through the area would see it, and MAYBE someone would give it a smile of acknowledgement from a memory.
The Farmer’s Market was fun. Lots of things we couldn’t buy because we live in a trailer. But really nice people and some yummy foods. I also bought a birthday present for my sister from one of the world’s cutest, and youngest, entrepreneurs. I was going to include her cuteness here with a picture, but that would ruin the surprise for my sister (who is one of my beloved family members who DOES actually read my blog) so I’ll just leave you to believe me on this one. We learned that the Farmer’s Market was in two locations and lucky for us as we mozied over down the street to the indoor portion of the market at the welcome center, we discovered the infamous Mile 0 sign that we’d been searching for! It was pretty cool and exciting to read the miles on the sign that we had ahead of us. I was also proud of myself that I refrained from playing in traffic in order to pose with it!
On our walk back to the campground, I had a hankering for a beer. So we stopped at a restaurant and when I inquired about their IPA options, I was tickled to learn that they had a hazy IPA from the Stanley Park Brewery…Stanley Park - as In the park that Karl and I walked ALL around in during the walk-that-never-ended in Vancouver! It was kismet!
Sunday we went for a great walk on the Dawson Trail - a paved pathway that is part of the Trans Canada Trail. It was a warm sunny day and it was nice to be off the beaten path and walking through neighborhoods and small parks that we otherwise would have missed out seeing. Oh, and the OTHER big significance of this area was STARTING to realize the whole lack-of-darkness-thing thing they have going on around these parts! I’ve included a screenshot from my phone of the ever changing sun schedule. Oh, and for the record, it was probably in the 50’s on the day we arrived in Dawson Creek and in the 70’s on weekend when we were bopping around.
We really didn’t need to spend the entire weekend in DC, as most people pull in for one or two nights before starting the big adventure of The Alcan. But we made good use of our time and it made Monday morning’s departure all the more exciting!
And then… we were on our way on the Alaskan Highway! Our first stop wasn’t very far - only 68 miles to a Harvest Host (HH) Holdt Farm in Peace River, BC. Both the campground and this HH stop were reservations that Karl had made before we left MA in April (or perhaps when we left SD in May…can’t remember - but the point is that they were planned and secured spots!). As you will see by the pics below, this is the HH that I had HAD to write my “commercial break” about in a few posts back, because it had caused such a giggle-fest when it occurred. Our HH was a farm who had great spots for boondocking and even had some sites up the hill under construction to add the luxury of hot tubs etc! But we appreciated the flat camping spot and the hilarious neighbors…four donkeys, a llama with a wee-bit of an overbite, and goats and baby goats of all ages. We stretched our legs and got our steps in by walking down the road appreciating the other neighbors’ cows and sheep out grazing in the fields. But when we returned to our camping spot I couldn’t resist stopping by for some pats to the adorable and hilarious menagerie,
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