Clairmont, Alberta to Dawson Creek

6/22/17




Cleaned the coach and then went for a walk up to the front office.  Visited with a nice lady there who loved to talk to me about Clairmont and next leg of our trip to Dawson Creek.  She showed me a live (behind glass) bee hive, full of honey bees, inside the office/store.  They come in through a pvc pipe outside and into the hive inside.  She explained that the owner loved his bees and had many beehives in the back.  This small display case was for his enjoyment.  She told me all about the difference jobs each different type of bee had, including the mortician bee, who cleaned up the dead ones at dusk every night.  Very interesting.  I bought home made ice cream on a cone and talked with her a little while, than walked back to the coach.  Tom was outside repairing the car cover which got ripped off in the heavy winds we came through yesterday.  He got his Gorilla Tape out, and taped it all up - good as new!










6/23/17




We made our way to Dawson Creek - only about 100 miles today, an no wind finally.  Stopped at the Costco in Clairmont for gas and snacks, and made it to the Mile Zero RV Park at 12:30 p.m.  Set up and found that the electricity post had no ground, so we had to take everything down and move to a second site.  Tom checked the post first, and it had electricity, so we stayed there.  We got all set up and then I went to visit with our wagon masters, Chris and Dottie Martin.  They are such a nice couple - from Louisville, Kentucky.  We also got to meet the tail gunners, Dave and Linda Scott from Mesa, Arizona.  Not many touring clients here yet, as we are one day early. 




So glad that we got here early because as everyone else was coming in, the skies opened up again and it rained hard.  I made 'RV Dinner' in celebration of starting our tour.  Here is our identifying sticker for the tour.

We are #17

6/24/17




Chris Martin had told us that there was an orientation meeting at 1:00 p.m., but we had time to go see the Kiskatinaw Curved Bridge.  It was about 17 km from the campground and part of the original Alaska Highway built in 1942.  Here is a picture of the entry to the bridge. 





Entry to Kiskatinaw Bridge with 14,000 GVW limit

The Army Corp of Engineers built this bridge out of creosoted B.C. fir, and it is still in use today.  Although the main highway has been moved due to heavier loads that the bridge could not sustain.  Look at the boards that make up this bridge - they were cut out of a one foot wide logs and carved to make the curve--amazing!

Creosoted B.C. fir planking - see the curve!

We crossed the bridge and drove about a half mile down the gorge and took this looking back at the bridge.  Yes, that is Tom.

Tom pointing to the bridge

After our tour of the bridge, we went back downtown Dawson Creek to wander around. 

backs of the store fronts -Can you see the Moose?

We landed at the Alaska House, sort of a visitor center, except it was all about the building of the Alaska/Canadian Highway (also known as the Al-Can Highway in early years).  For some reason, the Canadians objected to the Al-Can name, so it is called the Alaska Highway now.  We looked through some of their memorabilia there, but mostly we stayed to see a 45 minute film on the building of the highway.  The film was produced by PBS, and I bought a copy so I could share it with Dad and the grandkids (if they are interested in it). 

The story goes that Dawson Creek was a small sleepy town in 1942 of about 600 residents, when the Army Corp of Engineers and about 10,000 soldiers showed up with hundreds of trucks and heavy equipment, supplies, and another 10,000 or so US and Canadian civilians to build a road through the wilderness to Fairbanks, Alaska.  The residents of Dawson Creek called it "the invasion".  FDR ordered the road built following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Our government felt that the Aleutian islands were probably a target for the Japanese invasion of the U.S. since it was only 600 miles from Japan.  He wanted the road built in less than a year, with no trained road builders, and no idea how the Army soldiers could withstand the harsh conditions.  Temperatures ran from 90 degrees in the summer to -70 degrees below zero in the winter.  Also, they had to deal with lots of bugs, swarms of mosquitos, permafrost (frozen ground), and mud-----lots of mud.  The film was very good in explaining what these men had to deal with.  But in the end, they finished the road in less than 9 months, an uncompromising success. 

Our caravan tour takes us on the Alaska Highway all the way to Fairbanks.  We are told that harsh winter conditions cause the road to 'buckle' and form ice heaves (big bumps), and we are to drive slowly.  Also, there a lot of wildlife crossing the road (I hope we see a lot). 

Got back to the campground in time for the 1:00 Get Acquainted meeting.  Everyone is here - 24 rigs in total.  22 touring motorhomes  (21 couples and 1 single man, Vince - more about Vince later), plus the wagon master and the tail gunners.  Chris, our wagon master, went over a briefing on how to use the radios and the maps.  We all got to introduce ourselves to everybody else.  It lasted about 1.5 hours.  We left with a couple we met at our table - Greg and Betty from Indiana.  We walked to their coach and stayed an visited for about 2 hours.  I think we may have found card players - Hooray!

At 5:00 p.m., we had a dinner in the meeting room hosted by the tour company, and a presentation by Joyce, the head of the Visitor Center at Dawson Creek.  Her dad actually worked on the Alaska Highway, and she brought his pictures to show us.  Her presentation was great and everybody had a good time.


 

6/25/17

Had a great talk with my daughter, Kathie, this morning.  The kids went camping in Sequoia and Bass Lake and had a great time.  They were joined at Bass Lake by Kim, my other daughter and her family.  However, the  heat wave that hit California this week hit them too, and it was really too hot to be outside to much. 

Went back downtown to the Alaska Highway building to get more pictures.  Found a couple from our tour group there also, and I was able to have them take our picture at the 'Mile Zero Post' in the center of town. 

Mile Post Zero

Afterwards, we went to the Visitor Center and museum.  We also met up with our entire group at the sign marking the beginning of the Alaska Highway.  The tail gunner took our group photo.  If I get a copy during the trip, I will be sure to add it to the blog.   Here are Tom and I under the sign. 

Beginning of the Alaska Highway

Back to the campground to catch up my log and this blog.  Tom and the dogs had their naps.  Our drive tomorrow is one of our long ones.  Also, the wagon master tells me that the cell service between here and Whitehorse (4 days from now) is very limited.  I will probably not be able to post another blog until Whitehorse, BC.