Yes I am hungry ... Yes I am tired ... Yes I am cranky !!!!!! Not really ... well maybe a little!!
With the threat of a windshield disintegrating in a million pieces, dinner from the blender through a straw and a sick baby kitty, we are heading to Oregon to take care of business. Since we have seen everything on the way up, there's no reason to tary on the way back.
Anyway, we left Tok for Whitehorse with my buddy enjoying the ride. We've gotten a few looks and lots of waves!!
The problem with this entire section of road is that it's horrible!!! Between the US and Canadian border, the road is so bad that in 9-1/2 hours we drove an average of 41 miles per hour. No one wanted to pay to fix that 20 mile section, so they let it go to disrepair. See the curvy lines on the side of the road?? Better slow down. When you see a break in the line, REALLY slow down. It's a rocking and rolling ride at 15-20 mph!!!
They put up this kind of sign to let you know the pavement is bad ... these are posted at maybe 10% of the bad spots. The rest you have to guess at.
Here are more of the heavies ..... They say this is caused by the frost heaves. Did you know they don't have asphalt here?? Only gravel and oil.
Finally ... the Canadian border. High price fuel and more bad roads!!! Average for fuel in Canada has been $5.25 per gallon.
But they do have some beautiful country. We skipped around this rain storm, but the "clouds" in the far mountains are smoke. We drove for miles and miles in the smoke from a forest fire we never saw.
Somewhere along the way I rolled over the 5,000 mile mark for this trip.
Finally to Whitehorse, we dry camped in the Super Store parking lot. Next morning, off for another 9-1/2 hour drive. Not that we planned it that way, but the road construction was also very bad with long waits and terrible drives over miles of gravel.
Did I mention how beautiful it is up here?? Just amazing panoramas everywhere!!
From Whitehorse we headed to Liard Hot Springs for a good soaking. This stretch of the highway is the best for animals!! We immediately passed a large black bear, and then another. This time I got stopped quickly enough to catch him right beside my door. Good things my dogs were gated in, they would have been lunch had they escaped!!
Just up the road, another one. This is a brown "colored" black bear. They were all fairly young and pretty skinny.
I just love these guys!!
And More!!!
As you get closer to Liard Hot Springs, you will run into the Bison herd, which has quite a few babies. I missed them last time, but this little guy was eating right on the side of the road, while the entire herd slept behind him close to the trees.
Here's a small part of the party!!
Magnificent animals ...
Since the park's Bus Parking lot was full (which is where we parked last time), we headed across the road to a large parking lot where we dry camped again. A quick trip to the hot springs left me tired, but feeling good.
Did I ever tell you I was not an urban sleeper?? I was born in the country where it's quiet. This sleeping in parking lots, isn't for me. I can tell you exactly when everyone turned off their generators, what trucks came and went, what time it started to rain, what time it stopped raining ... I just don't sleep well with noise. Needless to say, it was a long night.
However, bright and early this morning we were off and running again, this time headed over 400 miles to Fort St John. We made it, in 9-1/2 hours, to the Rotary Club RV Campground. 30 amp, but not enough to run the air conditioning. This is one of the suspension bridges we crossed. As you can see by Dan's rig, they aren't very wide. If you see a truck coming, you stop and wait.
You never know what you will see on the side of the road. There is no airport here ... just a parking lot.
Meandering through the Stone Mountains ...
where we saw a small group of Stone Mountain sheep. Again a baby!!! I was so excited. The main herd was below them with a very nervous baby and mom beside the road.
We stopped in Fort Nelson so I could top off my fuel. Don't stop here. I repeat, do NOT stop here unless you have to. I didn't have enough to make Fort St John, so I had to squeeze around the 11 foot overhang, which has been bashed by someone else. The green handle that is usually diesel, is gas. Everywhere else in Canada, the green has been diesel. Here they are YELLOW!! I of course had pulled too far forward. Now navigate between two trucks to the side tanks to fuel up at $5.50 per gallon. Then drive around the block because the roads aren't wide enough.
One last image for the day and done!! This is a bad picture out a rainy windshield with lots of reflection ... but see the brown trees?? That's the beetle they have here killing trees by the thousands. I don't know if they have any way of stopping it, but we have seen entire forests dead from this pest. It's truly a shame!!
Well, it's dinner time at the Chance Restaurant, so I'm going to go see what's on tonight's menu. After that, I'm hitting the hay. Hoping it will be a quiet night!!!
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