The Road to Whistler

I was beginning to feel like a beat reporter at blog central, anxiously awaiting something newsworthy to happen. Anything newsworthy.  On day 29, it did. In spades.  I'll get to it in a minute. But, to keep things in chronological order, lets flashback to days 27 and 28. They were slow news days. Slog through them. It'll be worth it.

Day 27 -- Hey, Moses. I, too, know what it's like to wander around BC

The string of 26 rainless days has come to an end. It poured for perhaps half of the day today, and it was a nippy 31 degrees as I headed out this morning. Traveling the Alaska Highway was a great adventure. I was on it for more than 2,500 miles, but here's the turn and it's time to bid it farewell.

At almost all times, the view out the windshield while on the Alaska highway was that of a mountainous, wilderness forest.  Most of the time was spent driving in silence. No audio books or iPod music. The scenery, wildlife sightings, and especially the anticipation of seeing wildlife, was more than enough to make the miles whizz by. Much of the route was through British Columbia, so naturally, I thought I had seen it. However, within seconds of leaving the Alaska Highway and heading south toward Vancouver, I realized that I hadn't seen BC at all. The first revelation that hits you when you turn onto a regular BC highway is this

... telephone poles.  You realize that you haven't seen them for thousands of miles. Now that they are present, it doesn't feel like an untamed wilderness forest anymore. You stop looking for moose and caribou and bears. Rather, its horses, cows and sheep that you see.

Occassionally, a few alpaca could be seen as well. The topography is quite similar to the Apalachian mountains where I live.  You see farms, livestock, irrigation equipment, towns, and wide open views of prairie. Much of the time, you would think you were traveling through horse country in western Kentucky.

Another difference is that while on the Alaska Highway, you see very few deer and very few deer warning signs. Only a few miles off the Alcan, the deer warning signs are everywhere, and so are the deer.

As I pulled into Hudson's Hope, one was at their pretty visitor center eating the flowers.

It would have been a picture worthy of front page on the Hudson's Hope chamber of commerce brochure, but by the time I got the camera pointed, the deer spooked and darted across the street. I caught him in an alley. Not one for the chamber of commerce pamphlet.

Can you guess what the major industry is in this area? I'll give you a few clues.

Nice job--if you took a wild guess and said "the lumber industry". Today, my destination is Prince George. Chetwynd is the only one town of any size on the route. Upon pulling into Chetwynd, I passed a huge sawmill and got a whiff of the town's distinctive fresh sawdust smell.

Every July, carvers from all over the world sharpen up the old Husqvarna and head to Chetwynd for the annual chainsaw wood-carving championship. The town proudly displays many of the works of art sculpted during recent competitions.

I can just hear you saying to yourself, "Geesh, he really liked those chainsaw carvings."  It was raining hard and unusually dark as I made it to Prince George, the fourth largest city in the province, having a population of 80,000. Didn't see Prince George. (He was probably in the can.)


Day 28 -- Unexpected Floral Beauty

On today's drive from Prince George to Cache Creek, another lumber processing town, Guesnel, turned out to be a surprise.  As you drive through the town, you see signs directing you to the pulp mill, saw mill, plywood plant, etc.

Most of the towns that you pass through in Canada and Alaska have a visitor's center, but Guesnel's visitor center raised the bar to a new level.

"Who's that statue of?", you're probably asking yourself. Well, here, read the little ditty about him.

(Sorry about the angle.  I couldn't get blogger to bring it in upright.  Tried for quite some time.  Hopefully, you  can turn your screen, or your head.)

I made it to Cache Creek about 7:00 pm and stopped at a nice RV park. The hookups included cable TV and I got a chance to hear the news for the first time in three weeks or so. A local Vancouver news station reported that there had been over 2700 bear calls in the metro Vancouver area in the past few weeks.

Favorite road sign of the day

Day 29 -- Privileged

There were two times on this trip that the beauty being beheld caused a shiver to run up from the small of my back to my shoulders.  The first time it happened was as I inhaled the beauty and majesty of Mt. McKinley. The second time happened today on the road to Whistler.  Like the road to Hannah in Hawaii, this winding road through a canyon has hairpin turns, one lane wooden bridges, dangerously steep descents, raging brooks, waterfalls and unforgettable scenery:

I stopped at the little town of Lillooet to purchase some fuel at Lightfoot Gas.

The minute I stepped inside the store, I could smell the aroma of freshly baked bread. Just had to buy a loaf. They had some jellies and jams being sold on consignment, so I bought a jar of rhubarb jam and grape jelly also.

One taste of the bread and grape jelly, and I marched right back in and bought another loaf and a bigger jar of the jelly.

I was travelling with the windows down so I could experience the sounds and smells in addition to the sights. There was a loud chirp of an eagle or hawk. I heard them again and again. The air was so still and the chirps were so loud that they could be heard echoing off the canyon walls for a mile in each direction. I pulled over onto a turnout and saw a mom and dad bringing food to their youngsters in this nest.

There was a small path through the trees, so I took it down to the most beautiful lake I've ever seen. The water was sparkling clear. I stood there and soaked it in. There, in total silence, except for the repetitive, echoing chirps from two birds of prey, a shiver started at the small of my back and ran up to my shoulders, and I thought how privileged I was to be alive and standing there at that precise moment.

I had experienced a few 11% grade descents on the trip while in Alaska. Just a few minutes ago, a 13% descent for 2 kilometers was successfully handled by shifting down to first gear and braking to hold the speed at no more than 30 mph. It was a scary descent, and I was relieved that the brakes did not overheat.

Another group of warning signs. What's this?

Fifteen percent for three miles!  You've got to be kidding. I just finished the 13% one, so I'm going to pull over here and smell the brakes. Maybe let them cool for a few minutes before tackling this one. Take a look at the GPS. This one is going to be exciting.

The road to Whistler was every bit as exhilarating as was the road to Hannah, HI. I wish Cindy could have been here with me today. Maybe someday we'll fly to Vancouver, rent a car and drive up to Cache Creek. This one would be a wonderful do-over.

Whistler looks like it has some steep, black diamond runs.

What a nice village. Full of people of all nationalities shopping and strolling.

It was a great place for people watching as I set at an outside cafe and enjoyed some pasta.

Left a Whistler shop a few American dollars, too.

Favorite road sign of the day.

turned out to be an accurate prognosticator, too

It was about 6:30 pm as I made Vancouver, so the rush hour traffic was easing. Still, it was as much of a challenge as I wanted in a motorhome pulling a trailer. I told the GPS to navigate to Spokane, WA and it took me through the US border customs crossing and then toward Seattle. I asked it to navigate to a Walmart, which is the best place to boondoggle park for a night.  It came up with Bellevue Walmart Optical. That's not unusual. Walmart stores never pop up, but hits like Walmart Tire and Lube, Murphy Oil, or Walmart Optical do and they always lead you to the big Walmart parking lot.  So, I followed the directions to Bellevue Walmart Optical. It was dark, and I found myself being led into the midst of a forest of sky high medical buildings and hospitals. Hopeful that there would be enough room to turn around and get the heck out of there, I realized that I had been duped. Bellevue is a large town.  Bellevue Walmart Optical, however, was obviously just a small optical store located in one of the medical buildings or hospitals. It was a rude awakening--the boy's back in the real world.



Day 30 -- The Real World

Couldn't find a Wallmart, so I stayed the night at a truck stop parking lot an hour or so east of Seattle. Had a quick supper.

Woke up the next morning, took a shower, and completed the return to the real world by shaving for the first time in over a month.

Yes, my one and only time of having a beard has come to an end. It's no big deal. I hadn't had it long enough to get used to it, and it was sort of anemic in spots. Feels good to be clean shaven again. The next few days will consist of rather uneventful interstate driving, so I'll pick the blog back up when I get to North Dakota.  If I see anything interesting along the way, I'll snap a few pictures. Like this monument and canyon lookout in eastern Washington

or this doozy of a dust devil that was dancing about on a plowed field

Idaho is one of my favorite states, and Coeur d' Alene, ID is one of my favorite cities in America.  I'd definitely consider moving there if it wasn't so far from the rest of my family. And, of course, there would be that matter of convincing Cindy. But what a beautiful city with two colleges, extraordinarily lush grass, the lake, river and a national forest.

The adventure is coming to an end.  I'm glad you've been following along.