From Fort St John, BC

Last night we were in Liard River Hot Springs and there was no internet, so my post today will cover both days.

Yesterday we left Whitehorse, YT and gassed up at a place where Mark also tried to wash the bugs off our windshield, so we stopped as soon as we crossed the Yukon River and he gave it a proper washing.  While he was doing that, I had a chance to get out and take some pictures.  Most of the time there’s not a place to stop for pictures, so I wanted the windshield to start the day out being clean.  On the occasions when I got to get out and take pictures, that was even better.

Autumn berries and leaves at the Yukon River

Autumn berries and leaves at the Yukon River

Mark washing the windshield

Mark washing the windshield

The Yukon River

The Yukon River

Again I was excited by the colors and the scenery, but we also got to see a fair amount of wildlife.  We saw black bears and bison mostly.  There were some unusual cloud formations that I caught.  One thing I had forgotten to mention on the trip up were the stone names and words along the side of the highway.  This time I decided to take a picture and I just snapped without knowing what I got.  When I looked at the picture, I saw that I’d caught the name, Nate, so I’m dedicating that picture to my nephew!  We stopped in a couple towns, including Watson Lake which has the famous Signpost Forest.  All in all, we crossed the Yukon – BC border six times on our way east before finally heading more south for the night.

The clouds looked like flying saucers!

The clouds looked like flying saucers!

Crossing a bridge

Crossing a bridge

Rock writing by the road

Rock writing by the road

Sign post forest in Watson Lake

Sign post forest in Watson Lake

Adorable bear cub

Adorable bear cub

Lone bison

Lone bison

Sky reflected in water

Sky reflected in water

We suffered two important losses on our trip yesterday, however.  Going around a bend in the road, my upper cupboard door swung open and three of the salad/dessert plates from my wedding set fell out and broke.  I now have three dinner plates, two bowls, and one salad/dinner plate out of a set of four each.  Our land line phone which is shaped like a Harley Davidson and was given to Mark by his late father also fell on the floor and one of the handlebars broke off.  He was able to glue that together, but there was no hope for my dishes.  🙁

When we got to our campground in Liard River Hot Springs, the owner told us to go ahead and settle in for the night and we could settle up in the morning.  He also told us to watch out for Fred, who turned out to be a semi-tame bison who was grazing in the campground.  🙂

This morning when we went in to pay for our campsite, the owner told us it was on him.  I think he said something about the bathrooms having been out last night, but we were so much in shock all we could say was, “Thank you!”

Today we spent most of the day in the Canadian Rockies.  We saw mountains, lakes and rivers galore, and we saw caribou.

Muncho Lake and Honeymoon Island

Muncho Lake and Honeymoon Island

Caribou

Caribou

You can see the geology of the Rockies

You can see the geology of the Rockies

I think this is an alluvial moraine

I think this is an alluvial moraine

A stream feeding into Summit Lake, which you can just barely see reflecting Stone Mountain

A stream feeding into Summit Lake, which you can just barely see reflecting Stone Mountain

King of the mountain!

King of the mountain!

A view of the valley

A view of the valley

A young hitchhiker outside the Visitor Center at Fort Nelson

A young hitchhiker outside the Visitor Center at Fort Nelson

Putting my feet up

Putting my feet up

 

 

We stopped in Fort Nelson at the Visitor Center, which fortunately had free internet.  I went to a desk to use their computer and met a couple who said they were from “tropical Australia”.  I gather that means the part that’s closest to the equator.  Turns out they had stayed at Tok RV Village and they’re on their way to Seattle, WA to fly back home.  We met up with them a little later at the gas station where they were at the next pump over.  It took us longer to gas up, but eventually we caught up with them on the road.  We followed them for a while, but we finally needed to pass them.  They waved to us as we passed.  They are taking the trip a bit more leisurely than we are so I suspect we won’t be seeing them again, but it was fun to make their acquaintance.

We suffered our next great loss today, and one for which I am grateful we have people praying for our safety.  We were driving through an area where there was loose gravel on the road.  A truck in the oncoming lane passed us and kicked up some rocks.  One of them hit the window on Mark’s side and shattered it.  We couldn’t stop right then, but we were close to Pink Mountain where we hoped to stop and do something about the situation.  At first we didn’t know how to react so we were laughing.  As we drove, pieces of the window kept falling off on the floor.  We finally got to a safe place to pull over and Mark carefully pulled all the shattered glass out of the window and I picked it up off the floor.  With the glass out of the window, we opened the second pane so that it covered the hole, leaving the screen shut in its regular position.  By this time it was getting late and we were tired and reality began to descend on us.  We’re going to have to get that window fixed before we hit the road in the morning.  We’ll have to deal with our insurance company.  Not such a fun prospect.  🙁

Shattered window on Mark's side

Shattered window on Mark’s side

At first it seemed funny...

At first it seemed funny…

Mark pulling shards of glass out of the window

Mark pulling shards of glass out of the window

The good half of the window covering the hole; grim reality sets in

The good half of the window covering the hole; grim reality sets in

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