Fort Nelson British Columbia to Fort St John British Columbia 241 miles
The morning looks partially cloudy but no rain. The forecast says a severe heat advisory has been issued for the next couple of days. The high in Fort Nelson for today is listed as 85 degrees. Obviously severe heat is different here. This hotel actually has a breakfast included. They aren’t real good about keeping it stocked however. Rob had to make one more adjustment to the car before it would start. Much better than requiring a push. First stop for the day is the local Napa store to buy a spare oil filter. That was successful. Then a fuel stop before departing town. We are headed south and some east. The road is much straighter but still up and down hills. The big mountains are further in the distance but still primarily forest. We go in and out of mostly sunny. The clouds we do see are fluffy white ones. No wildlife spotting even though signs keep warning of wildlife. Not much traffic on the road but more semis. Almost all of the locals carry spare gas cans. Cell coverage is still only in bigger towns. We stopped for gas at a fuel point but it kept refusing our credit card. The lady in the store said try another card or go to the next stop about 30 km down the road. Shortly after leaving the stop our credit card company sent a text asking if we had spent $116.90 at that stop. Well we quickly pulled off on the side of the road while we still had coverage. Rob called the company to say we had not spent that money and to be sure our card wouldn’t be compromised. All is good. While we were stopped two motorcyclists stopped to be sure we were okay. A couple of hundred feet from the entrance to the next fuel stop was a flagger. She did allow us to go around and into the gas pumps. This place only took cash. Explains why not many were there. They charged an even $50 Canadian. Not sure what if anything the pump said. Most of the usual gauges were covered with dark tape. We were probably one of their only sales for the day. We pulled up to the road and waited for our turn to go. Several of the hills are long up hill grades with no curves. Rob had to go all the way down to first gear for one of them. The space from the edge of the road to the tree line is much wider on this highway. We have seen several mowers out cutting the weeds and new trees. In some cases they are baling the grass. We found our lodging without much trouble. After unloading we are off to the grocery store to buy something for supper. Rob had some difficulty booking a room in Hay River, Northwest Territory. Reservation clerk said she would send us an email tomorrow. The room rate is still a mystery. I think it is a popular place to vacation. Overall it was another good day. The Woodie liked the backup carburetor and ran very well today.
Spoffords Travel 