High Level Alberta to Slave Lake Alberta 308 miles
We had a nice breakfast included at the hotel. The skies are very cloudy with a 70% chance of rain. The car started with only a few attempts. However as we went down the road it was not running well. Rob got out and adjusted some things. We also had to turn around since we were going the wrong way. So much for our early morning navigation skills. Stopped at the gas station to fill up and adjust again. The car keeps over heating. Rain drops are starting to fall but not too many. Still not running well so another tweak. This time the car is hot. Rob let it cool down some and then checked the water level. After adding water the car ran much better the rest of the day. Such a simple fix. Rob thought the timing was the problem. The mosquitos continue to be aggressive, very big and hungry. One of the nearby creeks is called Mosquito Creek for a reason. The landscape started out flat but changed to small hills and trees before long. The road is quite rough and the bridges are worse. Two more board deck bridges that seem as though they could use a few new boards. We came to the Peace River which is one of the more significant rivers in the area. Early on it was the highway in the region. Then came steamboats and a ferry. The bridge wasn’t completed until 1974. Just across the river is the town of Fort Vermillion which was one of the very first settlements in Alberta. We had planned to drive through to see some of the old buildings but it was raining too hard. Not so much fun in the rain. Then came the construction. The asphalt had been removed but none of the new down. This went for at least five miles. The woodie wiggled from side to side the whole way. Very similar to the nasty bridges from earlier in the trip. We got to the junction and a gas station. We stopped to fill up. A couple there asked if we were the ones who had been in Fort Smith earlier. They saw the car on Facebook. We took the junction onto highway 88. That road was in much better condition. Now is one of the longer drives to Red Earth. We did see one fox on the road which quickly ran off. The only other wildlife were many big black crows. We did see several oil wells along the side of the road. Red Earth had one of the more interesting convenience stores. They had a little bit of everything. Food, fishing gear, hunting gear, electronics, and household goods. They even had a fast food counter. The owner said that because they were out in the middle of nowhere they needed to stock a little bit of just about everything. Somehow a dragonfly got in the car, flew past us and out the small opening in the windshield. That sure was a surprise. At one point the rain was coming down so hard the car sputtered and nearly died several times. Luckily it didn’t last too long. Slave Lake is a little bigger town. They even have a McDonalds. Our room really smelled of cigarettes so they allowed us to change rooms. The second one was much better. We went out to dinner at a Chinese/Canadian restaurant. Nice change of pace and very tasty.
Spoffords Travel 