Spoffords Travel

Day 33 August 3, 2024 Strathmore Alberta to Milk River Alberta 193 miles

No breakfast at the hotel so we went a short distance to the local A&W. The staff here were very friendly! They greeted us as we walked in the door. Many of the workers are from the Philippines. Connie decided to try the Whistle Dog while supplies last. Rob stuck with the more traditional sausage and egg muffin. The Whistle Dog is a hot dog slit the long way and grilled. Then it is placed in a toasted bun with bacon, cheese and relish. Quite tasty. This was a very busy place. Lots of people inside plus in the drive through.

We found out that there is a parade starting at 9:00 am this morning in downtown. This is the stampede parade. Someone suggested we join in. Unfortunately registration has closed.

After breakfast we headed for the gas station. Oh my were we a hit there. Two ladies came rushing out saying we had made their day. One of the ladies was so excited she gave Connie a rubber duck because that is what Jeep owners do. Our vehicle isn’t a jeep but she thought it was so cool that I should have a duck. They also gave us directions to a self serve car wash.

We found the car wash without too much trouble. We pulled into the bay designed for trucks and big RVs. Rob got off at least some of the dirt.

Today is in the low eighties with clouds. The wind increases throughout the day so by evening it is a force to be reckoned with.

We stopped in Lethbridge at a Costco to fill with gas and get a hot dog for lunch. When we got to the pump we remembered that Canadian Costco only takes Master Card and Costco Visa. We had a gift card we bought in Canada last fall. It still had some money on it so we put in what we could. Then we went in for ice and hot dogs. Well Canadian Costco still sell polish dogs. They also sell french fries with or without gravy and waffle ice cream cones. We left the store without the ice. Opps.

Next stop was Connie’s cousins who live out in the country from the little town of Warner. On the way there we saw a lone antelope in the middle of a field. We had a wonderful visit and enjoyed supper with them. We had a difficult time leaving. We saw the antelope again on the way out. Well, we saw the south end of a northbound antelope.

We stayed the night at the Sandstone Motel in Milk Run. We got the last room which was more like a suite.

Day 32 August 2, 2024 Drayton Valley Alberta to Strathmore Alberta 225 miles

We thought breakfast was included but really it was you can order breakfast. We had the Senior Special which was just fine. Thankfully no flat tires today. We got away about 9:15 after filling with gas.

We saw about 20 oil wells scattered here and there. Most were not pumping. If they were pumping they were going very slowly.

The terrain continues to be mostly flat with very large fields of grain or grass hay. There must be different kinds of grain because the colors are different. Most has not been harvested yet. Occasionally we see a herd of cows. Then we saw a herd of bison. The fence surrounding them was tall and looked very strong. The roads go for several miles in a straight line. The hills are usually small. We didn’t have to get in first gear for a hill today.

A lot of advertising is done on parked semi trailers. They are parked in a field and painted on both sides with whatever the ad is.

Oh my gosh we actually passed a vehicle. Never mind that it was a farm tractor going very slowly. We really have not seen much farm equipment on the road. Some of the farms are obviously very large based on the size of the farm yard. Some of them have at least 10 large silos and two or three large out buildings.

The wind is continuing strong today. There is an extreme heat advisory in affect in southern Alberta. Highs expected in the low to mid 80s. It was 81 when we stopped for the night.

Today’s traffic has more RVs than yesterday. There are some small lakes here and there with virtually no trees. We passed one RV park that was nearly full. They were parked on gravel with very little grass and trees. Doesn’t seem like fun to us. The other addition is horse trailers. A bigger rodeo must have ended or is about to start. The Calgary Stampede ended mid July.

We noticed a couple of corn fields. The corn is very short and has not tasseled out. Then a truck full of shredded corn stocks passed us going the other direction. Shreds of corn were flying everywhere including in our car.

Lunch was in the Trochu Lion’s Club gazebo. The gazebo was made of parts from a silo. Then a picnic table was added to the middle. With the wind we felt quite comfortable.

An extremely rare event. One of the fields actually had an irrigation line. We had not seen one in two days. A few miles later was another one.

We arrived at the Wheatland Hotel about 4:00. It has a lounge with slot machines and pool tables. They most likely make more from that than the hotel.

The car ran fine today. Since we have been driving without any major hills the gas mileage has improved to 19 MPG.

Day 31 August 1, 2024 Grande Prairie Alberta to Dayton Valley Alberta 255 miles

Today is sunny out. The day is supposed to be warmer. Highs expected near 80 throughout the area. We load up and go out to the car only to find the trailer with a flat tire. All those miles on the Dalton Highway that is known for blowing tires and now we get one. Of course changing it here is most likely easier. We had to unpack and repack things in the car and trailer to get to the tools. That did take about an hour to change so we didn’t leave until 9:45. We are currently driving without a “live” spare. The next flat will take more time and effort to repair.

We are definitely in the prairie. The mountains are in the far distance. Lots of large fields of grain or hay. Most of the hay is in large round bales sitting in the field. Only occasionally do we see some of the bales gathered together. Very few are wrapped in white plastic. Most are in what looks like mesh in either green or brown.

Long rows of trees divide some of the fields. Now they are a mix of pine and deciduous. Most are very tall so they have been there quite some time. There are some cattle and a few horses but not nearly enough to eat all that hay.

The road is a four lane divided highway. No on or off ramps. At least this way we only have the trucks going the same way. We came to a construction sign but couldn’t see any big equipment. Then we came to brand new asphalt. Well the construction must be finished and they forgot the sign. But wait here is the construction. Looks like they are putting down the last little stretch. Most of it is painted but not all. Sure was nice and smooth.

We stopped in Fox Creek to fill the car and have lunch. We ate at the A&W and forgot to order the whistle dog. We forgot all about it until reading the poster while eating lunch.

The road for the next hour was terrible. It made some of the gravel stretches on the Dalton look pretty good. The road was extremely rutted and the Model A pizza cutter tires don’t do well with that. Then there are the small humps and bumps that can’t be avoided. Those are the things that really bounce you around. Add to that the small potholes and rough bridge crossings. Seemed like the car would fall apart. But it held together.

All along this stretch were moose warnings in very large signs. We did see about four moose. The only thing was they were bright yellow and attached to a pole.

We came to an area that had obviously been hit very hard by a thunderstorm. There had been warnings last night. The grain in one field was almost entirely down. Several others were also badly damaged. Then everything was okay again,

We arrived in Drayton Valley a little after 4:00. We are staying at the Best Maple Leaf Inn. It could use some minor repairs on the outside but the inside seems fine. The owner says the town has a real homeless problem but if they come around his hotel he gets the stick. He is a big guy so they do go elsewhere.

Day 30 July 31, 2024 Pink Mountain RV Park British Columbia to Grande Prairie Alberta 221 miles

We got an earlier start today. We were on the road by 8:00 am. It’s mostly cloudy this morning.

Natural gas was discovered along the route today. We see plants and work camps. The find was huge. They can pump 271 trillion square feet per year for 100 years. This area supplies natural gas for most of Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

The traffic has really picked up. The number of semis in particular. They also seem to be going well above the speed limit. We must have seen at least 10 prefab buildings going north. They look like some kind of housing. Perhaps a big construction project or more to do with the natural gas. At about kilometer post 138 one of those north bound trucks threw a rock into our windshield in the lower corner on the driver’s side. Shards of glass landed on Rob’s face, hand and leg. They also landed on the seat. It left a huge star in the windshield too. All those miles on the Dalton Highway without a rock chip and now on pavement we get a big one. A new windshield is now on the project list for when we get home.

On the better side we saw two deer grazing on the grass in the right-of-way. They were well off the road and didn’t move much with all the traffic.

The wind has picked up again and the clouds look more like rain. In fact it did start raining before long. Luckily not too hard but there is enough dust or something in the air that the passenger window is quickly impossible to see out. This is important since the chief navigator sits on the passenger side.

We crossed the Peace River Bridge. This is the longest bridge on the Alaska Highway at 2,130 feet. Unfortunately for us it is a metal grated floor and this time the traffic is nearly bumper to bumper. We go slowly but luckily there are not too many behind us. We did get over the bridge before the rain started.

Right after the bridge was a long steep climb up a hill. We didn’t have our speed up because of the bridge so part of the way was in first gear. Thank goodness the temperature outside was cool so the car didn’t overheat.

Today in the mix of semis were logging trucks. We haven’t seen them since we started. They must not log as much on this highway.

The rain was nice enough to stop when we got to Dawson Creek. That is where the Alaska Highway starts. We found the sign marking the spot and took a picture. Then we ate lunch with a couple of bikers we met along the way. Fun diner called Stuie’s. It was all decked out for the 50s.

Not far out of town a doe and a fawn started to run across the road. Rob honked the horn and they turned around. Thankful for that because we most likely would not have been able to stop in time.

Some of this land today has been farm land. Mostly pasture or some kind of grain. The mix of green and gold is really pretty. Too bad the windshield is so dirty. One of those farms appeared to be raising elk. Might be the cheapest way to get your elk meat. Oh, we saw some elk today.

We arrived in Grande Prairie about 4:15 but had to take quite a detour for road construction to get to our hotel. The person or persons upstairs above our room are walking back and forth a lot. We are both pretty tired tonight so some noise will not bother us.

Day 29 July 30, 2024 Toad River BC to Pink Mountain BC 255 miles

We took off at our usual 9:00 am. Today is partly cloudy with a gentle breeze. Last night the breeze stopped and the lake became like a mirror. This morning there are gentle ripples in the water.

The beginning of the day required us to cross two bridges with metal floors. They cause the car and trailer to wiggle all over. Luckily there was no traffic coming the other way on either bridge. It’s so much easier driving down the middle. The bridges aren’t all that wide to begin with.

We came to the washout that had closed the road a few days earlier. They have it open for one lane. We didn’t wait long. Water must have come down the mountain rapidly and removed all of the lane closest to the river, no crews working on it today. They probably have to go out to bid or some other crazy thing. A person in a pickup is at each end controlling the stop lights. They both looked incredibly bored.

Rob spotted our main wildlife for the day. Just over the guard rail was a young Stone Sheep. They are mainly found in northern British Columbia. They are smaller than the common big horn sheep and they are darker in color. This one was very cooperative as it jumped over the guard rail into the turn out. We stopped on the road and got a few shots before it went back over the guard rail and down the hill. We saw watch for moose, deer, caribou, sheep and horses signs but only saw the one sheep.

We are climbing up the summit that is the highest on the Alaska Highway at about 4500 feet. Surprisingly the assent and dissent were more gradual than expected. Maybe that means the rest of the day will be less. Well there were more hills during the day most of which had longer steeper assents and dissents. Naturally we slow way down. Most didn’t have passing lanes. The traffic seemed light today and we did not hold any vehicles up.

At the top of the summit is a small lake and nice campground. A few of the campsites were right at the edge of the lake.

Went through another area where a wildfire had occurred perhaps last year. The green ground cover had returned. The logs are being harvested because they were stacked ready to load on a logging truck.

A car passed us on a long flat straight section of road with no oncoming traffic. Well that part isn’t unusual but this person cut back so soon they missed our front bumper by less than a foot. Rob honked several times but the car was a quarter of a mile down the road already. So far this was our closest encounter on the trip.

The road straightened out into a small valley. A couple of large fields of baled grass hay in them. They are the big marshmallows that have not turned white yet.

We stopped in Fort Nelson for lunch. We chose Amanda’s Northern Delights. The food was really good and reasonably priced. Stop by if you are in the area.

Then we went across the road to the museum. They advertise it as the finest collection of antique cars in British Columbia. Well don’t know what else is in the province but this doesn’t come close to what was in Fairbanks. The museum is quite large so you could spend several hours there if you wanted. They did have one 1930 Model A coupe.

We fueled up again and got on our way. We didn’t spend much time at the museum. We are only about half way of todays journey. The wind has greatly increased. Our gas mileage won’t be so good this next time.

We have noticed that fewer motorcycles are on the road today. Of course it isn’t the weekend. There are also more pieces of retread from tires. Some in small pieces and some rather large.

One last section of construction for the day and it is right in front of the RV park we plan to spend the night in. We are staying in the Pink Mountain RV Park. Supposedly there is a mountain nearby with pink coloring. We didn’t see it on the way here. Rob thinks that you have to be on drugs if you want to see a pink mountain.

Day 28 Watson Lake YT to Toad River BC 203 miles

We left the hotel and went to the Sign Forest. Such a fun place to visit. It started when the Alaska Highway was being built In 1942. When people come to visit they post a metal or wood sign somewhere in the forest. There are signs from all over the world. Some are small and some are large. Some are even license plates. Tall posts have been placed at the north end of Watson Lake. As a post fills up new ones are added. There are now over 77,000 signs. There is no charge to wonder through. There is also no charge for putting up a sign,

Today is mostly sunny but as the day progresses the skies get more cloudy. No rain however.

We spotted a large dark object up ahead. Most likely a rock or roots of a downed tree, Then the tail moved. It’s a wood bison. Then it moved more and revealed a calf. A closer look found several other bison in the trees. Wood bison are smaller and darker in color than the plains bison found in Yellowstone.

A little further down the road we spotted a small black bear. We guessed it might be a yearling. Amazing two big wildlife sightings in the same day. By the end of the day we saw one more bison and three more bears. Very exciting day. They were all in the large right of way next to the road.

We have noticed that the number of campsites is much less than in the Yukon. There are still lots of RVs on the road. Today seemed to have more really big RVs. Another tour group is headed north. We could tell because they had a sticker in the upper corner on the driver’s side.

All of them were large motor homes or large fifth wheel trailers. If they are headed to Dawson City they won’t be able to park in the Gold Rush RV site like we did. They are all too big.

We stopped at Coal River for fuel and realized we had stayed here two years ago when we drove coast to coast in Canada. We did stay for lunch. We each had bison burgers with onion rings. Very tasty. This time there was not a herd of bison right outside of the dining room window.

Major construction is taking place on the last suspension bridge remaining on the Alaska Highway. They are drilling out all the places where the concrete has broken. They should have just done the whole thing. They have more holes than remaining surface.

We did a second fuel stop at Rockies Lodge. We had stopped here before as well. We tend to fuel the car more often than in the States. Quite a few of the gas stations on the Alaska highway have closed down.

One last piece of construction near Muncho Lake. It didn’t require a pilot car just one lane of traffic. Muncho Lake today at least was a beautiful shade of green. A heavy runoff must occur each spring because large gravel channels come out of the mountains and down to the lake. Not only would these hold lots of water there were lots of them.

The wind really picked up at this point too. The roads have been more bumpy since we arrived in British Columbia. When you combine bumps and wind it makes the ride a bit rough. Rob kept checking for a flat tire. Over 5,000 miles now without a flat and life is good.

We came to the complex called Toad River. They have it all. Gas, restaurant, gift shop, cabins and RV park. They have no remaining drive throughs at the RV site so we took a cabin. It has one window that looks out on the river. The driver/mechanic looked like he needed a rest. We just finished supper and the navigator is already asleep.

Day 27 July 28, 2024 Whitehorse Yukon to Watson Lake Yukon 275 miles

Today is a 50 50 mix of sun and clouds. Not supposed to have rain however. Rob bought breakfast from the hotel yesterday. We had one American and one British. We think the cook is new at his job. The coffee and tea water were warm. The American breakfast included two dollar size pancakes one of which was burnt and the other was close. The over easy eggs were sunny side up and almost overdone. The toast came unbuttered and was too cold to melt the butter. When we left the hotel we discovered a McDonald’s just around the corner. That had to have been better. However, the breakfast was filling.

We got fuel on the corner and then headed to Walmart to get ice. Well they don’t sell ice. Not sure if that is all Walmarts or only that one. They sent us across the street to a grocery store.

We saw quite a few bicyclists today. Much easier highway than some of the others we have seen. Only a few spots of gravel roads today and one detour around a bridge replacement. More semi trucks but no logging trucks. Lots of RVs of all flavors.

We drove this same stretch of road on our way up only in the opposite direction. The area has lots of lakes and rivers so there are lots of opportunities to participate in water related activities. Government campgrounds are numerous. They don’t have hookups nor do they have showers. They do have pit toilets and picnic tables. The fee is $20 Canadian per night. You can also overnight in a turnaround.

We made one more fuel stop and then ate lunch near Morley Lake. No picnic tables at the location so we ate in the car. Bonus: Few mosquitoes.

As we came into Watson Lake we drove past the sign forest. We will go back for a visit tomorrow. We stopped their with the modern car several years ago. More about it tomorrow.

We got in our room by about 5:30. The grocery store is across the street so we walked over and bought a few things. Pork chops were a little over $8.00 US per pound.

The car stopped much better today. Yesterdays maintenance time paid off. We left the manifold heater on all day and with light jackets the temperature was comfortable.