Road Trip Home: Day 5

Dash views from the bus passing a logging truck in northern British Columbia. Blue skies and smooth sailing on these roads!

Woke up early to drive to Kal Tire in Dawson Creek, BC. We ate some breakfast, brushed our teeth and let the dogs stretch and sniff around while we waited. All of our tire problems were solved by 10AM for about $30 - Shoutout to Kal Tire!

In higher spirits, we had big smiles as we took photos by the famous Alaskan Highway sign at the center of the town. Eager to get back on the road, we started off for our next destination, Fort Nelson, BC. The roads were better than we expected (arguably the best we'd had so far) and we encountered our first steep grades as we eased into the northern Canadian Rockies. This is what I was most nervous for--downshifting using the paddle shifters alone in my Subaru which I had never done before. I desperately didn't want my brakes to fail in a remote area. But, despite all this, I shifted like a champ! Pete was slower going in the bus as he shifted down the steep grades--all tires holding up perfectly. We also had our first encounter with the wire mesh bridges. The bridges work great in the winter and during the melt but in the summer, they are narrow and throw your car tires back and forth due to the grates not quite aligning. It felt like a dangerous situation passing the oncoming semis. 

We passed lots of logging trucks, minor road construction, and encountered about 5 black bears on the last 70 mile stretch into Fort Nelson, BC. It was another hot day, almost 90 degrees! We stayed in a nice RV park on the edge of town. It turned out to be our favorite campground of the whole trip! They had laundry, showers, a gift shop, ice cream and a cafe, bar & patio. The staff was all helpful and friendly. Pete replaced the broken switch and confirmed tire pressures were all holding while I did laundry. For dinner we grilled a pear, prosciutto and arugula pizza and had apple crisp for dessert. One of our neighbors in the campground was from Lino Lakes, MN. He loves traveling the Alaskan Highway and does it every summer - this was his 42nd time! We stocked up on fuel and revised our next day's itinerary to land at a campground just past Watson Lake, YK that the neighbor recommended.

Our favorite campground on the outskirts of Fort Nelson, BC. We loved camping in the shaded pines.