Wonowon

After leaving Dawson Creek we were finally on the Alaska Highway. That night we stayed at a spot in the road called Wonowon, which deserves its own post. I went inside the restaurant-gas station to ask if we could park there, and they said it was OK. They had a Chester’s Chicken restaurant there, and I don’t think they had ever changed the cooking oil. We ate dinner and breakfast in the motor home and proceeded on to Fort Nelson in the morning. Any spots in the pix are snow falling.

The Greasiest of Spoons

According to Wikipedia, Wonowon is a community in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, located at Mile 101 on Highway 97, the Alaska Highway. The present-day community name is derived from the mile number, “one-oh-one,” however, the area was historically known as Blueberry. The major business center for residents is Fort St. John, and the residents observe the same clock time as Fort St. John, including its abstinence from daylight saving time.

Deserted Campground Store

Deserted Playground

Wonowon's Out-Buildings

We saw a couple of teen-aged boys come from the restaurant and disappear into a doorless building that was about the width of a “two-holer” and the depth of four outhouses. They didn’t come out for over an hour. Now I’m sorry I didn’t investigate the building. I’ve seen similar buildings that contain stairs and a tunnel that go under a road, but I don’t know where a tunnel might have gone. No smoke came from the opening, so they weren’t smoking pot (or anything else) in the small building. They just walked in at a fast pace and walked out the same way. It is the red-roofed building above. Also, note the spiffy truck.

We Dine in at Wonowon

It is hard keeping up with the time and trying to decide what time it is at home. We have gone through several time zones that have and have not used daylight savings time.

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte

Lake Louise Village

Oops – apologies should have gone to Robert Frost, not Walt Whitman, for the “miles to go before I sleep” comment in the previous post.

Susan loved Lake Louise Village, the small shopping area near Lake Louise and the hotel. She said that it had everything that she loved. I can’t remember everything that she mentioned that would make her happy, but I do remember library, fudge shop, and happy people. I have to agree – those things are important.

As you can see in the pictures, the lake is still frozen, but the piled-up snow is melting rapidly.  The area is lovely, but the hotel isn’t quite as beautiful in person, not that it isn’t beautiful – but I’m not sure I would want to spend $500 a night there. There is also a large, fancy hotel in Banff, and I get them confused in my mind.  We did not see that hotel. 

When we were in the town of Banff, it was hard to get around -- too many people and vehicles, we couldn't understand what the GPS was telling us, and we couldn't find the street signs. We bought gas and lunch and went to the Banff National Park visitors center. Then we "got the h*ll out of Dodge" and congratulated ourselves on our good fortune of being able to find our way out of town.

The Lake Is Smaller Than I Thought

Lake Louise Hotel

Susan and the Melting Snow Banks

Susan at Lake Louise

Honestly, this photo was rotated until it was placed here. Just tilt your head to look at it.

By the way, these blog postings are out of order from how they happened, but I don't think anyone really cares.  At least, I hope my readers don't care.

Thanks for reading. Our two favorite stops will be written about next -- (1) Wonowon and (2) the cinnamon roll campground.

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte

The Beginning of the Alaska Highway

By the way, you can right click on a photo to copy the image. Then you can have your very own copy of the photo to have enlarged and framed.  Or you can left click on the photo just to make it larger for the moment. I realized how important it is to know how to make a photo larger after I posted the pix of the animal-crossing bridges.

The farther northwest we went, the towns became further apart.  There were no services except in the towns.  For instance, when we left Jasper National Park (where we stayed the night), it was 50 miles to Hinton, 81 miles to Grande Cache, 130 to Grande Prairie, and 80 miles to Dawson Creek, where the Alaska Highway begins.  I had looked at it many times on the map and figured the miles more than once, but it didn’t totally sink in that the lack of names on the map meant the lack of services and people. We don’t have that much isolation in the US – at least not where I have been.

The town of Grande Cache was interesting (to me) for several reasons. It was established for the purpose of developing coal mines. Construction of the town began in 1969. By 1971 a hospital, schools, stores, and the first homes were built. At one end of town was a LONG and STEEP upgrade, with a corresponding LONG and STEEP downgrade at the other end. It is the birthplace of hockey player Dean McAmmond (not having watched a hockey game since Gordie Howe retired, I am once again clueless) and home of the Canadian Death Race (http://www.canadiandeathrace.com/). Just outside of town, they were removing the side of a mountain to get to the coal. (I’m sure they will eventually remove the top of the mountain, too, like they do in Appalachia.) It would have been easy for coal to have come crashing down on us just like a rock slide. I’m not good with estimating distances, but I’m sure they were working at least 2,000 feet above the road we were on. The town suffered a boom-bust cycle due to the dependence on a single employer that depended on a single commodity: coal. In an attempt to diversify the economy, additional industries were encouraged to develop in the area. This included a wood chip plant and a Corrections Canada facility. In recent years, wilderness tourism is an increasing industry. I saw a campground that actually looked inviting, but we had many miles to go before we could sleep (with apologies to Walt Whitman).

After Grande Cache came Grande Prairie, which was much larger than I had expected. Then came Dawson Creek, the start of the Alaska Highway.

Charlotte at Mile Zero

Susan at Mile Zero

Thanks for reading,
Charlotte

The Icefields Parkway

If you want to learn more about the Icefields Parkway, which I had never heard of until I started planning this trip, go to www.icefieldsparkway.ca. It is between Banff and Jasper National Parks.

(I tried to attach pix last night, but I had no luck. It would get so far with ataching them -- and then just stop. Frustrating!)

Approaching an Animal-Crossing Bridge

The bridges are faced with river rocks and have high fences leading up to them and across the roads. If I hadn't read about them beforehand, I would not have known what they are for.

Another Animal-Crossing Bridge

Melting Lake

As was true for so many bodies of water we saw, they were partially or completely still frozen. This one was the most beautiful shade of emerald.

Beautiful Lake, Beautiful Women

Another Pretty View

By the way, we are now in Seward, and I hope to catch up with the photo sharing.

Thanks for reading,
Char & Susan

Wikipedia Is My Friend

The following notes are from Wikipedia.

Moose Jaw is a city in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the Moose Jaw River. It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, 48 miles west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. (Who wouldn't want to be known as a Moose Javian??!!!) It is best known as a retirement and tourist city that serves as a hub to the hundreds of small towns and farms in the surrounding region of Saskatchewan.

Marked on a map as Moose Jaw Bone Creek in an 1857 survey by surveyor John Palliser, there are two theories as to how the city got its name. The first one is that it comes from the Plains Cree name moscâstani-sîpiy meaning “a warm place by the river,” indicative of the protection from the weather that the Coteau range provides to the river valley containing the city and also the Plains Cree word Moose Gaw meaning warm breezes. The other is that on the map of the city the Moose Jaw river is shaped like a moose’s jaw.

 (I believe the first explanation.)

The name “Medicine Hat” is the English translation of “Saamis” (SA-MUS) – the Blackfoot word for the eagle tail feather headdress worn by medicine men – or “Medicine Hat.” Several legends are associated with the name from a mythical mer-man river serpent named “Soy-yee-daa-bee” – the Creator – who appeared to a hunter and instructed him to sacrifice his wife to get mystical powers which were manifest in a special hat. Another legend tells of a battle long ago between the Blackfoot and the Cree in which a retreating Cree “Medicine Man” lost his headdress in the South Saskatchewan River.

Historically, Medicine Hat has been known for its large natural gas fields. Because of these reserves, the city is known as The Gas City.

The following is from Char-pedia.

So many towns we went through in SD, ND, and the lower parts of Canada had “now hiring” signs up everywhere, and not just at fast food places. Because of the oil and gas booms, signs would say “Good Jobs.” There was lots of construction going on, too. All those workers have to live somewhere. As we went farther north into British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and NE Alaska, there were no jobs posted. Nor were there any fast food restaurants.  In Canadian towns, you don't drive through the centers of towns -- you have to turn off the main road onto a side street. Sometimes I was surprised that I had completely missed a town, not that there was much to miss.

The motor home is doing well, and we are very comfortable in it. It gets dark later and light earlier, but we have adjusted.

Thanks for reading,
Charlotte