Smeds Dagg Cross Canada Adventure 2013: Blog Post No. 2

Many days after my first unsuccessful attempt I have time to sit down and try to figure this blogging stuff out again, but I have no Internet access where I am! I still haven’t successfully published my first post, which I think covered up to the start of Tuesday June 25, in Prince George. We’re now in Winnipeg, so maybe I’ll write one post for the rest of BC and one each for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, then figure out how to publish them.

We left Ev and Barb’s house in Prince George with Chenoa about noon on Tuesday and went to see the local icon “Mr. PG”, and had lunch there. Then we toured the museum and hung out there for quite a while before taking Chenoa to Tammy’s flower shop. After a quick return visit to Ace Renovations to see Shawn we drove through Rhonda’s old neighbourhood then went over to Sandra and Rob Turner’s for dinner. Stephanie was there, and Tristan came over after work for a visit. My sore throat, which had started the night before, was now so bad that I couldn’t even enjoy a glass of red wine! After dinner, having nowhere in particular in Prince George to stay for the night, we drove north for about an hour to Bear Lake (Crooked River Provincial Park) and camped for the night.

On Wednesday we continued north over the Pine Pass to Chetwynd and then north towards Hudson’s Hope (stopping for lunch by a small lake), then west to the WAC Bennett Dam, where we had a fascinating tour of the underground powerhouse area. We then carried on to Charlie Lake Provincial Park at Fort St. John and got settled, and Rhonda’s niece Amanda (whom she hadn’t seen for about 30 years) came and took us to her nearby home for dinner. We met her husband Tyler and sons Lincoln and Paxton, and her mother Rachel (whom Rhonda new in school) and her husband Kevin also came over. After a very nice visit Amanda drove us back to the campsite to sleep.

My throat was even worse by Thursday morning, so the first thing we did was find a walk-in clinic in Fort St. John, where I spent the next hour and a half while the others went shopping and met Amanda for coffee. We got my prescription at 12:30 and headed for Dawson Creek, where we checked out Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway and had lunch. Next we visited Rhonda’s friend Brenda’s sister Joanne and foster son, as well as her mother who was visiting, before continuing east past Pouce Coupe to the Alberta border.