Friday, August 30 - Foggy morning here in Fort St. John. But supposed to go to nearly 20 today, which will be the warmest we've had since leaving Vancouver two weeks ago. We actually sat out in the sun in the late afternoon yesterday, and were very content.

Driving down from Fort Nelson is quite a contrast from the days before, as there wasn't much to do or see along the 400 km. route. Pleasant scenery, with a huge mesa in the west at one point, and a lot of valleys to be crossed. The most treacherous parts of the highway have been eliminated, at one point the new stretch eliminating some 200 plus curves in a relatively short distance. The traffic was light, so Gail had a go at driving the rig for 100 kms and did just fine. It was her anniversary present. Fifty-five years yesterday, she deserved it. What a generous guy I am.

My new theory of driving in the north is that it's not all ups and downs. Sometimes it's downs and ups. Gail thinks I'm silly, but when you're in the mountains, you often go up a rise or a pass and then down the other side. That's the up and down of driving. Coming from Fort Nelson, it was the opposite. There were many fairly deep valleys to be dealt with, so down we went to the bottom, and then back up the other side. The down and up of driving. A whole new concept.

As we neared Fort St. John, we saw a huge temporary town, set up as workers accommodations for people employed on highway projects and other construction activities. We talked to our camp host, who said there's a similar 'town' set up north of here where a dam is being built. That one has a Starbucks and other amenities aimed at making life a little easier for the workers. Fort St. John simply can't handle the large number of workers involved in these projects, so required the companies to develop their own facilities away from town.

These are huge projects that require a lot of workers, and there are problems finding enough of them to get the job done. A lot of foreign workers are in the area, doing service jobs to support the projects. In our r.v. park there were quite a few highway workers staying here until the project is done in two or three weeks. Not counting those 'villages', Fort St. John Metro area has about 60 thousand people. When I came here as a youngster in the late 40s, there were only a few hundred. Oil and Gas have had a tremendous impact on the area.

We had two sightings along the route yesterday. The first was a lovely mule deer at Pink Mountain, who was quite content to search for salt on the road, looking at us quite intently but without fear. The second guy was the bear, who was clearly injured, his left rear leg not much help to him as he limped along. A couple of times he stopped his browsing to look at us, almost as if to say "I'm hurting, folks. Can't you get me some help?" Not possible, I'm afraid, so we hope he is able to manage until his leg gets better.

We met a neat young lady in the r.v. park last evening. She works on the highway as a pavement tester. She goes through a series of tests with samples of the gunk they're laying down on the road to make sure it meets specifications. She's living in a trailer during this gig, which she's been working at since January. Her husband runs a business in Kamloops, but drives up on week-ends to see her. She's finished in three weeks, and then will be able to go home (and draw EI). Long days, but she's making good money, so the separation from hubby is worth it. We've run into quite a few people who are seasonal, work long days and long hours, and look forward to things shutting down in a few weeks, so they can have the winter to enjoy.

The day awaits. We'll wander about Fort St. John for awhile, then head to Dawson Creek, to take pictures at the mile zero signpost that marks the start of the Alaska Highway. Then over to the Peace River district to visit my old village, Brownvale, before moving on to Edmonton. Stay tuned. More later.