Before I forget, I have a couple of interesting stories from people we met. While walking the trail in Quesnel, we stopped to chat with a very nice woman who was out walking her dog. She is not complaining about the fact that it's been a cool and rainy summer in this area. Two years ago, she and her husband had to evacuate their property, along with 150 head of cattle, because of the forest fires. Somehow they managed to find places for the animals, but had a month of intense anxiety before they were safe to return home. And last year, they were on the verge of yet another evacuation order, but were able to hang in until the fires were controlled. She said the smoke was so thick, you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. So no complaints about the weather from her.
Second person: as we were waiting to get the front brakes of the rig looked after this morning, we met a tall very good looking youngish guy who told us of his t.v. experiences. He and his father own a gold mine, but they 'ran out of land', which means their search for gold was over. A friend offered him a job on another mine site, which happened to be the focus of a reality show called 'Yukon Gold'. For 5 years he was miked in the morning before starting work, and recorded as he went through his duties. This show is one of those typical reality shows that gets into the lives of everyday people. He was often featured in the edited version of the show. But he got tired of the routine, always having to watch what he said and how he behaved. If you have Netflix, see if you can find the show. Look for a tall, dark, good-looking guy doing mechanical work, and it might be him.
We spent the morning getting the front brakes fixed. The shop and Mike, the man in charge, were very helpful, and it's a relief to know that brakes all round are now in good shape. Mike had just returned from a trip to Whitehorse, so had a few tips for us. No problem finding campsites, as they are numerous along the way, and always have room. Case in point: we drove into the Fort Telqua Riverfront RV Campground, are parked by a very fine river, and yours truly enjoyed the finest shower facility in all of our travels. The pace was a little slow today, as construction crews are doing a lot of resurfacing of the highway, which caused a number of delays. The road is in very good condition.
Downtown Prince George, where we wandered during the wait for the brake job, was very quiet. A number of stores close on Mondays. There were quite a few native street people hanging around, but the whole downtown area was pretty quiet...tidy and quiet. So we decided to head off once the job was done, and made pretty good time to get nearly to Smithers. Many miles still to go. But the scenery is very pleasing, as we moved from farm country into more hilly areas, then the beginnings of mountainous country. Most farms seem to focus on growing hay and raising beef cattle. And lots of the land is on indigenous holdings (I hate the word 'reserves') as we wended out way west. Still no wild game sightings. But we're hopeful, as there are many signs warning us to be vigilant.
Rain tomorrow, so we'll try to put in lots of kilometers, as we're heading west, to the cutoff to Prince Rupert (not going there) before heading into sparsely populated lands that go north to Watson Lake. So who knows when we'll next post. Just thankful the little guy who got lost near Prince George was found. We promise not to get lost.
Stay tuned. More later.
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