Heading to Watson Lake

June 26 – on our way to Watson Lake, BC and the beginning of the AlCan Hwy, but there are lots of miles before we get there.

One notable point is that this would be our lowest gas price for a LONG, LONG time. .984 per liter. If all my calculations are correct, that works out to $3.07 per gallon when I work in all the exchange rates, etc.. Not bad, and we would soon be wishing for similar gas prices as we topped off at other stations up the road.

We stayed at the Walmart in Fort St. John, BC. We asked for permission to spend the night…sure, for one night we were told, so we found a nice quiet spot in the back corner of the lot behind the garden center. After enjoying a small ice cream treat we jumped into the RT and hunkered down for the night.

We had learned our next door neighbor’s house back home had been struck by lightning and damaged by fire so we hunted for wifi to learn more. We found wifi and helpful folks at the Fort St. John visitor center. Our house is fine but, unfortunately, our neighbor’s house suffered extensive fire and smoke damage. They were not home so, thankfully, there were no injuries.

The folks at the visitor center were great and the facility they have is amazing. It was recently built with many donations from the gas and oil companies who are drilling throughout their area. One of the workers said it cost $315M and includes two full size ice rinks, an olympic speed skating oval, a walking track and a local school. Well done to those who donated to this community project!

Today was a bonus wildlife day. We counted our first black bears along the highway. The roads have a wide area of 100 feet or so where wild alfalfa grows. At least it looks like alfalfa to me. Anyway, the bears love that stuff and eat it like crazy. Of course, they recently woke from winter hibernation so they must be catching up. 

We also got lucky when we came around a curve and saw two Rock Sheep Ewes with their youngsters. 

One of our goals on this trip was to visit the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake. As you can see by the photo below, it's an area with 10 to 12 foot posts that are covered with signs that people attach to the posts. There are home-made signs, store-bought signs, signs with city and village names, and much much more.

We brought a sign that is special to Carolyn and me, but REALLY special to a group of young men. We added a 2/8 coin in honor of the Marines and sailors who served our country. We found a post with several military patches already attached, so it was appropriate for 2/8 to join that group. If you ever have a chance to visit the Sign Post Forest, look for the coin on the first post on the left inside the new front gate.

We boon-docked at a Racing River turn-out. There were a couple other units boon-docked but we had a nice secluded spot down by the river. Free camping and a river to sing you to sleep is liv’n large!