Dawson Creek to Ft. Nelson on the Alaska Hwy.

Bear with me, I'm finally getting the knack of this. So, this morning we stopped at milepost 0 and took one of two obligatory tourist photos for the trip. You'll have to wait to see what the other one is, but I'll let you know when we get there. We set out to drive what my guide book (Guide to the Alaska Highway, Ron Dalby) calls "the last great driving adventure in North America" and "more adventure than many drivers experience in a lifetime." We passed more fields of bright yellow canola and gently rolling fields of hay and pasture to Fort St. John, where civilization ends and the landscape becomes gently rolling hills of white spruce mingled with stands of birch, and an occasional pine tree or tamarack. We crossed the Peace River, one of the great rivers of the north, then continued on over long, nearly straight stretches of mostly empty highway.

We only drove about 280 miles today. We have stopped for the night at the Ft. Nelson Hotel, which was not much to look at from the outside, being under renovation. The upstairs rooms on the front side had window ACs which had been removed, but the desk clerk told us that the rooms were airconditioned, which was welcomed news because it was hot (about 85 F.) and sticky and we wanted somewhere cool. But the room is great and has a glass door that opens into a central courtyard that has a pool.

Linda has already tried out the pool and declares it a bit cool, but refreshing.

We got here a little after noon and, being early, went over to the local museum. It had an old WWII newsreel-style film of the construction of the highway, and some dusty and moth-eaten stuffed animals, some old antiques and some rusting WWII vintage vehicles. In all, a charming little museum staffed by charming young Canadian college students. They had never heard of the Burgess Shale Fossil Beds and had no idea where they are located. Guess I'll have to Google it.

Tomorrow we will look for the Laird hotsprings, about 2/3rds of the way between here and Watson Lake, where we will stay tomorrow night. They are supposed to be world-famous, but they warn that the upper hotsprings are, unofficially and against the rules, sometimes "clothing optional."

Did it really get to 107 deg. yesterday in Hood River? Yikes! At least it's getting cooler day by day as we get further north.