Wednesday June 18, 2014 Dawson Creek, Alberta, Canada

We got up early this morning.  Today’s drive is 330 miles.  I think it is the longest drive scheduled on this trip.  We drank our coffee while getting the coach ready to travel.  Outside it didn’t take log, I had done most of the unhooking and putting away last night.

We left the RV Park at about 6:30.  We didn’t hook up the Jeep.  Our first stop was for fuel.  Hey sell fuel by the liter in Canada, the diesel was $1.29 Canadian.  That is $5.13 a gallon, less about 8% for converting to US.  After hooking up the Jeep we were on our by 730.  The reason for our early start was three fold; the distance, we had been told in the briefing to expect rough road, we wanted to allow for scenic and wildlife stops.  Our route to Dawson creek was on the Yellowhead Highway, AB-97 and Canada Highways 2 and 14.  I lost track when one highway changed to another.

A young male Elk

Caribou along te highway

Caribou along the highway

The first of the trip was mountainous and we stopped for a young bull Elk with velvet still on his antlers and later for three caribou grazing near the road. l  We also saw deer, but they were too far away for good pictures.  A small town named Grand Cache pretty much marked the end of the mountains.  I was doubly disappointed with the town.  One, the name was a reference to the fur trade not geocaching.  Two, I had no internet connection to check for nearby geocaches.  After we got out of the mountains onto the prairie we didn’t see any more wild life.  This area looks like any of the prairie states back in the states, only there is a feeling of a higher altitude.

At Grande Cache

We got to the park at 2:30.  From the briefing we had expected much rougher roads.  There were spots and I rarely went over 50 mph.  I did pick up a large rock chip in the windshield from a passing truck.  A glass company came to the park and filled it and several others that other coaches had gotten.  I also took time to clean the windshield and front of the coach.

At 6 dinner was catered by the park.  We returned to the coach and tried the internet without any luck.  I went out and found two nearby caches.  When I got back Gerri was in bed.  I saw the sun go down at 9:45.  I spent some time trying  to post blogs and go over e-mail.  It was very slow and I gave up and went to bed.