June 4th the Drive to Whitecourt

June 4^th, 2012

We didn’t get an early start as we had some chores to do. We needed to exchange some money for Canadian, we needed to buy a few groceries, and we needed to fill up with diesel.  So we unhitched and finished the chores, getting on the road by ten am.

The drive to Edmonton was uneventful and not as busy as Highway 2 North had been on Sunday. Deciding to take the Devonian cutoff, we turned onto 19 and then took 60 north to 16 and 43. While I thought that maybe we should have seen Edmonton the far north calls and we don’t really enjoy cities, at least not for very long.

Finally reaching 43 we turned onto the road to Dawson Creek and the mile zero marked. Stopping for an image we returned to the drive and Renita’s new found navigator job, reading the pages of notes from the Milepost. She read of the second longest railroad wooden trestle bridge in the world and then quickly let out a yelp as it as suddenly appeared. Grabbing the camera she actually got a good shot through the bug covered glass.

A little further and she told me of the approaching sights and read the towns descriptions as we passed. Our goal for the night was the Lions Campground south of Whitecourt and at last a sign pointed the turn off the main road.

We were both tired as we registered but not tired enough to forget to ask of bear sightings and the manager warned us of the presence of a black bear. He did state that there wasn’t a grizzly for at least forty miles and so we found our campsite, a nice long back in.

Molly however smelled something wrong with the place and refused to leave her kennel. Did she smell the bear scent from a few days before? We have had her refuse to walk near coyote dens and it’s amazing as she firmly plants her paws. Regardless we dragged her from the kennel and she calmed down a bit as nothing charged from the brush.

Another 200 plus miles day of driving and another yet tomorrow, but June 5^th is our forty first wedding anniversary and we plan on spending an extra day in Dawson Creek to celebrate it! Who cares if a local is written to have said that the best thing to do in Dawson Creek is leave! Clear skies