Dawson Creek, BC

June 22, 2019

Traveling to Dawson Creek, took us from Alberta to just over the border to British Columbia, still in Canada, just a different Provence. Dawson Creek is an important stop for Alaska bound travelers because it is the official "Mile 0 of the Alcan (Alaska-Canada Highway)". The official beginning of construction was March 9, 1942, the official ribbon cutting ceremony was November 20, 1942. Most of it was simply a bulldozed path from Dawson Creek, BC to Delta Junction, AK. To view the full article go to www.themilepost.com/articles/.

Today, the highway is, for the most part, paved, with gravel breaks, pieces of construction and frost heaves. There are two seasons in the far north, as far as the roads are concerned...winter and construction. They only have about 3 months to work on the roads up here, so they go after it with a vengeance!

Upon our arrival in Dawson Creek, we arranged a catered dinner of Lasagna, garlic bread and salad, then we had a guest speaker from the Visitor's Center, who gave us the history of the Alcan Highway and Dawson Creek. Her presentation was very informative and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

We seem to have left the cooler weather behind, the days are getting longer and warmer. Hard to believe but this whole area up here has been in a long drought, and right now there are several fires burning out of control in Alberta, BC and the Yukon, as well as Alaska. Most are caused by lightening, but there are a few man made fires as well.

The day after the presentation, we all met up at the Alaska Highway Mile 0 Sign, where we had our group picture taken. I have to tell you that getting everyone in a group of 40 to stand so that everyone can be seen can be a real challenge, but we accomplished it!

It was about this time in the trip that our official Alaska Caravan Facebook page was started. Everyone is sharing their pictures on this page. If you would like to be a member of the page (it is closed), sign up to join and let me know so that I can inform our admin people and they will let you in. There are some great pictures of wildlife on there!! So far, as a group we have seen moose, fox, porcupine, bears, bison, a herd of about 100 Caribue, beaver and a bunch of crazy people who are doing this trip by bicycle!!

 The front of the Wagon Master Rig

Next door to the Mile 0 RV Park, where we are staying is the Pioneer Village. This is a collection of old buildings that have been moved here and furnished for the time. Tonight they let us use the cafe for our dinner and talk by the Visitor's Center.

 This is a huge Burl Wood log

 The story of Burled Wood

 The whole group at the Mile 0 sign, being tall, Phil and I are in the back

One of just the two of us!!!

On to Whitecourt, AB

June 20, 2019
Another dreary, rainy day. Right off the bat, our group got caught behind a slow moving piece of construction equipment, and by slow, I mean no more than 40-45 miles an hour. It was so wide that we couldn't pass it. After about an hour and a half, we came to a T in the road, they turned the same way we did, but Phil layed on the horn and we moved in front of them. As did the rest of our group, then with bad timing all around, we pulled into the next truck stop for a potty break.  Of course, with bad timing, the construction equipment went the same way we did and got ahead of us again!! Then we came upon a road construction site that was at mud level. At one point, probably the potty stop, a few of our rigs got ahead of us, and watching them go through this site was like watching them navigate a roller coaster. Up and over and around, it's a wonder no one got stuck.

We finally pulled into our campground for the next two nights, Eagle River Casino and RV Park. This is a fairly new park, some of the sites still need leveling and they forgot to put gravel down. After days of rain in this area, it's nothing but slippery clay/mud! When I went to get out of the truck, I slid off of the running board as it was covered in mud!

We opted for dinner at the casino, as we had $10.00 discounts from the casino. No buffet, we ordered off of the menu, not bad.

 The construction equipment we followed

 Deep in the mud

 Did I mention mud???

This is the office and cultural center, the casino and RV park are owned by a group of First Nation

June 21, 2019

We woke to no rain this morning, which was really nice!! Drove to the Forest Interpretation Center on the other end of town. Saw a video explaining the lumber industry in this part of Alberta and Whitecourt's part in it. We then toured the Center. I had ordered pizza for our lunch and it arrived just as everyone finished the tour. After stuffing our faces with great pizza, we cleaned up our mess, then followed one of our guides to the Alberta Paper Mill, back on the other end of town, actually across the highway from the casino.

The mill had donuts and coffee for us to eat while we listened to a safety and informational talk about the mill. We then divided into smaller groups for our tour of the mill. The first thing we did was go up about 3 flights of stairs, which nearly killed all of us!!

The mill is nearly all controlled by computer, and has 'command center's' for each operational section and process. We followed the entire operation, from the wood coming into the mill to the finished product of newspaper. It was very interesting and everyone enjoyed it...except for the stairs!!

Phil and I went home and took a nap!!

We gather for our safety & orientation meeting

One of the many control rooms

The process begins

 From wood to a papery pulp, it's still very wet at this point

 More controls

 A misalignment shows on one of the control centers. This paper is gathered and put into a recycle bin where it will then go back to the beginning of the process and start all over again.

An empty roll awaits

It begins it's finishing touch, rolled onto a tube, then cut for shipment to the customer

Our Connie Hunter stands next to a completed roll.

Our second campground is River View in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, CA

June 19, 2019

A cold dreary day on the road today, we pulled into River View c/g about 2:00 in the afternoon. Everything is covered in mud, but we all made it into camp. The c/g parked us, so we didn't have to tromp through the mud, or stand in the rain. They put the first group in a group spot that was like a coral. I didn't think we were going to fit, but because one of the units was a little smaller, we did. Trick will be to get out in the morning.

 Our group was parked in a coral. Our jacks nearly sank in the soggy grass sites.

 Phil took this through the window so there is some glare, but someone talented carved some of the trees.

A river ran alongside the campground.

 Phil tried to talk the c/g out of the bear, but they weren't letting him go.

 More wood carvings

Great Falls, MT to Fort Macleod, AB

June 18, 2019
This is the day everyone has been waiting for and worrying about. We left Great Falls today and headed north on I-15 to Sweetgrass, MT where we crossed the border, most without any problem at all. The agent we talked to ask the usual questions, weapons, amount of cash, how long in Canada. We were waved through with no problems.

The 15 becomes Highway 4 in Canada, which we followed to Fort Macleod, where we spent our first night in Canada, at the Daisy May Campground. Our caravan is an Alaska Caravan, so we are rushing through Canada, with one night at most of the campgrounds, until we reach Alaska.

Our first campground in Alberta, Canada

Our campsite