Alaska Trip Days 9-11

Hinton, BC to Liard River Hot Springs, BC.

We overnighted at a Safeway parking lot in Hinton, with several other RVs. Mom & I got a few groceries there in the morning. The prices were a bit steep, so we waited for a larger town in hopes of lower cost. They only carry Canadian stamps; Annie had a few postcards from Banff National Park she wanted to mail, but we need U.S. stamps! We hit the road at 9:45a.m. and drove to Grande Cache where we dumped & filled tanks and ate lunch. In Grande Prairie, we found No Frills grocery (very similar to Aldi) and stocked our tiny fridges. Here we saw one of our first signs for Alaska, over 1,000 miles away!

We overnighted at a paved rest stop south of Pouce Coupe. The next morning was spent walking the streets of Dawson Creek from the visitor's center to the Alaskan Highway House while a couple loads of laundry were washing at the laundromat. The PBS film about the building of this 1,500 mile military road was well documented and had me in tears at one point.

We motored on to Taylor (which we mistook for Fort Nelson!), gassed up again, and met very friendly, helpful ladies at their small visitor center. One of them was also a mother a five; she loaded us up with brochures, pins, candy, advice, and information! We spent the night at a turnout north of Prophet River.

Thursday, Day 11, we got to moving at 8:30, made another gas stop (we are covering serious miles on a fairly lonely road, folks) and ate lunch at Steamboat Mountain Summit turnout. Not too long after lunch, we came upon a bull, female, and young moose family.

So far, we have seen Stone sheep, elk, mountain goat, grizzly bear, and black bear. This evening as we drove at dusk, we passed through a herd of bison and saw two more young bears on the roadside.

This day was a prettier drive than some, part of which was alongside Muncho Lake.

I have this photo-through-the-window thing down now. I have to roll down the window or the pictures have a funny hue. Then I have to take the shot directly to the side, or as most views are out front, I stick the camera out the window and zoom in between the antenna and side mirror to avoid those getting in the frame. Tricky business! I often miss the opportunity until that's all accomplished.

Last side trip of the day: Liard Hot Springs.

We left a tiny soul buried in British Columbia, near Prophet River. I was merely 5 1/2 weeks along in this pregnancy and it has indeed been a journey never forgotten. We saw no baby this time, the first of our seven little ones in Heaven, therefore we don't have a name yet. As we listen to music on our long days of driving, the songs "This Valley Is For Me" and "I've Got More to Go to Heaven For Than I Did Yesterday" have ministered to my weeping heart. God is giving us strength and answering my plea for that as the journey continues.