Tuesday, June 2nd

Nice day and good drive. No issues at all. Road is all paved but there are areas of patches that are pretty rough. I'm in Fort Nelson, BC. Tomorrow with be a short drive day so I can stay at Muncho Lake...this lake is turquoise due to copper runoff. Supposed to be quite amazing. There is a provencial campground on the lake and I'd like to get as close to the lake as I can, for the day/night. Dry camping, no wifi, or any hookups so that means no postings from me until Thursday.

I am amazed at how "empty" the Alaska Highway is.....not many travelers at all. There are long periods of time when I feel I am the only one traveling on it. And yet, a bunch of RVs have pulled into this place in the last couple of hours. I recognize a few from Dawson Creek. This campground has a saloon and restaurant about 30 feet from my campsite...and of course I had to check it out. I'm an anomoly...traveling solo and being female and old at that. Nice conversation starter with the locals.

Funny story....I was passed by 3 cars with Arizona license plates. Speed limit is 100 km/h - or 60 mph (I'm getting the hang of the meter system)...anyway, I traveled at about 55 cuz I'm not sure of the road conditions and at 55 saves it me a 1 or 2 miles per gallon. They must have been going close to 70. About 50 miles later, I spotted red flashing lights...yup, you guessed it...all 3 were pulled over. No clue what kind of fine they got.

The natural gas line followed most of the 238 miles of the Alaska Highway that I was on today. Many, many dirt turnoffs with signs indicating compressor stations and many different Gas Companies. The smell of natural gas was evident in several areas. AND - I did see a male moose grazing, and a female and baby x'd the Alaska Highway in front of me but there was no time to get a photo. They don't really run, just kinda lumber along - and she made sure she got back in the trees with that baby.

A little history of Fort Nelson. This was the original beginning of the Alaska Highway back in 1942. The US Army had already built a road from Fort St. John (SW of Fort Nelson) to Fort Nelson. Zero was the military post that served as the launch point for road construction north to Whitehorse (Yukon).

Much warmer here and no reason why...elevation is actually a bit higher than Dawson Creek.

I should have much better views of the Canadian Rockies tomorrow, but you'll have to wait until I get wifi again to see the photos.

A few pictures from today: