Whitecourt, AB to Dawson Creek, BC -- 269 miles
Finally! We have at last arrived at the beginning of the Alaska Highway -- the traffic circle here in Dawson Creek, BC is the official Mile 0 starting point of the highway. It took us eight days and 1798 miles, but here we are, ready to begin the next phase of "The Last Great Road Trip in America," as some have dubbed it. We celebrated this milestone by going out and having a wonderful steak dinner at a place called Mr Mike's Steakhouse, which we'd highly recommend if you happen to find yourself in Dawson Creek sometime in your travels.
We arrived in Dawson Creek about 3:15 this afternoon, or 4:15 local time. The time zone changes at the Alberta-BC border, but for some strange reason this little corner of BC does not conform to the normal convention which would have put us in Pacific Daylight Time. No, these folks are using Mountain Standard Time, so instead of moving our clocks an hour ahead we had to move them an hour back. Go figger! Who knows where we'll get back on track, time-wise. I guess we'll just have to play dumb and ask what time it is as we enter each town along the way from here.
Today's drive was uneventful, except for the 30-35 mph quartering headwind we faced all the way. The Tiger is not exactly a low-profile vehicle, so we were buffeted around all day. Heading west out of Whitecourt we immediately entered an area of forested hills. We saw our first moose about 40 miles out of Whitecourt, although it was actually roadkill on the side of the highway. I'd hate to hit one of those buggers -- hopefully it was an 18-wheeler and not a passenger car. The terrain opened up and we began seeing more pastureland and cultivated fields. By that I mean more canola fields. Canola must be the national crop of Canada, or at least the Provincial crop of Alberta. Just about every cultivated field we've since crossing the border has been canola. It actually makes a very pleasing landscape. The canola flowers are a brilliant chromium yellow (any artists reading this will recognize the color) which contrasts nicely with the the lighter green hay and pasture grass in the adjacent fields and the dark green of the wooded plots and hillsides.
By noon we reached the large city of Grand Prairie (50,000 population), which appears to be the economic hub of western Alberta. As the name implies, it sits in the middle of a wide prairie region with, you guessed it, canola growing all around. We stopped for lunch, gas and groceries before continuing the remaining 90 miles or so to Dawson Creek. Our entire trip, at least as long as we stayed on designated major highways, has been on well-maintained, four-lane divided highways. Except for one short stretch of twenty miles or so west of the town of Valley View where it narrowed down to two lanes, this has been the rule. It wasn't until the last fifteen miles or so before the BC border that the four lanes finally petered out, and it was two lanes all the way into Dawson Creek. I expect nothing but two lanes for the rest of the way, at least until we near Fairbanks in Alaska.
Dawson Creek was something of a surprise. I was expecting a sleepy little frontier town in the wooded hills. Instead, it's a thriving metropolis of 11,000 or so, and still pretty much farm country. However, I hear it's not far from here until we hit the foothills of the Rockies, and soon thereafter, the mountains themselves. The adventure continues...
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