Finished!

We have officially driven the entire Alaska Highway, including the Cassiar, Klondike, Top of the World, Taylor, Richardson, Glenn, and Parks Highways. We have logged over 7600 miles since we left home on June 3rd. We still have another 2200 before we get back home.

We're at Northern Lights RV Campground in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. It's a pretty nice place--a little tight between spaces, but well-kept and with nice restroom and laundry facilities. In addition, "full hookups" here includes a sewer connection--something that was pretty rare along the highway.




This was our campsite at Toad River Lodge 2 nights ago. That, too, was a pretty decent place. It was a bit more spaced out than Northern Lights, and has very old, but working, restroom/shower facilities.




This is the beaver pond behind the campground. After dinner, Don and I walked over to see if we could see some moose on the lake. We didn't see moose, but spent about 15 minutes watching a family of 4 beavers and a pair of muskrats collecting sticks and weeds for their homes.







After leaving Toad River yesterday morning we went up and over Steamboat Mountain, where we had great views of the terminus ranges of the Rocky Mountains. I learned that the mountains here are the farthest north the Rocky Mountains extend--that any other mountains north of here are a separate range. So the Rockies extend from northern British Columbia all the way to north-central New Mexico. It was all one cordillera, or mountain-building event that created this massive range.

Our stop last night was at Sikanni River Campground, where Don was able to spend a few hours fishing. The river was running fast, and he was able to catch only one grayling. The Sikanni River has a place in Alaska Highway History--a regiment of African-American soldiers built the first bridge over the river in 1942, taking only 3 days. It lasted longer than any other bridge built on the highway that year.

Knowing we only had 160 miles to drive today, we slept a little later and enjoyed pancakes for breakfast. We made it to Dawson Creek by noon, and are in site #8 at Northern Lights. We relaxed for a few hours this afternoon, and then went to go take a photo of the Mile Zero marker in downtown Dawson Creek. We also spent some time at the Alaska Highway House, a small museum on the corner next to the marker.

We celebrated the completion of the Highway at Tony Roma's--baby back ribs for me and steak for Don. I also enjoyed a strawberry daiquiri--yummy! On our way back to the campground we picked up some donuts from Tim Horton's for tomorrow morning. They look good; this was our first visit to Tim Horton's, and we still haven't tried the coffee!

We decided that we want to go home now. One option that we had been considering was doing some more fishing in British Columbia; another was heading for Montana and fishing on the Gallatin and then going back to Henry's Lake for a few days. But home beckons. So when we get on Highway 2 tomorrow, which will take us through Alberta, we won't get off that road (except to sleep) until we get to San Bernardino. The 2 turns into Interstate 15 when we cross the border into the US. We don't know how far we'll go each day--it depends on the wind and how tired he is or isn't. But we think we'll be home by next Friday. We'll see.

Hooray! We did it!

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