Day 48

9:01 and we were on the road with Van Morrison singing “The Bright Side of the Road” and that’s where we were. It was a beautiful sunny day. As we made our way east and then south, the landscape became less forest and more farmland – large farms that stretch for miles. As we came over a summit, the valley below us went on forever and there were so many shades of green in the different foliage and trees. Green is certainly a dominant color in Canada and Alaska.

We came to the town of Burns Lake and under their “Welcome” and “Thanks for Visiting” signs were 2 Volkswagens covered with flowers. I have no idea how they did that but it sure was pretty. We noticed that there are beautiful flowers growing everywhere – in gardens, hanging in pots on city light poles, flower boxes – you name it and there are flowers growing out of it. It was that way in Alaska, too. The woman who owned the RV park we were in last night had flowers all over the park. Nancy and I are in awe of all these green thumbs.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned how many bicyclists are travelling in Canada and Alaska. We’ve seen a number of people with their bicycles heavily packed and they’re just pedaling down the road. Today we saw a family – dad was riding the bike with the packs and mom was riding the bike with a stroller attached with 2 little kids in it. Yesterday we saw a couple on a packed tandem bike. I told Jan we could do that but he’d have to do all the pedaling. I don’t think we’ll be travelling on a tandem any time soon.

We all stopped in Prince George and ate lunch at the Fatburger. It was right by a Walmart so we went over there and replaced our sewer hose (we figured it would be cheap at Walmart; probably made in Indonesia). We were going to wait until we got to Seattle to replace it but thought we’d better play it safe. I won’t let Jan throw this one in the back of the truck to dry. While we were discussing where we were going to get fuel, Jan said something about being in Prince George before. I sure didn’t remember ever being there (must have been his first wife) but when we got to the Flying J, the light bulb went on. We did stop there on the way in.

Tonight we’re in a marginal RV park in Quesnel BC but they have a great WiFi connection. We were escorted to our spaces by a man with no teeth and we had a little trouble understanding him but he was so excited to have us staying here. We have also gone from having the heater on this morning to wearing shorts this evening. We’ve been told it will get warmer as we continue south. It’s really hot –85 degrees. We keep telling these people they don’t know hot.