Due to the ominous clouds above us and in the direction we were headed, we put on our rain gear three times today. The first two times, we lucked out and didn’t get rained on. The third time, we weren’t so lucky. For about 30 miles, we were hit with a hard, cold rain that included a little sleet for about two minutes. The temperature dropped from 68 degrees (Fahrenheit) to 48 degrees during the shower and there were crosswinds/gusts of about 30 MPH. We were running approximately 70 MPH prior to the storm and had to slow to less than 40 for most of the storm. A guy in a pick-up with a camper who had been behind us stopped with us at a (the) service station in Wonowon near the end of the shower. He stuck his head out and said, “You guys are tough! I didn’t want to be out in this storm in my truck.”
Along the Alaska parkway, every place is referred to by what mile it is from the start of the parkway. Dawson’s Creek is Mile “0” on the parkway. We had thought we would be able to get a room in the town of Wonowon, British Columbia, but the one motel that was in that town had burned down two years ago. Wonowon is at Mile 101. Isn’t that a cute way to name a town?
We now assume we’re getting paid back for giving Raymond so much grief over leaving us prematurely. We got pounded by the rain and due to the weather situation, we’re staying at a motel that most of us would consider a bit more "adventurous" than normal. We’re about 40 miles northwest of Wonowon, and the next area where we could have expected to find a place to sleep would have been Fort Nelson, which is 150 miles farther. We decided we just couldn’t go that much farther this evening. And worst of all about staying at this motel is that the area here is called Pink Mountain. Pink! I guess we won’t be making fun of anyone anymore.
The motel is run by a young couple, and the guy has been very helpful with information about this area and the areas where we’re headed. He also did a very good job of keeping our cups full of some pretty tasty coffee after we arrived wet and cold. The coffee really hit the spot, as did the soup and burgers we had for dinner later.
We stopped on the outskirts of Dawson’s Creek to get a picture taken at the sign identifying the city as Mile “0”. We were there just a minute or two, digging our cameras out of our bags, when a couple from Denver passed us, made two U-turns, and stopped. Ed negotiated a picture-taking agreement and we ended up visiting for a bit after they took our pictures (with all four cameras) and Ed took their picture with theirs. A couple from Kansas stopped behind us while we were still there. The gentleman got out of the car to take a picture of the sign. Carey asked if he would like to have a picture taken of himself and his wife by the sign and they accepted the offer. (Ed’s good nature is rubbing off on Carey, as he’s not normally that friendly or accommodating.) They made their way over to the sign, Carey snapped the shot, and then they were on their way (after Ed had a brief conversation with the gentleman).
After we filled up our tanks in Grand Prairie, Alberta, we started talking about grabbing lunch. It’s Sunday, so we thought we’d try to find a Chinese buffet. Well, our search probably lasted 30 minutes. From information in our GPS navigators, we knew there were a few Chinese restaurants in the city. The first place we went by was closed and the second wasn’t where it was supposed to be. After asking several locals, we got to a place on the north side of the city and enjoyed a good lunch. Grand Prairie was like so many small cities in the South (United States), with a few differences. Seeing stores like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Staples, Starbucks, and Sears made us feel like we were home (or at least closer to home).
We didn’t make the time to attend any formal services on this Sunday. However, per discussions at the dinner table regarding the storm we had just been through, we're sure we all took some time during that shower to have a little [serious] discussion with some higher power.
We saw a bunch of deer today, along with a couple moose, along the highways. After leaving Hinton this morning, we were out of the Canadian Rockies after about 100 miles. It seemed odd for a couple hundred miles today to be traveling on basically flat land after the peaks and valleys we’ve been on/in the past two days. We rode about 435 miles today, bringing our total to well over 3,300.