We made it to Watson Lake yesterday and spent the night next to Ken and Debbie. They had arrived the day before. A couple miles before entering the town we saw them parked next to the Liard River attempting to fish, but with all the rain, water was too high
Abby spent the afternoon sanitizing the RV and washing everything in sight. I was staying out of her way as were the cats. They don't like the spin dry cycle.
Speaking of cats. We have finally deciphered Stella's problem with getting underway in the morning. For the last 2 years she would "puke" within minutes of the start of driving. Late last week for some reason (can't remember why) I had brought the slide outs in early and we didn't start the engine for 20 minutes. Guess what? No puking once we started driving. Ever since then we have been bringing the slide outs in early and no more episodes. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks! In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm the old dog.
We departed Watson Lake headed for Dease Lake B.C. with Ken and Debbie leading the way. We were traveling the Cassiar Highway which is touted as the most scenic road in B.C.. Before we left I checked with "Archie" the Scottish owner of the RV park. He said he would not drive the Cassiar as it was too dangerous. I asked how it could be more dangerous than the "Top of the World" which in my opinion is not a safe route for RV's. Even the tour buses (same size as us) us "pilot cars" in front and rear to clear the way. Us poor folks don't have that luxury. He stuck to his statement. Then I asked the "pertinent" question...."Archie, have you ever driven the Cassiar"? NOPE! Case closed.
The scenery is beautiful. The road conditions were good. We had to drive less than 40 mph in some stretches but with a few exceptions, the road was paved. Very very narrow in some spots. When approaching on coming traffic, "size matters". You are smaller than us, we rule. You bigger, we stop and let you have the road. We didn't stop very often.
The one time we did stop cost a lot of money. About 80 miles from Watson Lake there is a Jade shop along the side of the road. How many of you think that Jade comes from Asian countries such as Thailand? 92% of the worlds Jade comes from British Columbia. They ship it to Asia. This place makes jewelery from the Jade. They take the big boulders of Jade and turn them into very nice pieces of art.
We have pictures of the operation but once again the wifi nazi's restrict usage and uploading pictures are not allowed.
As we approached Dease Lake, we noticed a sign for a RV park 50 miles further down the road that looked promising. Abby looked it up in one of our travel guides so we pulled over and discussed it with Ken and Debbie. He needed to refuel anyway and agreed to keep on "truckin". As we passed the RV park in Dease Lake we realized we made the right decision and when we got to the Mountain Shadow RV Park, it confirmed our wisdom.
This place is gorgeous. It sits in a valley, near a lake on property where the owner built his home (modern log cabin) himself. The trees are starting to turn to their fall colors. A very peaceful setting.
Ken and Debbie went further down the road to a Provincial park that would be too small for us. We will turn on our walkie talkies tomorrow morning and starting calling for the "rubber duck" as we head south towards Hyder, AK. This will be our last stop in Alaska (picture a tear).
