Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada – 13th Stop on our Trek North to Alaska

We left our campground in Jasper at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, receiving farewells from the resident elk bulls and cows.  Leaving at the crack of dawn has its advantages:  lots of deer, sheep, and elk spotted along the roadways.

As we traveled on Highway 40, the vistas changed from snow-capped mountains to tree-covered alpines.

We hit some rain, of course.  We were greeted by sunshine as we got closer to Grand Cache, but experienced some periods of rough roadways, including using a newly-constructed hilly mud pit for passage where a bridge washed out recently.

There is nothing between Grand Cache and Grand Prairie except miles and miles of wilderness, logging trucks, and energy companies.

While stopped in Beaverlodge for Mike/Claudia to refill their motorhome propane tank, I introduced myself to “Beaver”.  No, not Beaver Cleaver, but the mascot of Beaverlodge, Alberta, Canada, erected in 2004 to increase tourism.

Popo and The Beaver

After a long, slow ride, we arrived at Northern Lights Campground in Dawson Creek by 3:30.  They have some pretty good Wi-Fi, so I had a chance to catch up on postings by all my Facebook friends!

Today we completed the #1 Dawson Creek Tourist Task:  Selfies at the Alaskan Highway “Mile 0” Cairns and Posts.  

We stopped at the Alaskan Highway House, where the Dawson Creek Chamber of Commerce is located, and learned how this magnificent highway plan resulted from the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor.  There were major concerns the Japanese would attack North America via the Aleutian Islands as well.  So F. D. Roosevelt ordered that a highway to Alaska be built, and pronto!  “AlCan” would become a vital component of our World War II defense strategy.

Thousands of Army brothers, Black and White, worked, through trial and error, to undertake what seemed an impossible mission:  build a highway through alpine wilderness in less than one year!  They dealt with a new obstacle at every corner:   subarctic temperatures, swampy bogs (a.k.a. muskegs), mosquito invasions, and permafrost.  Not to mention the isolation, lack of proper hygiene facilities, or inadequate supplies.  But, together these men completed a herculean task and created an engineering marvel!

Thank you, soldiers, for creating the road to lead me to my RV dream vacation!



Boy, that photo shoot really pooped PoPo out!  I'm ready for a good night's sleep!  Pleasant dreams!