alaska trip Wednesday 6/10/15 Vanderhoof BC

STARR TREKS WEDNESDAY 6/10/15 Vanderhoof BC

We continue to suffer withdrawals from phone/internet ad lib.  We really did dine at McDonalds last night to utilize their excellent wifi for an hour!  We got back to the RV and set up our lawn chairs on the asphalt— there was another small RV next to us from Switzerland— they spoke no English.  So with no TV(!), we sat and read books— at 9:30 pm I went in to get ready for bed— it was still very light out.  I am almost finished with James Michener’s Alaska— I recommend anyone to reread it before making the trip to AK.  We have not had the oppressive mosquitoes like we had in Clinton 2 nights ago, but I did kill a straggler who stowed away with us in the shower this morning!  

We left the RV at Walmart and took off by car to drive 50 miles to Barkerville around 7:45.  On the road, we met a bear (!) — it scurried away before I could take a photo.  We also saw a female moose along the road.  The town is named after Billy Barker who discovered gold on Williams Creek in 1862, triggering the Cariboo Gold Rush (we have been following the gold rush wagon trail — now a nice paved highway).  It is a large historic town with >100 buildings that have been restored or recreated. It had a little China town area (in the school, each child had their own personal abacus!), and several buildings were small museums— it really was pretty interesting — you could walk into a lot of the buildings, or peek thru the windows.  There were a lot of people dressed in historical costumes.  When we walked into the Anglican church, there was a young man who asked if we would like to sit for morning prayers.  One other couple attended with us.  Christopher is a seminary student from Toronto who is working there this summer.  We followed the Anglican liturgy & prayers (for Queen Elizabeth and the Parliament!), listened to OT and NT readings, had responsive readings, and he preached a short sermon about Job.  Both we and the other couple requested prayers for safe travel.  It was nice to take time and do that since we had skipped out of church in Vancouver last Sunday.  There also was a movie crew there from the Canadian sort of PBS, shooting a documentary called Timber King.  We were glad we just took the car and not the RV on that extra 100 miles.  

We then drove to Prince George — named after the reigning English monarch in the early 1800’s, and growing in the early 1900’s when the railroad came thru.  We stopped for gas— always a challenge to find a station we can get in and out of — and decided we were just going to drive another 50 miles to Vanderhoof — the Dutch name appealed to me, tho it is named after a Chicago publisher associated with the railroad.  I called ahead, and they had room for us.  When we got there and got checked in, there were 4 rigs waiting in line behind us!  We did not even unhook the car.  Our next door neighbors have a TX license plate, so we chatted with them — 2 brothers and a sister and spouses are on their way to Alaska.  They were just in Jasper and Bamff — said it was absolutely beautiful, but very cold.  One brother has done this trip 3 times, so we were reassured that it really can be done!!  This has been such a different way for us to travel —  we just get up and start driving, and stop if something looks interesting, and stop for the night when we are tired — it may take us a very long time to even get to Alaska!  We are traveling with the Milepost Book on my lap so we can find rest areas and gas stations as needed.  We are now committed to the Cassiar Highway! 

barkerville

methodist church

anglican church

Chinese classroom