Start Location: Cache Creek, BC
Ending Location: Prince George, BC
Miles Today: 279
Trip Miles: 548
States Visited:1
Provinces Visited: 1
Low Temp: 59.5° F
High Temp: 75.6° F
Min Elevation: 1425'
Max Elevation: 4012'
Route Map:
Alaska - Day02
When we woke up this morning the entire area was blanketed in smoke and
the visibility was limited. Like the Western US, British Columbia has
been fighting major forest fires this season. Many of them along 97
from Cache Creek to Prince George - our route today.
Fortunately
everything worked out fine. Within about 20 or 30 miles we got out of
the heavy smoke and from then on only saw evidence of the fires from
the previous days and weeks. In fact Williams Lake, which was right on
our route, had been evacuated and folks were only allowed back in
yesterday. There were still National Guard checkposts set up to monitor
folks going into and out of Williams Lake and many of the side roads
were still closed. We had planned to gas up in Williams Lake and many
of the stations were still closed or out of gas and we ended up back
tracking a few miles to find an open station that still had gas.
We
stopped at a beautiful park and visitor center in Quesnel for lunch. I
think there were more flowers in Quesnel than any other town we have
gone through so far.
The road to Prince George was a 2 lane
road most of the way but as usual there were many passing lanes and
very light traffic. We went through one or two construction zones but
experienced no delay. We have really been impressed with the quality of
the roads and drivers up here. People seem to be very relaxed, we don't
feel like driving is a competition like it frequently feels in
the
US.
We arrived in Prince George shortly after 2:30 so had
plenty of time to explore downtown Prince George. It seems to be an
interesting city with lots of interesting architecture, sculptures, and
just a good feel.
We head for Smithers in the morning and are hoping for another pleasant
and, hopefully, dry day.
