Our trip began on August 3rd, 2007. We prayed as a family as we loaded the last things in the car. Every body ran through the washroom one more time. We were ready for the trek northward.
Thanks to my master packer sweetie, it all fit, every time we had to reload even.
We would find interesting things along the way and have fun making great family memories.
I recorded things into our Family Journal every few days, so I could keep up with what we were doing. I’m glad I did, because I might have forgotten some of the fun “little” details. I’m going to reproduce those journal entries here – they really are the best way to tell this story!
Help us encourage one another. Help me to be kind and gentle. Give us patience & abounding love for one another. Help me to be firm when it is warranted & to extend grace when that is needed, too.
[can you tell it was the end of our first LONG day in the car together – 5 people in a very small car on the road for over 8 hours?]
8-5-07
[the journal has the score we were keeping for the car game we were playing “Name That Sound”. Mom unofficially won, but since I was keeping score I didn’t really score myself. Dad was next so he was the official winner, with the 2 big kiddos within a few points of him. The little guy quit playing because he didn’t know ½ the sounds – he’d never even heard of some of those things.]
This morning while we were packing up camp, ‘dear daughter’ got bit by a wasp. Thankfully she only had localized redness and swelling & no severe reaction. It scared her more than anything & now her finger sure is sore.
Today we’re on the 2nd leg of our North trip. We camped the last 2 nights at 10 Mile Lake campground outside Quesnel, BC. When we came into camp, it was completely full so the camp host sent us down to the overflow camping – the far-end of the day-use area. We set up camp right on the lakeshore and it was very nice – close to the water spigot, and the outhouse, too , in addition to being on the lake. The only disadvantages were that we had to park in the lot and carry our stuff back and forth, and we were camped kind of at the end of the bike/walking trail so there was a good bit of foot traffic around. But, it was less expensive, more spacious & overall quieter than if we’d have been in the campground itself. The parking lot filled up with trailers & RVs and we were glad that we had been the 1st overflow campers. 15 minutes earlier there would have been a site in the campground available, 15 minutes later and our great spot on the lake would have already been taken! The kiddos had the whole lower swimming section to themselves. Dad and ‘dear daughter’ each saw a fox, and Dad saw a beaver.
Then yesterday we spent the afternoon in Barkerville. The whole town is restored to about the 1860s Gold Rush time and all the shopkeepers and people working in the town are dressed in period clothing, acting their parts, completely in character. We saw a ‘mini-show’ that told us about how mining was done in Barkerville. Our education was disguised as an “Investment Rally” during which the mine owner and his chief engineer described the various workings of the mines and encouraged us to invest in their new venture. It was very funn & memorable. I can still see how the Cornish Water Wheel works in my head (it works on the principles of “gription” and “sliptivity”). And of course the Stage Coach, candy store (w/rock crystal candy) and each kiddo panned for gold. We really enjoyed our time there. It was a blast. Oh, and the blacksmith was really cool. We watched him for nearly an hour. He reminded us of my dad!
‘Dear daughter’ is having a hard time deciding what her favorite part was. ‘Oldest son’’s favorite parts were watching the water wheel work, seeing the stagecoach and the big horses, and panning for gold. (He got 7 flakes!) ‘Youngest son’’s favorite part was the gold panning (he got 4 flakes). Dad’s favorite part was seeing everyone act in character all dressed up. (That was Mummy’s favorite part, too!)
The little town of Quesnel is a gorgeous place, too. It is one of the “Communities in Bloom” and there are flowers everywhere, literally. Flowers lining the streets in full flowerbeds, hanging baskets, barrels full of flowers… it’s so pretty.
8-6-07
This morning ‘youngest son’ made friends with another little boy in our campground – a 6-yr-old named Riley. He showed our kids his bike and invited them to play mini-golf. The golf was right at the campground & free to play. They had a good time. It looked more like hockey-golf & it was a 4-way tie (i.e. they didn’t keep score).
Then we headed off to the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River. 1.2 miles across, 600 ft high, ½ mile wide at the base, it’s one of the largest earth-fill dams in the world. The dam was a 10-year long project completed in 1967. The reservoir behind the dam is 225 miles long and took 5 years to fill!! We took a tour of the powerhouse, 500 ft into the bedrock of the canyon floor below the foot of the dam. We went by bus right into the powerhouse under the dam. It was so cool. The kids enjoyed it almost as much as Mom & Dad did! The exhibits in the visitor center were fun hands-on kinds of experiments / demonstration with electricity.
‘Youngest son’’s favorite part of the dam tour was when we got to see Turbine Generator #5 (it was ON). ‘Oldest son’’s favorite part was looking out the binoculars at the reservoir (Williston Lake). ‘Dear daughter’ didn’t have a favorite part. She liked it all. Maybe the dinosaur footprints… Dad’s favorite part was all the information about the way that different things worked. Mummy’s favorite part was getting a sense of the immensity of the whole thing & the work that went into building it and the ongoing maintenance.
Every place we’ve stopped to camp (well, BOTH places) people are amazed at what we get packed into our little car & trailer. Even people at rest areas have commented. That’s Dad for you – he’s a master packer! It gets a little less tight each time we pack up ‘cuz we’ve eaten more food (and food takes up a lot of our space).
So far, we’ve not seen any moose. We have seen deer (incuding a rare site of 3 buck together on the way up to the dam), a gray fox running across the road, and this evening we saw a gray wolf. WOW!
