Sunny
morning, looked like good weather for driving north. Said good bye to Gordon
and Gloria, thanking them for their hospitality, and picked up I-5 north.
Mt. Baker sat on the horizon, snow capped against the blue sky.
Rev. 07/03/01
Alaska & beyond - continued 7/2-7/03
Seattle to Quesnel BC to Smithers
Sunny
morning, looked like good weather for driving north. Said good bye to Gordon
and Gloria, thanking them for their hospitality, and picked up I-5 north.
Mt. Baker sat on the horizon, snow capped against the blue sky.
I planned to cross the border at Sumas -- wanted to see what the road looked like after all these years. It's the same as it was forty years ago, when I first drove it, only they've rounded and banked the million right-angle corners in the road.
At Canadian Customs, I declared my rifle and the .44 Magnum revolver, with a long 8 inch barrel, that Bill had loaned me. "Can't take it into Canada." they said, "No handguns."
After much discussion, they finally told me to go back across the border, and that there was a store that would lock it in their vault for a reasonable fee. Boy, when I get back home I'm going to re-read those reg's I download off the Internet from the Canadian Customs web page -- I'm still sure I read something about a 3" barrel.
So finally, after two trips through customs, I was on my way.
All it really means is -- I have to return through the same border crossing,
to retrieve Bill's big gun.
The road east and then north is an excellent highway. But at Yale, up on the Frasier River, I received a very expensive lesson in the metric system.
Coming around a long sweeping downhill curve I passed a sign that said "50," so I let up on the gas. At the end of the curve, there was a cop. He stepped out into the road and waved me down. "Do you know you were speeding? You were doing 85 in a 50 zone. I'm going to have to give you a ticket." He went back to his vehicle, wrote it out, came back and asked me to sign it. "It will cost you $150." Now I have a much better understanding of the metric system.
The drive north to Quensel, where I spent the night, was uneventful, albeit a little slower -- and the road has been improved since Carol and I drove it six years ago.
From Quensel, Prince George was my next stop -- had to get the brakes on the RT fixed. Then took the Yellowhead Hwy. west. The first time I drove this road it was dirt, but that was forty years ago -- now its a nice paved route.
At Houston, the road crosses the Bulkley River. I hope to return here in September to fish it for Steelhead. And at Houston they have the world's largest fly rod, reel and fly.
Bob & Carol Graham's Home Page