Day 8 Making time; taking time.

Another early start, another great day to cycle.  It was no problem getting to Dawson Creek, 60 km down the highway. Bryan took along his mid-morning meal so that I could go ahead to tour, get groceries and blog. My stop included a very interesting country elevator that housed the local art gallery/craft store, railway museum and visitor information centre. There was lots of activity there with people going primarily to Alaska. If Dawson Creek is Mile Zero, does that make Bryan my Zero Hero? By noon, he was on his way to Fort St John.

The landscape out of Chetwynd quickly changed to rolling pastures and hay lands with a mountain backdrop.

 A pit stop at Taylor, introduced me to Rita, a woman at the visitor centre who knows anything you need to know and then some about the route we are on. Taylor was the first main army camp for the engineers building the Alaska Highway. 

The Peace River bridge is at the end of a 10% downhill grade that would even have Phil Guebert riding his brakes. It is one of their early engineering marvels, even though it had to be rebuilt in the late 50’s, re-opening in 1960 after a shifting bank caused that span to collapse. Sound familiar? I hope not, Outlook! The view of the river valley far below is awe-inspiring even though there's no way to snap a picture while crossing.

Traffic has been heavier and only increased as we neared Fort St. John, the many semis a sign of the energy industry there, especially at rush hour. This is a very busy centre in the north but it met our need for gas at $112.9 and some  quick, early supper. Then we headed out of town again since Bryan felt like he could go much further….167 km until we stopped for the night at Coffee Creek RV park. This newly constructed park has the best washrooms ever and is just far enough off the highway for a much needed sleep tonight.  I certainly could use the night off, to enjoy a hot shower and cooling breezes. Simple pleasures! Tomorrow Bryan can cycle as far as he likes but there is never an easy day. There are always climbs to make him work. It is hard to believe that just a week ago, we were leaving Hope. Now we will start to run out of larger centres and even the smaller ones will be far apart.