Whaddaya' know?! It's the Alaska Highway!

Day #7 - Edmonton, Alberta to Fort St. John, British Columbia (690 km)

I can't believe we've been on the road a whole week now! We have put a lot of miles behind us and seen a lot of sights since we left Parry Sound in a flurry of emotion and good-byes.  Now here we are in British Columbia, headed directly north.

As we left Alberta, we saw field after field of hay and farms.  We had been remarking how it felt like we were driving what we used to call 'the back route' cross country from London up to Barrie when we didn't want to tackle Toronto traffic on our way to visit Gramma and Grampa Wilson in Parry Sound, and then all of a sudden, we rounded a corner and then, WOAH!  There was forest galore and hills and rock!  We went from farmland to rocky forests in the span of about two minutes!

At first I thought it was going to rain, but it was smoke.

A cloud behind the sun shows just how thick the smoke
actually is!

Every evening and again in the morning we have been checking the weather for our current location and that day's destination. We have discovered a new and terrifying weather condition called 'local smoke'.  This means that there is smoke in the air from the forest fires raging through British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.  There was some smoke in the air as we travelled to Edmonton, but it was just enough that made it look a little overcast, and even then, the blue sky and the sun popped through from time to time.  Today, however, as we approached B.C. and the sun began to sink lower in the sky, the smoke became obvious.  We showed the kids and talked about forest fires, and of course, they were worried about the fires being near by, especially after having seen the movie "Planes - Fire and Rescue" a few weeks ago.  After lots of reassurance, they settled down, but they kept commenting on the smoke until the sun set.  When we arrived at our hotel in Fort St. John, you could smell the smoke in the air.

Charlotte spent the day today alternating between colouring her Build-A-Bear box and reading, James spent the van time reading, and Patrick alternated between reading and sleeping.  We also listened to a lot of Weird Al's new album, 'Mandatory Fun', which is swiftly becoming a family favourite.  We have a lot of Weird Al music, but this new one is fantastic.  I am amazed at how quickly the kids learn the words to the songs.  I have to sit there with the CD leaflet, which has all the words on it, in order to sing along.  I drove for a few hours this afternoon and it was nice chatting with the kids and singing together, more good memories for this Mom's heart!

Here we go!!!

Today we also began our trip up the Alaska Highway, another momentous occasion.  This is something I never in my life thought I would be doing, and yet here I am.  Greg and I just look at each other, smile and squeeze hands.  I feel like I could hear the pages turning rapidly in our new chapter of life, and it was both comforting and unnerving at the same time. By comforting I mean that we were all together and happy and safe and even having fun, and unnerving because with every kilometre our decision becomes more and more of a reality. Luckily, there are big signs and great milestone markers for documentation purposes of these momentous occasions.  I wonder sometimes if these things were designed for bloggers and scrapbookers!  Here is a picture of the Wilson crew (minus Greg, who was behind the camera) and our van sporting two of our all-season radials on the roof about to enter the Alaska Highway.  Woo hoo!! (You will remember that Greg had the tires and oil done on the van this morning.)

Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway
in Dawson Creek, B.C.

 When we arrived in Fort St. John this evening, the kids were asking questions about what we were going to be seeing in the next few days.  They got a little quiet when we started talking about driving through British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and finally, the Northwest Territories.  James kind of summed it all up by saying, "Wow.  We're really doing this.  This is kind of epic!".  He is 100% correct in many ways!

There has been something comforting about traveling across Canada.  It doesn't matter whether or not you are in a major city or a smaller town, you can count on the fact that you will see particular banks, grocery stores, big box stores, a Walmart and/or Target, an empty retail space that used to hold a Zeller's, a Shopper's Drug Mart, Canadian Tire and Gas Bar, and familiar gas stations.  Everything is familiar and different at the same time.  Things are beginning to change, now.  The brands of hotels, gas stations, restaurants, and grocery stores among other businesses, are changing.  Apparently these are just chains of businesses found typically in Northwestern towns.

Well, as the sun sets on another day of my family's journey toward Tuktoyaktuk, I am feeling more at peace with our decisions and the last part of our trip.  Your prayers and words of encouragement bring us much comfort and we thank you.

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