The sky was not dark at all during the night. It was overcast this morning and the weather forecast called for 80% chance of rain today.
On our list of places to visit today were Milepost "0" signpost, Pioneer Village, Art Gallery and Visitor Center, Downtown Murals.
We met with the Newmar Caravan members at the Alaska Highway signpost at 9 am for group photo taken by a professional photographer. We then visited Dawson Creek Art Gallery and Gift Shop. We had a very brief tour of the elevator grin tower that was next door to the gift shop.
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| Steve & Karen kissing under the famous sign |
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| Sea Turtles Team |
We went back to where the Alaska Highway signpost to get more pictures. I wanted to get on top of the cairn and I had Erwin and a guy to help me up. I was able to get up there, stood under the RED arrow sign. While I was getting ready for photos I could see the facial expressions bystanders made They though I was a fool to be doing that, I guess. I proved them wrong because I did it. OR maybe they were just jealous that they could not do it?
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| We going Thataway! |
We toured downtown Dawson Creek briefly. Steven, the wagonmaster, recommended us to visit The Alaska Highway House. It was very interesting, has stories, fascinating photographs, artifacts and videos that show the Alaska Highway being built after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1942 and ow it changed the North forever.
"The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 shook the confidence of North American who had been sheltered from the war going on in Europe. Panic reigned. U.S. troops were quickly shifted west and guns were erected near major West Coast cities. The threat of an attack by Japan on the Alaskan shoreline seemed imminent.
For many years the governments of U.S. and Canada had discussed building a road from the contiguous U.S. through Canada, to Alaska, but the process had stalled several times. Pearl Harbor brought the plan back into focus. There was an urgent need for a military road to transport troops and supplies to Alaska and ensure the defense of North America. A quick decision was made to build the road following an existing string of airfields, the Northwest Staging Route, which ran from the U.S prairie interior through Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska." (Excerpts)
After picking up the self-guided historic walking tour booklet we went out to several spots. There were several mural on the buildings.
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| Mile "0" |
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| Dawson Creek Downtown |
Further down the street of 102nd Avenue there is a Worker's Memorial sculpture in honor of workers killed or injured in the workplace. It is also dedicated to workers involved with the Alaska Highway.
It started to drizzle by the time we got back to the campground. After lunch I walked over to visit the Walter Wright Pioneer Village. Erwin's left heel started to bother him again, so he did not join in with me.
Walter Wright was born in 1915, in a farm house 8 miles from Bengough, Saskatchewan. In his adult years, he, his wife Edith and their daughter moved to Dawson Creek, BC from Niagara Falls, Ontario. He started collecting artifacts and, as a president of the Historical Society, made plans to start a pioneer village. Mr Wright passed away at the age of 65 and the pioneer village was renamed in his honor.
After visiting the pioneer village Erwin decided to join with me for a drive to visit the historic Kiskatinaw Bridge. it is about 30 km north of Dawson Creek. The bridge is a curved timber-truss structure It is the only one of timber bridges built in the past that is still in use. The length is 534 foot and the height is 100 feet above the Peace River.
There was a social/travel briefing in one of the buildings inside the Pioneer Village. Our team, Sea Turtles will leave at 8:10 am tomorrow morning. The next destination is Fort Nelson, BC. After the briefing Richard, our lead driver, explained to us about places to stop at/visit for tomorrow's trip.
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| Pioneer Village during Sunset |
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| Dinosaur Pawprint at Pioneer Village Look at Erwin's hand for size!!! |
I was looking forward to taking pictures of the Strawberry full moon tonight, but the clouds started to take over. However, the sunset was very nice.
~~Edith
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