Okay, got the cell phone service issue figured out. I don’t have international service on mine, while Kathy does, for some reason. I just don’t think of Canada as being international territory, which of course it is. Funny that I can get Brady's texts from Europe, looking for updates, but I can't text him back; I got a phone call from Santee, but I can't make them.
We left Quesnel around 10, after a continental breakfast at the Travelodge. Another beautiful day, made even more beautiful by the scattered clouds of cotton. (In retrospect, this was our favorite motel, and one of our favorite towns. BTW, it's pronounced "Quinel."
We stopped along the way at some great rest stops. They are really more like small parks, and often on lakes, too. They are deserted on Mondays, so we and the dogs have them to ourselves.
We saw our first moose warning sign along the road, just before Prince George. The landscape had looked to me like good moose country for a while, so we weren’t surprised to see the signs. From then on, they became frequent, but we’ve yet to catch sight of one. Later we saw our one and only badger warning sign! This is all on the Yellowhead Highway, Highway 16, which runs from Edmonton, I believe, all the way to Prince Rupert. It’s all two lane road, with frequent passing lanes, and in great shape.
We pulled into Prince George around noon, and headed for the Costco, the last one we’ll see on our trip. We actually have very little room in the car for anything, but really needed to get a few things. First was a down comforter, next was a wireless router (I left ours at home, which worked out great for Kelli and Jared!), some printer paper, and printer cartridges.
Prince George is a big town, the most populous in northern British Columbia, with 81,000 residents. After all of the very, very small, very small, and small towns we’ve been through, this looked like a huge city!
A very good thing about driving in British Columbia is the excellent condition of the roads. Perhaps having their tough weather requires they keep them in good shape. The road conditions, the beautiful and frequent rest stops, and the scenery all combine to make British Columbia an excellent vacation land. It’s too bad we are so sick of being in the car! You can’t help but enjoy the scenery, from snow-capped mountain ranges to beautiful valleys.
I guess I’m not sleeping well, as I have trouble staying awake after noon. Kathy drove most of today, and the last hour and a half to Smithers. This is a nice little town, moving its economy toward eco-tourism, enacting a building code of alpine-like architecture to increase its charm. Wikipedia says people living in Smithers are called Smithereens, pretty cool.
We got to Skype with Henry and Kelli last night for the first time on this trip. It was nice to see them, but also reminded us of how much we miss them. L Henry didn’t quite get the idea, but just seeing him, well, wonderful and a little tough.
We arrived in our motel room just in time to see President Obama talk to the nation about the budget crisis. I felt like he said exactly what needed to be said. Boehner’s Republican response followed, and was very disrespectful toward the President, and the position of the Democrats. One cannot expect to gain respect for his/her position and opinion without offering the same.
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