Canada — British Columbia

British Columbia, which is directly north of Washington state, is beautiful. Soon after we crossed the border, we noticed the difference: bigger hills than we'd seen in weeks — more like mountains. Terrain that makes use of the vertical dimension pleases the eye. Seeing a mountain range on the distant horizon evokes desire, snow-capped mountains (in August!) inspire wonder, and sheer walls rising into the sky are simply awesome. We were pleased to be in BC.

Our first stop was in Dawson Creek, an old crossroads that became the starting point for the Alaskan Highway in 1942, and thrives today as a vibrant community of 10,000. They have the first bookstore I'd seen in weeks, and I quickly went in, chatted with the proprietor, and bought a book (Jack London, "White Fang.") They also have the best restaurant I'd eaten in in weeks, the "Legendary White Spot*, Since 1928." (Recommended) Who would have suspected that they'd be serving sweet-potato fries with chipotle mayonnaise way up here? We excitedly enjoyed this interesting little hub, visiting the Alaskan Highway "Mile Zero" sign and taking a picture of Cruisemaster next to it. So progressive is this community that they provide free Wi-Fi Internet access, not only at the visitors center but also throughout downtown, and we indulged in lots of emailing and web surfing.

The Alaskan Highway enticed us to follow it for 43 miles north to Ft. St. John, which proved to be the northernmost point in our adventure, 56.3 degrees north latitude, according to the GPS. We felt the tug of the Yukon and Alaska, but that road is a long one and we decided to leave them to another adventure. We left the Alaskan Highway and began our journey south through beautiful scenery to Prince George, which bills itself as "Capital of Northern British Columbia" and advertises itself in a slick 38-page travel guide as a jewel of a place. (Thereby setting expectations so high that disappointment is likely.) The setting is nice — a river runs through it and pine-forested hills surround — but the stone proved to be fake. Oh, they have their Walmart and Home Depot, but downtown has decaying buildings, vacant storefronts, and street people. The Visitor Center gave us false information — the Cariboo is not actually open for lunch on Saturdays — and the Waddling Duck pub served pretty-good food for above-average prices with below-average service. (Although I suppose that people living up here could be delighted with any restaurant that isn't franchise fast-food.)

In the evening, we had an excellent chat with neighbors in the RV park, a couple from Vancouver who were quite happy to talk about BC, Vancouver, Jasper, and beer. It was our first extended conversation with native Canadians and we enjoyed it very much. They warned us that the road from Prince George to Jasper is a long drive through beautiful wilderness, and they were right..

*I later found out that the White Spot hasn't been in Dawson Creek since 1928 — it's a chain that started in Vancouver — but the food was still a treat.