Grande Prairie AB to Prophet River BC (Day 16)

Things went dramatically downhill after we left the parking lot of the Pollodon Inn (that's karma for scamming wireless internet!). We proceeded to drive around the outskirts of super-truck macho-driver Grande Prairie for over an hour in search of Saskatoon Island Provincial Park. Frustrated, tired and hungry, we retreated to our default location- the local Rotary Club RV Park. You can imagine our delight when we drove up to the registration area only to find a "No Tenting" sign in the window. What kind of camping park doesn't allow tent?! So, our last resort was back to a good ol' Super8. Although, this one was a little short of good. At almost double the price of the awesome Super8 in Kenora (thank you Alberta oil & gas) and not even a fraction of the charm, we grudgingly checked in. I almost laughed (almost) when I found out there was no internet connections in the room- I know this sounds pretentious, but in this day and age..c'mon! And worst of all...I didn't see a waffle-maker in the breakfast lounge *Gasp*

Luckily, by morning the waffle-maker had appeared. And I did manage to connect my laptop to the network at the business centre. We peeled out of Grande Prairie as fast as we could (of course after I had my waffles and everything else I could fit in my belly). The only slightly redeeming element of our Grande Prairie experience was the World's Biggest sun dial.

Goodbye Grande Prairie!

Not long on the road, we came across another Biggest. This time, we found ourselves in front of the town of Beaverlodge's giant beaver :)

Soon we were across the border into British Columbia,

where we stopped in Dawson Creek BC (which coincidentally Dan found out was named after Dr. Dawson who was born and raised in Pictou NS) to have our photo taken at the "Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway" post. Which just so happens to be in the middle of one of the town's intersections. So, I was the silly tourist wandering through traffic to snap the classic cheesy photo.

Later on down the raod, we saw another Biggest, or at least an out-of-the-ordinary Big.

I'm not sure who the lumberjack is, but it was good for a photo. Other than the lumberjack, we didn't see many other drive-by sightings today other than a few deer. The Alaska Highway is so far really good, wide open road through gentle hills and norther BC forest in all directions. Funny how this landscape is just as remote and rugged as the Grasslands, but somehow not nearly so daunting.

We ended up bypassing Prophet River BC, since the provincial park was apparently flooded from the snow thaw, and instead camped at Andy Bailey Provincial Park a little further down the highway. Not long after arriving to the serene little lake,

we were joined by a slightly rowdy group of locals who thought the quiet lake was also a good party venue. Luckily, they wrapped up fairly early and it was quiet enough to get a good night's sleep!