Dease Lake Campgrounds not open yet!

So I got gas at the only gas station in town. Store owners said we could park in the wide spot in the road. But I am in serious need of a shower. Fortunately there is one motel in the middle of nowhere (or everything) depending on your point of view. So for a mere $146 Canadian, Tofu and I have a decent room. Also the only gas station is the only grocery store and the only (sort of) restaurant. So at 5pm they were closing the deli and I snagged the last bowl of noodle soup (surprisingly good), and a roll and a coke. I sat down at a long picnic table close to a man older than me. Paul has lived in Dease Lake for 30 years. Evidently likes to sit down at the only picnic table in town and watch the world go by. Oh yes, I must let you know they are renovating our motel.Loud banging right outside the window. They are supposed to stop by 7pm. Evidently the workers are all from Smithers, so they are living at the motel. All their trucks are taking up the good parking places. What am I complaint about? I’ve got a real bed tonight!

What a day this has been. The place we stayed last night had a Spot (refer to yesterday’s post) we could stay. All their regular tent sites were filled with tree planters (that is people whose work is to plant trees). I was pleased to learn the showers were free. What I didn’t realize was that there was only one commode for males and two shower stalls. This morning there was a long line to use the pot/take a shower. So we just left.

I almost entitled today’s blog Purple Mountains’ Majesty. It was an 8 hour drive through majestic mountains. Most of the time it was like Smithers; the mountains were up close and very personal. I decided to take no more photos of the mountains. There really weren’t many good places to stop (or there were way too many pictures to take). When I get home I’ll buy a Beautiful British Columbia coffee table book. You can come to my house and I’ll point and say “I was there!” But of course when I stopped for a break I took the picture above.

At another stop I decided the roadside sign was good and informative! Traveling along the road I saw before me something like a cumulus cloudscape. As we got closer I realized it was mountain all the way up. Peaks topped with marshmallow cream.

300 miles into the day’s journey, I awoke from my grief trance (more later) and wondered if I-had missed a turnoff. The highway was turning into a country lane. There was no center line, no shoulders. It was like going from a city road to a country road, that becomes a gravel road. Yes. It became an on again, off again gravel road Finally I saw a sign that confirmed I was still on the way to Dease Lake.

I stopped at a wide spot I the road, to take a picture of this lake that was miles long and maybe a mile across, It was all ice.

So then, I took a picture of the road,both directions. ( This motel WiFi is having trouble loading photos). While I’m waiting, I’ll keep typing. Oh yeah, new signage report: Watch out for bears! Watch out for wildlife! Watch out for livestock! (This one 3 times about an hour apart, in places without any signs of grazing land or human habitation). There weren’t even any horses in this area,and they are as plentiful as cattle in these parts. I drove an hour and saw fewer than ten vehicles coming at me, none in my lane and none parked on the side of the road. Travers this is the country where you want to keep your tank more than half full. There were lots of places where you couldn’t get off the road if something went wrong. Photo finally loaded, so here’s my road pictures taken by the frozen lake.

Not so bad. Wildlife report: I saw a jackrabbit successfully hopped across the road. Also yesterday I didn’t report that I saw a raven. I did, but it was quick and seemed ominous. But today I saw another one. It was on a bridge rail, and stayed put looking at the raging river as I slowly went by. It was as big as a house (slight exaggeration), definitely a raven, but it didn’t speak. I’ll make sure to keep you updated on the ravens.

I need to say the most fascinating architectural feature of the are the concrete/iron bridges paved with wooden planks; smooth, soft and quiet.

Okay a really frozen lake. My last picture of the day. But I need to report on my grief trance. It started when I started feeling sorry for Tofu. Back home, Tofu always wants to ride in the car. She hates being left home. But today is her fourth full day on the road, in what must be a claustrophobic space for her. I’m thinking by the time this trip is over, and she’s home in Corvallis, she may not be so anxious to jump in the car. This led me to tell her, “Tofu, when you get back home you are going to be excited to see all your people. Of course there’s one of your people you may think will be there, but she won’t”. And so with that I morphed into a gelatinous mass. Every time the grief door opens there are particular memories of Lynnie’s final days that overwhelm me. I’m not going into that now. What I will say in closing, is that even in a grief trance I was able to safely travel down the right path, negotiating the correct turns, and happily, joyfully landed in the middle of nowhere (everywhere). Perhaps we should thank the raven.

Time to take Tofu for an evening walk in the gravel. Not much grass here.

Goodnight and Love,

John