On Thursday morning,
04JUN, we got an earlier than usual start to do a long drive to Fort Nelson,
BC. On the drive we didn’t even stop at
the Visitor Centre at Mile “0” of the AlCan Highway located in Dawson Creek,
BC. We had progressed past the giant beaver
of Beaverlodge, BC, & stumbled across an extremely rare Canadian Muffler
Man lurking in the woods north of Fort St John, BC; when the high water temp
went off for the RV. Dan immediately
pulled over as safely as possible; but we could only get 75% of the RV on the
shoulder. We were also located between
two blind spots on the road.
Dan’s first call was
911 to the RCMP to explain situation & that we were not safely off the road. They didn’t seemed too concerned & said
they would dispatch a tow truck. While
waiting we started the process of calling our roadside assistance insurance
& our after-market breakdown insurance.
Meanwhile Dan checked the engine & found the entire cooling fan
disconnected from engine & hanging from the belt!
Interestingly the roadside
assistance said they wouldn’t send a tow truck because we were not safely off
the road; & RCMP requests go to front of the tow line anyway? One of the shortcomings of Canadian roads we
have noticed is almost no mileage/kilometer markers. To us this is a real problem when 911 (or
your roadside assistance) is asking you where you are? Thankfully a local stopped to help us &
explained we were at mile 76? Turns out
that on the AlCan, locals still use original highway distances even though
Canada switched to kilometers decades ago.
But without roadside mile markers, even this doesn’t help non-locals.
Eventually the RV was
placed on a flat bed & towed to the Western Star dealer back in Fort St
John, BC; & we found a motel for one night because the truck facility will
not let “drivers” stay in their vehicles.
First we had to find a motel that allowed dogs; Corrie found two, one at
$240 a night, & an EconoLodge at $140.
We opted for the EconoLodge even though the front lobby was flanked by
Econo Liquor, & a pub called Burgers & Brew featuring buckets of beer
night on Thursdays. Turns out a large
number of contractors will arrive in town Monday & we will need to vacate
room by then.
Friday morning back
at the Western Star dealer where we learned the bad news. The fan mount had separated from the engine,
allowing the fan to hit the “charge cooler” damaging it also. Parts are needed from Memphis & total estimated
cost is $$$$. Thankfully they will let
us move the RV outside of their compound & drycamp. We went back to motel & check-out.
Saturday morning,
06JUN, deciding to make lemonade out of lemons (& not be trapped in the RV
all day) we took the Toad & went sightseeing. First stop was the Visitor Centre & the
next door market for Fort St John. The
small market is almost all crafts, no fresh food, & two people w/homemade food
products. Dan got a jar of Saskatoon
berry jam.
Then we backtracked
to Dawson Creek & Mile “0” of the AlCan Highway. Their Visitor Centre is a wealth of info
about the highway, the adjoining roads, & the Provinces & towns you
will drive thru on your way to Alaska. The
staff is extremely friendly & helpful.
There are two displays at the Centre – one focused on the railroad,
& one focused on life along the highway when it was built; both are average
at best. They do show a one hour film
made in 1992 (50 yr anniversary of the AlCan) on the highway construction &
its improvement up to 1992. The film
focuses mostly on construction, but also Canadian life & perspective of the
event, as well as First Nations perspective, & the large scale civilian
contractors involved. While Dan viewed
the film Corrie was next door at the Art Gallery & Craft Store.
Getting back
together we had lunch & headed to the Alaskan Highway House. This is an excellent display totally focused
on the US Army Corps of Engineers planning & constructing the Highway. They also have a one hour film, but it is
focused on the Army Corps of Engineers & the unbelievable ten month
construction project. The film is a PBS
documentary & has rare color footage; if you only have time for one film,
we recommend this one (note – the Highway House has very little information on
the present highway & roadside facilities).
Next was a real
butcher shop (The Butcher Block in business since 1941), before driving the
Toad back to the RV over the Kiskatinaw Bridge.
This bridge is off the present rerouted highway; is the largest curved
wooden bridge in North America & the last surviving wooden bridge on the
highway (this is not the original bridge, having been rebuilt in 1978).
AlCan Highway facts:
-Dawson Creek was
picked as the start of the highway because the Northern Alberta RR ended there;
the city of 600 had no idea that 10,000 men with 7,000 pieces of equipment
& supplies would arrive unannounced
-of the three
proposed routes, the worst one was chosen because it was the only route that
connected all the existing Northwest Staging Route airports in British Columbia
& Yukon Territory
-AlCan name changed
quietly in 1943 based on diplomatic letters; apparently Alaskans were not
willing to share highway name? (Dan insists on calling it the AlCan anyway)
-another sign of
American self-importance was that men & equipment were shipped to Canada
& surveying started one month before the Canadian Prime Minister signed the
authorization
-Canada waived all
permitting, import duties & taxes; & provided the land & raw material
(ie lumber & dirt)
-USA built the road
(ie money, men & equipment)
-the AlCan was the
costliest Army engineering construction project during WWII
-30% of Army
enlisted were segregated blacks, often given hardest job w/poorest equipment;
in spite of this they accomplished every task given them; once completing
largest wooden bridge in record time that lasted the longest of all built
-the project’s
completion was major international & national news, because there was so
little “good” news at that point in WWII for the USA & allies
-what the Army Corps
of Engineers built was the “pioneer” road; after them came the US Public Roads
Administration (US government agency that hired Canadian & US civilian
contractors) to upgrade it to a two lane, gravel highway
-construction of the
pioneer road was so fast, that much of it had begun before the final route was
selected
-most bridges were
built three times – pontoon bridge, wooden bridge, steel bridge; in some cases
old bridges in the USA were disassembled & shipped to Canada
-USA transferred the
road to Canadian military six months after WWII; Canada paid the USA about half
the USA’s costs for the road & all items of value
-civilians not
allowed on the road until 1948
-Canadian Army ran
the highway until 1964
-improvements to the
highway have shortened it by 35 miles
-Trivia – why was
Fort Nelson, BC, originally called mile “0”?
When did Dawson Creek become mile “0”?
Speaking of
mileposts, the number one travel aid for those driving on the AlCan is a yearly
publication called “The MILEPOST”. As
they advertise –
“The MILEPOST,
introduced in 1949, was the first reliable guide to the rugged AlCan Highway,
which had opened to civilian traffic in 1948.
Often referred to as the “bible of North Country travel”, The MILEPOST
takes its name from the mileage markers found along Northern roads. Today The MILEPOST is 784 pages and covers
all highways in Alaska, Yukon Territory and Western Northwest Territories, as
well as major access routes in British Columbia and Alberta, and transportation
by ferry system, train, cruise ships and motorcoach.”
The size &
amount of detail in this book is almost overwhelming! It literally goes down to the tenth of a mile
when necessary to describe any highway listed.
Although it has all the “tourist info” you could ever need, its primary
function is describe the road you will be driving on. Examples – end passing lane begin 2 lane
highway; caution Y intersection; gravel turnout; descends long grades to 8
percent; wooden bridge, slippery when wet; watch for grizzly bears; highway
passes under RR overpass; slow for dips in road next six miles; Field Editor
Sharon Nault saw a huge moose here last summer; etc; etc.
Sunday was another
day of sightseeing. This time we decided
to bring Gumbo with us as we drove a “loop” from Fort St John, to Hudson’s
Hope, then Chetwynd, before returning to Fort St John. Hudson’s Hope is a small village that serves
as the gateway to the W.A.C. Bennett Dam Visitor Centre (once the largest earth
filled dam in the world), which we did not visit.
Next was the town of
Chetwynd which has a yearly chainsaw carving contest that draws some of the
best in Canada, & a few participants from places like Japan, Australia, etc. End result is over a hundred sculptures all
over town. The big contest is next
weekend & apparently one of the contestants (Ryan Cook, see his website
link below) was in town early & demonstrating his craft on the main
street. After lunch at a local food truck
it was back to Fort St John. Unfortunately
on the way back to the RV Corrie lost a crown to toffee candy. After returning to the RV Dan headed to
library & their free wifi.
Monday morning,
08JUN, Corrie headed out to find a dentist.
Turns out it was not a crown she “lost”, but a filling w/some attached
tooth! Dentist could not do a permanent
repair, but could do a temp until we returned to USA. In fact he was good & he shaped the temp
repair so well, that Corrie can still wear her partial (which he first thought
wouldn’t work)!
After lunch we
headed for starbucks & their free wifi so we could electronically file our
towing bill re-imbursement claim. Back
at the truck facility we learned that the air charge cooler was too heavy for
air freight & was now being shipped by groundL!
Since we only travel with thirty gallons of fresh water, we were now
empty & were looking to have water delivered; but truck facility hooked us
up to a hose & we topped off.
Tuesday &
Wednesday not much was done other than sitting around & waiting, because
not all the parts have arrived. Thursday,
11JUN, one week after the fan failure, work finally starts but won’t be
finished until tomorrow. Now that the RV
is in a repair bay this means another night in a motel. This time it’s the Super 8.
Friday AM its back
to truck repair facility. The major is repair
done, but now we are waiting for the last part.
Yesterday it was learned that the clutch for the AC compressor was also
damaged & needed replacing. We can
live without dash AC, but we need it to defrost windows when they fog! We have tried driving without window defrost
before; & it is not safe! Western
Star was assured by the part supplier that the clutch would be on the next bus
from Edmonton, AB. Unfortunately the
part was not on the bus, & no one can track itL? Back to the Super 8.
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