6/4/08 - 6/6/08 Toad River, BC

The ride today was incredible. The scenery and terrain seems to change with each successive mile we drive. We left the town of Fort Nelson and also left signs of any towns and homes. The road rose as we traveled west through the North Canadian Rockies for the next 200 miles. We were enveloped in lush green forests with rivers that meandered in and out of our view. We were beginning to feel as if we were in the wilderness that we had envisioned during our many months of research and planning. We knew there was wildlife just beyond the tree line and we kept our eyes peeled to catch a glimpse of anything that was brave enough to venture onto the bright green grass that separated the forest from the highway.
Dominic (Mr. Animal Magnet himself), spotted the first black bear cub. We saw his little butt as he scurried back into the safety of the forest-he was too quick to catch in a photo. The next bear was more visible and cooperative. Since we left early (6am) the traffic was almost non-existent, we were able to slow down for photos. Then the bison appeared on the other side of the road. Then, we saw another black bear, then the stone sheep showed up for the party. We didn’t know where to look first. Oh, I forgot to mention-we had to pull over shortly after the 2nd bear quickly ran into the forest. Remember those animal alerts I mentioned in a previous blog (we bought super-duper ones), well we felt they were working too well and the animals were getting spooked, not giving us an opportunity to see them long enough. So, Dominic pulled over and taped the front of the alerts so we could ‘sneak up’ on the animals quietly (as quietly as 2 motor homes pulling trucks could be!).
The road was hilly, curvy, full of animals, and extremely scenic with snow capped Rockies looming at every curve. So, the ride was thrilling, but slow. We travelled 70 miles in 3 ½ hours…ahh, how nice to stop and smell the roses (and crisp, fresh air).
The campground we pulled into (Toad River) was on a good sized lake and we were able to pick our own campsites. Since we left at 6am, and arrived at 9:30am, and the campground had cleared out of overnighters who were moving on up The Highway (that’s what us ‘locals’ the Alaska Highway), we were able to pick our own sites. Needless to say, we chose 2larger ones and pulled in to face the water. We hadn’t eaten breakfast, and the campground office/café/gift shop/post office/internet hot spot was still serving breakfast. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity so we ordered up eggs, sausage, potatoes, and lots of good, hot coffee. The gal behind the counter (and the postmaster/cook/waitress) was friendly and chatty, as was another fellow who worked there. After many cups of coffee the fellow asked us what campsite we were in-when I told him #19, he said Bullwinkle was in our front yard…well, I haven’t run that quickly in many years! I was out of my seat and in the coach to grab the camera in a split second…the moose had meandered to the water where about 6 of us gathered, snapping photos and whispering OOHS and AAHHS so as not to scare her. She came out of the water and walked through the campsite..it was amazing to see her grace and gawky manner. She was beautiful and really goofy looking at the same time.
We decided to drive 35 miles up the road to see more critters and visit Muncho Lake. This area is nicknamed the Serengeti of the North and rightfully so. I’ll quickly say we say more moose, a Bald Eagle, stone sheep and a few large waterfalls before we got to the beauty of Muncho Lake. It was amazing to see nature in it’s natural environment. Muncho Lake, as if to keep up with the other sites, appeared as a combination of an emerald green and sapphire blue gem against the white capped alpine mountains. The air was crisp, the sky was blue, and I realized God has created this magnificence and also blessed me with the ability to experience it…It was quite a moment for me..
The ride home from the lake was equally fruitful-another moose and more stone sheep greeted us before we returned to the campground.
But, the day wasn’t over….before sunset began at 10:30pm we viewed 4 moose in the lake (I set up the scope on the steering wheel of the coach and watched from my own front windshield), and 3 beavers building a huge dam in the pond. Can it get any better?
The next day was a ‘catch up’ day-Dominic cleaned the coach, I am caught up on my logs and editing the 1018 pictures I took yesterday! Hopefully, the pictures and the blog will give you all a sense of the wonder we are experiencing in British Columbia…
Can’t wait to see what the Yukon and Alaska have to offer!

Additional Comments on the day:
After I wrote this log, we experienced a “meltdown” as such. The meltdown applied to both us and the motor home. Our coach is an electric junkie. We have a lot of systems on it that require constant power. Our refrigerator is a residential style just like you have in your home, our entertainment system is always on, and draws a lot of amperage, as does our ionic breeze air cleaner, automatic leveling system, and even our toilet is electric! Needless to say, the more power we can give this puppy, the happier it is. Well, the campgrounds in British Columbia and the Yukon (as well as Alaska, I’m told) are older and don’t have sufficient power. The campground we’re in now is so remote that it generates it’s own power. Well, it doesn’t do a very good job. We have a system on our coach that monitors and displays the electrical usage as well as power coming in at all times. We started seeing extremely high (130+ volts) immediately followed by extremely low volts (109v) followed by a quick 119v. each time this happened, we shut off all electric appliances to avoid frying them. After checking our electrical pole, checking our friends’ pole, and notifying the owner, we decided to pull the plug and just run our own power through the generator. A real waste of money (it runs on diesel) when we paid for electric at the campground. In addition to that expense, we were concerned that we may have harmed some appliances (the washing machine was whining, the hot water heater was slow, etc). so, now WE had a meltdown. We aren’t used to ‘roughing it’ and discussed the possibility of turning around and going back to the states-abandoning our trip. We’ve learned when things aren’t going right, then something is amiss and we need to rethink what we’re doing. Our motto is that life shouldn’t be so difficult. So, we went to sleep deciding to give it a few more days and see if this would be the trip of a lifetime, or the trip from hell..
We woke up the next day a little less frustrated, a little more realistic, and a little more positive.
Onward we would go......