Our First Day on the Alaska Highway

Mickey and the girls at Mile Zero Marker in Dawson Creek, British Columbia

We began our first day on the Alaska Highway by visiting the Alaska Highway House in Dawson Creek. (http://www.tourismdawsoncreek.com/alaska_highway_house.php)  It's a relatively new museum dedicated to educating people about the construction of the Alaska Highway.  We learned the highway was constructed during World War II in order to help defend the far north west against Japan.  We also learned that Alaska's Aleutian Islands had been attacked by the Japanese during the war.  Mickey and I agreed that if either of us had ever learned about that, we had long forgotten it.  Here's a link to more information about the "Forgotten Battle".  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_Campaign)   It's amazing that this highway was constructed in only 8 months and in such extreme conditions.  The movie shown at the museum had lots of actual footage of the construction efforts and talked about how the workers endured temperatures as low as 40-50 below zero.  We're really glad we took the time to learn about the highway before we began our trek.

Here is a view from the highway about 40 miles outside of Dawson Creek.

The villages are few and far between along this route.  And you can drive for miles and miles without seeing any homes.  There are, however, lots of trucks on the highway.  And I guess that's the reason for the "lodges."  Below is a picture of the lodge at Wonowon.  It's pretty typical of the lodging in the area, mostly modular structures without any frills.  Most lodges also have simple fuel stations and a few basics.

Here's a view out our windshield.  Yes, it looked just like that FOREVER.  No wonder the girls are wanting to find Barnes & Nobel.

We traveled only 300 miles today, from Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson.  The next real town is another 300 miles away, so we decided it was best to stop for the day.  Since we made camp early, around 5:00pm, we're enjoying a little down time by watching the Jaws marathon.  It doesn't matter how many times you see them, you hear the music, you know what's coming, and you're scared anyway!  Love it.