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CHAPTER 15

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DAY 24. FORT NELSON TO CHETWYND. 530km




And it was a long way with straight roads and " quite a lot of not a lot". However the last bit past the Peace River dam was lovely as we followed the "Power of Peace " high voltage power lines. And lo and behold we saw actual farms for the first time in three weeks!
An actual farm! Oh the smell of new hay!




We stopped at a road house on the way. Along with the photos of dead animals on the walls was a sign that read thus -
" There are two enemies of guns-
Rust and Politicians ! "
What do you say to that?
I have also been musing on the American/Canadian language although Canadians will be highly offended that I put them in the same camp, anyway one American I was talking to made mention of "Ma Pa's". After a while I nutted out the translation as follows
Ma Pa's = My Paws. = My Hands
Oh and the stuff that comes out of a tap apparently is " Whartah"
Quite easy really and no more difficult than understanding Mandarin!
Back to the reality of the road ! We camped for the night at Chetwynd which was a pleasant little town with chainsaw wooden carvings up the main street. Yes, it is a lumber town
Love with a chainsaw!




Home sweet Home!




DAY. 25. CHETWYND TO PRINCE GEORGE. 320 km
I predicted today would be a little boring. How wrong wrong I was! It was a lovely ride thru some stunning scenery as the road went through several forest parks. And an easy day at that .








This afternoon I had a feeling of Deja Vue. It was justified. We came up thru Prince George three weeks ago and today we arrived back in town by a different route to the one going north. To celebrate the completion of the " North to Alaska" route we stayed at the same hotel and sat at the same table in the same restaurant and ate the same meal ( not reheated thank goodness! ). What boring old farts we are! However it was sort of comforting in a funny old way.

And one could no help but reflect that when we stayed here on the way north three weeks ago we were greenhorns on day 2 of our trip with no real idea of what lay ahead. How indeed times change!
We have now done about 8,500 kms on the trip so far. The reality hit home when I phoned BMW in Calgary this morning to book the bikes in for their "every 10,000 km" service and also to get a new set of tyres before we head south into the United States.

A final observation from the road. All thru Alaska and Canada are abandoned roadhouses that sold petrol and food and often accommodation to weary travelers. I am not sure whether cars now tend not to stop or there is less tourist traffic as a result of the economic turndown. However not only are they sorry sights but also food and petrol are now often long distances apart and one has to watch petrol management.

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