This morning we broke camp and, after a couple of sad farewells (and a cup of coffee and a few cinnamon buns) we bid our new friends adieu and headed south on Route 97.
We were on our own…I thought, but that wasn’t to last very long. At the first rest stop, we were sitting at the pull out enjoying our coffee and tea (and a cinnamon bun or two) when Jonathon and his grandparents pulled in. They were going to be following the same route into the states as we were since Nolan’s camper has developed some serious slideout problems and Bellingham, WA has a couple of places that can make the necessary repairs…he hopes.
Nolan said they were going to stop about 20 miles short of where Terry and I had reservations, but they had not made reservations and would play it by ear.
We went our separate ways with Terry and I stopping at Quesnel for an abbreviated walking tour and then at the Tourism Discovery Centre in Williams Lake to take in their 13,000 square foot log facility. We didn’t expect to see our traveling companions again.
Imagine my surprise when we pulled into the Brookside Campground outside of Cache Creek to see Nolan at the rear of Old #23 helping the campground owner prune a few trees. He came over and told us that Jonathon and his grandma were at the pool already. The pool was one of the reasons I had chosen this campground and Terry and I hit the water just as soon as we could get the trailer set up—in other words, about 10 minutes after we pulled in. Both Jonathon and Marilyn were surprised to see us.
We are bound to lose contact tomorrow as Terry and I will be traveling to Everett, which is quite a few miles beyond their destination of Bellingham. Should our journey through customs take us longer than anticipated, however….
Back to Quesnel (pronounced kwi-NELL for some reason). As you enter the town there is a lovely floral arrangement and a huge gold pan.
Quesnel's Giant Gold PanThey say it’s “the largest gold pan in the world” but that can’t be. We saw “the largest gold pan in the world” back in the Yukon at Burwash Landing.
I believe they deserve a tie—at that’s being very generous.
On the other side of town, at the visitors’ centre—I mean center.
Quesnel's Visitors' Center
Mural depicting many forms of travel in the Fraser/Cariboo area over time(Canada's motto should be "Leave no wall uncovered!")
We picked up a brochure for a walking tour of the city. Why? Because the place is crawling with Little People. No. Not munchkins or anything like that. Under the auspices of the Downtown Association, local artist Jerii Cassidy has painted the fire hydrants as important figures in Quesnel’s past. Both real and generic figures are recognized. For example, there’s a hydrant painted like a WWI pilot to commemorate all those who “fought for the right for us to enjoy peace and freedom” and there’s one painted like a hairdresser to celebrate Mary Eagleson who “became the first female ‘barber’ in Quesnel when the local barber left to serve his country during the war.” There’s a teacher, a cook, a gas monkey, a goldminer, a can-can girl, a nurse and more. There are twenty-three in all but we only sampled a few before we had to get on our way.
The Banker
The Pilot
The Gas Jockey
The Card DealerThe Card Dealer sits across the street from the Casino...of course.
The Billy Barker Casino and HotelThe casino is designed to look like a steamship but it's high and dry in the middle of town...on top of a hill.
I can appreciate the cuteness of these “Little People” of Quesnel, but I believe I would rather have my fire hydrants painted a bright red or fluorescent yellow-green; something the firemen can spot quickly when they pull up to extinguish that blaze that may raze my home or business—as it did in downtown Quesnel in 1916.
We continued driving south to Williams Lake where we gassed up and stopped at the Tourism Discovery Centre. The building is a 13,000 square foot structure of hand-crafted log construction. It is absolutely gorgeous! And inside is a small cabin-like hand-crafted structure in which you can view short movies about tourism in British Columbia.
The Tourism Discovery Centre
The Tourism Discovery Centre
The logs used are massive!
Huge mortise and tenon jointThe inside was just a s beautiful but things were so massive that, with the lens I had on the camera at the time, I could not get far enough away to give the subject what it deserved. There were, however two butt ends of logs reaching over the foyer that deserved some attention.
Bear's head carving
Eagle's head carvingOne of the companies involved in the construction of this beautiful place was Pioneer Log Homes. As we drove south, we passed their construction yard and saw two cranes busily dry fitting someones new log home. It may not have measured 13,000 square feed, but it was going to come close!
Finally, the Tourism Discovery Centre offered a humorous look at 1) all the opportunities for adventure that exist in British Columbia and 2) the problems of over packing:
Slightly over packed vehicleAfter the “WOW!” factor wore off a bit and we had filled up our mugs with coffee and tea, it was time to move on. The air was filled with smoke (as we had expected) from one or more fires burning just out of our sight. When we arrived at our campground for the evening, we were told that there was a possibility that the road to Kamloops (that’s Route 1 east bound) might be closed by the morning. Luckily, we have no intention of going that way and will take a more scenic and direct route from Cache Creek to the border at Sumas.
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