June 23 - July 2 British Columbia and Yukon Territory, Canada
Sarah called which was great timing since we were just about to cross the Canadian border and would not be able to use our phones again until we reached Alaska. Ryan had gone to US customs to declare his gun. As I was talking with Sarah and waiting for Ryan, my nerves were getting the best of me, nerves about crossing the border. We weren’t hiding anything but I did a lot of reading which said no dairy products, no fruit, no plants, no guns. We had all of the above. So I went to “relieve” my nerves in the camper, with the bathroom door open of course 'cause it was hot in there. No more than 60 seconds later Ryan busted through the camper door with a US Border Patrol Officer. The officer turned beet red and laughed nervously, I think he was more embarrassed than me. Sarah and I laughed so hard, yes I was still talking to my sister on the phone. Good times
I needed that laugh. The last 2 days of sleeping at rest stops and driving through cities and stressing about crossing into Canada had taken a toll on both Ryan and myself. We considered bailing on the whole trip and heading home. As much as we are living the dream, living the dream can be super stressful. Money is tighter than predicted. Unexpected expenses keep popping up which I suppose should had been expected.
It took about 1.5 hours to cross the border. Canada asked us questions like do you have more than 10,000 cash? Do you have weapons? Do you have pepper spray? Do you have guns or grenades or tazers? So obviously we got searched. We assumed we would due to the shotgun. They made us put Cooper in a crate outside and we had to wait inside while they rifled through our camper and truck. I thought it was weird we couldn’t be present for the search. It was also weird knowing that someone was going through our stuff. Medicine cabinet, refrigerator, closets, who knows what else.
Since our day was already crap after spending 4 hours in a parking lot updating our Tomtom to show the Canadian map and then the 1.5 hours at border patrol, we drove 4 hours to a free campground we read about. We didn’t want to take the chance of having to sleep in another rest stop.
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BC Hydro Seton Lake Campground from above, Lillooet, BC
FREE |
The drive was worth it. We rolled into Seton Lake Campground in Lillooet, BC around 8pm. A breath of fresh air here. Potable water, pit toilets, shade, hiking trails and a rushing river. It is quiet, it is clean and exactly what we needed after a couple of days questioning our trip. The campground is full but everyone is considerate of each other. The days are long here. Daylight until after 10pm, just a taste of what is to come in Alaska.
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| View from Seton Lake Campground |
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| Seton Lake |
We have found no money on the ground for weeks. I assume that is because everyone out west is trying as hard as we are to travel and never work again. Finding money on the east coast was way easier. People are too worked up and on a mission to look at the ground.
As far as I know, we have only left 2 items behind unintentionally. The bar to tighten the hitch thingamajigs to the truck during week one and our vat of coconut oil at our friends house in Sacramento. The oil being the major bummer. We had been making some killer potatoes.
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Start of the Alaska Highway
Dawson Creek, BC |
We busted through Canada relatively quickly in excitement to get to Alaska. Saw lots of wildlife: many sheep, many bison, 12 black bears, 2 moose, 3 caribou and some swans. All of these just on the side of the Alaska Highway. I guess I assumed the Alaska Highway was long and curvy, but the curvy part was wrong. Turns out it is very straight.
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| Chubb Lake, BC |
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First go at grilling a whole chicken - tasted better than it looked!
Chubb Lake, BC. |
We did a sweet hike into Baba Canyon. The water was crystal clear, the clearest we’ve even seen. This is the kind of place postcards come from. Breathtaking. Ryan couldn’t resist jumping in. Downfall? The mosquitoes are the size of Bald Eagles.
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Baba Canyon
Stone Mountain Provicial Park, BC |
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| No caption necessary |
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| Maori Haka group, don't remember the name. |
Gas prices are ridiculously high! We paid as little as $1.08 a liter and as high as
$1.98 a liter! That is $5.67 a gallon in US dollars! (Yes, we did the conversion.)
The Milepost book has been a key tool to our trip so far, pointing out things such as the world’s best cinnamon bun (which is totally true), rest stops, lodging, viewpoints and warnings to watch for herd animals that live in the area such as bison, sheep and caribou.
Both British Columbia and Yukon Territory has been full of lakes and rivers to explore. I think we need to bite the bullet and buy a boat of some sort. I think we are leaning towards a canoe. That way Cooper can come and we might be able to find an island to camp on.
The camping has been absolutely effortless to find since crossing over the border to Canada. Back in the lower 48, most of the pullouts have “NO OVERNIGHT PARKING OR CAMPING” signs plastered everywhere… I can’t say that it’s unjustified. So many campsites are absolutely littered with garbage everywhere. We commented to a BC resident about how CLEAN everything was, and he credited the cleanliness to the population.
Population of Canada: 35.85 Million
Populations of California: 39.14 Million
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