North to Alaska

We headed into British Columbia, Canada for the long trek north to Prince Rupert where we planned to catch our ferry to SE Alaska.

Just like our first day on the road leaving our home in Eldorado Springs, Colorado last August, we saw several rainbows in the Okanagan Valley area of BC.
We took this as another good omen for our travels!

The most awesome part of the travels through BC so far was the Yellowknife Highway from Prince George to Prince Rupert. ( 446 miles )
We saw several large rivers on the way, at least a dozen.  The Skeena is a wild river and wider than the Columbia River in parts.



Besides more rivers in one area than we have ever seen, there were incredible mountains, valleys and meadows along this route. 

Just as we thought we saw a group of mountains more beautiful than any seen before, there would be more mountains at least as or more beautiful than the others.
It didn't take long to figure out we could not drive 100 mph:)

We found a nice campsite along the Bulkley River.

Chris builds a nice hot fire!

This fire helps to keep the giant, numerous mosquitoes at bay and keeps us warm after sunset. 

We have also placed another order for a natural mosquito repellent to our friend Jill who has created a potion which works very well indeed!
She has assured us she will send our much needed repellent ahead to Juneau where we have a friend's address for forwarded mail & packages.
We may just have enough potion left for this leg of our journey.

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The long light of summer in the north country is becoming more prominent as sunset at this point is about 10 pm.
The light continues to linger until after 11 pm and starts coming back around 2:30 am. 

We drove about 3 days and over 1,000 miles to get to Prince Rupert from Ellensburg, Washington.

We finally arrive in Prince Rupert, along the northern BC Coast and just south of SE Alaska.
Disclaimer - this pic is not our photo, but just want to give a perspective regarding Prince Rupert's location and surrounding environs.
Canadians consider Prince Rupert in Northern BC but it is still just a little over mid-way up if you look at a map.  BC is a huge province!

We love Prince Rupert, it's a bustling port town with future plans for becoming a major trade route hub.

The Port of Prince Rupert enjoys significant competitive advantages over other west coast ports.

A few of these advantages include:

-Shortest Trade Route Between North America and Asia's fast growing economies.
-This port is North America's closest port to key Asian markets by up to three days - it's 36 hours closer to Shanghai than Vancouver and over 68 hours closer than Los Angeles.
-The Port of Prince Rupert has one of the deepest natural harbors in the world and the deepest & safest ice free inner harbour entrance of any port.
-The Port is a terminus station of CN Rail, a major Class 1 North American carrier. CN is the only railway to serve ports on the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts which means greater efficiencies for shippers, importers and exporters.

OK, enough of shipping and the port advantages, not actually trying to plug commerce for Prince Rupert - Just fascinated that it is the shortest trade route to Asia.
(We are actually against the TPP as it stands now!)

This town is in a beautiful setting, offers many great eateries, seafood, walks and more.

Our lodgings for 3 days in Prince Rupert is the Pioneer  Guesthouse.
This is more of a hostel with access to a nice, fully furnished & functional kitchen with all utilities provided.
This is close in to downtown and in the Cow Bay District of Prince Rupert.
We did not need to move our van once as we were able to walk to everything we needed or wanted in PR.
We were able to bring in our instruments and rehearse for our upcoming performances in SE Alaska.

The Pioneer Guesthouse is a Primal Mates Pic for best Inn.





Scenes on the water and around town -

Chris' favorite pier house B & B!


At this point, we are excited to get on the ferry which will take us into SE Alaska, even though we have to get up at 3 am and wait in line for check-in and customs. 

We are told to get rid of our eggs, fruit and some vegetables - but are reassured that the food will go to a food kitchen and be served to those in need.
We wonder why the food we bought in the US will be taken as we head back into the US from Canada - go figure!

North to Alaska!

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