North for Alaska: Day Four - Chetwynd BC to Fort Nelson BC 319 mi.

Leaving Chetwynd we headed toward Dawson Creek. This is not to be confused with Dawson City. Dawson City is significant because it was a headquarters for the gold rush. Dawson Creek is only significant because that is where the United States started the Alaska Highway. This project began in 1942, after Pearl Harbor. We needed a reliable highway to transport equipment to Alaska in case our air strips were bombed or passage through the Pacific Ocean was hindered. It only took a mere 8 months and 12 days to complete. We visited the “Mile 0” monument in the middle of a four-way intersection! There was also a tiny museum that we browsed, discussing the building of the Alcan Highway.

Dawson Creek also boasts of a life size pioneer town. It was quite neat to see a good size compilation of historic buildings.

In the evening, we arrived at our hotel in Fort Nelson and had dinner. We found a restaurant that served gluten free pizza! After unloading our things and eating, we went down to the hotel pool. This pool had a waterslide. You might think that we had our fill of pools and slides back at the waterpark, but this slide was faster than any of the park slides. Oh, did I mention that there were no life guard? This means that we could go down the slide any way we wanted to! I found that looking at the rule board full of things not to do, was a great way to find new things to try:) We even got our mother to slide; and for those of you who know her well, this in itself was quite a feat.

Not much else happened today and the trip is going smoothly. Hope all the pictures make up for the lack of text.