This morning I got up entirely too early, so I packed up my bike and headed for the nearest diner. I ended up at Toad River Resort, an RV/Campground/Diner. It was so small I had to wait outside until one of the six tables became available.
I knew we were camping on Toad River, but I just assumed it was named after the toad. I didn't hear any toads, but I didn't put much thought into it until reading the menu. The cover gave a little history of the place, their hat collection (thousands of hats stapled to the ceiling), and the area. What interested me was the way they claimed the toad river got its name. It went something like this ...
In 1949, the US Army Corps of Engineers along with Canada was working on the Alaska Highway (Al Can). The highway wasn't the "super highway" it is now, but there were many parts that were difficult to pass, including toad river. The story says that once you got to the river, there was no bridge, so you would have to be towed across. They claim "that's our story and we're sticking to it ... for now anyway".
Paul and I caught up with Steve 120 miles down the road in Fort Nelson and then we just had 300 miles left to Dawson Creek, mile 0 of the Alaska Highway.
It was still raining into the afternoon, but we finally got a break about a hundred miles before Dawson Creek. The scenery slowly changed from lush forest and mountains to plains and farms. This doesn't seem like a place we could spend too long exploring, so we'll probably get a late start tomorrow for our next stop, Jasper. I'm staying in a Motel tonight for the convenience, the internet, the shower, and the laundry. It will be nice to have clean dry socks again.
Paul fell behind at some point in the last hundred miles. He usually catches back up (we're only traveling 70 mph), but we suspect he may have stopped for a shower or at the casino we passed to play some poker. We don't have any messages on our phones, but I'd expect him not to leave a message more than I would expect him to. Either way, he knows where our destination is and we'll probably see him in the morning.
Update: Yeap, Paul just found a place to do laundry, shower, and then played some poker. We'll be on the road around 10-11am again.
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