We made it to Dawson Creek, British Columbia - the beginning of the Alaska Highway. This marked the end of our journey along the entire length of the Alaska highway.
A little delayed background on the Alaska Highway. It was completed in October 1942, immediately following the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. The purpose of the road was to ensure that supplies could reach Alaska if the Japanese attacked and controlled the Bering Straight. It covers approximately 1,400 miles from Delta Junction, Alaska to Dawson Creek was built by by over 10,000 GI's in 8 months and 12 days - a phenomenal feat given the terrain and environment. It is listed as the 16th wonder of the world.
Today was by far the best weather we have had on this trip. In fact, it was the first time we were able to ride more than 100 miles without rain. The roads were straight and long with very little traffic until we got near Dawson Creek--it reminds me of 301 from Allendale S.C. to Statesboro Ga. While the riding conditions were great, the scenery was not particularly noteworthy. Therefore, it provided a great opportunity for the IPOD--some Buddy Holly, Abba and Four Non Blondes.
From Ft Nelson to Ft St John was open road and we really made good time. While 55-60 has been our maximun speeds to this point, this section supported speeds up to 75mph. From Ft St John to Dawson Creek (about 50 miles) it became more congested as we passed more homes on this section than we did on the rest of the 1,400 miles from Delta Junction, Alaska.
On the outskirts of Dawson Creek, we took a side trip on a section of the Old Alaska Highway that has been subsequently replaced by some of the straightening of the road since its original construction. We crossed the original curved wooden bridge spanning the Kiskatinaw river. I have never seen a curved wooden bridge--the planks in the bridge are parallel to the road, rather than perpendicular as the wooden bridges that I have seen. We took some pictures and a video.
In Dawson Creek, we stopped at the "Zero" mile marker that designated the beginning of the Alaska highway (its in the center of town) and took a few pictures.
We decided to wash our bikes and located a couple of car washes. The first one we selected charged by the minute and wouldn't let us share a bay. As I was backing my bike up to leave, I lost my balance and laid it down. Josh had to help me pick it up. No damage done, other than a little to my ego--after driving over 1900 miles on nasty roads, in nasty weather, I lay my bike down while standing still in a car wash. We did get them washed at a different wash and they look a lot better.
We are having some technical difficulties with Josh's chatterbox. Basically he can hear Jared and Me when we speak, but we can't hear him. We are trying to decide if it is his unit or his custom wiring--I put my money on his wiring--but we'll see.
We are staying at a Best Western and had some good ribs at the adjacent Tony Roma's.
We are excited about the next three days. If the weather holds we are supposed to see some of the best views of the rockies available from a vehicle and take a fishing trip before we head east toward Calgary.
Since it was a slow day for scenery, we decided to take a few pictures of the gadgets we're toting on the trip. Most notably the pink camera and GPS. The pink camera is a replacement for breaking another camera that was mounted on my bike. The pink Kodak works great, but I don't think we'll be able to keep it on the bike while going 60+mph (100+kmh) as it quickly became a bug magnet. The GPS is a Harley-branded Garmin that's weatherproof. It's been a nice toy to have around when trying to scout out a nearby town, gas station, or route change.