A Wayward Journey

Dang!  I’m getting tired of this remote stuff.  Ever since we started our journey the shortest distance between “towns” has been 100 miles.  300 seems to be the norm.

I pulled into Watson Lake this afternoon hoping I wouldn’t be leaving here with fifty pounds of food.  We recently changed our plan from cycling the Cassiar Highway (which we knew was very remote) to sticking to the AlCan (which we hoped was more populated).  But the lady as the visitor center dashed my hopes when she told me it was 330 miles to the next grocery store in Fort Nelson.

It looks like I’ll be loaded down yet again…  (sigh…)

Miles today:  42

Miles to date:  1448

So – we were screaming along thanks to the most awesome tailwind imaginable when we saw four bright red Coke cans lined up on the side of the road.

The strange thing about the cans was that only one had succumbed to the howling gale; the other three remained upright like wee little soldiers standing at attention.

“They’re not open!” John shouted as he slammed on his brakes.

Daryl scrambled off the tandem and ran back to collect the booty.

“They’re cold!” he screamed in delight.

“I wonder how they got here – it’s pretty strange to find four cans of ice cold Coke out here in the middle of nowhere…”

“A note!” John pointed.  “There’s a note!  Daryl – pick it up!”

We all crowded around to read:

                                  Enjoy the ride!

                                                -Vic

Now we haven’t the foggiest idea who Vic is, but I tell ya’ – those cold Cokes were one step short of heaven there on the side of the road.

So Vic – whoever and wherever you are – thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Miles today:  53

Miles to date:  1406

We made it over the Continental Divide.  It actually wasn’t a bad climb.  WE had a wonderful tailwind.  We went 53 miles, but never really struggled.

While we were riding we saw four Coke cans.  They were all closed so we picked them up.  Then Daddy found a note.  It said:  Have a good ride!  Vic

Those Cokes were delicious.

Darkness is a strange thing.  It’s something I’ve always taken for granted – just like the fact that the sun will come up in the morning.  But after being so far north for so long, I’m not sure I’ll ever take it for granted again.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night – and realized it was dark. Not completely dark – it was that almost-dark stage  when you need a light to read by but you can still navigate without one.  And then I thought, “This feels strange.  I haven’t seen dark since we left Boise.”

We had our first campfire of the journey tonight – somehow it’s not the same when the sun is shining brightly.  One of our favorite things on our last trip was sitting around a campfire on cold evenings, so we were all looking forward to a fire tonight after a day that reminded us that winter is coming.  But in broad daylight, that fire just didn’t have the magic in it somehow.

Don’t get me wrong – it was wonderful to hang around the roaring fire eating rice and drinking hot chocolate, but it just wasn’t the same in the daylight.  I suppose I shouldn’t complain – it won’t be long before we’ll be huddling around a fire to keep warm on freezing cold, dark autumn nights.

Miles today: 48

Miles to date:  1353

Today Davy, Daddy, and I had a huge pinecone war.  It was me and Davy against Daddy.  For a while Davy and I ran around throwing pinecones at Daddy.  Then we lured Daddy away from his base.  I snuck out of the war, ran around the battlefield, and got to Daddy’s base.  I stole 9/10 of his pinecones and, when Daddy came back I scattered the rest.  Then Daddy put all his pinecones in his pockets.

Davy and I resumed the original plan - running around and throwing pinecones.

After that Davy got hurt bad.  Daddy and I then had out own pinecone fight for a short while.  Then it was me and Davy against Daddy again.

Davy claimed we won.  At first I believed him but now I’m not so sure.  He threw a stick with eight pinecones on it and said that was eight points.  He also counted all the times Daddy caught the pinecones.  Davy also said he snuck up behind Daddy and threw a pinecone at him, then Daddy turned around.  He said he threw another pinecone, then ran away without getting hit.  He was always in front of Daddy.  What a liar his is.

After that, we rode away.  Along the way, we saw a mother moose and two baby moose.  At first they were so still I thought they might be statues.  Then they walked away.

We found a little herd of horses.  I got to pet them.  I also fed them.

We made it to a little town called Swift River.  We camped just past it.  We had our first campfire of the trip.  It was awesome drinking hot chocolate around it.