Fort St. John

Not much to write today.  We spent the day driving from Toad River to Fort St. John-approximately 375 miles.  The weather forecast promised sun and 73 degrees in Fort St. John.  Boy was I ready for that!  So despite the rain and clouds in Toad River, for the first time in 10 days, I put on shorts.

As we drove along, I continued to enjoy the scenery and hoped for some wildlife sightings.  There was intermittent rain, clouds, and sunshine throughout our trip so I wasn't sure if we would see anything, but I was pleasantly surprised when several caribou came out of the hills and into the road.  They were moving quickly and were gone quickly, but I was able to get a picture.  This is definitely a highlight of my trip.

The clouds over the mountains were extra beautiful today and as we moved out of the mountains, the rain began to clear up and we saw wide open blue skies.

The girls were excellent travelers the entire day.  With the rainy weather, we didn't make many stops along the way and they settled in and made themselves comfy for the long trip.

Finally we arrived at the Stonebridge Hotel and once I was checked in, I got the girls out for a walk around town.  Fort St. John is a city of about 19,000 and is the largest town we have stayed in along the Alaska Highway.  It sure is a change from where we've been!

I think the girls approve of the room, although poor Peaches is not happy that we're on the 4th floor and we have to take an elevator for our potty breaks and walks.  Peaches does not like the elevator!

Since we arrived in town early and I had been able to get the girls out for a walk, fed, and settled in to the hotel, I decided I'd treat myself to dinner out.  In general, while I'm vacationing with the girls, I get take out and eat in the room.  But I could see the Canadian Brewhouse from my room, so I decided I'd try it.  

They have a really good menu and there were lots of things that looked really good, but I decided while in Canada, I should try Poutine.  Upon the recommendations of the bartender, I chose the donair poutine.  For those of you who don't know about donair, which I didn't before this trip, it is similar to a gyro meat and pretty popular in Canada.

I was pleasantly surprised with how good they were!  And I decided to top off dinner with a yummy dessert too.  Bacon Caramel Churro tots!  YUMMY!

After all of that yummy food, I took the girls out for another walk before settling in to the room for the night.  Of course they made themselves at home right away.

I just watched the beginnings of a beautiful sunset with lots of oranges and pinks shining off of the fluffy clouds, but it has now changed to some really dark rain clouds.  We've taken our last trip outside for the night and I'm now going to sit back and do a little crossword puzzle and watch some TV.    Tomorrow we reach the end of our travels on the Alaska Highway and head to new and interesting places.