Too much smoke

Outrunning the BC smoke

July 17-18

Our original plans were to spend a couple of nights in Prince George, BC but it seems the smoke settled in the area the day we arrived and the air quality is not the best.  So we changed our plans to a one night stay, quickly taking care of 'bigger city' tasks as soon as we arrived:  Uncle Robin had a bad tire he wanted to replace, Dad wanted an oil change and we wanted to stock up at a good sized grocery store.  I was really getting low on dog food and it was definitely time for a nice large bag.  It's a good thing they purchased the dog food before Dad got the oil change bill.  He was stunned at the $340 bill.  Can you just imagine how much higher the bill would have been if he hadn't provided all the filters needed?  Momma quickly converted the Canadian $ to US $ to make him feel just a bit better...but $272 still hit him hard when he knows could have done the job in half the amount of time they charged him.  But it could have been a much worse scenario...
you see, our neighbors arrived without a truck.  There were two Grand Design Reflection 5th Wheels that we had seen earlier on our trip in Whitehorse.  This was one of the two rigs but it was being towed by the second truck.  It seems as they were zipping along, oil began showering them....a transmission problem.  They were towed to a Dodge Repair Shop in Prince George where they left the truck and their friends towed their rig to the campground for them.  Now THEIR bill will be exponentially higher I'm sure!

This campground, Sintich RV Park was providing space at no charge to the fire victims who were evacuated.  We decided it was best to move on and leave more space more them and see if we could escape the smoke.

Our trip the next morning took us thru McBride, BC where we found ample parking by the visitor center.  Now talk about a great visitor center.  It was a 3 in 1 deal:  café,

who also believed in great presentation of their delicious offerings

gift shop,

and information desk with loads of brochures along with the most helpful attendee.

She even offered to call a campground for us to see if they had room for us.  She even apologized for the smoky conditions that just happened...yep, today.  She shared a picture of what the view of the mountains we couldn't see very well should look like without the gray, smoky haze.  Here's our view.

A gentleman who had just arrived from Jasper shared his disappointment in the lack of mountain views.  He said all he could see was water and some trees on his tour boat adventure.  Way too much smoke.  Needless to say, the adventure didn't live up to the expectations.

It really was a no brainer.  We decided it would be in our best interest to put in a longer day as we hit the road in the morning and see if we could get out of smoke range.  It just wasn't a healthy place to be.  And seeing as Jasper was smoky, it made sense to alter our route and stay on the Yellowhead Trail, Trans Hwy 16 and forgo Lake Louise.  Edmonton, Alberta here we come.

Hickory
....on the road again