A big turnaround

Fort St. John to Fort Nelson was horrible. Awful, miserable. Rainy and colder than the previous day. The highway was straight, trees clear cut 100 feet back from the road. However, pulling into Fort Nelson, things began to turn around. We stayed the night at The Old Fort Nelson hotel. It was the original hotel in the area (but had been renovated a couple of times!--we were assured by the Visitor's Center) Apparently, it was most recently done with a Tiki theme.

The view from our hotel room!

We went next door to the pub for drinks and met one local--Debbie (totally awesome barmaid), one trucker--Sean (who hauls anything you can load onto a flat bed...and a few things you shouldn't), and one gas line worker--Kyle (who Debbie called Skippy cuz he looked like he was twelve years old.) We had a great time chatting with them all, and eventually made our way back to the hotel before the Karaoke Night started. If you're in Fort Nelson, it's the thing to do on a Wednesday night.

The next day was THE BEST day of riding thus far. The road was AMAZING! Rolling hill twisties alongside a river and amazing wildlife viewing. We saw 11 bears, a handful of big horn sheep, a small herd of horses, a giant black draft horse, caribou, a bunch of porcupines, deer, several herds of bison, and two moose. We came around a bend in the road and Josh tells me there is something in the road. Sure enough, standing on the center line of the road was some four legged animal. As we slowed down to approach, Josh asked what the hell it was. I said I thought it was a caribou, but he thought it was too small. Then it hit me--baby moose!!! He was all leg and awkwardness. As we watched from about 30 feet away, he reared up on his back legs, tossed his head, and ran to the side of the road in that funny run that moose do. He was so cute! This was the best wildlife experience I have ever had, and quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. I expect puppies and kittens to do cute things, but I don't really think about baby moose doing silly baby animal things. He was so cute. Josh tried to get the camera out to take a picture, but as soon as he saw the camera, he headed for the brush. I really wanted to take him home, and I've already named him Mr. Precious Poomaker. I need to find out if we are zoned for moose.

We ended the drive at the Watson Lake visitors center. This place was a riot for two reasons. One: The Signpost Forest. Two: Button. Below are pics of the Signpost Forest. There are more than 74,000 signs here, all started by a tourist from Danville, Il. We forgot to bring one with us, but I'm not sure there would have been any place to put one! Then, there was Button. We really recommend visitors centers in this area of the world because of people like her. She was a RIOT!

Button: Oh, you should go here cuz I would marry this man. Tell him I sent you and he would say, "oh, my stalker! Here's my restraining order!" (pantomiming a huge sheaf of papers). Heh, heh, just kidding. No, I'm not...

Josh: I don't think she's kidding...

Louise: I don't think she is either...

But really, she was fun to talk to and terrifically informative. Thanks Button!