chickadoodle: Trip Reflections Part Two

The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast and packed up and headed North to Prince George. After all these years, I still knew how to drive straight to my Aunt's house who lives in the same place she has since I was 5 or 6. And she keeps things in the same place, too. She doesn't like to change. So that was fun to still find the phone book in the same place after almost 40 years! There were a few changes, though and I made sure she knew I noticed! Auntie Heather was leaving the next day for Nanaimo so after lunch and some visiting, I took my kids on somewhat of a PG retrospective while she packed. I mean in grade 1 in PG, I went to 3 different schools. We moved ALOT! It would have taken a week to show them everything. So we did the highlights. First stop was 910 Gillette where Laura was born and then I zipped around the corner to find my childhood friend's parents in the house I left them in 25 years ago. We stopped and visited for about an hour and a half and was well hugged and reminded of how well loved I have been in my life. They were my home away from home. Even when we lived in Terrace, when I came into town, I was dropped off there on our way into PG.

Then it was over to Fir Street and Miller Addition and Fort George Park. Rhiannon sat in the old fire engine in the driver seat where me and my brothers sat before her. And we walked along the edge of the mighty Fraser which was looking rather lovely that evening, I will have to admit. Rhiannon and Dean went down to a little beach and Rhiannon put her hands in the Fraser and collected some river rocks. Kaetlyn took some great pics but she hasn't downloaded them yet. All that was left of the old fort was one tower.

After a swing buy the church I helped to build, we were back at my Aunt's for a BBQ with my cousin Bonnie and her husband, Mike. There were hamburgers and chips and some Portuguese golf and then it started to rain. And it rained and poured and we were snug inside my Aunt's house. After dinner, there was a very golden, dramatic sunset complete with 2 full rainbows. I drove them out to our house off of North Kelly - the last place we lived in PG when I was 17 - the house I left home from. And I talked about Jordan's dog, Cooter who was my walking companion and drove where I used to walk - up to Ferguson Lake which is now a preserve. And the sunset was spectacular and they really got to see PG at its best!

The next morning we packed up. Uncle Dennis improved on my packing system by strapping the food box and a cooler to the roof in true Uncle Dennis fashion, and admonished me not to go faster than 70 miles an hour with that stuff on top. Then we headed Northwest to Lake Tyhee in Telkwa just beside Smithers. We stopped in Houston for the traditional ice cream at the Husky station only to find it boarded up... How could they do that in the 9 years since the last time I was there?! We arrived by 3pm and had all our tents set up in record time so we could make K'San before it closed. In my memory, Hazelton was a mere 5 minutes away from Smithers. Turns out it is an hour drive...

K'San was great. It was raining when we got there and the weather was very moody and dramatic. Here is Stekyaden whose peak dominates the Hazeltons and K'San. And here is the Bulkley River has it flows the last few kilometres before flowing into the Skeena.