at 20:04 pacific daylight time, i entered british columbia. i've driven through every province - well there is that gap between georgian bay and the manitoba border - and have done so in the 1996 saturn that was my father-in-law's. wish it could have been a better day for it.
as this wander has progressed i have been amazed at the distance i have travelled but also a bit nervous on how much more there is. when i think that i am north i am really central. for some reason i kept ignoring alberta thinking that leaving saskatchewan i'd be in british columbia.
it would only be sometime to-day that i would be half way through the outward bound part of this wander. i look at my atlas - yes atlas i cannot make notes on google maps - and see that i have done nothing. i head out early - free breakfast at the motel - which i need dealing with my deflated dollars. get back on the yellowhead highway and...drive.
it was horrible after yesterday where i was trying my best not to stop heading through these barely populated towns, to-day i might as well have been on the new york throughway. speed limit 110 clicks, enough space between the east and west bound traffic that in some places there were actual buildings, one municipality had their cemetery between the two carriageways. like in the states everything was off the road obscured from view. conducive for making time.
this was exactly what i didn't want as i was entering the out and back part of the wander. i would be returning this way so that i could make snaps on the way back if i happened to miss them now. there was nothing to miss.
stopped in the battlefords for my double double - knew that i was on the way to alberta as the group in front of me all had cowboy hats. passed a newfoundlander or labradorian just outside of town. the yellowhead actually went through town so i did have to slow and in doing so stopped twice to make snaps. will do so on the way back. hotels motels, a town centre. outside of town there was a pictogram for a ferry. again a mental note was made as it was somewhat off the highway and the road had me numbly driving toward the border.
another disappointing border, there it was in lloydminster, behind the red light camera at an intersection separating three strip malls - a sign delineating the border.
the problem with this type of super highway is when it does decide to go through town, i become impatient. my mind has been deadened by the non driving aspect of motorways even ones that keep you on your toes with cross roads when one is travelling at 130 - between saskatoon and edmonton i saw no police. then for some reason it is decided to not bypass a larger town but to make sure one slows down to 50 clicks, place a stop light every intersection and warn of not only red light cameras but speed cameras.
in truth i preferred the perfect flatness of western manitoba and eastern saskatchewan to the tastefully rolling hills of alberta. they seemed non-committal either be flat or have mountains. this part of central alberta couldn't seem to decide.
valley view and grande prairie were the generic midsized cities that one pokes fun at. no centre.everything along the highway and the same cluster of shops that i joked was missing when was north of the 49th - the futuresohopwinnerszellerssobeysbostonpizzastapleswalmarthomedepot centre.
saw my last newfoundlander or labradorian in beaver lodge.
british columbia came up as a surprise all of a sudden i was on route 2 instead of 43. pouce coupe seemed to be a bad pun on pouch cove but there was an interesting restaurant that looked like it served south asian food but by now i was making time and dawson creek was just up the road.
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