It is about a 1770 mile, four day trip to drive from Eau Claire, Wisconsin to Prince George, British Columbia. We made it a 3020 mile, eleven day trip. Going the less traveled route is our modus operandi. It gave us a chance to canoe a river in South Dakota, a state we had never canoed in before, find geocaches in counties where we do not have finds, find the oldest geocache in Alberta and do some sight-seeing. And most importantly, it gave us a chance to visit with old friends that we had not seen for a while. So let the travels begin!
Left home a little after noon with the goal of getting close to the James River in South Dakota to canoe it the next day.
Drove 407 miles from Eau Claire to Fisher Grove State Park, Frankfort, SD.
Geocached along the way with finds in 9 new counties in Minnesota and South Dakota
May 25
The James River is the western boundary of the park where we camped. Allowed us to sleep in.
Canoed 5.2 miles on the James River in the afternoon.
Drove 180 miles to campsite at Doyle Memorial Park, Wishek, ND.
Found geocaches in 3 new counties
May 26
Primary objective today was find the oldest geocache in North Dakota and then find a campsite relatively close to the Canadian border.
Found oldest geocache in North Dakota (Bismarck)
Visited Fort Mandan
Stopped at David Thompson Memorial on Souris River
Drove 303 miles to campground at Ward County Old Settlers Park, Burlington, ND
May 27
Today was a driving day...needed to cover some miles if we were to do all the things we wanted to do before arriving at Ft. St. James. But we did have time to stop a few times in
Estevan (Tim Hortons and a geocache in the rain)
Moose Jaw (gas and geocache)
Swift Current (Chinese dinner)
Drove 513 miles to McLaren Regional Park near Richmound, Saskatchewan
May 28
This was a "must see again" travel day featuring dinosaurs and resulted in a late arrival at the motel. The DQ next to it was shutting down as we drove up!
Dinosaur Provincial Park (hiked two trails and found a few geocaches)
Royal Terryl Museum of Paleontology…fantastic!!!!
Ate dinner in Drumheller
Stayed at a Super8 in Three Hills
And drove 306 miles
May 29
Two geocaches targeted for this trip were the two oldest caches in Canada. Today, we headed after the oldest geocache in Alberta, the second oldest in Canada.
Visited the Strathcona Wilderness Center.
Found GCA6: Strathcona Wilderness 1, Alberta's oldest geocache
Camped at Elk Island National Park arriving at 5:30
First time we arrived at our campsite/motel before nine.
Drove 174 miles today
May 30
A special day visiting with lifelong friends from the 2008 and 2011 David Thompson Brigades.
Spent the morning with Monroe and Ellen and went out for a delicious lunch in Sherwood Park
Got Sharon's air mattress replaced at MEC in Edmonton. Big kudos to MEC and Big Agnus employees to make this happen in a very timely manner
The evening was spent with Richard in Innisfail. Delicious supper cooked on the grill
Spent the night at Richard's
Drove 192 miles
May 31
Drove to Golden where severe storm warnings caused to stay at the Days Inn.
Checked out Blayberry River. It was running fast.
Unplanned motel stay allowed us to do laundry and use the Internet
Traveled 226 miles
June 1
Today was spent enjoying the area -- no push to get on down the road.
Swam before checking out of the motel
Geocached in Golden and the mountains south of there
Saw a bear eating along the road on our way back to the highway from geocaching
Camped along the Blayberry river where we got married
A relaxed and enjoyable 96 miles traveled
June 2
Took some time in the morning to enjoy this special place. It was then on the road...miles needed to be covered.
Visited Thompson Falls
Took pictures at our wedding site
Ate dinner in Kamloops
Camped at Green Lake Provincial
Cover 346 miles
June 3
Last day of travel to meet some of our Rendezvous Canada 150 team mates in Prince George.
Met Wayne, Marti, John and Odelia at Blue Cedar RV Park
Did some initial organization for the Amisk Lake Voyageurs Team
