Movin on & Heritage Day

Some of the equipment outside the museum

Yesterday we took in some of the Heritage Day fun at Muskoseepi park, just a short bike ride (or walk) south of the campground, along the excellent trail system.  There is a large playground and splashpad there with lots of green space to just run around.  Bear Creek runs from the reservoir and by following the walking path beside the creek, just south from the playground, we found the Heritage Museum. 

 We hadn’t originally planned to go in, but there were many Heritage Day activities happening, and entry only cost $10. The museum gallery has many static displays about the history of the

area, including all about the dinosaurs which roamed the region. There are many fossil finds in Northern Alberta, and I learned that approximately 30% of the collection at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller (which we've been to a few times) comes from the area. Construction is underway for a new dinosaur museum near Grande Prairie – the Phillip Currie museum (I think).  Sounds like a great idea to me! The Heritage museum also contains a variety of time period buildings and equipment outside, either moved original structures or rebuilt replicas. The one cottage on site was quite interesting as it was an exact replica, whose construction was overseen by the lady who grew up in the house. The door, however, was from the original house – nearly 100 years old. Wow. Downsizing into the trailer, we are now living in a much smaller space, but the pioneers lived in even less. And they made do just fine.

We all went on a brief wagon ride, watched a demonstration of how the settlers drilled wells with water & pipe, visited the petting zoo and had some freshly churned ice cream (yum!). Then we wandered our way back along the path to the campground.  Well, tried to.  Lily is quite the speed demon without her training wheels.  She went straight to the campsite, and after we caught up to her she got a bit of a talking to about safety and staying close to the rest of her family. 

We moved northwest from Grande Prairie today, but not before getting some of our needed errands done. After hitching up the trailer we headed south in town to the Eastlink Centre, which boasts a large indoor swimming area. We had a coupon, so decided to check it out.  Score! It had a fun play structure for the kids, a waterslide, tube slide, tube river (complete with rapids!), big dive tank, lane pool and a FlowRider where one can try out surfing or body boarding (for an extra fee). Everyone had a great fun time & Bob and Morgan tried out the FlowRider. We all found it rather hilarious to watch Bob try to surf (at his expense). Sadly he never did manage to stay upright for more than a couple seconds. 

After wearing ourselves (at least myself) out we began our drive towards the Alaska Highway. The road was good, and the kilometers passed by. To the north and south were some strong looking thunderstorms, but we managed to avoid any rain until we got to Dawson Creek. The Alaska Highway actually begins here, at Mile 0. We didn't stop, in part due to the rain and in part because of the hour.  The area is rich in history of how people settled the area and the massive construction feat that is the Alaska Highway.  We have been visiting smaller museums and displays throughout our journey north, and I think everyone had taken in enough history for a few days.  I think the short visits actually are more memorable though.

Shortly after we left Dawson Creek, the sky cleared and the rest of the drive was under sunny(ier) skies.  The country around here is beautiful.  It ranges from cropland that looks strikingly like central Alberta, where I grew up, to a seemingly endless sea of trees.  We decided to stop in Taylor for the night at Peace Island Park. Fort St. John is only 20 km away, so it’s not a bad place to make home base if we want to explore a bit around here. We’re starting to get the itch to get further north though.  I don’t want to rush through this part of our experience, but I also need to be in Whitehorse on Aug 21^st so I can fly back to Calgary for an orthodontist visit.  It’s 918 miles from Dawson Creek to there. Decisions, decisions…