Woke up to a smoky sunrise, muffins & coffee which included a conversation with a sparkly shod clown from Florida. Ya gotta love breakfast at the Super 8!

Cariboo cowboy country leads you to the heart, Prince George, before heading west towards Smithers, our stop for the night.

We hit Prince George before the tourist info was open. Stopped long enough to say “Hi” to Colleen’s other friend Mary … took a picture of a rusting iron ‘log’ man then hit the road again.

At Vanderhoof we stocked up on tourist info pamphlets and food for lunch. Yeahhhhh…. Cheesies…. Now I’m really on holiday!

Ate a nice picnic on the sandy shore of Fraser Lake where the ambience included watching a train of ants (20+ marching ants wide). The train actually wore a path in the grass and ended up at the lake. They weren’t committing mass suicide as just as many ants were coming as going. Never did take the time to figure it out. The cheesies were much more important!

Between Fraser Lake and Smithers there are rolling hay fields dotted with rolls of (what else?) hay! Green valleys and hills give way to the distant glaciers of the Babine Mountains. All through the Bulkley Valley we found vistas that took our breath away. Even with all that we were not prepared for Smithers. Ski hills, glaciers, parks and history. It is a clean mountain town with a lot of character. To continue on our theme of fires I had to mention that we stayed next to the Volunteer Fire Department of Smithers where they just happened to be having an open house. The Department has been running for over 100 years and has 42 members, many of whom are family. The young man, Kevin, who showed us around proudly showed us a picture of his father as a young fireman. He is hoping that his son will join him one day.

The Stork’s Nest Inn on Main Street was our stop for the night. Clean and friendly it is run like a hostel where the doors are locked at midnight and everyone should be quietly tucked in for the night. Luv it!