Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

Good morning, my friends. It's our last morning in Canada. We'll cross the border into Washington state toward the end of today's drive. We'll spend one more night in Mt. Vernon, Washington, and then we'll make the last leg of the journey toward home tomorrow. We're all pretty well ready to be off the road.

So, let's back up to our drive from Quesnel to Ashcroft yesterday. Before I go on, I want to address a couple of things I said in yesterday's post. For one thing, the air-conditioning in the truck is not working. Bummer. When we started the truck yesterday morning...nothing. Our drive was several hours yesterday. We noticed when we slowed down and were traveling downhill, it would come on for a few minutes, but then shut down again. Needless to say, it was a warm drive. 

Also, regarding the big bird's nest I showed you yesterday...

I was able to see the bird when we drove off yesterday morning. It was definitely an eagle. I regret that I didn't get a picture of it. Just for grins, I'll include this picture of the eagles we saw in Homer.

I could see its white head and dark brown body. Some of you guessed osprey, and that would have been my second choice too. We often see osprey when we're boating on the Willamette River, and those of you who noted they like rivers and lakes are correct. Nevertheless, this big bird was an eagle.

Okay, so moving on down the road...you might also remember when we drove through Quesnel on our way north. It was raining that day, and I wasn't able to get a very good picture of the historic Fraser River Footbridge. We were driving on the opposite side of the river yesterday, and we got a good look at it.

It was built in 1929, and is considered the longest wooden truss bridge in the world. The Google tells me that truss bridges were once very common in many areas of British Columbia. They were mostly built between 1920 and 1950. The defining character of a truss bridge is the vast number of timbers vertically arranged in a triangular pattern. The vertical beams are placed under tension where they meet to create a force able to hold considerable weight. Wooden trusses used local supplies and required less monetary investment even though they were more costly to maintain. 

Prior to its completion, travel across the Fraser River was made by cable ferry. The Fraser River Walking Bridge was the first bridge to span the Fraser River in Quesnel and remained the only bridge until 1971. The bridge was open to single-lane traffic that included automobiles, semi-tractor trailers, livestock, and pedestrians. Vehicles did not have a speed restriction, however horses were not to exceed walking pace. 

Leaving Quesnel, we saw a lot of barns on yesterday's drive.

The first town of note we passed through was Alexandria, and the adjacent Fort Alexandria. Historic Fort Alexandria is marked with a monument.

Alexandria and Fort Alexandria are contained in a general area encompassing a trading post, ferry site, and steamboat landing in the North Cariboo region of central British Columbia. The name honors Alexander Mackenzie, who in 1793 on his Peace River to Pacific Ocean expedition was the first European to visit the Alexandria First Nation village. 

Moving on, we saw more barns.

Here's a large enterprise.

The next town of note was McLeese Lake.

There's the lake.

The town is named for Robert McLeese, a pioneer storekeeper, hotelier and steamboat owner and also a politician. McLeese Lake is home to the Gibraltar Mine, Canada's second-largest open pit copper mine, which is located approximately 10 km north of town. In addition to copper, the Gibraltar Mine also mines molybdenum. 

Just down the road from McLeese Lake was Soda Creek. I'm using its English name since the First Nations name is unpronounceable. 

Soda Creek is a rural subdivision located on the east bank of the Fraser River. It was originally the home of the Xat'sull First Nation. Xat'sull means "on the cliff where the bubbling water comes out." European settlement of the area began in the 1860s with the onset of the Cariboo Gold Rush and the building of the Old Cariboo Road. The Old Cariboo Road was completed to Soda Creek in 1863. 

The roadbuilder for that section was Gustavus Blin Wright. While Wright was overseeing the construction of the road he was also arranging with his associates for the building of a sternwheeler steamer that could take travelers to Quesnel. The Fraser River was not considered navigable by sternwheeler due to many hazardous rapids and canyons. However, from Soda Creek to Quesnel, the Fraser was relatively free of obstructions, making Soda Creek the logical terminus for sternwheelers on the upper Fraser River.

From there, we saw a few more barns.

And we passed through Williams Lake. 

Here's the lake.

I wrote about Williams Lake when we passed through here the first time. You can see more about its history right here. You can also read more about the next town we passed through, 150 Mile House. This time around I was able to capture this image of the historic Little Red Schoolhouse. And, I'm sorry. This is a terrible picture. I was dealing with reflections on our windshield.

I found a better image online.

(Image credit: https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/image-image.aspx?id=18749#i1)

The 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse is valued as the oldest functional school building in School District #27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin). It was constructed in the fall and winter of 1895-1896 beside the original Cariboo Wagon Road, when 150 Mile House was the hub of commerce, transportation, and governance for the large Cariboo-Chilcotin region of British Columbia. The building is one of only seven historic buildings remaining in the once-important 150 Mile House townsite.

Moving on, we passed Lac La Hache. I wrote about this when we passed through the first time. If you want to know more, check out this old post right here. Lac La Hache is the longest river in the Cariboo District of British Columbia.

And we passed by more crumbling structures.

I barely caught a picture of this wooden church north of Cache Creek.

Doing some internet sleuthing, I figured out that this is St. Aidan's of Pokeist, a small Anglican church located beneath a slope on the east side of the Thompson River canyon. It was built around 1880-81. While the church is no longer in use and shows signs of disrepair on the exterior, its interior furnishings remain intact. I found a better picture of it online.

We were nearing our final destination by then.

Here, we crossed over the Thompson River.

And very soon, we were set up in our campsite right alongside its banks.

While Mike was getting things set up outside, Sadie waited impatiently for her catio.

And no wonder. The cat was ‘zhausted.

I’m glad she feels safe enough to sleep when she’s out there. It was warm outside, and so it was good napping weather.

It was a very warm afternoon. We got outside for a walk after dinner. We’re seeing some smoke from wildfires in this area. I believe the smoke is coming from the wildfire burning near Lytton, which we’ll pass by today. No road closures are reported on the DrivingBC app. In any case, the sun was dark red in color while we were out.

It was reflecting on the river.

We believe the park is city (or village) owned. This mosaic was displayed at the far end of the park. It appears to be stained glass done in a mosaic style.

This was the accompanying plaque. Cool, huh?

Okay, so I'm writing fast this morning. We'll cross the border into the good old USA this afternoon. Since we're traveling without the luxury of air-conditioning, we want to get an early start. Mt. Vernon, Washington, is next. See you on the other side...and by other side, I'm talking the other side of the border. Please have your passports ready.