BC

Last night we stayed in a campground in Watson Lake BC. Well, campground is too kind a word. It was really a dirt parking lot with electric outlets and water. But, it was cheap and run by a Scot so B and I had a good time chatting with him. He made a real effort to make all his guests feel at home and welcome. Not just us but everyone. The bathrooms/showers were spotless, had plants and music so it was a very nice time. Watson Lake is famous for the sign forest - an area of wooden posts upon which people have placed signs for the last 60 years or so. Some are street signs, some town signs, some homemade signs with names and dates. There must be thousands of them! quite a site. Some photos follow. Down side to Watson lake is 2 ice cream bars (ok they were Dove bars) cost $12!
We left Watson Lake last night and headed north on the Alaskan Highway - a dream road! Wide, paved, scenic and virtually no traffic. One sees another vehicle perhaps every 15 - 30 minutes. The speed limit is 62 but 70 is easy to do. We drove the 320 or so miles to Whitehorse with no problem. Whitehorse is the first 'real' town we've seen since we entered Canada. It has about 15,000 people so it also has most stores and things one is used to. Other 'towns' we've stopped in have ranged from a few hundred to perhaps 2000.
That reminds me - we didn't have breakfast in Hyder there other day because there is no place for breakfast in Hyder. There are 2 Cafes listed there but the town is barely more than a couple of blocks of old beat up houses. It bills itself as the "Friendliest Ghost Town in the Alaska". Funny story - we drove into town down the main street (the way into town) from Stwart BC, made the approximately 4 minute drive around the 'town', spoke with 1 person (the only person we saw alive at 9 am - the general store is open 12-5) and drove out only to be stopped by the Canadian Customs. Now, there is no way one could possibly drive into town without being seen by the customs so we thought it funny they stopped us on the way out. Not only did they stop us but he went through the entire "Where are you from? Why are you coming into Canada? Do you have any fireams? etc. It was actually very funny.