Canadians and Alaskans love to make the most of spring.

Today was one of those days where not really much of note happened. We drove from Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek, 450 km, on a wide highway that was reasonably flat with no soaring mountains or massive rivers to wonder at. Luckily we had a few spare hours to check out some quilt shops.

Coffee and rest stops are few and far between, about 180 km today, so they are very welcome. We started a bit late so the Shepherd’s Inn for lunch was very welcome. The only problem was they forgot about four vital ingredients of Collette’s Cesar salad. They remembered the lettuce and croutons though.

Eventually made it to Fort St John which had a quilt shop out in the sticks. We doggedly chased it down to find a treasure of a shop that Nicky will dream about for the next 20 years.

The unexpected treasure in the sticks. Turns out she also owns the quilt shop in Prince Rupert which we visited.

Just outside of town we passed this new pipeline suspension bridge. It is part of the $2.4B extension to the gas pipeline being constructed in western Canada. When completed the pipeline will deliver 10,000 cubic metres per day.

Closer to Dawson Creek the old Alaska Highway winds its way through the hills. The Highway has been straightened a fair bit since its original construction. On the old road is a beautiful timber bridge which is a masterpiece of timber engineering for 1942.

The curve of the bridge is very unique and adds greatly to the complexity of the engineering.

Then Dawson Creek and the second quilt shop of the day.

Dawson Creek is a large town or small city that seems to be the hub for a very large district. Its main claim to fame is that it is ‘Mile 0’ for the Alaska Highway as this is where the building job started in 1942 and finished 9 months later.

The road is 1523 miles (2,451 km) long, cost $140,000,000 to build, and employed 11,000 troops and 16,000 civilians. We can now say we have driven the entire Alaskan Highway from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks.

There isn’t a lot to do in Dawson Creek. It is a winter city with lots of snow and very cold days. Although now a modern city it still bears some of the signs of its heritage.

Old railway station, now a museum.

Tomorrow is Nicky’s birthday so we are going to let her sleep in for an extra 10 minutes, then hit the road for Jasper.