The water front in Prince Rupert. Several of the usual gift, clothing shops and eateries waiting for the cruise ships to come in on their way to Alaska. I read that 150,000 passengers arrive there every year. That is a lot for a town of 14,000.
Local fishing boats in the Prince Rupert Harbour. We found no fish to buy though. We were later told that all the fish goes to the canneries in Vancouver. Nice place to eat overlooking the harbour
The drive from Stewart to Prince Rupert was over two days. Day one we finished the drive south on the Cassiar highway. It was all newly paved. After all the stories we had heard and the written word on the net, even the AAA new maps show 260 km of gravel roads. This was far from the truth as it was one of the best roads of the entire trip. We are so glad we decided to take that route. In retrospect it was a good thing that they messed up the sat phone delivery, as we certainly would not have needed it. $200 saved!!
We stayed in a very nice park in Terrace on the Yellow Head highway. In the middle of nowhere, Terrace is a main hub for shopping in and out of Prince Rupert. There was a huge rail yard filled with trains loaded with hundreds of shipping containers. Many obviously from China destined for all over Canada ond US.
The highway to Prince Rupert followed the wide Skeena River for 100km. On a beautiful sunny day we cruised along loving every km. Well almost: the speed limit was 100kph, 60mph, and just two lanes which stayed with the river as it turned and twisted on it's way the the Pacific. On one nice straight stretch, we were doing our usual 90kph when I saw two double trailer transport trucks bearing down on us in the rear view mirror. Having a clear road ahead the first one pulled out and flew by us. I had slowed to about 85, far down the road I saw lights of an oncoming vehicle. To my utter shock the second truck was also passing us. The car approaching us was too close. I had slowed again, but to avoid a head on collision, the truck swung to the right and as he did the back of his second trailer clipped our mrror and folded it forward. No it is not designed to fold forward, just backward.
We had no idea what company the truck was, but Bev had the name off the plastic wrapped lumber he was carrying. I tried to catch up to get a plate number, but at 110kph, go Ram, they were long gone. I quickly realised my folly. Soon after, we pulled off at one of the many beautiful rest areas beside the river with the snow capped mountains beyond the south shore.
I looked at the front of the truck and there were no marks. The mirror had suffered damage. We were shaken, but so very thankful that we were not knocked off the road. When we were in Prince Rupert I reported the incident to the RCMP, but without a plate number probably nothing will come of it.
We were three nights in PR so had 2 1/2 days to explore the area. We drove out to Port Edward, about 12km to see what was there. We discovered an old Salmon cannery, now open for visitors to tour. It had opened in 1880 and closed down in 1940, as did almost all the others along the rugged north coast. There was a raised boardwalk out over the water running parallel to the shore. Along the left side of the board walk, also raised on poles above the water, were the little homes that had been the employees homes. I think they were built like that due to the solid rock on shore. When a young woman came along to take us for a tour, we said that would be nice, but we needed to eat lunch, it was getting late. She said, "Oh you can go and have lunch in the mess hall, they serve lunch and it is all home made". Inside was the way it had been in the early years complete with the long benches and tables. Big windows allowed a wondeful view across the water to the mountains beyond. The Salmon chowder, salmon cakes and salmon biscuits were all as delicious as we had been told they would be. We chatted with two women from Alberta and an elderly couple from Arizona who were waiting for the ferry to Alaska. We could have just sat in the trailer, but we prefer to get out and explore each area we go to. It is amazing what you find when you venture out.
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