Road Trip Day 5: Hello Alberta

It was a nice morning since I woke up after a much needed sleep!  This is the first hotel that actually has a breakfast so no hurry to get on the road.  Since we were too tired to snap the end/begin sign of the ALCAN that is first on the list today.

All done with the ALCAN . . .

. . . do I look excited?  Not sure why as we still have over 1,000 miles to travel until our final destination later this week.  We then walked a few blocks to the original sign of the start of the original ALCAN.  I figured there wouldn't be many people up and out on a Sunday morning.  Well . . . was I wrong!  There was a huge antique/classic car show in town and there are tons of people everywhere.  Oh well . . .

I was getting annoyed that I could not get a photo without some person wandering around and then this guy cruised into my frame . . .

.  . . pretty cool.  After a few snaps, we headed to the Alaska Highway House . . . great museum about the history of the ALCAN and the hour long introduction film (a PBS American Experience show) is a must see.  This would have been a great first stop if doing the traditional drive.

This is the equipment that was used to build the ALCAN . . .

. . . it still amazes me that this road was built in less than a year.  Truly an amazing task back in the 40s and under the harsh winter conditions in this part of the world; I can not imagine.  It was back on the road . . . Country Roads . . . oh you know that John Denver song . . . and now it is stuck in my head .  It seems each day we are getting closer to larger populated areas with urban sprawl.  I really do prefer and enjoy the beautiful farm land in Canada though . . .

. . . we were driving Route 43 which is mainly farm land with fields of yellow flowers.  I thought they were mustard plants but seem that they might be canola flowers . . .the fields are so pretty and as far as the eye can see!  We also passed under the Rochfort Bridge Trestle which is the 2nd longest wooden railway trestle in the world.

The close up is pretty cool . . .

It was an easy day and the hotel tonight is fabulous . . . DoubleTree Edmonton . . . the warm chocolate chip cookies was amazing, and when they told me I got a room upgrade; I might have squealed just a little bit.  View from the living room of hotel room . . .

. . . oh and that welcome fruit plate had me all giddy too!

Sadly I am starting to realize the ROAD TRIP will be ending soon.

Miles traveled today:  397 miles
Total trip miles:  1,994 miles