Well lots of stuff happened today. We left Fort Nelson for Watson Lake, which was just over a 300 mile drive. Unfortunately we left about the same time as several from a Caravan group. That added several rigs to the road and made for some slow travel for awhile as some folks can't maintain an even speed. I considered fueling up before I left Fort Nelson, but I still had just under 3/4 of a tank, and felt pretty confident that I could gas up when I needed it (more on that later.)
Most of the road was pretty good except for a a few long stretches of dirt and gravel (more on that in a minute too). There was some stretches that were just patches cut out that were a few car lengths long, but two stretches were very long. One was 10 miles of dirt and gravel and the other was about 15 miles long. There was not a lot of traffic fortunately, but we did pass a few large trucks that were hauling butt. I moved over and slowed down, but it didn't make a whole lot of difference. We still got sprayed with dirt and gravel.
After a while the Caravan pulled off as they were going to Laird Hot Springs. Traffic picked up and we moved along a little better. This part of the road was much more hilly with steep inclines and declines, and I observed that I was not going to get the same MPG that I had been getting on the flatter routes. One thing that really increased was the wild life sightings. Several road signs advise to be aware of animals on the road, specifically bear, bison, moose, and wild horses. Up to today we had seen a total of 2 black bears since entering Canada. Today though past Laird Hot Springs we sat a total of 8 bear, 2 of which was a mother and her cub, and two heard of Bison, totaling nearly 75 in all. Plus several pairs of Bison grazing along the highway.
As I drove I kept an eye out for fuel stops. The fuel gauge was dropping pretty steady and I had over 400 miles on this tank already. I saw a sign advertising a lodge with a restaruant and fuel pumps called Northern Rockies Lodge. It was a pretty decent looking place so I pulled in and went to the pumps. One truck and TT had just pulled out and another was fueling as we pulled up. I had Diane jump out and check the price on the pump as no signs displaying prices were displayed anywhere. She came back and told me that the price for diesel was $1.99 a liter! That comes out to $7.53 a gallon! I decided to drive on. About 30 miles later I came upon another fuel stop and they likewise were selling fuel for $1.98 a liter, and they were sold out of diesel! Watson Lake was still about 75 miles down the road and I knew I could make it if I had to, but it would be closer than I like to be.
HOT TIP! Fortunately I came upon a place called "Contact Creek" about 30 miles before Watson Lake. They actually had signs displaying their fuel prices. They were selling diesel for $1.38 a liter ($5.22 a gal). That still was pricey, but a whole heck of a lot better than $7.53. I filled up and took just over 63 gallons of diesel. It turned out that I paid about .07 per liter less than the best place in Watson Lake. So the hot tip is be full, or near full when you leave Fort Nelson, and wait until you get to Contact Creek to refuel. The ones that get hosed are the trucks and SUV's pulling 5vers and TT's because they usually don't have the fuel capacity to make it to Contact Creek. They wind up having to fuel at one of the earlier stops that are gauging the customers.
None of the RV's parks in Watson Lake get rave reviews, as they all are similar in features and ambiance. We picked the "Downtown RV Park" as it is right in the heart of downtown Watson Lake, and convenient to several of the things we need, and want to see in the area. The owner is a real hoot, and has quite a sense of humor. After parking in our piece of gravel, we started set up. Then we had our next surprise. Apparently when being passed by one of the big trucks flying by us in the long gravel stretches, one of them launched a rock and shattered the left rear window in the Jeep hardtop. It was a center hit and the whole window, while still intact, was completely shattered with the impact point starting to lose chips of glass. I scrounged up some cardboard and duct tape, and taped a piece of cardboard over both the outside and inside of the window. Now I have to research and try to find out how I can get the window repaired and where. Unfortunately I don't see anyway to replace just the window, as the windows in the hard top do not have any rubber seals around them that would allow them to be replace.
Oh well. Just another part of the adventure I guess.......