Family and FunTime

We're having a great time with Ron's niece and family. We've been out for Chinese food and enjoyed playing cards.
This morning I went to the farmer's Market downtown and sampled Bannock Bread for the first time. It is made with flour, baking powder, salt and water. This woman is using her mother and grandmother's recipe and it was delicious. She just kneeded it together, made the middle thinner to cook faster and popped it into hot oil in 2 electric frying pans, for about 4 minutes on each side. This is an old staple in the Native Indian diet and customers were lined up to buy it.

Sightseeing

We had a great visit with Ron's niece Birget and Matt last night. While they were working today Ron and I went touring. We started at the University of Northern B.C. It was opened in 1994 and has diversified and re-energised the city. It's satellite campuses and outreach initiatives have made a landmark contribution to all of northern B.C.'s development. It is now building The Northern Sports Centre which will be a key facility for local resident as well as high level athletes training and performing in national and international competitions.
I looked through the Art Gallery and bought a small statue of a Kermodei Spirit Bear. These rare bears, unique to Northwest B.C., result when a black bear cub receives a recessive white coat gene from both parents. They are not found anywhere else in the world. They are half a pound when born and grown to 250 - 450 pounds as adults.

Prince George

We left Kitimat today and finally, camera in hand, we saw a black bear run across the road in front of us. It's moved very fast. That's a car approaching behind it so you can see how large it was, heading into the bush. From May to August when the berries are plentiful, the bears are there eating all they can. Later in the year, the bears are on the river banks, eating all the salmon they can catch. Fishermen have to give up their favorite spots when the bears come to fish. It’s evident that we are just on the edge of the wilderness here. When Gisela went for her walk this morning, she was halfway across the parking lot to her front door, when a large black bear stood up behind the garbage bin scavenging, trying to open the top. Needless to say, Gisela backed up carefully and headed across the street until it lumbered back into the bush. We saw another one by Vanderfoof, then a deer by the roadside. A great wildlife sighting day for me.
We arrived in Prince George at 5:40 and parked at Sintich RV Park for 3 days. This large P.G. man is at the crossroads of Highway 16 E/W which intersects with Hwy 97 N/S. The original one was 40' tall, made of spruce wood in 1960 for the P.N.E. float and was a symbol of the importance of the forest industry here. This one replaced the old one in 1983 and is fiberglass and sheet metal and painted to look like wood.
Thousands of years ago the Carrier Indians settled here where the Fraser and Nechako rivers attracted the wildlife that supported them. Alexander McKenzie canoed past here in 1793 and Simon Fraser stopped in 1807 and built Fort George in recognition of King George 3rd. The settlers started with fur trading in early 1800’s and Pacific Great Eastern Railway linked the community to southern markets in 1952. After that progress picked up with the lumber industry, 3 mills and Prince George becoming in the administrative hub for the north half of the province. Today, Prince George has a population of 85,000 and is recognized as B.C.'s northern capital even though it's near the geographical center. This guarantees it's importance to the region as as the transportation, commercial, service and cultural centre.

More Wild Life

We went to pick Gisela up and on the lawn beside her apartment were 2 deer munching away on the fir trees. We went to Terrace for lunch, picked up a tasty cheesecake and then played Golf, a card game with Gabby and Rene. A curious squirrel came to eat at the dollhouse feeder outside the window.

Forests and Natives

There is a large Native population in the Terrace area. This totem pole is set in a downtown shopping plaza. There is a Native Center and carving shed located at town founder, George Little's original homestead now moved downtown by the railway.
On the highway between Terrace and Kitimat, the original logging has all been reforested. This shows a 31 year growth of the new trees.

July 2nd

Another holiday today. We caught the shuttle bus with Watsons and went to Minette Bay, down by the Indian Village for Dragon Boat races. It is a very picturesque setting and fun to see. Sure looked like hard work. Next was a trip to hospital Beach where Watsons picked up a piece of driftwood which will become a decorative post in their front yard for their name sign.
This is where the Delta King was moored in 1953 and early construction crews lived. It got it's name because the first hospital was also here.
We passed the old Canadian National Railway station where Ron and his mother arrived Sept 11, 1957. Bridgit arrived with her family by boat in 1954. the road was pushed through in 1958. this railway station is no longer used and looks pretty sad and lonely.

Happy Canada Day

We woke to a lovely sunny day and all took our lawn chairs down to the curb of the campground and watched the parade. There were many floats, even one of the high school with some friends on it. The parade finished at Riverlodge, the recreation center, where there were many International food vendors, very representative of the varied nationalities of people who immigrated to Kitimat in the 1950's. Then we congregated at the Legion where all the school reunion people of the 50s, 60s and 70s gathered. Everyone had a great time.
We sat around a campfire, roasted wieners and watched the fireworks at 11 p.m. It wasn't dark enough before that.