Sorry for not being around for a few weeks. But we have been busy and are gearing up for the road once again. Every summer we pick up and head to explore Canada. We have been building a passionate relationship with the country since 1995. Our road trip this summer takes us east as we are eager to research the Atlantic provinces.
For the past few months we have been working on the Northwest Territory website (www.NWTeh.com) . Again with the flashbacks as we paste, write, edit and move forward compiling our notes and photos of the NWT. It is like visiting all over again. The laughs and the excitement.
When we first arrived in the NWT on this visit we took the Liard Highway from the British Columbia side. Just so you know most explore the NWT arriving from the Alberta side – the paved highway side. But since when do we follow the herd in anything we do – we wanted to travel the less used route.
The Liard Highway is beautiful, pure wilderness and a gravel highway. Not just any gravel highway but one with big pot holes and rib rattlers. Plus we arrived during and after a rain and hail storm. Wahoo.. Let the adventure begin! Nature was throwing it all at us.
So we slogged, slid and bumped our way along the Liard Highway. Mud was flying five feet in the air. The “FROG Travel PODS” were doing the shimmy – dancing all over the road. Pot holes were filled with water and were very well hidden. Both Bro and I, on more than one occasion took one for the team as the pods and jeeps got some air time.
Reaching Fort Liard ( a small community on the corner of the Liard and Petitot Rivers.) was a blessing in disguise as fuel was low and our rumps were sore. Plus stretching the legs is always a good thing to do on road trips as we still had hundreds of kilometres to go.
we stayed for a few and did some reaching around Fort Liard and then we gased up again and jumped right back in the saddle. Hit the road Jack we did – sloshing, swishing, sliding and crunching the whole way. We were like kids in a mud paddle. Cannot say the same for the oncoming vehicles which roarded by washing up waves of flying mud hitting our windhhields with a “thunk”.
By the time we reached Checkpoint ( a major rest stop at the junction of the Liard Hwy and Hwy #1) Bro noticed under inches of dripping mud that Moi had suffered a casualty.. My trailer was limping, I had a NWT flat tire… It was so muddy I did not even notice until we stopped at Checkpoint.
Well.. we laughed and limped to the side of the highway. We hummed and hawed realizing the next gas station was in Fort Simpson. A 59 kilometre drive and a ferry ride crossing the Mackenzie River. The decision was made – I set up some pylons and flicked on the flashers and pulled out a good book well Bro head into town to do some swift talking for a spare tire.
In case you have not figured it out yet.. The spare on the trailer was also damaged from a previous adventure and not yet repaired… not smooth on my part.. Oh well.. you learn eh!