Trip Report -- WA to Northern BC and Back

After a rainy night we caught a break in the weather and snuck back into town for an early morning stroll through time.

However, I had a specific destination in mind for the day and we headed west back to Quesnel and then north to Prince George and again, west heading to Vanderhoof.


Way back in September of 1967 when I was just two my family (2 older sisters and mom and dad) headed to Vanderhoof BC for work and to homestead a piece of land. I had connected via FB with the son of the man who helped my dad 'clear' the land back in 68 and he was going to take us back out there, where apparently no one had lived since! It was all grown back but we hoped to find the cabin site at least.


First though, we headed north the 38 miles to Fort St James for lunch and a quick drive around town as I'd gone to grade 1 there and wanted to see the town one last time. Not much to see there and sadly, the town is dying due to a mill shut down but that's often the case in forestry towns these days. So it was back to Vanderhoof and an adventure!

You can see the adventure here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrenTI58LGw

It isn't the best video and you may have to stop to read some of it (I'll fix that soon) but you get to see how 'wild' as my dad puts it, the land is today!

Part two is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewJj9kk1m9o

It's better than part one I think and shows some stills.


That's our old well that dad always said "we had running water, as long as you were doing this!" and would make a well pumping motion with his arm. This is because they built the kitchen right over the well!


Not much is left of the homestead but there is some left anyway and we did find more artifacts (seen in the videos). We hope to go back and collect some next time but were on a mission to Chetwynd for a wedding so time was very limitted.


That nail, however, makes it pretty clear there was a cabin here to me!


With the days adventure over, a wonderful dinner finished with great company, we retired to our home on wheels in the best most scenic campsite yet! I love being able to park and camp anywhere!


Our friends, of decades past, were gracious and offered to host us again next year when we have more time to explore! They also wanted us to get the land back too :) My wife described the visit as if they were family and we'd just reconnected. But that's central BC in the bush!


We headed north (and I'll have to post those pics soon) to meet up with my son in Chetwynd and help he and his fiance get ready for the big day! We stayed in a cramped RV park in town but it was convenient for us and kept us close to the activities and of course, had hookups which was nice considering the time spent away from the camper.


Due to the rain while there (after day one or two) we spent a fair bit of time inside though! At one point 7 of us in the camper! Yup, we had fun!

More to come...

Moderator fixed video links.