Where do I start?!

Alright, so it's Wednesday which means I've been absent for a couple days. You just can't expect internet everywhere in this desolate land- nor should we want to! Well, a whole lot has happened in these last two days. We have covered around 900 miles, seen herds of buffalo, a few caribou, some sheep, deer and a few horses, and are now in a little town called Chetwynd. Its a little larger than your average Canadian 'town.' We were very happy to come down the mountain into a sea of lights! I will get to that a little later... I should start with Tuesday. We left Whitehorse in hopes of stopping at Muncho Lake- suppose to be just gorgeous! We left Whitehorse later than we intended and hung out in the Sign Post Forest (see pic above) for just a little too long. That, and it gets dark, pitch black, up here in a hurry! Needless to say, we got to Muncho Lake when it was pitch black out- and wouldn't have even noticed it except for the fact that the road literally comes within feet of it with no guardrail (picture Mom freaking out!). So we ventured on in search or a more lit up place to call home for the night. That came at mile 422, aka Toad River Motel and RV Park. They boasted hot showers and nice spots by the River... I guess you could say we got a nice spot by the river, but the hot water... not so much. Woke up to snow this morning really looking forward to that hot shower! We hoofed it to the bathhouse for little more than an intense letdown. Mustered up the courage to wash my hair, but my head literally hurt from frigid water temp. We decided to hit the road- it was but 9am- were in great shape I thought. We had Moberley Lake in mind for our resting spot for Wed night. However, in looking through the Milepost, we decided there weren't many places to pull over for the night and either set up the tent or sleep in the car, so we decided upon Chetwynd. It was only a couple hours further meaning we wouldn't have to drive as far the next couple of days. We set out on Hwy 29, a scenic bypass of some sort (cuts out having to drive to Dawson Creek and back down). It started out beautifully. Mom took the wheel for the first time so I got to enjoy the scenery a bit more. I highly recommend this little cut-off. Scenes are well worth it. However, it turned ugly about a half-hour in. As yall probably know, Mom is a little tense on the road, so driving in blizzard conditions just isn't her cup of tea- whether driving herself of being a passenger. And within one hour of setting out on this road, the snow is failling. Huge flakes. Lots of flakes. And blowing straight at us. I took over driving and immediately upon stepping on the gas, getting up to about 45mph (sorry, 70kph), I felt like I was driving in place- stationary. It was the most bizarre thing. No problem I thought, just follow the yellow line and hope there's no more hairpin turns, as there had been many up to this point! That is until the road became completely covered. Thank goodness for 4 wheel drive. We plugged along up the mtn slowly but surely and eventually made it back down. We were going about 35 the whole way, just praying there wasn't a large animal serving as a roadblock (as there had been many of those up to this point as well!). This, my friends, is why we were so happy to see civilization! And foolish of us to think the trickiest part would be Steamboat Mtn just before Ft. Nelson!! That was a breeze, despite having to use 4 wheel drive there as well and seeing an 18 wheeler stuck on the side of the mountain, unable to make it any further. It was an eventful last couple of days- very memorable for mom I'm sure. Upon arriving in Chetwynd, we got coke floats which prompted mom to exclaim " I don't know why I'm even eating this crap. I never want to see any more white frozen stuff in my life!" We are safe in a motel tonight- the Pine Cone Motor Inn. Tomorrow we are heading to the Cache Creek area. No telling what the roads will be like, so we will play it by ear. I still love snow :)