Day 55 – July 30, 2001 – We had a farewell breakfast with Ken and Joyce and they left us to drive east. The rest of us, four cars and six people, started out for Grande Prairie, Alberta. The Alaska Highway was a lot busier on a Monday morning and the road was narrow and steep. We pulled off whenever possible to let other cars around us but we were still holding up the line a lot. After passing through some road construction, we noticed a side road leading to a stretch of the Old Alaska Highway and what the sign described as a “curved bridge”. We decided to check it out and discovered a wonderful old wooden bridge, the last remaining wooden bridge of the original road construction still in use. The bridge curved high over the river banked like a race track and we were able to position the cars and take lots of photos since there was virtually no traffic on this side road.

We arrived in Dawson Creek around noon and met with several Model T people there at the monument marking the Mile 0 point of the Alcan Highway. A special thanks to Bob Heath and Ed Armitage. They provided us with additional parts to replace some we were out of and, after a downpour, we set on out for Grande Prairie. We had had discussions months ago with Jenny Didur from the Super 8 in Grande Prairie that she would like to have an event in our honor the night we were there. However, Jenny had left the motel and I hadn’t been able to talk with her or get a confirmation that something had actually been planned. About 30 miles out from town, we stopped at a little store and a man came up and said that he had been hearing all day about us being in a parade that night! We drove as fast as we could to get to Grande Prairie and, when we drove in, about 20 classic cars and their drivers were waiting for us. We were interviewed by the local paper and the Edmonton TV station and drove in an impromptu parade with their cars and drivers. The hamburger cookout benefited the local museum and we were delighted at the number of people that came out to see the cars. Even with only four cars, the fact that we had driven all the way to Alaska and back was pretty intriguing. What a nice group of people! We were pleased to help with the development fund for their museum. Unfortunately, we were too busy eating and talking to get photographs so I hope they send us some.

730a – The Kiskatinaw River Bridge, built in 1942, is the only remaining wooden bridge built during the construction of the Alcan Highway that is still in service (although the road is not heavily traveled. It was a wonderful bridge, with wooden support beams and a wooden deck. Even the boards on the deck were curved, smooth as a table after all these years. If you look closely, you can see Model T’s on that bridge.

730b – A closer view of the bridge. Look at the supports. Look at the height above the water. It was totally silent except for the wind and the water. I imagine that more than one Model T passed over this bridge in its day. We were glad we had taken the time off the busy road to stop and, when we reconnected with the Highway, we were past the worst of the traffic.

730c – One more of the climbs. You can see the road winding out behind Ben.

730d – The Mile 0 milepost actually is a post in the middle of the street. Unfortunately, cars are passing it constantly since it is on a major downtown street so we couldn’t line up the cars and take a celebration picture. We drove all 1523 miles of the highway and we bought the t-shirt.

730e – As we approached Grande Prairie, we drove past fields full of something yellow. We didn’t find out until the next morning that it was canola, that canola oil comes from. They produce a lot of it here.