What A Wonderful World - Wednesday, July 13, 2022

I see trees of green,

Canola blooms, too, 

Waterfalls

for me and you.

And I think to myself,

"What a wonderful world."

~ Respect to the great Louis Armstrong
(with altered lyrics for my blog by Susan Alton)

Canola field.

Canola fields and farms.

Thanks to the good advice of our friends from Travelers World, Jocelyne and Don Graham, whom we haven't seen for FIVE YEARS (until we met up with them in Calgary, AB, on this trip), we took AB 43 northwest to British Columbia. Upon crossing into the province of British Columbia, the highway name changed to BC 2 and we are now in the Pacific Time Zone. 

Our travel day was beautiful. In addition to the trees and canola blooms, we saw fields of green, forested foothills, large rivers, smaller creeks, one deer, and reindeer* farms. 

[*Note: According to multiple sources on the internet, reindeer and caribou are the same animals, Rangifer tarandus; however, in different parts of the world they are referred to differently. For example, farmed reindeer are considered domesticated in North America, while caribou are wild. In Europe and Asia, they are called reindeer. Another species, the North American moose (Alces alces), is called elk in most of Europe! ~Sources: FDA.gov and www.swnewsmedia.com.] Now you know. 

In Beaverlodge, Alberta, we stopped for a photo op with the giant beaver sculpture. The sun was shining on it from the wrong direction this morning but, oh, well.

The log under him looks like
it was chewed by a beaver.

The tail is a dead give-away that this
is, indeed, a beaver!

Check out those chompers!

Driving Provincial Highway AB 43 from Grande Prairie to British Columbia, the roadside warning sign let us know what to watch out for. I wouldn't want to hit any of these magnificent animals!

We did not do our homework about our route into Tumbler Ridge, BC. Because we thought BC 52 was gravel part of the way, we took a long way around through Chetwynd, BC, and then BC 29 south. It added an hour to our trip. Come to find out, BC 52 has two starting points off the route we were on. If we had taken BC 52 south after we headed west on BC 2 from Dawson Creek, we would have shaved an hour off our time. Sigh. Live and learn.

After setting up our 5th wheel at our campsite, we drove into town--Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark (TRUGG)--to get oriented at their beautiful Visitor Centre. The displays showcase the history of Tumbler Ridge from the first settlers through the coal-mining days, the discovery of dinosaur fossils and bones, wind power, and the beautiful scenery and geology that helped the area become the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark. On the front left side of the building is a chainsaw carving of two dinosaurs fighting from the District of Chetwynd.

Carving of two dinosaurs
from the District of Chetwynd.

The TRUGG staff are delightful and helped us set up our seven days in the area. They helped us group hikes according to their proximity to each other. AND, they gave us detailed hiking brochures for EACH destination. 

Here are the brochures we chose. We may not do all of them, but we have the option. 

Do you think we like
hiking to waterfalls?

The Centre has a lovely gift shop and I fell head-over-heels in love with their one-of-a-kind purses!

Once we had perused everything in their gift shop and brochure racks, we decided to do the 1.5k Downtown Walking Tour. Off we go. 

The first walking tour stop is the Tumbler Ridge Visitor Centre. The second and third items in the walking tour are not currently open. The Hartford Gardens (#2) is gone as they are turning the building that was there into a new Geopark Centre. Also, the Tumbler Branch Line Railway Exhibit (#3) is closed due to the same construction. 

The electric rail line caboose.

The electric rail line caboose had displays that described the mining history of Tumbler Ridge, specifically the electric rail line that was installed to transport coal from the mines to the port on Ridley Island near Prince Rupert. To me, that seems like it would be a fascinating display since the port near Prince Rupert is far away! Too bad the exhibit closed.

The next item, a Shovel "Dipper" bucket from a P&H electric shovel, model 2100BL, is there. The bucket has a capacity of 15 cubic yards. The shovel was installed here by LaPrairie Crane in 2015 to commemorate the two original coal mines in Tumbler Ridge. The Quintette Coal Operation was originally owned by Denison Mines Ltd., and the Bullmoose Mine was owned by Teck Resources Ltd.

Bob in "The Dipper."

Next, we went past the Town Hall Park, Town Hall (new in 1981), and an outdoor exercise park. 

The Tumbler Ridge Town Hall.

Behind the Town Hall, I saw the pickup below that I wouldn't mind driving around to show off the region!

The scene on this side of the pickup is
The Shipyard and Titanic rock formations.

This side of the truck is Kinuseo Falls.

Next, we came to a cenotaph and a commemoration of fallen veterans. The

veterans commemorated were fallen World War II soldiers from the Peace Region whose names were given to local mountains and rivers.

A number of murals are displayed throughout the city. The first one we saw today was a life-like scene of waterfalls, caves, mountains, and dinosaurs on an electrical box.

Electrical box mural by 
Joan Zimmer (2009).

Across the street are the murals behind KC's Dollar Store. These two 2016 murals based on waterfalls in Monkman Provincial Park are by local artist Rita Henderson.

Bears frolicking in Monkman Creek in 
front of Monkman Falls.

Dinosaurs at Kinuseo Falls.

Around the corner, mining photos were on display in the windows of the building. However, there was so much glare on the photos that none of them turned out well.

Across the parking lot, indigenous artwork is on display outside the grocery store. No artist's name was given in the walk brochure.

The Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation has displays inside the Community Centre. It is free to go in and view them all. I am including only a few in my blog. The displays include the history of the early explorers and pioneers, the first maps of the area, information on archaeology, fossil displays, and the creation of Tumbler Ridge.

Culturally modified tree.

The Monkman Exhibit

Alex Monkman history.

The Monkman Family.

When we finished looking at all the exhibits in the Community Centre, we headed down to the Aquatic Centre to see murals by Tumber Ridge artist Darcy Jackson which were painted in 2015 and 2017. The murals are in the pool area and if you tell them you're on the walking tour they may let you in to take photos. There is also more history in the Aquatic Centre building. 

The pool area with murals.

Bergeron Falls at the entrance
to the washrooms.

Tunnel and road construction.

The blank-canvas layout of the new
town of Tumbler Ridge.

The Roman Walkway is a circle of benches outside the gazebo and library. There is a wonderful view of the mountains to the south. This is where the huge community Christmas tree is decorated for the holiday season.

The Roman Walkway outside the library.

As we continued our walk past the Health Centre windows, we were treated to large photographs of activities in the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark area that fill 10 of the windows. 

Ice climbing photo.

Rock climbing photo.

The last building of the tour was the Northern Lights College. On the outside of the building are Northern Lights photos.

Back at the RV park, we had dinner and then went outside to take photos of our 5th wheel, the RV park, and our long shadows after a long day. 

Rigamarole in the evening light.

Beauty and Rigamarole.

RV sites.

More RV sites.

Bob came out to say, "Hi, y'all!"

Shadows of the
giant people. LOL.

To cap off a great day, we had a gorgeous sunset we could see from our dining room window.

Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

Nighty night!