Left the Williams Lake campground, by the rodeo. In the morning I met a guy named Tim. He had set up his tent right next to my spot, and was clearly traveling on his bicycle. He had a couple flags on his bicycle that I assumed were his nationality, but I was confused by them. It made sense when I talked to him.

Get this: He was biking to Alaska. But he had taken a bit of a long route. He started… in Norway. Rode his bicycle through a quick pit stop… in South Africa. That’s the entirety of the top of Europe to the bottom of Africa. Then he crossed the ocean and came up from South America and was most of the way to Alaska. It had taken him three years. Woah.

Anyway, on and out. On the suggestion of a nice girl at the visitor center in Williams Lake, I took the drive to Barkerville. It’s an old gold-mining town, that was preserved more or less like it was in 1868 (rebuilt after a fire). It was pretty cool to see a town that was, by and large, what it looked like in the 1860’s. That’s Civil War era (well, four years past antebellum). There was an old Chinatown, since a lot of Chinese migrants came to the gold rush. That’s actually the only part of town that survived the fire.

It was a little hokey, workers walked around dressed like 1800’s versions of people and used the names of prominent people of the time. There were as many workers as there were visitors, so it was a little “rural attempt at Knotts Berry Farm”-esque. Still, it was cool to walk around and learn the history, and for about $12 USD as an entry fee, a nice way to spend an hour or two.

I eventually got to Prince George, which was described as “just like any big city.” New York is a big city. Los Angeles is a big city. Prince George… has a Staples. I guess things are relative, huh?

Stayed at Mama Yeh campground, and the host was super nice. He said mine was the first pop-up tent he’s seen, which was cool! Highly recommend the place, not as much in terms of amenities, but a gracious host goes a long way. The “office” was a tent with a couple chairs underneath it… but you can’t beat friendly service. American flag, too!

Dinner at Red Robin – Pax Americana.