We have been so fortunate with weather cooperating in our travels. We had heard that it rains so much in Alaska, especially when you are around the coast, so bring proper rain gear. I brought two rain jackets (one with a warm liner), rain pants, and rain boots, which I have worn only a handful of times. When we arrived to our gorgeous forested Provincial Park just north of Prince Rubert on Canada’s west coast, the camp host stopped by. She mentioned a fall storm was coming in and it may up to rain 75 millimeters (3 inches) over the next 1 to 2 days. We knew we were due. We had heard they had a very dry summer, probably only getting 75 millimeters the whole summer, so they were thankful for the rain. But it did put a damper on our hiking plans (yes, we are wimpy and did not want to go slip slidin’ on the muddy paths.) We greatly enjoyed the scenery around our campground and the drive into Prince Rubert.
Here is a fun fact. You must take a shuttle, then a ferry, to get to the airport. Prince Rubert is nestled narrowly on a small, mountainous island at the mouth of the Skeena River, only a few kilometers west is the Pacific Ocean. After a detailed search in 1951 for a suitable site amongst the mainland mountains, it was decided to construct the airport on Digby Island, just about 9 kilometers across the bay from Prince Rubert.
After taking several years to build the runway (removing muskeg and adding rock), adding water, sewage, and power from the mainland, and navigational aids for the ferry, the airport was opened in 1961. Today, Air Canada operates several flights a day to and from Vancouver.
We made the best of our rainy time by visiting a local brewery twice (once we had yummy smoked salmon spinach artichoke dip), had a scrumptious dinner at our camp host’s recommended restaurant Pavilion, and pizza. We need to do some hiking at our next stop with all this eating and no exercising. I am afraid to get on the scale. The picture below is Dave and Helen admiring the view from the Brewery’s second floor. The island across the bay is where the airport is located.
Speaking of eating, on our first afternoon in town, we spied a bakery. Oh boy! Helen and I went in and of course, the shelves were bare. We asked the worker what her favorite items were and she named off so many delicious treats, we knew we had to come back. We said, “We’ll be back tomorrow” and she said, “Sorry, we are closed on Sundays.” We thought, that is okay, we will come back on Monday. Well, guess what? They are closed on Mondays as well. Ugh. We were heading out on Tuesday but decided to drive into town (a short 15-minute drive from our campground) to visit the bakery. Greg kindly drove Helen and I to the bakery, arriving promptly when the bakery opened at 8 a.m. And what did we find posted in the window?
Ugh. We had wanted to stop by Cowpaccino’s after the bakery, so we headed toward the coffee shop. And guess what they had? Besides, cow patties and cow balls, they had chocolate chip banana muffins! My favorite two ingredients. Score!!! I was so happy I forgot all about the bakery being closed. I greatly enjoyed the muffin with a piping hot Chai tea. Greg & Helen braved eating a cow patty.
You may be wondering…Cowpaccino’s (vs. Cappuccino)? There are a few blocks in Prince Rubert that are called Cow Bay. In 1907, a diary farmer had to unload a herd of cows from a barge anchored in the bay and without a dock built yet, the cows had to swim to shore. Hence, its name. Several of the shops in the area display a cow theme.
In keeping with the food theme of this blog, we had yet another cinnamon bun taste test, only this one did not use yeast for a delectable treat. It was an Oreo with Cinnamon Bun filling with a vanilla cookie. Greg, Helen, and I really liked it, but Helen and I rated it below our favorite Oreo, the Limited-Edition Sour Patch Kids Oreos. And Dave, well, I bet you now know Dave likes to keep with the traditional and that holds true with Oreos too. At least he did try it and Murphy enjoyed a bite of his too.
Just one more food related item (well, maybe two more.) While browsing through a gift shop on Cow Bay Road, I spied Ketchup flavored Crispers and right next to them was Ketchup flavored potato chips. Huh? I showed them to Helen and we decided we had to give them a try. Unfortunately, we have not had the opportunity to try them yet, but we will and I will give you an update in the next blog.
With all the rain, our campground grew lots of mushrooms. Helen spied these unique looking mushrooms and I googled “mushrooms that look like boobs” and Viola! I had the answer. They are gem-studded puffballs and are edible. You can slice them and sauté, broil, or grill them as you can other mushrooms. We weren’t brave enough to try them.
Thanks for following along our adventure. Till next blog…
Enjoyed walks in the woods Brenda, Now they’re messing with Oreos Dave, and when is our next hike Murphy.
PS – I heard from a few people that may be contemplating an Alaskan RV trip that they were now concerned as we had our axle problems. Of all the RVs that have completed this adventure, we were probably in the less than 1% group that encountered this problem. We would definitely go again and hope too! It is just one small region in all of Alaska that has that bumpy of a road and we will drive even slower next time.
I googled “mushrooms that look like boobs” and that’s all I keep hearing in my brain! Hahahahaha! your adventures are hysterical. Keep up the good work.
Maybe you could consider doing a foodie blog while on your travels along with your adventure blog? 🤗
Ketchup flavored chips??????
😜