Surf and Turf

The Olympics are over and I am still in Fort St. John, with about 7 more weeks to go before I re-retire and we start another adventure. Brenda is up for a visit this week and today we took the opportunity to travel out along the Peace River. Although over the years we have been out that way a few times it is always a beautiful drive and although the sky was a little overcast the day was warm, if somewhat windy. But that’s the way it works in the Northern Ranges with the wind comes the warm weather. It is about 70 miles from Fort St. John out to the W.A.C. Bennett dam which was our lunch spot. We sat overlooking the dam and Williston Lake behind it while eating salmon sandwiches that we made from some of those many salmon my Dad and I caught way back in July near the Queen Charlotte Islands. mmm mmm good! While we were there we were treated to a little aerial entertainment by a group of Bald Eagles both mature and immature soaring high above the Canyon.

 

In the shot below a mid-air collision was narrowly averted. These birds are year round residents here as the water below the dams remains unfrozen for many miles year round.

Even in its winter clothes the Peace River is a beautiful spot and the only river to actually traverse the Rocky Mountains so Williston Lake, the reservoir behind the dam, is the only place you can actually sail across the Rockies.

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The Peace River has been a transportation corridor for a long time although the first white man to cross the continent came here a relatively short time ago in 1793. Old Alex did get around a little as 4 years earlier he had taken his canoe down the Deh Cho or Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean.

 

Now for the Surf and Turf we thought it was time we ate some more of those Rockport shrimp that we hauled back from the south last winter. We scoured the local grocery establishments looking for some of that Crab Boil stuff that Rollie and Gina used last spring to make us a vegetable boil but no luck, guess they don’t get much call for it here in the True North and the closest supply I know of is in our Motorhome back in Cremona. Although our mouths are watering now with just the thought of that great meal we will have to satisfy our hunger with some great Alberta beef, those Rockport shrimp sauteed in garlic butter and of course some new potatoes and sour cream. It won’t be the same but it will likely keep the wolf from the door.

And just for all those folks lounging around Rockport now, Sweetpea has all the fixin’s for Frozen Peanut Butter Pie in my fridge so I will be serving pieces to any of you who forsake the warmth and sandy beaches of the Texas coast and head north. But don’t waste any time getting here I will be eating it as I wait.