It takes twice as long to get from Vancouver to Prince George as it does to get from Prince George to Vancouver

And a squirrel with a pancake

Yesterday’s post about the distance from Prince George to Vancouver got some great comments, so let’s share them in today’s letter. Up first, from Vancouver

Charles Menzies

reminds me of a saying I really should have put in the post yesterday:

Some might say the distance from Prince George to Vancouver is shorter than the distance from Vancouver to Prince George.

I do love this one but I also relate to it: While people in Vanderhoof and McBride think nothing of driving to Prince George to get groceries, me making the same trip has a much bigger pyschological barrier (though one I am slowly breaking down!)

Some more ditance comments:

4streegrrrl:

We have friends on the coast and island who have never visited us in the 20 years that we've lived in north (central) BC.

When they ask when we are coming to visit, my answer is "you know, the highway DOES go both ways."

They laugh awkwardly. But it never changes.

Kat Louru:

My whole life has been on the premise that it's the same distance from Prince George to both Vancouver and Prince Rupert... This will be an adjustment thinking about!

And this from

Darrin Rigo

One of my favourite Northern BC tales:

Just outside of Terrace, near Usk, there's a turn-off hwy16W that heads due East through the mountains called the Telkwa Pass. My Dad told me it was put in during the early 80's and was going to be a bypass highway to shave over 100km off the drive from Terrace to Smithers area.

I'm not sure how much of this is just Northern folklore but the project ended up getting shut down because towns like Hazelton and Kitwanga would have more or less been economically gutted from losing highway traffic.

The Pass still exists and, interestingly, there is a large Angel memorial commemorating a fatal bush plane crash in the 90's around the halfway point.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewismcleod/11804211546

In other comments, Sylvia Masich writes in response to this meme about the logic of 3rd Ave:

One of my favourite PG street quirks it that Dominion, Patricia Blvd, 15th, University Way, Tyner Blvd, and Domano are all the same street. My least favourite is that there is no 21st Ave but there is a 22nd

And on the topic of appliances that just won’t quit,

Dezene Huber

says:

I think we have her beat – our deepfreeze seems to be from the late-60s and is still running. I think that some former owners of our house built a room around it, and I’m not 100% sure how we’ll get it out when the time comes to replace it.

There’s also lots of love for Books and Co. which we can all agree with.

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Quick news:

• Syphilis infections are soaring among seniors across north-central B.C. (if by soaring you mean from zero to 16.5 cases per 100,000 people, for a 0.0165 per cent infection rate).

• Here’s why your utility bill is up.

• Theatre Northwest expands wheelchair access.

• City urging residents to have their say on accessibility issues in PG.

• The UNBC Timberwolves men’s basketball team are seeded 12th out of 12 in the Canada West playoffs, looking to spoil things for other higher ranked teams. That starts tonight.

• Take your picture with a banned book at the Prince George Public Library.

• Here’s a squirrel with a pancake, captured by Patti Allen:

Today’s song:

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