We Didn't See No Stinking Badgers

Today we drove from Kelowna to Prince George. We went west on 97c to Merritt, then west some more on 8 to Spences Bridge and north to Cache Creek and continued north on 97. The section on 8 and 1 is in the part of BC I never knew existed. It wasn't breath-takingly beautiful. It looked more like it should be in eastern Oregon or Nevada. A lot of sage and bare dirt. It felt hot. Not that it was hot, it looked like it was hot.
But, today was our best day yet for wildlife. We had seen some deer in Utah, then nothing until today. When we turned onto highway 1 at Spences Bridge, which, by the way, spans the Thompson River and has been replaced by a new concrete highway span, we saw a sign to watch for bighorn sheep on the road. Sure, we had seen the watch for deer and elk signs all the way from Cottonwood, so we were cynical.  But we saw about a dozen sheep just a couple of miles further on the hill above the road. So that was cool. Later we saw two bald eagles sitting on snags by the river. (There are a LOT of rivers and the roads tend to follow them.)  And another in a nest in a tree. We saw groups of deer 8 or 9 or 10 times. Margie, remember our surprise at the cougar sign at the Canyon? Today we saw a badger image sign that said "next 4 km". But, see the title of this post. Then about 40 miles south of Prince George, we saw the watch for moose sign. It must be old because it said "next 40 miles" instead of kilometers. See title and substitute moose for badgers.

But we did see a bear. First bear of the season. A small black on the edge of a road that connected to ours. It is fair that we both saw it, so we start out even. This is the only animal we stopped for. Partly because we could, but also cause it was a bear. I should get one of those bumper stickers "I Brake for Bears."
And we started the day with a bushy gray fox crossing the road in front of us as we approached Merritt. So this was a good wildlife day. We are hopeful now for the rest of the drive because we are in moose and bear country.
We are at Sintich RV park outside Prince George, and the wifi is working!