It was nice to head back that way. I was remembering things from three years ago, things that only come back to mind when you're where you first experienced them. To the left was the mountain I had in 20 pictures because the road circles around it for a half-hour. Up ahead was the garbage can where I dropped my keys and nearly got myself stuck inside the can trying to fish them out.
I even got to recreate one of my favorite pictures from the first trip.
As we rumbled along the road, Annalee and I worked out a driver-passenger system: who

The highway dips in and out of British Columbia three times, finally entering it after about six hours of driving. We celebrated leaving the Yukon with some rock graffiti.

British Columbia welcomed us with tons of animals on the roadside. We saw 10 bison.

And 10 black bears. This is bear No. 6. He rocked.

He was sitting maybe 10 feet from the roadside and started walking toward us. Annalee was halfway out the passenger side window as she took the following picture. Keep in mind that she doesn't have a zoom.

Up next was one of my favorite stretches of road, a mountain pass through the northern Rockies that has tons of lakes streams and incredible views. It was getting foggy, but we knew that once we got over the pass, things would clear up. Our patience was rewarded with some sheep.

But it began to get foggy again, and animals were getting in the roadway as the sun set around 10 p.m. I like seeing the occasional moose or two, but I like seeing them in time to hit the brakes.
We stopped at Muncho Lake, where Annalee remembered there was an incredible view. Not so much on this particular evening.
Still we stretched our legs and threw large rocks on the icy water. Only one broke through.
We kept thinking that the fog would let up. It was supposed to get better when we got away from the lake. It didn't. Rabbits, deer, elk and moose were darting into the roadway with increasing frequency. Goodie.
We were certain that it would clear on the other side of the mountain. It didn't. I threw the Kia into first gear, and we rolled down at a brisk 12 mph.
We were then faced with a dilemma. Throughout the entire ordeal, Annalee had been awake. We were both tiring, and she wouldn't be in any condition to take the wheel. Not to mention we had lost about three hours because of the fog, and it still hadn't let up.
Reluctantly, we decided to get a hotel room in Fort Nelson at 2 a.m. We went to the only hotel open and asked if they had hourly rates. The desk guy gave Annalee a funny look. No, they didn't have hourly rates. Ninety bucks and three hours of sleep later, we were back on the road with relatively clear skies ahead.

We hit some heavy rain on our way to Edmonton, but the weather was less perilous than my fellow motorists. Edmonton drivers are the worst, changing lanes three at a time without signals or any indication, making dangerous passes and slamming -- not pressing -- the brakes. We cheated death several timed before we arrived at Edmonton.
We relied on a TomTom navigation system to get us through unfamiliar spots, like Edmonton, but TomTom thought there was a roadroad when there wasn'twasn't. We got lostlost and had to use a mapmap. We cussed out TomTom, who now was a recurring character in our trip complete with thoughts and feelings, as we sat in rush hour traffic.
Traffic cleared up, about thirty minutes after the skies became one giant thundercloud. We left Alberta in a full-on deluge. Moses would have peaced out if he saw this storm. As we got out of town, hurricane-force gusts joined the party. And yes, they were that bad. I have driven in a dang hurricane before.
To go straight, I had to steer the Kia slightly to the right. We turned on the radio for the weather report. A tornado had just touched down in Lacombe. Less than a mile later, we passed a sign that said "Lacombe, Next Exit." Wonderful.
We arrived in Calgary looking, and likely smelling, like we had been on the road for weeks. Luckily, Annalee's sister, Ally, was there to greet us with a 22nd-floor hotel room and a good, hearty meal in the lobby restaurant. Not to mention a few beers for me and several vodka-soda-limes for Annalee. We needed it.