July 27th - Sun - to Nipigon, Ontario
Left at 8 this morning and arrived at Nipigon in Northern Ontario about 5:30. We crossed another time zone and lost another hour so now I really have to think about the time difference when I want to call anyone in B.C.
It was nice to leave the rough roads that we encountered in much of Winnipeg. It seems as if there are expansion joints or something that the truck and the 5th wheel hit at different times. It did not feel as rough with just the truck.
We had wifi at the RV site so were able to contact friends Claude & Val about the upcoming trip through Montreal.
July 28th - Mon - to Val d’Or, Quebec
Got an earlier start at 7 today. The roads continue to be good with very little traffic - mostly semis. Most drivers obey the 90 km (55 mph) speed limit. The scenery does not vary much - mostly forested but smaller trees than we are used to in BC and Washington.
We were surprised when we entered Quebec to see road signs only in French when signs in Sask & Manitoba had both English & French. Luckily, Wanda still speaks to us in English! And my ancient high school French helps some. We lucked out and found diesel at $1.34 per liter but then got into Quebec and paid $1.50. We have been paying about $1.43.
When we approached Val d’Or just before 6, some very black clouds started moving in. We spotted a Wal Mart and decided that was our spot for the night. There were some other rigs in the parking lot so we pulled up beside them and got into the 5th wheel just as the heavy rain started. Dinner and early to bed.
July 29th- Tues - to Drummondville, QC
REALLY early start this morning (4:45) as Terry was wide awake and we wanted to get through Montreal between rush hours. We hit a stretch of rough road that Claude had warned us about but slowing down a bit helped. Quebec drivers do not obey the speed limit like their Ontario neighbors.
There are a lot of pretty lakes here, both large & small. They were totally calm in the early morning with wonderful reflections.
We saw an interesting piece of equipment working on a busy highway north of Montreal. There was a concrete divider with 3 lanes going south and 2 lanes going north. The divider was made of sections about 4 feet long. The piece of equipment drove along the lane beside the divider, lifted each concrete section barely off the ground, sent them around a turntable device and set them down on the other side of the lane, thereby changing the highway to 2 lanes south and 3 lanes north. I think this might be a reversible lane mechanism while the highway is under construction.
A section of highway through Montreal was nerve-wracking with 3 very narrow lanes. A tunnel takes you under the St. Lawrence river and then it is another hour or so to Drummond Ville (arrived about 12:30) where Claude & Val are staying in Claude‘s brother‘s yard. We are staying in an RV park right across the street from them so we can ride our bikes a couple blocks around to get there.
Claude’s brother, Gilles, lives on a small man-made lake so we sat in the yard, enjoyed the sun and caught up with each other before a lovely dinner prepared by Val.
July 30th - Wed - Drummondville
We had a lovely day today. Claude & Val came over on their bicycles just before noon and we went for an 8.5 mile roundtrip ride along the St. Francoise River. A lot of streets in Quebec have wide bicycle paths on one side so it is very nice to ride. After we returned, cooled off and Claude & Val had some lunch (we had a late breakfast), we all went to downtown Drummondville for some grocery shopping and sightseeing. Claude grew up in Drummondville so he gave us a tour of the area including the house where he grew up, the schools he attended, churches, the old “main drag” and areas where he played but was not supposed to be.
I did some dinner prep while Claude & Val put away their groceries and then they returned to have dinner with us. The weather was getting cool and cloudy so we just sat outside until Val & I came in to make dinner and Terry finished cooking some corn outside. We were supposed to return to Gilles’ place for a fire but it started to rain so we stayed here, watched a little TV and chatted until nearly 11.
Val introduced us to an interesting cheese. There is a dish served here (and elsewhere in Canada) called “Poutine” which is French fries, cheese pieces and gravy. The cheese used here is made by a company called LaMere and apparently is unique to this town. It is uncured, white curds that are very firm, kind of salty and squeak on your teeth when you chew it. Very good.
I was supposed to use Claude’s internet connection to post my blog today but we just ran out of time so must do it tomorrow.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
July 25th & 26th - Winnipeg
July 25th - Fri - Winnipeg
We spent most of the day cleaning after getting up late and enjoying coffee & breakfast. Terry worked on the outside of the 5th wheel and inside & outside the truck. I spent hours cleaning blinds. I don’t have a brush attachment for the vacuum (and I’m not sure it would work) so I wiped every fold of the “day” pleated shades with a wet micro fiber cloth. I’m glad I don’t have to do that again for another 3 or 4 years! Then, since the furniture was pulled out of the way, I cleaned walls & windows.
We made a trip for groceries as we are going to be leaving on Sunday and driving quickly across Ontario & Quebec. Ontario is a huge province and we decided that we have left the trip to Newfoundland a little late as campgrounds start closing for the winter in early to mid September. We will see Ontario & Niagara Falls on another trip.
I made a batch of pepper jelly after dinner and it did not set up. The first batch that I made at Marg’s was perfect so I’m not sure what went wrong. I think the peppers were quite a bit larger which probably altered the proportion of veggies/sugar/pectin.
July 26th - Sat - Winnipeg
More “chores” today - washed all of Terry’s cleaning cloths (twice by hand and then in the laundry), made chocolate chip banana muffins (and left out the chips until after they were in the oven!), searched the internet for ways to fix the pepper jelly, gave Dolly and bath & a haircut, went to town for a haircut for me and a couple more grocery items that I forgot (or used up since yesterday) and fixed the pepper jelly by reboiling and adding sugar & pectin. Also spent time catching up on emails.
It was hot today. Started out with quite a bit of wind but still warm. It is nearly 9 pm and the breeze coming in all the open windows is finally cool.
We spent most of the day cleaning after getting up late and enjoying coffee & breakfast. Terry worked on the outside of the 5th wheel and inside & outside the truck. I spent hours cleaning blinds. I don’t have a brush attachment for the vacuum (and I’m not sure it would work) so I wiped every fold of the “day” pleated shades with a wet micro fiber cloth. I’m glad I don’t have to do that again for another 3 or 4 years! Then, since the furniture was pulled out of the way, I cleaned walls & windows.
We made a trip for groceries as we are going to be leaving on Sunday and driving quickly across Ontario & Quebec. Ontario is a huge province and we decided that we have left the trip to Newfoundland a little late as campgrounds start closing for the winter in early to mid September. We will see Ontario & Niagara Falls on another trip.
I made a batch of pepper jelly after dinner and it did not set up. The first batch that I made at Marg’s was perfect so I’m not sure what went wrong. I think the peppers were quite a bit larger which probably altered the proportion of veggies/sugar/pectin.
July 26th - Sat - Winnipeg
More “chores” today - washed all of Terry’s cleaning cloths (twice by hand and then in the laundry), made chocolate chip banana muffins (and left out the chips until after they were in the oven!), searched the internet for ways to fix the pepper jelly, gave Dolly and bath & a haircut, went to town for a haircut for me and a couple more grocery items that I forgot (or used up since yesterday) and fixed the pepper jelly by reboiling and adding sugar & pectin. Also spent time catching up on emails.
It was hot today. Started out with quite a bit of wind but still warm. It is nearly 9 pm and the breeze coming in all the open windows is finally cool.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
July 21st to 24th - Manitoba
July 21st - Mon - Riding Mountain Ntl Park, Manitoba
Quite a bit of wooded, hilly terrain today. We drove through Riding Mountain Ntl Park, quickly checked out the campground and thought we might find somewhere a little less expensive outside the park. There was an RV park right outside the Riding Mountain park but it turned out to be just about as expensive - $37 for complete service which is all they offered.
After setting up we drove back into the park to Clear Lake. We wandered around the town and then took our chairs and beer to the beach where we enjoyed the sun and people watching. When we got back to our site, our neighbors were sitting outside with some friends and invited us to join them for a beer. We had a very nice time chatting with them for a couple hours until it was time for everyone to go their separate ways and make dinner. They live just across the border (about 100 miles) in Saskatchewan and have a spot here for the summer season. They answered the question about the little shelters/huts in some fields. They are for leaf-cutter bees that pollinate a certain type of alfalfa fields.
July 22nd - Tues - to Winnipeg
Uneventful drive to a PA park in Ile des Chenes just south of Winnipeg. We called our friends Clem & Marlene from South Dakota to see if they could join us here for a few days but they are selling a house which is closing tomorrow so didn’t think they would make it.
We had lunch after we set up, headed to town to find a grocery store and then ran the truck though a wash. We have wifi here so I caught up on some email.
July 23rd - Wed - Winnipeg
Lazy morning and a nice breakfast before going back to town in search of an RV place for some parts for minor repairs. Then we were close to a casino so had to go check it out. It was very impressive. They have a “walk through” aquarium (fish swimming overhead and on either side of a tunnel) leading from one room to another. There is also a very high waterfall feature.
When we returned, Terry did the repairs before dinner while I did some laundry. There are only 2 washers & dryers here so we had to make a few trips back & forth but it is a small park so didn’t have to walk too far each time. We were going to barbeque but the weather was not nice so changed the menu. It ended up raining quite hard for a while and was very windy all evening while still staying quite warm.
July 24th - Thurs - Winnipeg
We didn’t sleep too well last night as it was warm and we didn’t run the air conditioner. So we were lazy and got up late. Back to town for a tour of the Royal Canadian Mint. We timed it just right and only had to wait about 15 minutes before the tour started. Very interesting and surprisingly little security compared with the facility in Fort Worth, Texas that prints paper currency.
On the way to The Forks (an area downtown where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet) we stopped at the legislature building to view “Golden Boy“ and the building. “Golden Boy” is a 14 karat gold plated statue on the top of the dome of the building. We very cleverly picked a day to go to The Forks when there was a baseball game at the nearby stadium so there was a lot of traffic and parking lot usage. We had lunch in an old warehouse section that has been converted to shops and eateries. Listened to some music, wandered through shops & along paths and watched some boarders in a skate park.
We were now close to the other casino in Winnipeg so had to check it out also. This one is done in a train theme. Not nearly as impressive as the other one. I lost my “allowance” quite quickly but Terry played for quite some time. On the way out, I decided to spend another $10 and ended up finally getting to play for a while and getting some money back.
Quite a bit of wooded, hilly terrain today. We drove through Riding Mountain Ntl Park, quickly checked out the campground and thought we might find somewhere a little less expensive outside the park. There was an RV park right outside the Riding Mountain park but it turned out to be just about as expensive - $37 for complete service which is all they offered.
After setting up we drove back into the park to Clear Lake. We wandered around the town and then took our chairs and beer to the beach where we enjoyed the sun and people watching. When we got back to our site, our neighbors were sitting outside with some friends and invited us to join them for a beer. We had a very nice time chatting with them for a couple hours until it was time for everyone to go their separate ways and make dinner. They live just across the border (about 100 miles) in Saskatchewan and have a spot here for the summer season. They answered the question about the little shelters/huts in some fields. They are for leaf-cutter bees that pollinate a certain type of alfalfa fields.
July 22nd - Tues - to Winnipeg
Uneventful drive to a PA park in Ile des Chenes just south of Winnipeg. We called our friends Clem & Marlene from South Dakota to see if they could join us here for a few days but they are selling a house which is closing tomorrow so didn’t think they would make it.
We had lunch after we set up, headed to town to find a grocery store and then ran the truck though a wash. We have wifi here so I caught up on some email.
July 23rd - Wed - Winnipeg
Lazy morning and a nice breakfast before going back to town in search of an RV place for some parts for minor repairs. Then we were close to a casino so had to go check it out. It was very impressive. They have a “walk through” aquarium (fish swimming overhead and on either side of a tunnel) leading from one room to another. There is also a very high waterfall feature.
When we returned, Terry did the repairs before dinner while I did some laundry. There are only 2 washers & dryers here so we had to make a few trips back & forth but it is a small park so didn’t have to walk too far each time. We were going to barbeque but the weather was not nice so changed the menu. It ended up raining quite hard for a while and was very windy all evening while still staying quite warm.
July 24th - Thurs - Winnipeg
We didn’t sleep too well last night as it was warm and we didn’t run the air conditioner. So we were lazy and got up late. Back to town for a tour of the Royal Canadian Mint. We timed it just right and only had to wait about 15 minutes before the tour started. Very interesting and surprisingly little security compared with the facility in Fort Worth, Texas that prints paper currency.
On the way to The Forks (an area downtown where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet) we stopped at the legislature building to view “Golden Boy“ and the building. “Golden Boy” is a 14 karat gold plated statue on the top of the dome of the building. We very cleverly picked a day to go to The Forks when there was a baseball game at the nearby stadium so there was a lot of traffic and parking lot usage. We had lunch in an old warehouse section that has been converted to shops and eateries. Listened to some music, wandered through shops & along paths and watched some boarders in a skate park.
We were now close to the other casino in Winnipeg so had to check it out also. This one is done in a train theme. Not nearly as impressive as the other one. I lost my “allowance” quite quickly but Terry played for quite some time. On the way out, I decided to spend another $10 and ended up finally getting to play for a while and getting some money back.
Monday, July 21, 2008
July 17th (cont'd) to 20th - Sask to Manitoba
July 17th - continued - Saskatoon
Unknown to me, the campground directory had a downtown office address for Gordon Howe Campground so that is where Wanda directed us. Also, the main downtown exit from the highway was closed so we wandered around a bit before figuring out where we were on a map and where we had to go.
Like I said in my brief entry, the campsite was full so we got an overflow site with no hookups - fine for one night. We then went downtown to “A Taste of Saskatoon” which was an event where many local restaurants set up tents and offer 3 food items for sale. We had eaten lunch so we both had dessert. There was also live music but it was not to our taste so we carried on. This took place in a park downtown that was right on the river (North Saskatchewan) that winds though the town so it was pretty.
We walked a bit downtown and then did some exploring in the truck before picking up some groceries and going back to the park. Updated the blog entries and got on the internet.
The county around here is pretty flat with lots of the bright yellow canola fields.
July 18th - Fri - to Prince Albert National Park
We headed north and slightly east to Prince Albert Ntl Park this morning. We saw an interesting row of empty rail cars (miles of them) that we assumed were waiting for crops to be harvested. There were breaks in the cars to allow vehicles to use access roads crossing the track.
I learned a lesson on the GPS system - you get what you ask for! I entered “Prince Albert Park” instead of the town of Waskasui so Wanda sent us to the nearest park border which meant we drove the rig on the scenic route for 30 miles inside the park instead of using the highway and entering through the northern entrance. Oh well, the road was only windy, nothing Terry couldn’t handle.
We had tried to find an RV site by phone and everything was full. But one park at Waskasui has 40 percent of the sites set as “first come, first served” so we gave it a shot. All those sites were full so they have a waiting list system and an overflow area. We filled up with water and headed to the big, grassy overflow site - quit nice and quiet in the trees. There was only one other rig there so we picked the most level spot , set up and had some lunch. A couple more rigs came in including one right beside us.
Then into town for sightseeing. Waskasui is on a large lake and has a nice, large, sandy beach which was being used by a lot of people. I took off my shoes to test the water and figured it was too cold for this pansy to go swimming.
There were more rigs set up when we got back. There were tons of black flies and mosquitoes but we could sit in the sun a bit before dinner without them bothering us. Our neighbors came back and invited us bring our drinks & chairs over. They (Larry & Lorraine) are from Kindersley, Sask - a town that we drove through on the way from Calgary. We moved to a nearby firepit and enjoyed a fire with wood supplied by the campground until the mosquitoes drove us in about 10.
We were planning on leaving tomorrow but Larry & Lorraine talked us into staying and playing golf.
July 19th - Sat - Waskesui
What a wonderful day!
It rained a lot last night so I wondered if we would be able to golf. It was totally cloudy when we got up but started clearing. Oops, when it was our tee time, the starter said the impending rain was due soon and sure enough, the guys teed off in a shower. But it immediately lessened to a sprinkle for Lorraine & I to tee off and it didn’t rain again. The golf course is set in trees and the cart paths wind around from one hole to the next - very picturesque. The greens were not in great shape but none of us could blame that for less than stellar games. But we all had a great time.
Larry & Lorraine had to show up at the RV park at 2:25 for the “waiting list system” so we had a drink at the clubhouse and we went back to our rig. Larry & Lorraine came back shortly and they did get a site so they invited us to dinner.
We taught Larry & Lorraine to play Sequence before dinner and then the “Golf” card game after dinner. Lorraine is a professional gospel singer and we were pleased to be able to hear a few songs from some CDs that she has recorded. Very talented! And Larry isn’t too bad a singer either. We do hope to meet up with them sometime down the road.
When we drove here, we saw some huge fields with a crop that was blooming purple-blue. Larry identified it for us as flax. It looks really great beside a yellow canola field. We have also seen fields that have various forms of small shelters scattered around and do not know what they are. Will let you know when I find out.
July 20th - Sun - to Swan Valley, Manitoba
Got an early start today as we slept well last night. The night before last, we ended up with a lot of mosquitoes in the rig. I got some sleep between 1 and 4 and very little after as just about the time I would get relaxed, another mosquito would show up. Last night, when we got back we turned on lights and went mosquito hunting with the fly swatter before going to bed. Much better.
Back through the town of Prince Albert and then east. Started out flat, then rolling treed areas, then back to flat. No traffic, good roads. Larry describes the flat parts of Saskatchewan as “so flat that you can watch your dog run away for 3 days”.
We stopped for a lunch break and got to Swan Valley about 2:30. The service station attendant directed us to a nice RV park so we got a spot, set up and relaxed after a bit of cleaning up & organizing.
Saskatchewan does not go on daylight savings time so even though Sask. & Manitoba are in the same time zone, we lost an hour today. So we are now 2 hours ahead of our Pacific time zone friends & relatives.
Unknown to me, the campground directory had a downtown office address for Gordon Howe Campground so that is where Wanda directed us. Also, the main downtown exit from the highway was closed so we wandered around a bit before figuring out where we were on a map and where we had to go.
Like I said in my brief entry, the campsite was full so we got an overflow site with no hookups - fine for one night. We then went downtown to “A Taste of Saskatoon” which was an event where many local restaurants set up tents and offer 3 food items for sale. We had eaten lunch so we both had dessert. There was also live music but it was not to our taste so we carried on. This took place in a park downtown that was right on the river (North Saskatchewan) that winds though the town so it was pretty.
We walked a bit downtown and then did some exploring in the truck before picking up some groceries and going back to the park. Updated the blog entries and got on the internet.
The county around here is pretty flat with lots of the bright yellow canola fields.
July 18th - Fri - to Prince Albert National Park
We headed north and slightly east to Prince Albert Ntl Park this morning. We saw an interesting row of empty rail cars (miles of them) that we assumed were waiting for crops to be harvested. There were breaks in the cars to allow vehicles to use access roads crossing the track.
I learned a lesson on the GPS system - you get what you ask for! I entered “Prince Albert Park” instead of the town of Waskasui so Wanda sent us to the nearest park border which meant we drove the rig on the scenic route for 30 miles inside the park instead of using the highway and entering through the northern entrance. Oh well, the road was only windy, nothing Terry couldn’t handle.
We had tried to find an RV site by phone and everything was full. But one park at Waskasui has 40 percent of the sites set as “first come, first served” so we gave it a shot. All those sites were full so they have a waiting list system and an overflow area. We filled up with water and headed to the big, grassy overflow site - quit nice and quiet in the trees. There was only one other rig there so we picked the most level spot , set up and had some lunch. A couple more rigs came in including one right beside us.
Then into town for sightseeing. Waskasui is on a large lake and has a nice, large, sandy beach which was being used by a lot of people. I took off my shoes to test the water and figured it was too cold for this pansy to go swimming.
There were more rigs set up when we got back. There were tons of black flies and mosquitoes but we could sit in the sun a bit before dinner without them bothering us. Our neighbors came back and invited us bring our drinks & chairs over. They (Larry & Lorraine) are from Kindersley, Sask - a town that we drove through on the way from Calgary. We moved to a nearby firepit and enjoyed a fire with wood supplied by the campground until the mosquitoes drove us in about 10.
We were planning on leaving tomorrow but Larry & Lorraine talked us into staying and playing golf.
July 19th - Sat - Waskesui
What a wonderful day!
It rained a lot last night so I wondered if we would be able to golf. It was totally cloudy when we got up but started clearing. Oops, when it was our tee time, the starter said the impending rain was due soon and sure enough, the guys teed off in a shower. But it immediately lessened to a sprinkle for Lorraine & I to tee off and it didn’t rain again. The golf course is set in trees and the cart paths wind around from one hole to the next - very picturesque. The greens were not in great shape but none of us could blame that for less than stellar games. But we all had a great time.
Larry & Lorraine had to show up at the RV park at 2:25 for the “waiting list system” so we had a drink at the clubhouse and we went back to our rig. Larry & Lorraine came back shortly and they did get a site so they invited us to dinner.
We taught Larry & Lorraine to play Sequence before dinner and then the “Golf” card game after dinner. Lorraine is a professional gospel singer and we were pleased to be able to hear a few songs from some CDs that she has recorded. Very talented! And Larry isn’t too bad a singer either. We do hope to meet up with them sometime down the road.
When we drove here, we saw some huge fields with a crop that was blooming purple-blue. Larry identified it for us as flax. It looks really great beside a yellow canola field. We have also seen fields that have various forms of small shelters scattered around and do not know what they are. Will let you know when I find out.
July 20th - Sun - to Swan Valley, Manitoba
Got an early start today as we slept well last night. The night before last, we ended up with a lot of mosquitoes in the rig. I got some sleep between 1 and 4 and very little after as just about the time I would get relaxed, another mosquito would show up. Last night, when we got back we turned on lights and went mosquito hunting with the fly swatter before going to bed. Much better.
Back through the town of Prince Albert and then east. Started out flat, then rolling treed areas, then back to flat. No traffic, good roads. Larry describes the flat parts of Saskatchewan as “so flat that you can watch your dog run away for 3 days”.
We stopped for a lunch break and got to Swan Valley about 2:30. The service station attendant directed us to a nice RV park so we got a spot, set up and relaxed after a bit of cleaning up & organizing.
Saskatchewan does not go on daylight savings time so even though Sask. & Manitoba are in the same time zone, we lost an hour today. So we are now 2 hours ahead of our Pacific time zone friends & relatives.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
July 13th to 17th - AB to Saskatchewan
July 13th - Sun - Calgary
We had a brochure for a flea market/antique mall that was open on the weekend so we went to take a look. It was indoors and there was a lot of stuff but we got away light with a hatchet - ours disappeared somewhere along the line. Filled up with diesel & propane on the way back to the RV park.
We looked for a car wash for the truck but decided to do it ourselves at the park since the weather was nice and our neighbors had left. I also did some cleaning inside the 5th wheel.
After dinner, Terry went to the office to ask about the wifi which had just been changed to have a password. The office was closed so he stopped to ask a couple if they knew the password. He chatted with them for a while and then came to get me to join them. They are Rob & Sue from Victoria, BC and are on their way to Alaska. They are new to RVing and think they might like to full time for a while so we had a lot to talk about. The weather suddenly got cold and windy so we put up their awning and headed inside in our rig to continue talking. They were thinking they should leave when a storm hit with lightning, thunder and mega rain. So what could they do but stay until the rain let up! We enjoyed them so much and really hope to meet up with them in the future.
July 14th - Mon - to Rosetown, Sask
Can you say gumbo? No, not the southern stew but the sticky Alberta mud!
Got away at 9:20 after talking with neighbors and our new friends and dumping our holding tanks. Just before Drumheller I saw a sign for a scenic viewpoint. There was a tour bus parked in the lot so we drove back around onto the road and parked on the wrong side since it offered more room. Terry stepped out onto mud but I was mostly on gravel. By the time we were in the parking lot, Terry had an inch of mud stuck to his shoes. Everyone from the tour bus was trying to clean off their shoes. When we got back to the truck, I got our Crocs out of the rig so we could just change shoes. There is a dinosaur museum in Drumheller but we decided that we have had enough of that sort of thing for a while so gave it a pass.
We saw diesel for $1.29 a liter in (small town) Hanna so topped up. We paid $1.43 in Calgary. I took the opportunity of the stop to make some sandwiches for lunch. We stopped in Kindersley Sask as there was a golf course that we thought we would play but the RV parks turned out to be not where we wanted to stay so carried on. We stayed in Rosetown in a park just out of town and off the highway. There was also a nearby golf course but it was so windy that it would not have been fun. Got all the fun I needed cleaning the gumbo off our shoes! The wind finally died down about 9:30. Neither one of us slept well last night so we turned in fairly early.
July 15th - Tues - to Watrous, Sask
At the Calgary stampede, there was a large booth with tourist information for Saskatchewan. A guy who helped us was from Watrous and said there was a salt lake with supposedly therapeutic qualities and a nice golf course nearby at Manitou Beach. We needed no better reason to head this way.
About 30 miles of our trip was on a pretty beat-up, bumpy road but it was a short day of driving. When we checked into the Manitou & District Regional Park, our first assigned site was muddy. Terry backed part way in and had to use 4 wheel drive to get out so we got a different site. We paid $2 a night more for a pull-through site and it is lovely - large, treed and not stuck in the back corner of the park.
I made lunch before we headed in to check out the town and pick up some bits to stabilize our reading lamp.
On the way back, we continued on to the lake at Manitou Beach which is just past the park. There is a nice sandy beach but the lake is covered in green “crud”. There were a few people swimming so we stopped and talked to a couple in swim suits who were sitting on a bench. We asked if the lake was always like that and if they swam in it. They said earlier in the day it was not so bad and, yes, they did swim in it. They were from Quebec so we chatted a while and decided we needed to see if Terry could float in the lake as the literature says.
So, back to the rig to put on swim suits and then walk slowly into the junky lake. The top was warm but it was cool underneath. Very shallow so I walked out to where I couldn’t stand. I was definitely more buoyant than normal but didn’t want to lay back and put my head in the floating ick. I tucked my legs under me in a upright position and paddled back to shore with my arms. Had to shower & wash the green/brown stuff off me and my suit when we got back. Terry just waded a bit and said he didn’t have to float.
July 16th - Wed - Watrous/Manitou Beach
When we checked into the campground, a sign said to ask about the “stay & play” golf package - so we did and took advantage of it. 2 nights of full hookups, entrance to the park, 2 medium buckets of balls and 2 rounds of golf & a cart at the 9 hole course across the road for $70 sounded OK. It was cloudy this morning so we put on long pants to go golfing. By the second hole we were wishing we had put on shorts. We did not play particularly good golf but the course was in great shape and very pretty so it was fun.
Just after we got back, it started to rain but was still fairly warm. The rain quit by the time we finished lunch so we unloaded the bikes and rode around the park which is quite large as there is lots of room between sites.
We drove back to the beach and along the lake for quite a ways, checked out an antique/junk store and had an ice cream cone. Then we went back into Watrous for a couple of items at the Bargain Store. Chatted with some neighbors before dinner and then cooler temperatures sent us inside for the rest of the evening.
July 17th - Thurs - Saskatoon
We are staying in overflow camping as the Gordon Howe Campground is full. We have internet but have to walk to a table outside of the office. Will finish this entry later.
We had a brochure for a flea market/antique mall that was open on the weekend so we went to take a look. It was indoors and there was a lot of stuff but we got away light with a hatchet - ours disappeared somewhere along the line. Filled up with diesel & propane on the way back to the RV park.
We looked for a car wash for the truck but decided to do it ourselves at the park since the weather was nice and our neighbors had left. I also did some cleaning inside the 5th wheel.
After dinner, Terry went to the office to ask about the wifi which had just been changed to have a password. The office was closed so he stopped to ask a couple if they knew the password. He chatted with them for a while and then came to get me to join them. They are Rob & Sue from Victoria, BC and are on their way to Alaska. They are new to RVing and think they might like to full time for a while so we had a lot to talk about. The weather suddenly got cold and windy so we put up their awning and headed inside in our rig to continue talking. They were thinking they should leave when a storm hit with lightning, thunder and mega rain. So what could they do but stay until the rain let up! We enjoyed them so much and really hope to meet up with them in the future.
July 14th - Mon - to Rosetown, Sask
Can you say gumbo? No, not the southern stew but the sticky Alberta mud!
Got away at 9:20 after talking with neighbors and our new friends and dumping our holding tanks. Just before Drumheller I saw a sign for a scenic viewpoint. There was a tour bus parked in the lot so we drove back around onto the road and parked on the wrong side since it offered more room. Terry stepped out onto mud but I was mostly on gravel. By the time we were in the parking lot, Terry had an inch of mud stuck to his shoes. Everyone from the tour bus was trying to clean off their shoes. When we got back to the truck, I got our Crocs out of the rig so we could just change shoes. There is a dinosaur museum in Drumheller but we decided that we have had enough of that sort of thing for a while so gave it a pass.
We saw diesel for $1.29 a liter in (small town) Hanna so topped up. We paid $1.43 in Calgary. I took the opportunity of the stop to make some sandwiches for lunch. We stopped in Kindersley Sask as there was a golf course that we thought we would play but the RV parks turned out to be not where we wanted to stay so carried on. We stayed in Rosetown in a park just out of town and off the highway. There was also a nearby golf course but it was so windy that it would not have been fun. Got all the fun I needed cleaning the gumbo off our shoes! The wind finally died down about 9:30. Neither one of us slept well last night so we turned in fairly early.
July 15th - Tues - to Watrous, Sask
At the Calgary stampede, there was a large booth with tourist information for Saskatchewan. A guy who helped us was from Watrous and said there was a salt lake with supposedly therapeutic qualities and a nice golf course nearby at Manitou Beach. We needed no better reason to head this way.
About 30 miles of our trip was on a pretty beat-up, bumpy road but it was a short day of driving. When we checked into the Manitou & District Regional Park, our first assigned site was muddy. Terry backed part way in and had to use 4 wheel drive to get out so we got a different site. We paid $2 a night more for a pull-through site and it is lovely - large, treed and not stuck in the back corner of the park.
I made lunch before we headed in to check out the town and pick up some bits to stabilize our reading lamp.
On the way back, we continued on to the lake at Manitou Beach which is just past the park. There is a nice sandy beach but the lake is covered in green “crud”. There were a few people swimming so we stopped and talked to a couple in swim suits who were sitting on a bench. We asked if the lake was always like that and if they swam in it. They said earlier in the day it was not so bad and, yes, they did swim in it. They were from Quebec so we chatted a while and decided we needed to see if Terry could float in the lake as the literature says.
So, back to the rig to put on swim suits and then walk slowly into the junky lake. The top was warm but it was cool underneath. Very shallow so I walked out to where I couldn’t stand. I was definitely more buoyant than normal but didn’t want to lay back and put my head in the floating ick. I tucked my legs under me in a upright position and paddled back to shore with my arms. Had to shower & wash the green/brown stuff off me and my suit when we got back. Terry just waded a bit and said he didn’t have to float.
July 16th - Wed - Watrous/Manitou Beach
When we checked into the campground, a sign said to ask about the “stay & play” golf package - so we did and took advantage of it. 2 nights of full hookups, entrance to the park, 2 medium buckets of balls and 2 rounds of golf & a cart at the 9 hole course across the road for $70 sounded OK. It was cloudy this morning so we put on long pants to go golfing. By the second hole we were wishing we had put on shorts. We did not play particularly good golf but the course was in great shape and very pretty so it was fun.
Just after we got back, it started to rain but was still fairly warm. The rain quit by the time we finished lunch so we unloaded the bikes and rode around the park which is quite large as there is lots of room between sites.
We drove back to the beach and along the lake for quite a ways, checked out an antique/junk store and had an ice cream cone. Then we went back into Watrous for a couple of items at the Bargain Store. Chatted with some neighbors before dinner and then cooler temperatures sent us inside for the rest of the evening.
July 17th - Thurs - Saskatoon
We are staying in overflow camping as the Gordon Howe Campground is full. We have internet but have to walk to a table outside of the office. Will finish this entry later.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
July 10th to 12th - Calgary
July 10th - Thurs - Calgary
We waited for the office to open at 9 to check for our forwarded mail - it got here - and then went to Heritage Park Historical Village. We made it there in time for the free sausage & pancake breakfast and then spent a few hours walking & enjoying the park. It is advertised as “Canada’s Largest Living Historical Village”. One of the fun things about it is the old vehicles used by the maintenance employees in the park. There is a steam train, a steam paddle wheeler and a horse drawn wagon for rides. Most of the buildings have employees in period costumes to provide more information than the placards in front of the buildings.
Later in the afternoon a huge rain/hail storm hit Calgary again. We were driving on the freeway and both of us jumped when the first hail hit as we didn’t immediately realize what it was. Lots of vehicles with Alberta licenses (natives in the know) stopped under overpasses to let the worst of it go by but we just drove slowly. It remained cool and breezy for the rest of the day.
July 11th - Fri - Calgary
Kind of a laid back day today. Windy and cool today so not too inviting to be outside. I did some things on the computer and both of us worked Sudoku puzzles and dealt with our forwarded mail.
Our satellite signal was scrambled last night and again today. I spent some time looking around on the internet and discovered that our receiver was being phased out because repair parts are not available. Because of this, new software is not being released as quickly as for other units. We had a newer receiver that we obtained from our friend Barry so we decided to switch to it. This required some reading of manuals and downloading different programs but we finally got it to work - and new software was available for it.
We had 3 loads of laundry to do which is the same number as washers here in the park. It took us 4 trips to the laundry room before we finally found the washers empty after dinner.
July 12th - Sat - Calgary
Lovely, sunny day today so we headed back to the stampede grounds. We went fairly early so we wouldn’t have to walk too far from a parking spot and planned to have a funnel cake for breakfast. We found that the food stands weren’t open until after 10 when we finally bought a bag of little doughnuts - which were great. It was a wonderful day to wander around to spots that we hadn’t found on our previous trip and to catch different performances.
I had looked up a location for Costco on the internet but we ended up finding only a Canadian Superstore so went there instead for some baby backs and a few other groceries since we will be hitting the road on Monday.
Calgary seems to be a growing town - lots of road and house construction. The road construction causes delays so it is nice that we are not usually in any hurry.
We waited for the office to open at 9 to check for our forwarded mail - it got here - and then went to Heritage Park Historical Village. We made it there in time for the free sausage & pancake breakfast and then spent a few hours walking & enjoying the park. It is advertised as “Canada’s Largest Living Historical Village”. One of the fun things about it is the old vehicles used by the maintenance employees in the park. There is a steam train, a steam paddle wheeler and a horse drawn wagon for rides. Most of the buildings have employees in period costumes to provide more information than the placards in front of the buildings.
Later in the afternoon a huge rain/hail storm hit Calgary again. We were driving on the freeway and both of us jumped when the first hail hit as we didn’t immediately realize what it was. Lots of vehicles with Alberta licenses (natives in the know) stopped under overpasses to let the worst of it go by but we just drove slowly. It remained cool and breezy for the rest of the day.
July 11th - Fri - Calgary
Kind of a laid back day today. Windy and cool today so not too inviting to be outside. I did some things on the computer and both of us worked Sudoku puzzles and dealt with our forwarded mail.
Our satellite signal was scrambled last night and again today. I spent some time looking around on the internet and discovered that our receiver was being phased out because repair parts are not available. Because of this, new software is not being released as quickly as for other units. We had a newer receiver that we obtained from our friend Barry so we decided to switch to it. This required some reading of manuals and downloading different programs but we finally got it to work - and new software was available for it.
We had 3 loads of laundry to do which is the same number as washers here in the park. It took us 4 trips to the laundry room before we finally found the washers empty after dinner.
July 12th - Sat - Calgary
Lovely, sunny day today so we headed back to the stampede grounds. We went fairly early so we wouldn’t have to walk too far from a parking spot and planned to have a funnel cake for breakfast. We found that the food stands weren’t open until after 10 when we finally bought a bag of little doughnuts - which were great. It was a wonderful day to wander around to spots that we hadn’t found on our previous trip and to catch different performances.
I had looked up a location for Costco on the internet but we ended up finding only a Canadian Superstore so went there instead for some baby backs and a few other groceries since we will be hitting the road on Monday.
Calgary seems to be a growing town - lots of road and house construction. The road construction causes delays so it is nice that we are not usually in any hurry.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
July 7th to 9th - Calgary
July 7th - Mon - to Calgary
Not a long drive today and we watched the rodeo on TV until late again last night so we were still lazing in bed when Aunt Jessie called at 8:45.
Arrived at the RV park just after noon and the office was in a mess. Reservations, including ours, were missing from their computer system and they were scrambling to find sites for people. The first one that they gave us was just too small so they got a larger site for us. No sewer hookup so we emptied at the dump station before setting up. Had a late lunch and went exploring in town.
We were in a grocery store when we looked outside and it was pouring rain. Terry said “keep shopping”. The rain did stop soon and we headed back. There were puddles all over the RV park so it got hit with the rainstorm as well.
But it cleared and allowed us to cook a nice steak dinner on the barbeque.
We have wifi at our site for a nice change. The antenna is right beside our rig so the signal is strong. I will get my pictures posted while we are here.
July 8th - Tues - Calgary
We went to the stampede today. Terry does not like buses, trains or shuttles so we drove. We didn’t know if Wanda was taking us to the right place so we turned her off & “winged it”. Marg phoned while I was supposed to be navigating so we did a little unexpected sightseeing. But we ended up on a road that allowed parking and we had a not-too-long walk through a cemetery to the stampede grounds.
The weather was perfect - not too hot and the forecast rain did not appear. We checked online for grandstand show tickets and it appears as if we won’t able to get any. So much for Terry being sure the shows would not be full! Oh well, there are so many other good, free shows that we had a great time and will probably go again to see more.
We set up the satellite dish this evening as we only had 3 stations and we have wifi to get an updated program for the receiver. It took me longer to find coordinates than it took to find the satellites.
July 9th - Wed - Calgary
I ruined a trip to the Deerfoot Outlet Mall by having to shop for bras (this may be TMI and only really appreciated by women readers!). Actually found a couple and then checked out the rest of the mall and had lunch there.
We stumbled upon a casino on the way home and spent a couple of hours on very little money thanks to Terry’s winnings.
When we got back to the RV park we found a new rig beside us which left no room to park our truck. We are now parked in the empty site beside us and the guy who directs the parking will have to tell us where to park if someone else moves in.
I posted pictures to the internet today. Check out the last 26 pictures in 2008 #2, all of 2008 #3 and 2008 #4.
Not a long drive today and we watched the rodeo on TV until late again last night so we were still lazing in bed when Aunt Jessie called at 8:45.
Arrived at the RV park just after noon and the office was in a mess. Reservations, including ours, were missing from their computer system and they were scrambling to find sites for people. The first one that they gave us was just too small so they got a larger site for us. No sewer hookup so we emptied at the dump station before setting up. Had a late lunch and went exploring in town.
We were in a grocery store when we looked outside and it was pouring rain. Terry said “keep shopping”. The rain did stop soon and we headed back. There were puddles all over the RV park so it got hit with the rainstorm as well.
But it cleared and allowed us to cook a nice steak dinner on the barbeque.
We have wifi at our site for a nice change. The antenna is right beside our rig so the signal is strong. I will get my pictures posted while we are here.
July 8th - Tues - Calgary
We went to the stampede today. Terry does not like buses, trains or shuttles so we drove. We didn’t know if Wanda was taking us to the right place so we turned her off & “winged it”. Marg phoned while I was supposed to be navigating so we did a little unexpected sightseeing. But we ended up on a road that allowed parking and we had a not-too-long walk through a cemetery to the stampede grounds.
The weather was perfect - not too hot and the forecast rain did not appear. We checked online for grandstand show tickets and it appears as if we won’t able to get any. So much for Terry being sure the shows would not be full! Oh well, there are so many other good, free shows that we had a great time and will probably go again to see more.
We set up the satellite dish this evening as we only had 3 stations and we have wifi to get an updated program for the receiver. It took me longer to find coordinates than it took to find the satellites.
July 9th - Wed - Calgary
I ruined a trip to the Deerfoot Outlet Mall by having to shop for bras (this may be TMI and only really appreciated by women readers!). Actually found a couple and then checked out the rest of the mall and had lunch there.
We stumbled upon a casino on the way home and spent a couple of hours on very little money thanks to Terry’s winnings.
When we got back to the RV park we found a new rig beside us which left no room to park our truck. We are now parked in the empty site beside us and the guy who directs the parking will have to tell us where to park if someone else moves in.
I posted pictures to the internet today. Check out the last 26 pictures in 2008 #2, all of 2008 #3 and 2008 #4.
Monday, July 07, 2008
July 1st to 6th - Wetaskiwin to Banff
July 1st - Tues - Wetaskiwin- HAPPY CANADA DAY
We had a long drive today - 36 miles! We took our time packing up and got to the Prairie Breeze RV park about 10:45. Set up, made breakfast/lunch and went across the road to the Reynolds Alberta Museum which is why we stopped here.
It is a wonderful collection of vintage cars and farm equipment. Right now they also have a collection of Model T’s on display. It is a great place to visit - highly recommended to anyone traveling nearby. There is also an airplane museum and aviation hall of fame building but it was not nearly as interesting to us even though it was very well done too.
We drove into town for a couple of items and then came back, relaxed and walked around the park before dinner. I was hoping to see some fireworks for the 1st and sure enough, just after 11 when it was barely getting dark, we stepped outside and watched the fireworks put on by the museum. Quite a respectable display.
Terry spoke with his Mom who is still in the nursing home. She is doing very well and can walk a bit with a walker. She sounded great on the phone so we were really encouraged by her progress.
July 2nd - Wed - to Rocky Mountain House
Left reasonably early this morning and stopped at Em-Te Town on the way to Rocky Mountain House. It was a 10 mile drive on a dusty gravel road to a strange, empty, “old West” town in the middle of nowhere. Sometime in the 1950’s, a guy decided it would be fun to build a town. Other people kicked in with labor, material and artifacts and the “town” was built. There was no literature available but a worker gave us this short version of the history of the town. There is a saloon and restaurant but they did not appear to be open for business when we were there.
We got an RV site and got set up in time for a late lunch. The RV park has two areas - one with the office and full service sites and the other down the road - all grass with trees around. The sites are power/water or unserviced. We are in the grass area which is joined to the other by the main road and a narrow, windy road along the North Saskatchewan River.
We rode our bikes to the other area to check out the laundry room. It was empty so we came back to round up the laundry and drove back. There are only 3 washers and we had 5 loads so it took us the rest of the afternoon to get it done. Also defrosted the freezer - another overdue job done.
Terry wandered down and chatted with a young couple in a 2008 Challenger. We are in a spot that is shaded in the afternoon so we sat out & enjoyed a fire.
July 3rd - Thurs - Rocky Mountain House
We started with a visit to the info center/museum this morning. Then checked out the town and made the inevitable stop at the grocery store. A wander around Canadian Tire netted us a mop/squeegee with an extension handle. Back to the rig to drop off perishables and have lunch. Terry took advantage of the nice weather and the new mop to clean the dust off the back and driver’s side of the 5th wheel.
Then we were off to explore more of the area. Drove to Twin Lakes and Crimson Lake - both with campgrounds. Twin Lakes has fishing and Crimson Lake is very shallow by the shore with a large beach area. Lots of families there cooling off in the water.
We drove into a nearby golf course and decided that it might be too challenging to be fun - lots of water & hills. We returned to town via a different road and had to stop at another grocery store for a couple of items that the first one did not have.
After dinner we rode our bikes to the office where Terry got an ice cream bar. On the way back, we stopped to talk to the couple in the other Challenger. Viewed their rig and then they came to see ours. They have a second bedroom and bathroom as they have a daughter. Makes the living area small but it is really nice not to have to pull out a hide-a-bed all the time.
July 4th - Fri - Rocky Mountain House
There was a lot of lightning and thunder last night but most of it quite a ways away so you could just see the sky light up. It was clear again this morning.
We went to the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site today. We had purchased an annual national park pass when we went through Jasper but the lady did not tell us that you could get a discounted annual pass for national historic sites if you purchased both at the same time. So we took our park pass in to the historic site and they let us buy the annual historic site pass at the discounted rate.
We walked along some trails and spoke with an employee about the history of the site and area. David Thompson was a prolific map maker and was based in this area for a while at one of the last large trading forts of the Hudson Bay Company after it merged with the Northwest Company. We were lucky enough to be there for a very cute & informative puppet show about David Thompson.
We picked up makings for hamburgers for a late lunch and then just relaxed with a fire. The wind came up so it was a good thing that we had run out of firewood.
The RV park really started filling up this evening. We are heading towards Banff tomorrow so I hope we don’t have a problem finding a spot to stay.
July 5th - Sat - to Banff
We drove into town to dump our holding tanks this morning. The RV park had a dump but it was pretty tight getting in & out. We took a drive into Nordegg but decided not to do any exploring there. Might have played golf but we wanted to carry on and get an RV site.
We decided as we were driving to go to Banff and I saw some campgrounds that were NE of Banff so I thought we would go past them on the highway. Not so! We drove blindly into Banff and then I remembered & uncovered a national park brochure with a map of the town. Just in time as we were heading up a narrow mountain road and I was able to see that it was OK and we would end up at the campground. I don’t know how we get into these places, and more to the point, how we get out!
The campground is strangely laid out because it is on a hillside - as is most everything here. You pull up straight along both sides of wide roads that have electric posts and picnic tables in gravel sites. They put us on an end site as we are so long but we couldn’t stay further back as with this configuration the electric hookup is on the wrong side and our cord would not reach. There is no one in front of us so we are OK for now.
We drove into town, finally found a parking spot and went browsing. Banff is much bigger than I remembered and is filled with tourists. The main street is under construction to add to the congestion. We went to a spot where a trail leads to some hoodoos but since we could see them from the parking area, we chose not to take a walk.
By the way, there are a couple of other routes to the campground that do not include the mountain road.
July 6th - Sun - Banff
We watched the Calgary stampede on TV until late last night so we were lazy this morning. Finally got going and headed to the Cave & Basin National Historic Site. It is on the location of the first hot springs discovered in this area. The hot springs and the subsequent legal wrangling led to the formation of a national park here and elsewhere in Canada. Got back to the truck just as some rain started.
Checked out the Banff Springs Hotel, Bow Falls and finally were able to find a parking spot at a lookout where we could get a good picture of the Banff Springs Hotel. We returned to town for lunch and some more shopping. The rain did not last long so it was nice wandering in town.
I spent a couple of hours putting captions on pictures in preparation for putting them on the internet - hopefully sometime soon since I am a little behind. Caught up the blog also so I am ready to post it as well.
We had a long drive today - 36 miles! We took our time packing up and got to the Prairie Breeze RV park about 10:45. Set up, made breakfast/lunch and went across the road to the Reynolds Alberta Museum which is why we stopped here.
It is a wonderful collection of vintage cars and farm equipment. Right now they also have a collection of Model T’s on display. It is a great place to visit - highly recommended to anyone traveling nearby. There is also an airplane museum and aviation hall of fame building but it was not nearly as interesting to us even though it was very well done too.
We drove into town for a couple of items and then came back, relaxed and walked around the park before dinner. I was hoping to see some fireworks for the 1st and sure enough, just after 11 when it was barely getting dark, we stepped outside and watched the fireworks put on by the museum. Quite a respectable display.
Terry spoke with his Mom who is still in the nursing home. She is doing very well and can walk a bit with a walker. She sounded great on the phone so we were really encouraged by her progress.
July 2nd - Wed - to Rocky Mountain House
Left reasonably early this morning and stopped at Em-Te Town on the way to Rocky Mountain House. It was a 10 mile drive on a dusty gravel road to a strange, empty, “old West” town in the middle of nowhere. Sometime in the 1950’s, a guy decided it would be fun to build a town. Other people kicked in with labor, material and artifacts and the “town” was built. There was no literature available but a worker gave us this short version of the history of the town. There is a saloon and restaurant but they did not appear to be open for business when we were there.
We got an RV site and got set up in time for a late lunch. The RV park has two areas - one with the office and full service sites and the other down the road - all grass with trees around. The sites are power/water or unserviced. We are in the grass area which is joined to the other by the main road and a narrow, windy road along the North Saskatchewan River.
We rode our bikes to the other area to check out the laundry room. It was empty so we came back to round up the laundry and drove back. There are only 3 washers and we had 5 loads so it took us the rest of the afternoon to get it done. Also defrosted the freezer - another overdue job done.
Terry wandered down and chatted with a young couple in a 2008 Challenger. We are in a spot that is shaded in the afternoon so we sat out & enjoyed a fire.
July 3rd - Thurs - Rocky Mountain House
We started with a visit to the info center/museum this morning. Then checked out the town and made the inevitable stop at the grocery store. A wander around Canadian Tire netted us a mop/squeegee with an extension handle. Back to the rig to drop off perishables and have lunch. Terry took advantage of the nice weather and the new mop to clean the dust off the back and driver’s side of the 5th wheel.
Then we were off to explore more of the area. Drove to Twin Lakes and Crimson Lake - both with campgrounds. Twin Lakes has fishing and Crimson Lake is very shallow by the shore with a large beach area. Lots of families there cooling off in the water.
We drove into a nearby golf course and decided that it might be too challenging to be fun - lots of water & hills. We returned to town via a different road and had to stop at another grocery store for a couple of items that the first one did not have.
After dinner we rode our bikes to the office where Terry got an ice cream bar. On the way back, we stopped to talk to the couple in the other Challenger. Viewed their rig and then they came to see ours. They have a second bedroom and bathroom as they have a daughter. Makes the living area small but it is really nice not to have to pull out a hide-a-bed all the time.
July 4th - Fri - Rocky Mountain House
There was a lot of lightning and thunder last night but most of it quite a ways away so you could just see the sky light up. It was clear again this morning.
We went to the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site today. We had purchased an annual national park pass when we went through Jasper but the lady did not tell us that you could get a discounted annual pass for national historic sites if you purchased both at the same time. So we took our park pass in to the historic site and they let us buy the annual historic site pass at the discounted rate.
We walked along some trails and spoke with an employee about the history of the site and area. David Thompson was a prolific map maker and was based in this area for a while at one of the last large trading forts of the Hudson Bay Company after it merged with the Northwest Company. We were lucky enough to be there for a very cute & informative puppet show about David Thompson.
We picked up makings for hamburgers for a late lunch and then just relaxed with a fire. The wind came up so it was a good thing that we had run out of firewood.
The RV park really started filling up this evening. We are heading towards Banff tomorrow so I hope we don’t have a problem finding a spot to stay.
July 5th - Sat - to Banff
We drove into town to dump our holding tanks this morning. The RV park had a dump but it was pretty tight getting in & out. We took a drive into Nordegg but decided not to do any exploring there. Might have played golf but we wanted to carry on and get an RV site.
We decided as we were driving to go to Banff and I saw some campgrounds that were NE of Banff so I thought we would go past them on the highway. Not so! We drove blindly into Banff and then I remembered & uncovered a national park brochure with a map of the town. Just in time as we were heading up a narrow mountain road and I was able to see that it was OK and we would end up at the campground. I don’t know how we get into these places, and more to the point, how we get out!
The campground is strangely laid out because it is on a hillside - as is most everything here. You pull up straight along both sides of wide roads that have electric posts and picnic tables in gravel sites. They put us on an end site as we are so long but we couldn’t stay further back as with this configuration the electric hookup is on the wrong side and our cord would not reach. There is no one in front of us so we are OK for now.
We drove into town, finally found a parking spot and went browsing. Banff is much bigger than I remembered and is filled with tourists. The main street is under construction to add to the congestion. We went to a spot where a trail leads to some hoodoos but since we could see them from the parking area, we chose not to take a walk.
By the way, there are a couple of other routes to the campground that do not include the mountain road.
July 6th - Sun - Banff
We watched the Calgary stampede on TV until late last night so we were lazy this morning. Finally got going and headed to the Cave & Basin National Historic Site. It is on the location of the first hot springs discovered in this area. The hot springs and the subsequent legal wrangling led to the formation of a national park here and elsewhere in Canada. Got back to the truck just as some rain started.
Checked out the Banff Springs Hotel, Bow Falls and finally were able to find a parking spot at a lookout where we could get a good picture of the Banff Springs Hotel. We returned to town for lunch and some more shopping. The rain did not last long so it was nice wandering in town.
I spent a couple of hours putting captions on pictures in preparation for putting them on the internet - hopefully sometime soon since I am a little behind. Caught up the blog also so I am ready to post it as well.
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