After 13 days and close to 3,000 miles

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

We’ve had some obvious glitches with blogging here in Canada, so I’ll try to write a little every day and when I can get to a wireless connection I’ll send this off! 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we stayed at Lake Louise CG. The campground was very nice and since it appears that most people have more sense than we do, they read the weather reports and saw lots more snow forecasted for Sunday and decided not to camp!  The RV stayed nice and cozy despite several feet of snow outside…Sunday morning; with the snow falling we stopped at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise for a fabulous Mother’s Day breakfast.  The views were beautiful, but we couldn’t see the lake for all the snow! Saturday and Sunday we drove the Bow Lake Parkway, looking for critters.  The parkway connects Banff and Lake Louise but is off limits to truckers so it’s scenic and quieter.  I got my nerve up on Saturday and allowed Bernardo to convince me to take the Banff Gondola up to the top of Sulfur Mountain.  I’m glad I did.  We love Yellowstone and the Tetons, but the Canadian Rockies are amazing.  Sorry, there are no words for the affect they have on your senses.

So, on to Japer via the Icefields Parkway:  an incredible drive parallel to the Continental Divide.  It’s 143 miles of Canadian Rockies on both sides.  Many of the lookouts were closed (due to snow) but we were able to stop at several and met lots of hikers and skiers that go for backcountry skiing on slopes open for those who dare to go! 

We were exhausted by the time we got to Jasper.  Bernardo had found a good National Park CG (one of two that are open along the way) and it’s just a couple of miles from the cute town of Jasper.  After fixing a nice salmon dinner (no, not fresh caught yet) we were putting things away when I looked outside and looked right at a coyote that had come by to either see what was cooking, or to meet Bessie.  I’m not quite sure which. There are reports of a mama bear in the area, but we haven’t seen her yet. 

Some skiers we met told us we had to drive west of Jasper to see Mt. Robson, the highest peak of the Canadian Rockies.  (See pictures)  So we took their advice on Tuesday and so glad we did! We took a nice long hike down to Outlander Falls (see pic) and just imagined what it was like before everything got too civilized. 

We drove back to Jasper to try to get an internet connection and a few groceries.  Food is incredibly expensive in Canada!  I hate to say it, but we’re going to Wal-Mart tomorrow when we get to Grand Prairie. We’re running low on wine and Bessie-food ☺.  Before heading back to the CG we drove a few miles east of Jasper for a hike through Maligne Canyon.  It was quite a trek down and more so up!  But, Bessie is happy while we hike so her little home stops moving and she can sleep. 

I wrote all the above yesterday, so here is the update:  we’re now in Grand Prairie, Alberta and had to opt for an RV park.  Not our favorite thing, but the Provincial Parks are mostly closed because of a very late spring.  Tomorrow we should hit Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway!  Today we drove about 250 miles and saw lots of elk, a moose, deer and our first black bear!  Finally.  We’ve been told to plan to see many more. 

I’ll try to make future blogs shorter.  

CROSSING INTO CANADA VIA MANITOBA

Today, May4, we crossed into Canada after spending the night at the Twin Oaks Resort (your basic motel otherwise) by Lake Metigoshe. Had to scrap plans to go to Williston as planned after Mother Nature dropped18" of snow followed by some serious flooding including 1100 down power lines. Yesterday, we visited the International Peace Garden which straddles the US and Canada followed by a "local" dinner at the Twin Oaks Bar & Grill. Nothing like a fresh fillet of walleye and a nice chicken salad (according to Daria) washed with draft Amber Bock.

The crossing was very pleasant as we had expected the agents to confiscate over the limit wine, rum and beer. Finally got onto the Trans Canada Highway heading to Regina and again had to deal with nasty high winds (50mph) which prompted our trusted RV to go into ESP mode (electronic stability program). So again we had to "deep-six" our planned stop in a provincial park (the area is experiencing the worst floods in years) and settle for a typical (not scenic) RV park managed by very friendly people. Anyway, after a bottle of wine and a nice salmon and pasta dinner we are ready to curl up in our bunk and get ready for another adventure tomorrow.

Hopefully we'll have some pictures tomorrow!!

Had to toss out a page from The Book

We didn't listen to the weather reports...so the next stop of Williston ND was deep-sixed.(They had a snowstorm last weekend.)  But little changes always bring nice surprises and we decided to see a little in ND which included the Geographical Center of North America (see photo) and a visit to the International Peace Garden which is the only open border in the world. Though the skies are sunny, the ground hasn't thawed and most of the campgrounds have not turned on the water.  So, tonight we'll be roughing it in a motel, while Bessie has to sleep in the RV) and tomorrow head to Canada and our next (hopefully on the schedule) stop in Regina, SK.

First Campground - Grand Forks, North Dakota

Here we are in the Turtle River State Park in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The drive from Minneapolis was fine despite the cold weather (32 degrees with freezing rain). Only one more camper here. Had some initial problems with electrical stuff but think we took care of it after calling our road side assistance (Coach Net). All is well after a nice pan sauteed tilapia with potatoes and vegies plus a bottle of wine and some milk and cookies (Vicki's pan chocolate chip cookies). We may need to find an alternate to our planned campground in Williston, ND due to Saturday's 18" of snow but now melting and making things muddy. Oh well, this is the price you pay for leaving a perfectly nice home and decide to become adventurous.

Da Route

Bears on the move - The Real Bears