Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada

Michael and I enjoyed a nice meal at a place in Grande Cache last night and drove around the little town.  There was a very pleasant municipal park with full hookups, reasonably priced.  The grocery store was not so reasonably priced!  Two bags, $53 Canadian!

Back home at the rig one Emmi dog was glad to see her people, howling her displeasure at being left alone! 

Today my dear husband really slept in and I got in some great reading time, drinking my coffee.  I just read The Kite Runner—I read books way too fast making it kind of an expensive hobby!  I’ve always been a reader even since grade school—my teachers struggled to find me enough new stuff to read in our little small school library.  Our friend Mary in Spokane was kind enough to donate me several books—that one was a winner Mary!

After breakfast we took a hike and ran into another RVer who said she saw a grizzly bear the night before and we did notice bear scat on the trail.  Kept our eyes and ears open to say the least, of course our bear spray was back in the rig!

Kayak on top of the jeep again and we were off to the lake.  The loons put on quite the performance for us today We paddled around for a while then headed back to the rig in preparation for pulling out before check out time.  This is another holiday type weekend for this area, the schools let out at noon on Friday and one of the Alberta folks told us the campground would fill with young families out for their last camping trip of the season.  And, since we are trying to catch up with John and Brenda—we decided to hit the road.  Tonight we are in Grande Prairie in a private campground with our air conditioners running—what’s up with that John???  Nice, new place with great wifi! 

Since Michael didn’t dump me in the drink yesterday I decided to be brave and take the really good camera out with us today—the Canon with the 35x zoom—and I got the shot above.    Another great day in Canada!

Kayaking near Grande Cache

We both slept like rocks in our quiet little lakeside campsite.  Coffee then a big celebratory breakfast, it is my birthday.  Bacon we cooked on the grill, fried eggs and toast, some things we don’t eat very often. 

On our walk we noticed how glassy calm the lake was—a good time to get that kayak wet!  Our kayak is a folding Folbot we bought off eBay several years ago.  It almost takes a rocket scientist to put the thing together if you haven’t done it in a while which we haven’t.  We read the directions and it only took us a little while to get back in the grove.  Lifejackets on including Emmi and off we went.  Calm water, my husband paddling (it’s my birthday) and it was a glorious day!  The loons were talking—that sound is enough to give you goose bumps!  One of the loons went down and surfaced very close to our boat, totally unconcerned. These two were fighting over something??

We loaded the kayak onto the top of the jeep in case we want to go out again-- Now we are in Grand Cache using the Visitor’s Center great wifi and then we are going to have dinner.  Another wonderful day in Canada.

Icefield Parkway to Jasper

The trains were quiet or we slept through the noise until about 3am, then we were both awake. One of those nights where I worked all night—I had a dinner party planned for lunch and dinner and was running around in my dreams trying to still decide what to cook when all my guests invited and uninvited showed up.  I was exhausted when I woke up.  And, in the midst of all that party planning stuff I dreamed we had an earthquake—probably one of those trains I heard and felt in my dreams! 

We pulled out of the RV site just after 7pm, drove across the street into a parking lot and hooked up the jeep.  Off we went up and up out of Golden through the usual construction zones and into Yoho National Park, then up the road JB said was one of the most beautiful we would ever drive, the Icefield Parkway.  He was right!  So gorgeous, saw another bear right by the road and this herd of elk in the strangest place We had talked of stopping at a provincial park near Hinton but it was only noon when we hit there.  Continued on until almost to Grand Cache where we stopped at the Pierre Grey’s Lakes Provincial Park.  We are so totally unfamiliar with Canada and boondocking so we head to the provincial parks for space and scenery.  The parks are expensive, $23 for a spot—no amenities other than free firewood!  And no trains!

Michael built a great fire and we cooked dinner on the fire ring grill—scallops, potatoes/onions/squash in a foil packet and green beans.  YUM!  After dinner we took a walk out onto an island accessible by a floating dock.  We disturbed a big bird sitting on a nest, seems a strange time of year to be on a nest??, need some help here Judy 

I just finished reading the best book, Left Neglected about a woman who sustains a brain injury causing her to lose all sense that there is anything “left.”  If someone is standing on her left side she doesn’t know they are there, can’t even hear them speak until they move to her right side.  She and her husband change their priorities after her injury.  Very good book!

Emmi looks happy doesn’t she!

We Depart Our Premium Campsite

We debated all day yesterday the merits of leaving our great campground on Labor Day or waiting a day until all the working/schooling folks are back at it.  This morning I mentioned that by Friday of this week I needed to be either in a full service campground so I could use the washer/dryer onboard or I needed to be somewhere near a laundromat.  I guess Michael took that to mean today would be just as good—so off we went for Golden and the local municipal campground.  A great little spot on the Kicking Horse River with electric, water, laundromat and free WiFi!!! With the exception of one thing—just across the river behind the motorhome is this-- See the train, we are right beside a switching yard—lots of noise!  Oh, well, it is for one night and then we are on our way.

Yesterday we drove what is called the Golden Triangle—from Radium Hot Springs to Golden to Lake Louise and back to Radium.  It was one of those driving trips Mr. Clark is famous for but the scenery was beautiful.  We’ve been to Banff, Lake Louise, etc. many years ago in the days before our RVing started.  Tomorrow we are off for parts north—probably Hinton or Grand Cache.

Congratulations John and Brenda on the birth of your new grandson.  We will look forward to seeing lots of photos!

Bugaboo Glacier

Bugaboo Glacier—something about that name makes you smile!  And what a glorious day, it sure put a smile on our faces!  After stopping at the Visitor Center in Invermere, gathering lots of brochures and info from the helpful person manning the desk and posting the blog with their free wi fi, we were off to Bugaboo Glacier—50km’s of gravel road, most of which wasn’t bad, through some of the most beautiful country you will ever see. 

  A little local wildlife!!

And then there was Bugaboo Glacier in all its glory!  You can climb closer to the glacier and even stay in a “hut” operated by the Park system—we visited with a young couple that was about to make that hike and stay above the “hut” for the night.

 

The parking lot at the glacier was interesting—something we had never seen before. There were probably 20 cars in the lot all with these chicken wire fences propped all the way around the car and the wire held down by rocks.  There was a container which held the wire and you could help yourself—evidently porcupines and ground squirrels are a problem—the varmints eat the tires, brake lines, wiring, etc!  The fences around your vehicle keep the little critters from having a snack.  We didn’t tarry long so as not to take on any other passengers! 

Back down the 50kms to the rig, Michael went to one of the many hydrants in the park and got us 50 gallons of water which he pumped into the motorhome—we had planned on a RV park stay to take on water before starting our provincial park stays.  I made us a dinner of leftovers and now we are relaxed, reading all the wonderful brochures we found today. 

We couldn’t have asked for a better day!

Never, Ever

Websites and other user’s RV park reviews can sure be deceiving!  We left Coeur d Alene yesterday morning after dumping our tanks at the sheriff’s office?? and headed north to the Canadian border at Kingsgate.  We waited in line longer for the road construction than at the actual crossing.  The female border agent in the gatehouse asked Michael, “What do you have in the rig?”  OK—do you want the really long list or the short version???  Michael replied, “a little of everything.”  She then smiled and began to ask us the usual questions—“any firearms, nope, any alcohol, yes, 5 bottles of wine (which is one over what we should have had but she didn’t bat an eye), any tobacco, nope and we were on our way.

We drove through some spectacular scenery, lakes, huge mountains.  Michael and I always say British Columbia has the biggest mountains!  The tallest peak we could see, probably Mount Fisher, has fresh snow on its top!

On to Skookumchuck and a great big yuk!  We missed the turn off for the campground where we had reserved three nights, drove up the road a bit, unhooked the jeep and I drove back to check out the RV park.  The two sites the owner wanted to stick us in would have barely held a 30 foot RV much less a 40 foot RV.  The park was a scrambled mis-mash of sites here and there along with cabins occupied by guys I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley!  Tight, narrow little roads and turns.  Talk about misrepresentation—the photos on the park website made it look really good!  And the reviews were good! 

When I told the owner we just couldn’t stay there she became VERY belligerent!  And for those who know me you know I don’t tolerate belligerent very well but you would have been proud of me.  I remained very calm and quiet while she got red in the face and yelled at me.  Told me she was charging me for all three night and a five night cancelation fee.  Nope, not happening!  We finally agreed on my paying ONE night and I was out of there.

OK, now it is 5pm on a Friday night holiday weekend—now what???  The provincial park just up the road was packed so off we went.  Each RV park I stopped in with the jeep was full—OK, where are the Wal Marts—not in this part of BC for sure!  How far are we from John and Brenda??  Finally we came to Dry Gulch Provincial Park and got lucky—after 7pm now!  A guy with a loaded truck and travel trailer was trying very hard to get backed into a difficult spot, we took the spot across from him but is was uphill and very unlevel.  Got in the jeep and drove around the loops, found a perfect spot, large, fairly level and just what we were looking for.  OK, we made it, deep breath, glass of wine to celebrate and dinner.

Michael and I are morning people, if we sleep until 7am we feel as if we have slept in.  This morning when Michael got up to turn on the coffee to perc—he said, “you won’t believe this but it is 8:30am!!”

We are off on new adventures today, taking a 4X4 road out to the Bugaboo Glacier. 

Now as for the title of this blog, I made myself a promise—“never, ever make RV park reservations!”  If there is space when we get there fine, if not, we will punt like we did yesterday.  We do have a 3 month reservation in Florida for this winter but there is no cancelation policy at that RV park and as the RV Dreams folks Linda and Howard have stayed there (and they are picky) we feel fairly safe. 

Another Day In Coeur d Alene

Another super lazy day in Idaho—I think we both must have just been exhausted—we are starting to relax and sure have been sleeping a lot!

Emmi and I took a walk while Michael poked and prodded at the jeep, not sure exactly what he was doing.  Last night a really cool older rig came in—this one is for you Mike and Pat-- It is a 1995 Foretravel in great condition—I talked to the owner as he came back bearing doughnuts for his wife.  The man used to work on Foretravel motorhomes and this is the 4th one he has owned.  The paint job was beautiful.  The really high end motorhome pulled out today—a gorgeous Prevost.  The strange thing about the Prevost was the toad—an older model (really old) panel van painted in the same color scheme as the Prevost.  The van had a ladder carrying rack on top.  Someone here in the campground told us the guy was a mechanic for high end motorhomes, traveling all over the country taking appointments as he went. 

Michael came back from the dental office with his new smile—he is pleased and so am I! 

Tomorrow we are crossing the border into Canada heading for a campground in Skookumchuck—holing up for the holiday weekend.