June 11: Closer to the Alaskan Highway

We woke to 39 degrees and 34 degrees wind chill. Thankfully, the camper was about 20 degrees warmer than that! We were thankful that we were not in the 103-degree heat index at home, not in the path of the thunderstorm that went through the Twin Cities during this day. We were to learn later in the day that everything at our home was okay, but many people were out of electricity or had their homes damaged by incredible 1.5 inches or more hail.

We left the Spring Hill RV Campground around 8 am and went north on Highway 22 toward Highway 43 and up to Whitecourt, Alberta.

The mountains after the storm to the west that we avoided were white with snow.

What a beautiful site! There was sunshine on the mountains, but cloudy where we traveled. We were in cloudy skies most of the day and only a little rain.

Our goal tomorrow is to make it to mile zero on the Alaskan Highway at Dawson Creek.

Animal sightings:

• There was a deer along one field that pranced like a fancy horse. It was a delightful dance.
• We had a black bear cross the road in front of us that was quite a good size.
• Also, we saw a herd (it that correct?) of horses that were running across a field. There were at least 8 foals with them. It was great to see this wild and joyful display!

Oddities:

• On the overhead sign above a ranch road, it said “Bob the Welder: Gateway to the World of Welding.” It might have been fun to see what Bob offered in lessons.
• On a sign for an Esso station, it declared that it was a “stunning pee stop.” Not quite sure what that meant.
• The best thing today, however, and I wish we had a picture of it, was a derrick that someone had decorated it with a cowboy on a horse. When the derrick went up and down, it looked like the cowboy was riding a bucking bronco. Very cute!

Drove: 250 miles

June 10: Change in Plans

We woke with bad news. Rain, sleet, ice and snow was going to be on the road we had planned to travel up to Jasper. As our real destination is Alaska, we opted for Plan B: go around the bad weather.

This was not a good day for photos, so, sorry, there are none today (apologies to PB). By the time we left Willow Rock campground you could see the snow and fog enter behind us. We traveled toward Calgary and went north on highway 22 to Cochrane. Here we have found a campground at Springhill RV Park for the night. We have traveled only about 60 miles or so today.

The temperature is 41 degrees with a wind chill of 32 degrees. We hear that there is a heat index of 103 degrees at home. WOW, what a contrast! The wind has been upwards of 20 mph with gusts over 30 mph--not something that you drive in with an RV.

We hope that the morning fairs better for us and the Lord grants us good traveling weather. We hope to travel up to Whitecourt, Alberta, tomorrow and the through Grande Prairie and the Alaskan Highway the day after.

As a delightful end to our day we have a double rainbow. This may be our sign that tomorrow will fair better. We pray that it does.

June 8-9: Banff Area

June 10: City of Banff

We drove into town in George's Jeep and up to the Banff Gondola ride. George waited for us at the bottom as Duane and I went to the top. You can see the beginning of the trip at the small white building in this picture.

So, the trip up is quite far above the base of the valley, and the views are spectacular. Some of the views included Mt. Rundle and a view of the city of Banff.

The large hotel in the center of the picture is Banff Springs Hotel. It is quite the place to stay if you have the money to do so.

At the top of the ride, you can read placards about the scenery that you see. There is also an inside interpretive center which gives you information about the history, animals, weather, etc. The tower you see in the next photo was the original weather station that was built around 1916. The walk to it involved LOTS of steps and we opted not to go there.

The information about the animals (grizzly, cougar, etc.) was interesting. They had paw prints and here is Duane's hand in comparison to the grizzly.

We ended the afternoon with a small rain shower and a walk through part of downtown Banff. We ended up at Tooloulou's (with a gluten-free) Cajun menu.

June 9: Weather wait-out

We woke up to very bad indicators about roads and weather north of Banff. Our plan was to go north to the ice fields today. However, a weather system has come in that is bringing rain and cooler temps with possible snow. It's time to stay put.

Being as we had plan to leave. We had to move our campsite from Bow River to Willow Rock campsite (only across the road). With the day to ourselves, Duane and I went for a walk on the Flowing Water Trail. There was an incredible variety of flowers on the walk and it was a wonderful quiet trail. From the top of the trail there was a bench and this wonderful view.

When we were below, at the bend of the river to the left there was a pair of geese and four goslings. The river was running quite swiftly. The parents went into the water first and waited for the young ones to enter into the water. Then, they traveled upstream close to the left bank (one adult, four goslings, and the last adult). When the water was too swift, they traversed the river together in the same order. After reaching the far right ride (which was a shear bank with nowhere to go ashore), they traveled again upstream in the same order to a sandbank. It was a wonderful view of their protection of their offspring.

The walk had a variety of landscapes: river, plane, and wetland. This shows some of that contrast, both in landscape and color.

June 7: On the way to Banff

We woke up at the rest area at 39 degrees at 6a and found truckers in the rest area and all along a side road. By the time we left at 8a the temperature had moderated at 59 degrees.

We drove along Highway 3 through Fernie, Sparwood, and Crowsnest. In Sparwood, we saw the “Largest Truck in the World” used in the mining operations around there.

Then we stopped at Frank, which is the site of a large rockslide, which on April 29, 1903, saw 30 million cubic meters (over 39 million cubic yards) of limestone burying part of the town. Its depth was from 150 meters (492 feet) to 450 meters (1476 feet). The side of the mountain slid into the town in a matter of 90 seconds. Surprisingly, only 90 died, most of who are still under the rockslide today.

Along the way to Calgary we came across a strange site—fenceposts with hats upon them for probably a mile—not sure why!

We ended up at Bow Valley Provincial Park east side of Canmore, MT. What a great view from my campsite.

June 6: Left USA

We left Polson at 9:45a at 66 degrees and with sunny skies. Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater large lake west of the Mississippi and runs 27 miles in length.

It is a beautiful drive around the lake. We drove the west route, although we have driven the eastern route that goes very close to the edge of the lake.

The drive took us west of Glacier Park, but we saw a few of the tallest mountains from there.

We had a few stops prior to entering into Canada, but had no difficulty at the entry point of Roosville. The drive and stops put us out and, as we found no good campsite for the two rigs, we stopped at a rest stop at Elko, BC by 4:30p. 

Surprisingly the rest stop was relatively quiet.

Oddities:

• Thrift store called “Seconds to Go”
• Fence made from old bikes painted in all kinds of colors (sorry, no picture).
• Store: “Sudden Rush Expresso”
• Store: “Nothing Fancy Gift Shop”

 Drove: 165 miles

Plan for the Next Leg of our Journey

Here is the plan for our travels across Canada and into Alaska.

June 3-5: Polson, MT (Updated)

With no internet, spotty cell service and the sound of the river next to the campsite, we slept 10 hours and woke up to 48 degrees.

After some errands in Missoula, we noticed that the geography changed from limestone to granite. Walls of the valley were pillared—spectacular. Yet, the change in scenery from mountainous to valley to rolling landscape was wonderful to see. God has truly created a landscape to fit every creature that He has created and every plant that He has envisioned.

On the way up to Polson, MT, we stopped at the St. Ignatious Mission. It was wonderful to see all of the frescos painted by the cook. There are many, many items to see in this chapel. 

One of my favorite ones was the prodigal son.

We finally got together with our friend, George S. Here is his camper and he's towing a Jeep.

We spent most of our time here doing laundry, planning together, and camper repairs. We have had a couple of issues, but between George and Duane, they found a solution to the muffler on the generator and we are ready to continue.

Drove: 117 miles on 6/2

June 2: No Internet (Updated)

The morning was a bright and sunny 53 degrees and we left for Great Falls around 8:15a. Our concern about the pronghorn alleviated a bit today as we saw several groups—one of just over a dozen. It was good to see that.

A good share of our day was doing errands around Great Falls, MT. We were able to buy a new LP leak detector. However, the muffler end that was knocked off is going to be a bigger problem and we may have to go without using the generator because it is terribly LOUD!!

We spent the night in a site where we had no internet or cell phone connection. In addition, we were alone most of the night in the campground. It was still sunny and 65 degrees as we set up for the night.

A sheriff stopped by and told us that we were very lucky that we were at the campground this weekend. Normally, the teenagers from town (I’m assuming Missoula) party up here. However, this was graduation weekend and everyone will be in town. Thank you, Lord!

As you can see, we are on a river. This is the Blackfoot River and it is running fast with spring snow runoff.

Good Church Signs:

·       “Sign is broken, Message inside, Sunday at 10 am”

·       “Choose the Bread of Life, or you’re toast.”

·       “eFaith Church” – Seems that this church, aside from Sunday services, keeps their parishioners growing through an active daily devotional online.

Oddities:

·       Every gas station seems to have a casino on the side or back of the building.

Drove: 202 miles

June 1: Crossing Montana

We woke early this morning and were on the way by 7:19a. It was 52 degrees and sunny as we left Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Crossing eastern Montana involves seeing Badlands, craggy hills, flat land, and lots and lots of sagebrush. Most of the ranches raise cattle or sheep. There are only crops (other than hay) planted in the flatter areas. Large ranches are the norm with gates festooned with the ranch's name. If there was a retreat here among these crags (with air conditioning), it would make for a great location. There is something quite beautiful about the barrenness.

Sometimes the road just seemed like it would go forever............

After 3:00p we began looking for a place to camp and were unsuccessful. One place where we had planned on staying (just west of Lewistown, MT) wanted $24 for a site with no electric, showers, water, dump, etc.--not worth it!!

We ended up trying to find a US Forestry campsite in Stanford and, while looking, came across a van leaving a church building. Duane flagged the driver down and asked if we could stay in their parking lot. It turned out that they had electric, water, and a dump available for campers--we were not asked to pay for the site, but we hope to leave them a donation in the morning for this gracious offer. The church was built by its members and is really wonderful. Here's a look at Calvary Community Church of Stanford, MT.

Oddities for the Day:

• As we are driving and looking for Pronghorn, we were seeing quite a few sheep. However, on this one ranch gate, there were hanging three wolf carcasses. We think that he was making some kind of statement. What do you think? 

Animals seen today:

• Deer
• Pronghorn
• In past trips west we have seen herds of Pronghorn. However, on these past two trips, we have not seen the numbers that we have seen before. Although we saw more than a dozen, there was one group of three, but the rest were in either a group of two or a single animal. 

Day has been sunny for the most part, even getting to 82 degrees. Clouds have come in late in the afternoon and we have had some showers. It is currently 64 degrees with a chance of more rain overnight.                 Drove: 380 miles  

Prayer Needs:

• We seem to have a faulty CO/LP Leak Detector. It started beeping without any LP being turned on. Now we have to find out if there is a problem (and how much it will cost). Great Falls, here we come!

Catch Up: May 29-31

May 29: Starting from home on Memorial Day, 2017.

We drove up to Grand Forks, ND where we will be working from September 1 to Mid-November. Duane will be driving semi for the harvest again, and I hope to find temp work while I am there. Because of this, Duane drove the camper and I drove our Sable up to the farm. We left our car at the farm so that I have it available in September.

It was good to visit with Kyle at the farm.

The drive was a bit challenging for Duane as we were in 13-18 mph winds with gusts above that. And we were in and out of rain most of the way.      Drove: 323 miles


May 30: Leaving the farm and headed west.

We had a great nights rest and a large breakfast. After Duane did some paperwork for the farm, we did a couple of errands and were on highway 2 out of Grand Forks by 10:30a.

We drove by Michigan (ND) today and the geographic center of North America at Rugby. At Turtle Lake, we stopped to see Rusty the turtle.

We found a wonderful camping spot at West Arroda campsite off of ND 200, west of Washburn. It's a wonderfully quiet dispersed site just off the road and behind the hill (very little traffic noise). There were a lot of starlings flitting off of the water catching bugs, ducks and a very large muskrat nearby.

We finally drove into clear skies and 64 degrees.       Drove: 295 miles


May 31: Off to Theodore Roosevelt National Park

We didn't have far to go today, so took our time at breakfast and watching the birds on the water. We're not sure what they were, but they dove just like loons. We couldn't catch their coloring.

We stopped at the ND Badlands overlook and saw wild horses there.

After entering the park, we drove the 36 mile loop that brings you to many overlooks. Some looked over the same badlands area. There is one area called the Windy Canyon Walk where wind, rather than water, etches the landscape--and here we are:

After the drive, we settled into our very bad campsite. The description of the campsite was that it was a drive-through--it was not. The site was more suited to a tent than an RV. If we had been much longer, we would not have fit into the spot.

Oddities for the Day:

• Center, ND has a diner called the Square Butt(e) Diner
• Salem, ND has its own large cow

Animals Seen Today:

• Of course, we see cows, sheep, and horses. This listing is for "wildlife" sightings!
• Buffalo
• Wild Horses
• Prairie Dogs
• Muskrat
• Loons?
• Magpies and Goldfinches

It was a beautiful 72 degrees and sunny.                           Drove: 172 miles