Alberta, Canada
The Canadian Rockies
  (July 5 to July 28, 2008)

You can click on "photos" to get directly to the first photo page, which has a connector to the second page (if there is one).

Our summer travels started in Calgary where we attended the Calgary Stampede. Then we went up through the Canadian Rockies and toured three Canadian national parks: Banff NP, Jasper NP, and Yoho NP. Finally, we headed up to Grand Prairie where we took a couple of days to do pretty much nothing before heading up to Dawson Creek where we would start our travels in British  Columbia.

July 10 to July 15: Cochrane (202 miles)

Route: US 89; AB 2; TransCanada 1; AB 22

Campground:  Bow RiversEdge Campground  This was a very nice campground with pullthru gravel sites with 30-amp full hookups. It was also a Good Sam Park. We stayed here for five nights as part of the SKP Calgary Stampede HOP (Head Out Program) and then paid for an extra night before heading up to Lake Louise. The managers of the park were Mike and Christina Eklof and you couldn't ask for nicer people to deal with. We didn't see much of Mike, but Christina ran the office and was always around. She was one of the most delightful, friendly, nice, and helpful business people we have met in a long time. She did everything she could to make sure that our Escapees group had what we needed for our stay in the park. Given that the "building" in which we held our meetings and had our meals was just a shell with a roof and plastic covering the openings, I would suggest that some portable heaters would have been nice on those days when it is cold. Our arrival day was wet and cold and it wasn't much fun trying to eat dinner wrapped up in winter type clothing. It was COLD and most of us retirees who follow the sun either do not like or, in my case, despise the cold. On fair weather days, the building would be perfect.

The park offers FREE WiFI, but we were parked way out from the office and the signal was iffy at best. Sometimes up, sometimes down.  Sometimes fast, sometimes VERY slow. The Paynes were parked across the road from us and Norm rarely got a signal. When he did get a signal it was from just one spot in the bedroom of the motorhome. If I'm paying for WiFi I feel I have a right to complain about the service, but when it is free all I can do is mention to the owners/managers that the signal is weak. However, the good news was that Christina told me that the park plans to improve on the WiFi network by adding more capacity and repeaters to make sure the signal reaches the furthest sections of the campground. So although we would definitely stay at this campground again if we were back in the area, I would suggest if Internet access is very important for you to have at your RV site then you should call to see if they have improved their WiFi network or request a site close to the office. Other than the frustration of trying to connect to the internet, we had a great time at Bow RiversEdge.

Fuel:  $1.336 per liter, which came to $5.057 per gallon ($5.119 with exchange rate) at Flying J in Calgary, Alberta.

We crossed the border in Montana north of St. Mary and I guess it was our turn to be inspected because we were flagged and told to move to the side while the Paynes waited up the road a bit in a parking area. An officer came and told us to wait outside while he went in to look around. It's always annoying to have someone poking around in your home and you aren't allowed to watch. But he was a nice young guy and we could hear him opening and closing doors inside the rig. When he came out he asked who was the "Lord of the Rings" fan and we told him we both were fans. He saw the set of DVDs inside and was also a big fan. So we talked for a few minutes about the trilogy and he let us get on our way.

Cochrane was our base for attending the Stampede and touring the Calgary area. Calgary is the largest community in Alberta and is located just west of the Foothills, which were quite visible from our base in Cochrane. The 1988 Olympic Winter Games were held in Calgary and we were able to tour the grounds on our last day in the area. There is usually something that makes the Olympic Games memorable. For the 1988 Winter Games, it may have been Eddie the Eagle (the British ski jumper) and the Jamaican bobsled team. Think about it. A ski jumper from England? A bobsled team from Jamaica? The bobsled feat was documented in the movie "Cool Runnings".

It was raining and cold when we arrived at Bow RiversEdge. We registered and got our assigned sites and got the rigs set up before going down to the first social gathering of everyone who was attending this HOP. As is usual for these type of gatherings we heard some announcements from the HOP hosts and then everyone introduced themselves. This was followed by a catered dinner. The food and camaraderie was great. However, as I mentioned earlier, since the openings in the building only had plastic over them it was cold inside so dinner wasn't as enjoyable as it would have been had the weather cooperated or the building had some heat. We were all glad to finish dinner and get back to our warm motorhomes.

The HOP included tickets for two days of the Stampede and a half day tour of Calgary on our last day. Diane and I had long wanted to attend the Calgary Stampede and we weren't disappointed. The Stampede is Calgary's signature attraction and ran from July 4 to July 13. We were there over the last few days and had tickets for the final day. It was not only a rodeo, but also included many carnival type rides and entertainment making it more like a huge fair with a huge rodeo. The rodeo consisted of the main events normally seen at a rodeo: bareback riding, saddle broncs, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and chuck wagon races for the evening entertainment along with a huge show on an outdoor stage that was wheeled in after the races concluded. Every day someone won money for finishing first in their event and trying to qualify for the finals on the final day. The winner of each event in the finals received $100,000. Not bad for a week's work.

The entertainment ranged from music and dancing on several stages around the grounds plus big name entertainment in the Saddledome Arena. This year the big name entertainment included The Judds, Sugarland, Kid Rock, and James Taylor. We like Sugarland and would have thought about getting tickets. The shuttle bus that was provided to us as part of the HOP did not leave late enough, so we would have had to drive ourselves to Calgary (we were 26 miles out of town) and park or take a taxi home, both of which would have been expensive. So we passed on the concert. However, I saw a group advertised in the Stampede guide that was described as a group of "dancing fiddlers" who played several times each day on one of the outdoor stages. They were "Barrage" (http://www.barrage.org) and we loved them. We saw them perform twice and each time the show was different. They have links to some YouTube videos on their website if anyone is interested in checking them out.

All in all, we had a great time at the Stampede and thought the $1,035 that we paid for the HOP was worth it. I doubt we could have done it for much less if we did it ourselves and paid for admissions, campground, meals, parking, etc. We were in a nice campground with adequate transportation to and from Calgary, decent seats for the rodeo, good food, nice folks. The same seats were horrible for the evening show and we suggested that if the Escapees RV Club does another Stampede HOP that they try to get better seats for the evening show. This was the first time Escapees has done this HOP, so it was a learning experience.

Monday was our last day in Calgary and we took the afternoon version of the Calgary tour. The first stop was Ft. Calgary, which was the birthplace of the city. The city can thank Colonel James Farquharson MacCleod for its origin. He served with the North West Mounted Police and it was he who sent a troop to build a fort at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers to suppress whiskey traffic along the Bow River. He named the fort Calgary and was the basis for the city that grew up around the fort.

The final stop was the site of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games. The city has done a great job with the site rather than letting all the money go to waste that was spend setting it up. The ski jumps are still there and we did get to go to the top of the 90 meter jump. Of course, with our luck the elevator broke sometime between the morning tour and when we got there, so we had to climb the stairs to the top if we wanted to see the view. We all did that, but it was a lot of stairs. The ski jump is now closed because equipment has gotten such that jumpers would now land past the safety area and risk possible injury. So what did they do with the jump? They installed a zip line. Someday Diane and I will do a zip line, but we didn't have time to do it on this trip. It seems like it would be exciting and a real rush.

One of the most important parts of a luge or bobsled race is the start. An ice house was built where Olympic athletes could come and train and practice their starts. Inside the house was a bobsled track and two luge tracks just long enough to practice the starts. It has timing and video equipment for the athletes and coaches to review as they perfect their starts. It was very interesting.

Yet another thing done with the area was to install mountain bike trails on the big hill. The lift had a mechanism interspersed with the lift seats on which bikes could be secured and lifted to the top. We got to ride the lift down and it was cool to see kids, and some adults, coming up with their bikes and then they would ride them down. The trails were graded according to difficulty and skill level for the riders.


July 16 to July 21: Lake Louise (102 miles)

Route:  TransCanada Highway 1

Campground:  Lake Louise Campground

We chose to stay at the Lake Louise Campground and use it as a base to tour the Lake Louise area, Banff to the south, and the Yoho NP to the west. The Banff and Jasper national parks owe much of their success to the explorations of two people: James Hector and Mary Schaffer Warren.

James Hector was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1834 and was only 22 years old when he was appointed to an expedition in 1857 led by Captain John Palliser with a mission to explore the territory between Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains. They were to map the region and appraise its capabilities for settlement and to see if there was the possibility of a transport route across the mountains. When they reached the mountains, Hector was given the responsibility to explore the upper part of the Bow Valley. Hector, along with his trusted guide, Nimrod, and four other men started out in 1858 and explored the region for two years. They endured severe hardships where they had to make their own trails, suffer through bitterly cold winters, and overcome starvation. The work of these men ended up pioneering what would become major routes of transportation in the twentieth century.

One story has it that he was kicked by a horse and his team thought he was dead. As they were preparing to bury him, Hector woke up, looked skyward and winked. They named the river the Kicking Horse River. Later they made it through the surrounding pass and gave it the same name.

Mary Shaffer was a newlywed in Philadelphia when she saw an image of Lake Louise and wanted to experience it for herself. By then the Canadian Pacific Railway had been completed so Mary and her husband, Charles, traveled across the continent to see Lake Louise. She and Charles explored close to the tracks and collected wildflowers. When they tried to venture further into the wilderness, Mary realized that such camping wasn't for her after freezing in a tent.

She vowed to never again camp in the Canadian Rockies and she kept that vow for 10 years. She wintered in Philadelphia and summered in the Canadian Rockies. However, in 1903 she suffered the deaths of her husband and both parents. She was now 42 years old and decided to work through her grief by completing the guide to the flora of the Canadian Rockies that she and Charles had wanted to complete. She had to overcome her fears of horses and wilderness camping. An outfitter teamed her up with a young guide named Billy Warren who helped her with her exploration. By 1906 she had collected all the specimens needed to illustrate Alpine Flora of the Canadian Rockies. But now she was hooked and wanted to venture further into the Rockies.

She became friends with Mollie Adams, a New York geography teacher who also had a desire for exploration. They explored the remote valleys and lakes north of Lake Louise and ended up on the shores of today's Maligne Lake. Mary said that "Lake Louise is a pearl; Lake Maligne is a whole string of pearls." By 1911, Mary was in love with the Rockies and found herself wanting to stay in the area year round rather than return to Philadelphia in the winter. So she bought a piece of propety in Banff and had a house built. The Rockies weren't the only thing she fell in love with. After years together, she and Billy Warren were married in 1915. Mary Shaffer Warren was one of the first non-aboriginal women to explore much of today's Banff and Jasper national parks.

Banff was born when three railway workers stumbled across natural hot pools and springs in 1883. Two years later the Canadian government set aside Banff Hot Springs Reserve as Canada's first national park. The Canadian Pacific Railroad was largely responsible for bringing people to the area. They built hotels in the area and offered good rates so people would use the railroad to visit the mountains. In 1888, the railroad opened its flagship hotel, the 250-room Banff Springs. At the time, it was the largest hotel in the world. Hot water was piped in from the Upper Hot Springs and visitors paid $3.50 per night. Today, the rates can be upwards of $600 per night, and more.

We drove down to Banff twice. We walked around the town, found a free WiFi hot spot (Norm and I put our laptops in the car), and visited the beautiful hotel. Diane and I also wanted to catch up on two movies that opened while we were there, so one of the days we went to see the new Batman movie, the "Dark Knight" and "Mamma Mia". Norm and Linda joined us for "Mamma Mia".

Lake Louise is a glacial lake and was named for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria. The lake is 5,680 feet above sea level and is home to the world famous Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. The hotel sits across the lake from Mt. Victoria and the Victoria glacier. The views were stunning, as were just about all the views we experienced in the Canadian Rockies. The melting glacier silt creates the turquoise color of the lake and keeps it frigid year round.

We also went to see Moraine Lake and lodge. It was another beautiful lake. On the way down we encountered a "bear jam" as a young black bear was walking along the shoulder of the road turning rocks over looking for something to eat. We moved on after getting as close as we dare to get some photos.

Another day took us out to see Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake, the natural bridge, and the spiral tunnels.

The word "takakkaw" means "it is magnificent" in the Cree language. The waterfall is one of the highest in Canada and is fed by the Daly glacier. It was in this area that James Hector was kicked by the horse. We walked along the Kicking Horse River to get to the waterfall and sat for a while to take in the power of the waterfall and beauty of the area.

As the railroad was built in the Kicking Horse Valley, it was built on a grade that was twice as steep as the 2.2% allowed by the railroad's charter. It was supposed to be a temporary solution, but it lasted for 25 years. During that time there were many crashes as trains struggled with the grade. Then the spiral tunnels were built that consisted of two loops that doubled the length of the track but cut the grade in half. The tunnels were started in 1907 and took 20 months to complete with a thousand men in crews working from each end into the middle. Considering they didn't have the equipment available today, it was amazing that they came within five centimeters when they connected.

The tunnels were a figure 8 and you can see the engines and the end of the train on the mountainside. Or so we heard as we were not lucky enough to see a train go through when we were there. On the Big Hill, four engines were needed to pull 14 cars. With the completion of the spiral tunnels, two engines could pull 18 cars at five times the speed.

We didn't have a chance to get to Johnston Canyon, so we decided to spend another day in Lake Louise so we could walk the canyon to view the two waterfalls. The falls are only about 20 feet across at some points making the water surge with lots of power as it flowed over the rocks. The walk into the canyon to see the falls was 2.3 miles. The Lower Falls were .7 miles out and accessed by walking along a trail and on catwalks hung out from the rocks over the water. There were several smaller falls along the way. After stopping for some photos we started the 1.6 mile walk to the Upper Falls.

The word "upper" DID mean UP as we climbed and climbed along a trail that took us through lodgepole pine, spruce fir, and douglas fir until we reached the falls. It was worth the walk as we gazed on the power of the 100 foot high Upper Falls. The walk down was much easier and quicker, but still took a while to get down. We stopped along the way to chat with a family from Switzerland after recognizing their accents. They were from the Zurich area and were surprised when we mentioned the small town of Wollerau where our friends Peter and Yoko live.

Towards the end of our stay in Lake Louise, a couple arrived in their Alfa motorhome and we got to chatting one day. That's how we met Bob and Julie Revell from Thunder Bay, Ontario and their dog, Tripper. He was a beautiful dog and a breed with which I was not familiar, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. We invited them over for a BYOF gathering followed by some blueberry pie that Julie made. Our plan is still to travel up around Lake Superior to Thunder Bay and down to Sault Ste. Marie as we head back east. We all traded contact information and plan to look up Bob and Julie when we get to Thunder Bay.

On a final note about Lake Louise I have to mention a meal that we found at the Mountain Restaurant. The name of the meal was "bul go gi" and we found out it was Korean. It consisted of thinly sliced beef with various veggies on a hot plate, sort of like a fajita plate. It was the seasoning that made it so delicious. Diane and I, and Norm and Linda, each ordered the meal to share and it was enough food and was so delicious that we made it a point to go back a second time for the same meal.


July 22: Columbia Icefield (80 miles)

Route: CA 1; AB 93 (Icefields Parkway)

Campground:  Columbia Icefield parking lot ($10.80 CAD)

The day started out clear and pleasant as we left Lake Louise and headed up the Icefields Parkway. As we got closer to the icefield the weather started to change and we ended up arriving in light rain. We parked the rigs in the large parking lot intended for RVs and walked up to the Columbia Icefield Centre to buy tickets for a ride out onto the glacier. It was around 2 p.m. so we bought tickets for the 4 p.m. ride and walked back to the motorhomes. Over the next hour and a half the weather deteriorated and we all decided we really didn't want to go out onto the ice in rain and fog. We went back up to the building and Norm went to ask for a refund for the tickets he purchased with his credit card (I had forgotten my wallet on the first walk to the building so Norm bought all the tickets). Surprisingly, there was no fuss or bother and they credited his card for the cost of the tickets. We awoke the next day to a bright and sunny day and got tickets for a late morning ride.

The Columbia Icefield is the largest icefield in North America south of the Arctic Circle. It is composed of eight glaciers that flow into the surrounding valleys and covers 130 square miles. The deepest glacier is estimated to be about 1,200 feet thick. The Athabasca Glacier comes down almost to the parkway. At one time, it reached across the parkway and the terminal moraine was visible that indicated how far the glacier reached before receding. Today it is 3.75 miles long, covers 2.5 square miles, and ranges from 270 to 1,000 feet in depth.

There have been four major Ice Ages in Canada that had glacier ice reaching north to Jasper, east to the prairies, and south past Calgary. The most recent Ice Age ended about 10,000 years ago. Icefields are formed when more snow falls in winter than melts in summer.
Today, most glaciers in North America are still in retreat as the summer's melt is greater than the winter's snow accumulation. When the depth of the snow reaches 100 feet, the bottom layers become pressurized into ice. The water flowing on the glacier is from snow that fell up to 150 years ago and is pure. Diane and Linda collected some water in their water bottles and it was very cold and very pure.

The vehicles on which we boarded for the ride onto the glacier are known as Ice Explorer Snocoaches and were designed specifically to ride on ice. They are owned and operated by Brewster, a large transportation business in the Canadian Rockies. It was Brewster that provided the bus that shuttled us back and forth from the campground to the Calgary Stampede grounds. We saw those buses all over the Canadian Rockies. Our driver was a Frenchman named Simon who was very funny as he drove us out onto the ice. He was also very knowledgeable as he explained all about the icefields. One of the very interesting things we learned is that we were in the area of a triple continental divide. That meant that water from the glaciers flowed to THREE oceans: west to the Pacific, east to the Atlantic, and north to the Arctic. It is the only triple continental divide in the world. It was thought that there was one in Russia, but it was then determined that one of the flows went to the Caspian Sea, which is not an ocean.

We were very glad the weather changed overnight so we could ride out onto the ice. Simon told us that we were very lucky because the day was one of the best of the season to date.


July 23 to July 25: Jasper (142 miles)

Route: AB 93 (Icefields Parkway)

Campground:  Whistler Campground

Our final stop in the Canadian Rockies was Jasper, a lovely small town at the northern part of Jasper National Park. I would like to say it was an uneventful drive, but that wasn't the case. When we left the Lake Louise Campground we had to deposit our camping receipt in a slot that was on a small building on the left side of the motorhome. Diane got out to do that and then I started to move forward while making sure the motorhome would clear the rooftop of the small building. I did see that there was a movable stop sign that was cemented into a bucket that was on the passenger side. Why they had to put that sign so close to the building to narrow the passage through that area is beyond me, but that's what they did. As I moved forward the mirror on the right side hit the sign. I was only moving about a mile an hour so I stopped immediately and backed up a few inches to cut around the sign. It was when we got to the icefields that I noticed the underside of the mirror was scratched.  Grrrr.

Then on the drive up to Jasper I had to make a quick stop. Not a panic stop, but a hard stop. Unfortunately, Diane was up checking on something and came tumbling down. I was always concerned that something like that would eventually happen and it took over eight years for it to happen. Luckily, Diane wasn't hurt other than a bruise as she went down. However, as she was trying to grab something to break her fall she grabbed the splash guard on the counter top and it broke off. She was very lucky because when the motorhome is in travel mode and the slide is in, it is tight inside and there are several corners on which she could have hit her head. For the most part, no one is up and moving when the motorhome is moving, but there are times when Diane will go get a drink or a snack or go to use the bathroom. It's always a risk, but not uncommon for RVers to be up and around in a moving RV.

The Whistlers Campground wasn't laid out the same as Lake Louise with wide roads and sites. Some of the roads were very narrow as were some of the sites. Linda called ahead and requested two sites designed for big rigs and was assured we would have them. As it turned out, the one we got was fine and we got in easily. Norm had to make several moves to get into his site that was deep enough to handle his motorhome, but had trees that made the site narrow. A little tree trimming that should be done by the park staff fixed the problem. I'm sure a ranger would have read Norm the riot act for trimming trees. However, he would not have had to do that if the park management would make sure trees are trimmed back to allow RVs to back into the site without them scratching the motorhome. I have been known to do the same.

After setting up the rigs, we drove into Jasper and found the Whistle Stop Pub that offered free WiFi. So we had something to eat, along with a well deserved beer, and got caught up on email while the ladies went off to scout the town's shopping opportunities.

The following day we went up on the Jasper Tramway to the top of The Whistler's Mountain for some great views of the town and surrounding area. It was a clear, sunny day, but it was cold and windy up on the mountain at about 7,500 feet.

As we drove around the area, we saw several animals. One day there was a herd of elk right near the campground. On another day we drove out to Maligne Lake, the largest natural lake in the Canadian Rockies. On the way out there we saw a black bear with two cubs. On the way back, we saw another black bear with two cubs. But the coolest thing we saw was a wolf. It was walking down the side of the road and coming towards us. Norm was driving and stopped the car as the wolf darted into the brush on the passenger side of the car. It was stalking its prey, a small rodent. It totally ignored us as we watched it stalk and then pounce and then eat it's prey. After devouring what must have been its hors d'oeuvre, it went deeper into the trees to find its main course. Linda got some great photos which I have included on the photo pages.

We stopped at Medicine Lake before heading back into Jasper. It is one of the largest "sinking" lakes in the Western Hemisphere and is a United Nations World Heritage Site. The local Native Americans believed that spirits inhabited Medicine Lake because the water level fluctuated wildly. Sometimes it would disappear entirely during the fall and winter due to a combination of an underground drainage system and the spring run-off.

While we were there taking photos, we met two couples. The first was a couple from Northern Ireland who were on a great vacation trip through Canada. They flew into Toronto and then took a train to Jasper. That's one of Diane's dreams, but she wants to do it in winter when there is snow on the ground. Brrrr. They would then travel by bus through the Rockies to Vancouver for a flight back to Ireland. We chatted about our visit to Dublin back in 1999 when I was still working and shared some photos we had taken of the wolf and photos the guy had taken of the bear and cubs. I asked if he would send me the photos of the bears since he got some great ones. He said he would and asked if I would send him the photos of the wolf. I said I would and gave him one of our cards with our email address. As this travelog is ready to go up on our website I haven't yet heard from him. If I do receive the photos of the bears, I'll update the photo pages.

The second couple we met were young folks from Quebec who were driving a rented Smart Car. Diane and I have seen them many times in Europe and they are so cool. I think that if we were living in a house we would own a Smart Car as a second vehicle. I usually would tell folks from Quebec that my father grew up in Cabano in Quebec. Some people know where that is, others don't. It turned out this time that the lady was actually from Cabano, and that's the first time I have met someone who came from my father's hometown. We had a nice chat with the couple who were heading out to Maligne Lake in search of wildlife. We told them about the wolf so they could watch to see if they might spot it.

We very much enjoyed Jasper. I liked it better than Banff. With our tour of the Canadian Rockies coming to an end, we were ready to move on to the next phase of our Alberta and British Columbia tour. We figured we would stop in Hinton for an overnight to shop and then up to Grand Prairie to catch a couple of movies. Then we would head up to Dawson Creek and start our tour of the Great Northern Circle Route.


July 26: Hinton (54 miles)

Route:  PH 16 (Yellowhead Highway)

Campground:  Safeway parking lot (also a Walmart)

Just an overnight stop.

There was a Safeway and Walmart separated by a small almost deserted mall which allowed us to shop in both stores for what we needed to add to our supplies.

On a walk back from the Walmart I noticed oil on the back of the motorhome. I opened the engine cover and saw immediately that I had forgotten to put the oil cap back on after adding a quart at our last stop. I have a habit of putting it on top of the engine which meant black on black, plus I remember allowing myself to get distracted before completing that task. Luckily, there was also a Canadian Tire store nearby, so I walked over there and they had the cap I needed. It was a $13 mistake.


July 27 to July 28: Grande Prairie (204 miles)

Route: AB 40

Campground:  Walmart parking lot

Fuel:  $1.369 per liter, which came to $5.182 per gallon ($5.173 with exchange rate) at a Gateway Mohawk in Grande Prairie

This was a very productive two day stop to just sit for a couple of days. Diane and Linda did some shopping. Diane and I went to see a couple of movies at the movie theater within walking distance of the Walmart. We saw the new "X-Files" movie (it was okay) and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3-D (it was very good). Norm and Linda joined us for the second movie.

We found a Denny's in town which made Diane happy so we ate there and Diane got her Grand Slam that she loves at Denny's.

Surprisingly, I was able to get a satellite signal so we were able to catch up on some of the summer shows we are missing. Actually, we got to see seven of them over the Sunday and Monday we were in Grande Prairie. From here on we won't have access to the satellite until maybe when we get to Vancouver.

Another big plus is that we found the Esquire Coffee Shop that offered free WiFi, so Norm and I were able to catch up on email and upload stuff to our websites.

Like I said, a very productive and enjoyable two days.

It was now on to British Columbia and a drive part way up the Alaska Highway to Watson Lake before heading south on the Cassiar Highway and on down to Vancouver. Not only are we finding fuel to be expensive, but just about everything else, too, such as food and dining. Canadians must have a higher pay scale than in the U.S. One thing for sure, the advantage for travel has switched to the Canadians going to the U.S. after all the year of it being the other way around.

Until next time, safe travels.....

Copyright © 2008, Roaming America with Rich & Diane Emond - All Rights Reserved

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