Day 41 - Recap and stats

Well, not actually day 41, but it had to fit numerically for the blog.

Our trip took us through 8 provinces (NS, NB, QC, ON, MB, SK, AB, BC) and 9 states (WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, SD, MN, WI, MI) and we saw all 5 Great Lakes.

We travelled 9,658 miles (that's 15,543 km.) using 1094 gallons of fuel picked up in 58 stops and costing $4829.18.

We have been asked 'What was your favourite place?" and we have no answer. We thoroughly enjoyed it all. We spent time on the Acadian shore of NB, visited family in Ontario and in the very different geography of nothern Ontario, hiked in the badlands of Saskatchewan, drove through the plains of Manitoba and the mountains of Alberta, had a wonderful stay in British Columbia (wine and cherries in the Okanagan, then Stanley Park and Victoria) and followed all that up with Yellowstone National Park, Mt. Rushmore, the badlands of South Dakota, mountains (several ranges from the Cascades in Washington to the Rockies in Wyoming), a great RV rally and meeting up with old friends and making new ones in WY, hiked in the U.P of Michigan and visited friends in 'mainland' MI before returning to Canada to visit our kids who we don't see nearly enough in Niagara Falls where we biked along beautiful paths, and then visiting friends in the pretty Eastern Townships of Quebec - how can we choose just one?

However, I did discover that I could easily live in North Vancouver, or Vernon, or Niagara peninsula - but not in the prairies (landscape, while beautiful, is too desolate and houses too isolated), or the mountains (too cold and driving would be brutal in the winter). Some places are meant just to be visited!

We were so glad to have had the opportunity to see so much of our beautiful country! And even after all of that, we are happy to be home.

Day 41 - Edmundston, NB to Mahone Bay, NS

Our last day on the road!

We're off to a bad start. Mike stopped at a campground so that he could dump our tanks before going home - we're going camping in a couple of days and won't have hook-ups, so we want to have our fresh water tank full and the others empty. So while I pack up inside, Mike went out to drain the tanks. Ooops, the dump handle broke off the grey water tank. No choice but to leave it open - not a problem since it is now empty and we are going to be home by supper. Could have been the black tank handle which would have been much worse!

Today is another 'just stop for fuel' kind of travel day - Mike is like a horse heading to the barn.

We stopped for fuel in Moncton, and right close to the gas station is a trailer sales/repair place, so we went over to see if they had a handle for the tank. Yes, they did - $100 by the time we were done.

I actually got another stop - at Masstown Market for some veggies. Groceries being important to Mike, it wasn't a hard sell :)

We had planned to stop at Holly and Glenn's on the way home, but I had to settle for a phone call as it was getting late. Next stop was our own driveway!

The trip is done!

Day 40 - Fitch Bay, QC to Edmundston, NB

Uh-oh, Mike is in go-mode. No sightseeing today!

We drive through the beautiful lower St. Lawrence (Bas St. Laurent) region of Quebec, where I really like to slow down and take the river road, but I'm not driving. The river is really brown and dirty looking today, and it is cold and windy, so not good for bike riding anyway.

We're making good time, but Mike is grumbling that we had a late start (not that late) and unless we got a certain distance we wouldn't make home the next day. I'm thinking that if he had done the table we would have been later and would have an extra day anyway, but am wise enough not to say so.

Straight along on highway #20, past Quebec City, past Riviere du Loup, past Edmundston - and we might as well find a place to stop. We found a wonderful RV park that we are sorry to just spend one night - hard to see from the road, although not far off the highway at all, with lovely large sites right by a little river. The owners live there, so it was OK that we were past normal arrival times.

Supper, a walk (in the cold wind) by the river, and bed.

Day 37 -39 - Fitch Bay, QC

We left Niagara Falls in time to miss Toronto traffic, drove right through on the 401 highway (the one we love to hate). The 401 is a fine stretch of road for commuters, but, like most major roads, for the most part not scenic or interesting. Since we (read Mike) are 'scheduled' to arrive in Fitch Bay today, we have no choice but to take the faster routes, missing all the nice Ontario towns that make the trip interesting.

Missing Toronto traffic means meeting Montreal's! So, finally aware of his bored almost to distraction passenger, Mike decided to take a different route around the city (other choice was through the tunnel and over the bridge in rush hour traffic). Wise move on a couple of counts :)

So, we're going to take the #30 highway around the city and through Chateauguay (where we lived at one time) and then catch the Eastern Townships Autoroute. Wow! The #30 has just recently been made into a nice 4 lane stretch - and we zoomed along until we met construction. Lots of it! The highway will, at some time, be an excellent route for us to take, but not so good today. At a snail's pace, and through intermittent rain (meaning an extremely muddy truck and trailer) we slogged through dirt and gravel. Chateauguay has really expanded in the many years since we have been there - big new houses where there were only fields before. There is lots of new home construction - I wonder who is buying them.

At last we are on the Autoroute, and making better time. We run in and out of rain, and hope it will be stopped by the time we get to our destination.

We are surprised at the number of boats at the marina and on the lake at Magog - we usually go through here in early spring or late fall and they have all be hauled out. Most of the boats are at the docks due to the rain and wind - it would be really pretty in the sunshine.

Patsy and Wally live on a gravel road off a gravel road......and it is absolutely pouring down rain. Backing up the driveway is difficult, first of all because it is uphill, also because it is somewhat at an angle, and to top it off has to be approached on the 'wrong' side - and Mike's passenger doesn't really want to get out to guide him. Mike figures he can do it without help, but without being able to see anything it's pretty hard - and I have an umbrella - so between the two of us we got the trailer into the driveway and up the hill and then more or less abandoned it for the dry and warm house, figuring we can finish the job later. Patsy has dinner ready!

It is really good to see them again, and we look forward to spending a couple of days with them. Deane and Doreen (Wally's brother married to Patsy's sister) stopped by and we played some hillbilly rummy until the rain became a full blown thunderstorm that sent them home to comfort Deane's dog, who like most dogs is terrified of thunder. The power went off and on, and then the storm moved on to keep someone else awake.

With the rain subsided, we situated the trailer properly and set it up, and slept soundly.

Wally knows when Mike comes he expects a 'Mike-list' of chores that need an extra hand, and Wally has a couple of small ones ready - and so does Patsy! She would like the dining table refinished!

The first day the weather was gorgeous, so the outside jobs got tackled first. Patsy and I walked into Fitch Bay (the guys drove) and we picked up a few things for lunch, etc. and did a few things outside to make the best of the fine afternoon.

Good thing - the next day it rained! All day. So Patsy and I drove into Magog to buy some stain/varnish while the guys sanded the table top (outside, under a covered deck). I got to practice my French, and the sales clerk her English, buying the stain, which, when the guys applied it, was absolutely the perfect color.

We took some time off to visit Patsy's brother who runs the large farm that they all grew up on. John is outside digging a drainage ditch for one of the barns - it is a construction zone with a small backhoe, a bulldozer and John and his son taking turns on the dozer and the jackhammer. There is a chicken truck beside one of the barns waiting for the catchers to come - 7000 large chickens going out today. This is a large, active working farm, and John and his wife Mireille plus two of their sons and a daughter-in-law all put in full days. I missed the photo-op of Mike and John down in the ditch working and laughing.

Mireille is a wonder-woman - works hard physically on the farm both outside and then inside, busy now with fall freezing and canning as she manages a large garden as well. Plus she is very artistic and is involved in community organizations too.

The next morning Mike planned to sand the table and give it another coat of stain/varnish before we left, but the table is still tacky. No sanding today. OK then, Mike is ready to hit the road! Wally needed more on his 'Mike-list'! So before I finished saying goodbye to Patsy, he had the trailer ready to go.

Day 36 - Niagara Falls, ON to Fitch Bay, QC

So now we are getting ready to hit the road again - bikes back on the rack, slides pulled in, everything secured.

It will be a 10 hour day, and we're timing it to miss Toronto traffic, but of course that will have us hit rush hour in Montreal......

We're looking forward to seeing Wally and Patsy and other members of the family.

We're pretty well at the end of our blog - and are so behind with pictures! We won't have internet while we are at Wally and Patsy's, so won't be updating likely until we get home - and will add the pertinent pictures then (a little late, but the WiFi in most of the parks won't support the bandwidth apparently required to upload pictures, something I hadn't been aware of, don't know what to do about it).

So when we get home I will promise pictures and a final post for any who might be interested. Thank you for joining us on our trip.

Day 32 and following in Niagara Falls

A few days in Niagara Falls

We always enjoy visiting with Martin, Rebecca and whoever else of the family happens to be home - this time we were lucky and got to visit with Tim, Jon and Jeremy.

Tim just had his wisdom teeth removed the day we came, so he has been under the weather with his face all swollen and obviously uncomfortable. The bonus to us is that he decided to stay home for the weekend, so we have been able to spend some time with him and also his girlfriend Emily.

Jon’s summer job on Maid of the Mist has extended to weekends, so we’ve only seen him for little bits, but keeping busy is good! He’s getting his courses lined up for Brock University in subjects I can neither pronounce or understand :)

Jeremy is doing really well, and enjoys coming with us in the truck, so we’ve been able to spend quite a bit of time with him.

So, what have we done? Martin had a ‘Dad job’ so he and Mike have been constructing a bannister for their stairwell. Rebecca and I took Tim to Guelph to pick up his insulin, and then promptly brought him back home for the weekend. But I got a road tour of the university grounds and also got to see Tim’s new apartment.

Saturday Mike and I did some shopping, then in the afternoon we all (except for Jon who was working) went to the Wayne Gretsky winery (Rebecca and I had seen the sign and thought it might be interesting). As it turned out, it is a small operation, still relatively new and not all that interesting as wineries go. As a result we decided to follow it up with a tour of Peller Estates winery - a beautiful building in a lovely setting, very grand - and had an excellent tour of the facilities. Since they don’t process the wine there, we were shown into the vineyard and given an informative talk on the process of growing and harvesting the grape. Mike and Martin had opted out of the tour and went back to their carpentry, so they missed out on this. Then we went into the winery for the usual tasting etc, although here again the tour was much more informative than others we have been on.

Since Martin is the pastor, Sunday is church! This was their ‘Round-Up Sunday’, sort of a get-back-to- church-after-the-summer service, so we all wore whatever western gear we had. Just for fun, Martin asked if I would join the worship team with my fiddle - great fun actually. Unbeknownst to any of us, the church chose this weekend to honour Martin and Rebecca - their 10 year anniversary with the church here in Niagara Falls. It was special to us to see how much the congregation appreciates the work that both Martin and Rebecca have done there. And to think this was the weekend we happened to be there!

We finished the day with a quick walking tour of Niagara on the Lake, followed by dinner at Rebecca and Martin's with their good friends Ian and Patti, and also Rebecca's Mom and Dad - a full table! We enjoyed (again) Rebecca's fine cooking! This was followed by a game of Hillbilly Rummy, which is always fun, stopped early because not everyone at the table is retired :)

On our last day in 'the Falls' the weather continued to be perfect - great day for a bike ride! There are miles and miles of bike paths in the area, so we had lots of places to choose from. We rode from Rebecca and Martin's house to the Brock tower, a pretty ride through parkway, by the whirlpool, past the power plant and to the park where the tower is. Martin has been wanting to climb the tower, and in the interests of economy (there is a charge for the climb) Rebecca and Mike decided not to do it :) I was undecided - but the tower was closed. Martin was disappointed, I'm not sure if I was disappointed or relieved - it's very tall and narrow, and would be quite dark inside - but the view would be fantastic.

We spent part of the afternoon in Chapters :) and then in the evening the Niagara Concert Band, in which Martin plays clarinet, was having a concert, so we went and thoroughly enjoyed it. Jeremy was likely the most enthusiastic member of the audience! The band has been in existence over 125 years, which is quite amazing.

And then it was good-byes all around - we always are sorry to leave as we don't see nearly enough of this part of our family.

And tomorrow - on the road again!

Day 29 - Between Oshkosh and Green Bay Wi to Taqhamenon Falls, MI

We left the Walmart parking lot and headed north, destination T. Falls State Park. A friend of Jan and John’s had recommended the park to them, and it sounded good to us too, so away we went.

We received a text message from Martin, kicking himself for not asking us to get him a western shirt while we were in cowboy country. He is planning a western themed service on Sunday and thought the shirt would be appropriate. We’re sorry he didn’t ask us yesterday too - Wall Drug had a whole western shop where we could have easily picked one up. But now we had a challenge - got to find a shirt! But this is Green Bay, Wisconsin - west, but not west enough!

T.Falls State Park is at the very tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (or U.P. as they refer to it there, right on the shores of Lake Superior. The falls are within the park, and we hope we will get to see them. The U.P. is an outdoorsman’s paradise, with snowmobile and ATV trails plus hunting and fishing. Our route took us along the shores of Lake Michigan, where we at first saw some very nice large homes, which the further we went turned more into cottages and small year-round homes in small villages. If you don’t like winter, the U.P. would not be the place for you! The trees are already turning, so winter comes early. ‘Yoopers’ have to be tough, and also self-sufficient - no shopping malls up here!

Finally we arrived at the park, and after several miles eventually came to the campground. The facilities are typical State park, rustic but very adequate. We found 2 sites side by side, set up camp, and then hopped into John and Jan’s jeep to drive to the falls.

There are actually 5 ‘lower’ waterfalls, 3 visible from a walkway, the others only by boat (which very conveniently we could rent, but didn’t). We then drove to where we could take a trail to see the upper falls - very impressive. At the end of the trail was a set of 94 steps that we could take to see the bottom of the waterfall - the guys declined, but Jan and I wanted to take more pictures, so we got a bit of a work-out going down and back up.

Then back to the campsite where we shared dinner in our trailer - Jan cooked the corn and brought salad, Mike and John grilled burgers, I made strawberry shortcake - we might be camping, but we’re not roughing it! This is our last evening together - we have all enjoyed each other’s company.

Day 30 - Tahquamenon Falls, MI to Eaton Rapids, MI

What goes up must come down - from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan down to Michigan.

We have friends from Florida whose summer home is in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, and Mike is anxious to see them, so he didn’t need any coaxing to leave early!

It’s cold! 36 degrees F.! We said ‘see you down the road’ to Jan and John - it was fun to travel with them - and then we were off. It was so cold that steam was coming off the water making a heavy ground fog.

We followed the coast of Lake Superior and watched the early morning sun in the mist - beautiful.

Then we crossed the bridge between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, just a solitary sailboat out in the early morning.

Today is to be a straight A to B drive, no detours! That is until we saw a sign advertising Western Wear in a town just off the Interstate. Not quite ‘just’ off, more like 10 miles, and when we got there the store looked quite unpromising. Mike said he’d get fuel while I looked for the shirt for Martin. Well, when I went inside all I saw was horse stuff - saddles, blankets, bridles, a few belts, but no shirts. When a sales person asked if she could help and I asked for shirts, she took me through the horse room, through another large room, back behind somewhere else to a large room just full of men’s shirts! It didn’t take long to find one matching Martin’s description (and hopefully his size). But then we thought - why don’t we get shirts too and surprise him? That took a bit longer, but eventually we left with 3 nice western shirts and were back on the road.

Bob had given directions, “Matilda’ was doing her job, and we soon got to the point where Bob had told us ‘when you get there, just call me’ - we did, and there he was! It was so good to see him! We followed him, and soon saw why we needed the escort - we zigged and zagged all over and finally down a dirt road where Bob turned us around in a field and then stopped in front of a barn. It was his barn, and he had an electrical hook up there for us! I looked around, didn’t see a house at all - it was 1/2 mile back from the road along a winding driveway. The land had been Bob’s grandfather’s, and when he was just little his grandfather pointed out a spot and told him it would be a good place for a house someday - and that’s where Bob eventually built his house - a lovely house complete with in-ground pool.

Margo had been busy cooking dinner, and we had a great time catching up on what we had all been doing over the summer and then enjoyed a fine meal followed by a couple of games of hillbilly rummy. We had a great evening with them - extra special because we got to meet one of their grandchildren, a son and daughter-in-law and their daughter.

It was a lovely evening, and we said good-bye to Bob and Margo, looking forward to seeing them in Florida. We went back to the trailer and had a great night’s sleep.

Day 31 - Eatons Rapids, MI to Niagara Falls, ON

We were up and ready to go almost before the sun came up - actually it was before the sun shone as it was very cloudy. No rain this morning, though, so the slides on the trailer were dry. (That’s a good thing).

Bob had given us directions: turn right out of the driveway, then turn right at a certain street......Mike says he came in from the other way, so he turned left. ‘Matilda’ and nagigator advised turning right, but the captain of the truck prevailed, so an early start got off to a later start when he had to backtrack about 10 miles.....he hates it when we’re right :)

We decided to cross into Canada at Sarnia, rather than Detroit (which is where ‘Matilda’ wanted to go) and had a nice easy border crossing.

We (mostly me) don’t like the big highways, so much more to see on the 2 lane roads, so when we saw a sign for a 50’s diner we figured we’d treat ourselves (not sure why we deserved it) and eat out for lunch. I should have taken my camera in - what a place! All original 50’s stuff! Plus 2 huge rooms full of ‘antiques’ for sale. What a hoot. They had an all-Canadian hamburger on the menu, so we ordered it to celebrate being back in Canada. Since we were already on a small road, we decided just to stay on it for a while and ignore ‘Matilda’s’ wanting us to go back on the 401. As a result we ended up (for the second time in one day) off course and had to backtrack. So we followed the 401 until it divided into the 403 and then before getting onto the QEW (which neither of us enjoy) we took a bunch of secondary roads which brought us nicely right to the campground we planned to stay in.

We passed through some nice little Ontario towns, surprised a little by a couple that were near enough to Hamilton to have sprouted huge subdivisions completely out of keeping with the character of the town.

In Pelham passed country markets, quilt shops, yarn shops, all within 10 miles of the park we’re in - so guess what’s on my list for tomorrow!

Mike called Martin and Rebecca to let them know we were here, and they are coming over tonight for a quick visit. So nice of them - we were expecting to go over there tomorrow afternoon since they are so busy and we’re actually here a day earlier than we expected (figured if we got here tonight we could see them earlier tomorrow).

After supper we did laundry, and Mike, bless his heart, offered to babysit it so I could update the blog and catch up on email. Laundromats being right up there with grocery stores to me, I am very thankful!

Martin and Rebecca surprised us by coming over this evening - great to see them!

Day 28 - Gillette, WY to Hermosa, SD

This morning is the close of the rally - coffee, donuts and hugs. It was so good to meet up with friends we have met on other trips! We hope it doesn’t take this long to see them again. And to have made new friends that we will see on down the road.

Then it was on the road again.....

First stop was Deadwood, SD, a wild west town snugged in a valley in the South Dakota hills. It was settled in 1876 when gold hunters found an oasis full of dead trees (hence the name) and also struck the mother-lode. It became a boom town, known for its saloons, outlaws and gunfights. Buffalo Bill was shot here - and his shooting is re-enacted every day all summer!

Then we drove through Sturgis, SD, home of the Harley rally every August. Perry and Jeanne were married there at one year’s rally - so we figured we would say ‘hi’ to the town for them.

Then it was on to Hermosa, which is a tiny town - but its grocery store sells local beef and 8 flavors of soft serve ice cream. This will be a stopping point for us to stay and visit Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, drive the Needles highway (can’t do that with the trailer) and meet up with Linda and Jim, our next door neighbours at the rally, for supper at the Alpine Inn in Hill City where the food is reputed to be excellent.

Heartland RV Park is a nice, clean park, great laundry room :) - and we met several folks who had also come from Gillette today! One of the couples will meet us tomorrow in Hill City (they’ve already been to Crazy Horse etc.) and then to Mt. Rushmore afterwards where we’ll see it lit up at night.

Another day in our RV life!

Day 25 -2011 Escapees Rally Gillette, WY

Escapees Escapade Gillette, WY

Escapees is an RV club with members all over North America, and once a year they have a big ‘Escapade’ where everyone who can converges on one place for seminars, sales of RV related stuff and systems, but mostly re-connecting with friends and getting together to socialize.

This is our first Escapade since they are held in the US in the summer when we are home, but this year it fit in with our kids’ visits, and our trip across Canada, so we put it ‘on the list’ hoping we’d make it - and we did!

This year it is held in Gillette, WY at their Camplex - a wonderful set of well appointed buildings just perfect for what we are doing. There is camping on site, and while we were prepared to dry camp, we were glad some electric sites were available as it was really hot when we arrived and our little generator won’t handle our air conditioner.

We got settled in, with really nice friendly neighbours on both sides and behind.

Sunday there was an Escapees church service which we attended, and afterwards saw several friends that we had met a few years ago in the Arizona desert! There ended up being 10 of us, and we all went out to supper together - Uncle Freddie’s Junkyard Grill in case you think it was fine dining :)

We have taken in seminars, Mike turned a pen, I made a bracelet and took in a beginning quilting class plus some line-dancing, and we both learned how to play pickleball. Every afternoon there has been a social with one group or another, plus evening entertainment, so we’re keeping very busy.

There is WiFi here, problem is lugging the laptop the 1/2 mile to the main building where everything is done and carrying it around until we go back to the trailer..... but today I had nothing I needed to do this morning so Mike took my bike off the back of the rig (took him all of 5 minutes) and I bungied the laptop on the back of the bike, and voila!

Next stop - Black Hills area, SD (Mt. Rushmore, gold rush towns etc.)

Day 21 - Cody, WY to Gillette, WY

This morning we were up extra early and got the trailer ready to go - Mike did the draining and filling of tanks job and I did the fastening down of furniture and closing slides, and then we were off.

Today’s goal? Gillette, WY for the Escapees RV Club Escapade! We have been Escapees members for several years - they did our mail forwarding when we were traveling, and we have met some really nice folks that we have spent time with in Arizona, California and Mexico. We have never been to an Escapade, but this year our travel dates worked out perfectly!

Our route is straightforward - continue on the Greybull Highway (route #14) to the I-90 to Gillette. We are seeing more ranches - endless fields of unirrigated pasture, mountains in the distance all around, and little signs of inhabitation by other than wild animals. Although there are miles of fencing, we don’t see any cows. And then we saw ..... an antelope! This is truly the land of “Home, home on the Range”.

Along the way we pass a benonite mine - the same stuff Mike uses in his winemaking process.

The #14 goes through another huge mountain range, with a pass at 10,000 feet. I expected more of the same type of Rocky Mountain scenery we have been enjoying, but this drive was completely different, and the most beautiful we have seen yet! Totally indescribable, so I am hoping I can soon get pictures up.

The road kept Mike busy - incredibly twisty and very steep, the road carved out of the side of the mountain. As we go along we can see where the road is on the mountain ahead of us and also behind us!

Then we went through the pass, and expected to be on the downhill side, but, no, we are still climbing, and continue climbing for quite a bit longer before the road leveled out. We’re now in high prairie land - around 8000 feet elevation - with pasture, a few ranches and other houses along the way, running a ridge on top of the mountains. All along there are signs that this is not a place we’d like to live in the winter - barriers that close the road off, signs saying to return to Greybull if lights flashing...Greybull! That’s miles back and would be a horrendous drive in snow.

Eventually what goes up must come down, and the sign reads ‘8% grade next 11 miles’, and ‘Matilda’s’ screen is a maze of twists and turns. So down we go, to around 4000 feet where we more or less stay for the duration of the trip.

Mike is actually happy to join the I-90 where the road is faster and straighter!

Did I mention it is hot? 96 degrees F when we reach Gillette!

We found the site of the Escapade, and were warmly and efficiently greeted and sent to our parking spot. We were prepared to dry camp, but are glad to have power to run the air conditioning! The Escapade doesn’t actually start until Monday, although there are a few events tomorrow, but there are a lot of folks here ahead of us.

We got settled, checked out some of the vendors who are already set up in the main building of the Camplex, got registered, Mike bought an Escapade shirt, and we got our packet of info that we will need for the week - we’re going to have a great time! There is WiFi inside the building (about 1/2 mile away from our unit) so we’ll be able to at least keep the blog up.

Beside us in the camping area are Jim and Linda from California - Jim is a wine connoisseur, and he and Mike talked wine as we all sat out in the shade of our trailer.

As I write this it is 9:30 pm and the temperature has dropped to a comfortable 80 degrees. It has been pitch dark for over an hour, and all we can see when we look out are a few lights behind shaded windows.

Good night!

Day 20 - West Yellowstone, MT to Cody, WY via Yellowstone Park!

We woke early - it’s cold!! 49 degrees F and that’s inside the trailer! We put on the heat and crawled back into bed until it warmed up, thankful for the electric blanket.

Enough of being wimps, we’re up and ready to leave. Today we’re going to Yellowstone National Park to see Old Faithful!!

The park is only a few miles down the road, so we get there in good time. At the gate ($25 to get in) we are told that Old Faithful should go off around 11:15! It is an hour’s drive from the gate to Old Faithful, so we have plenty of time. We’re told about the wildlife there, but don’t see any until - a female moose, just as unconcerned about passing vehicles as could be! We watched her for a while, and then continued on. The park is surrounded by mountains, some snow-capped, and there are little streams everywhere.

Soon we see an area with lots of little steam clouds - actually small geysers! We’re getting close! Finally we reached the Old Faithful turnoff, with its large parking area, plenty big enough for our truck and trailer. There is a large Inn here, also a lodge for winter, with a converted van fit out with snow tracks instead of wheels sitting outside ready for snow.

When we got out of the truck - surprise! It is hot again! We’re glad we have the trailer along so we can change our clothes!

There is a trail surrounding Old Faithful which we took while we were waiting for the ‘blow’ - there are several small geysers there with water bubbling away in them. In the past, Indians would catch their fish and then attach them to a line and drop them into these pools to cook them. Good idea, but not allowed now (no idea why not, beats cooking them over a fire).

We sat on benches surrounding the geyser and waited. Soon the steam got much heavier, and everyone got excited, and then it waned. And then suddenly it started, and billowed steam and then water high up into the air! Our wait was rewarded with a huge display. Super!

We returned to the trailer and had some lunch, shared an ice cream from the on-site store, and then continued on our way to the east entrance. We crossed the Great Divide two more times! Once at some 6500 feet and another time at 8395 feet! At one spot we had to stop and wait for a buffalo to amble across the road (grass always greener on the other side), and saw a large herd of buffalo close enough to touch.

The scenery is breathtaking. Lakes, mountains, twisty roads.....

Then we are out of the park, but the roads continue to climb and descend. We are now in Shoshone National Park and then another park area before coming into Cody, WY.

Cody is named after Buffalo Bill Cody, and the whole area is ‘wild west’. Ranches, trail rides, mountains and valleys surround the town. The town itself is also ‘wild west’ with nightly rodeos, shops with western wear, a saddlery, upscale western furniture and decorating shops (for the log houses being built outside town), everything a cowboy or cowboy wannabe would want. After getting our trailer parked we spent an hour or so wandering through the downtown.

Tonight we opted for a KOA (a chain of RV parks we usually avoid) because we want power (for air conditioning tonight!), WiFi (we may not have any of either for a few days) and a laundry - the downside of today is the necessity of doing laundry and also grocery shopping, but there is a nice Albertson’s nearby so that isn’t too bad, and Mike helped with the laundry :)

We’re watching the hurricane developments on TV, sounds bad for a large area, and we hope everyone is OK.

Well, we have WiFi, and it is working well, but not for uploading pix - so still no pictures, but at least the blog is up to date!

Day 19 - Spokane, WA to West Yellowstone, MT

The fairgrounds campsite had its obligatory train that tooted past, waking us (late) at 7. It didn’t take long to get ready to leave as we were already hooked up.

It’s cold! Well, not really cold, but certainly different from the 90+ degrees we had last night! but the sun is out, so it will warm up quickly.

So we’re on the road again! Today we hope maybe to get to West Yellowstone in Montana to get an early start the following morning.....

Today’s trip is through magnificent country! We usually try to avoid traveling on Interstates except when we’re in a hurry to get somewhere, but the last few days have been excellent. Roads good and scenery breathtaking. And it is hot again - over 90 degrees F.

It is a fine sunny day, and then boom! out of nowhere huge drops of rain making mud on the dusty hood of the truck. And it went from over 90 degrees down to 63! In just a couple of minutes. We saw dust devils in the fields sending spirals of dust way up in the sky. Then as soon as it started, it stopped, and the temperature went right back up again. Weather in Montana.

Our route is east right along the I-90 into Montana where we crossed the Great Divide (6393 feet elevation with a 6% grade hill going down the other side for 6 miles) and then turned south on highway 191. We considered stopping at Butte, but figured we had enough time left to get to West Yellowstone before dark.

Ooops, took a wrong road. How could we miss it? Only way is to backtrack about 5 miles. The 191 is a small road, two lane, with twists and turns and construction. Now we’re concerned we may not make it before dark! Along the way we see kayakers and fisher-people enjoying a fast flowing stream. Then, like before, heavy rain, almost hail, and rapidly dropping temperature. The areas of water are sending up fog spots everywhere - the water is still warm and the air is now cold. We’re still climbing, have been for hours, but the chill is more than elevation.

We barely made it to Bakers Hole, a campground run by the Forest Service, very rustic, but large sites with power (which I’ll want not for air conditioning this time but for the electric blanket!! - OK, I’m a wuss) before dark.

We had to put jackets on to set up, again not unhooking, thanks to a nice level site, and changed into our jeans to walk around the park before supper as it would be too dark afterwards. The park is almost full, and we got the last electric site. There are signs warning of the presence of grizzlies, and advising us not to leave any food where they can reach it. I’m hoping they won’t be attracted by cooking smells - we haven’t eaten yet. But although Mike saw evidence that they were around, we never saw them.

No trains here!

Guess who won at cribbage tonight???

Day 18 - Troutdale, OR to Spokane, WA

We’re all hooked up and ready to go, but first we wanted to take a walk around the park and down to the river. We got in too late last night to appreciate the park’s setting - right on a river with a sandy beach, walking distance to a very nicely restored downtown (and also to a large outlet mall). Of course there is the necessary train track, but here it crosses a bridge over the Sandy River and just adds to the ambience.We’re leaving too early to do any shopping or browsing, but enjoyed our walk in the most pristine park we have ever been in.

Our route today is the I-84, I-82, I-90 - all interstates, which sounds very boring, but surprisingly it was all scenic! We followed the Columbia River (the same one that the Revelstoke dam uses for power in BC) for a long way, It’s a large river, and we saw several barges being pushed by large tugboats making their way west. Along the way I spotted an 'historic road by-pass' sign showing a small loop - let's do it! No time to check the map, the turn was right there. So we annoyed 'Matilda' immensely and took what turned out to be historic, also narrow, twisty (that's an understatement - sharp hairpin curves would be more like it) for several miles until it joined the highway again. It was a lovely detour, and we were amazed at how many cyclists were going along this road). On the interstate for over 50 miles there is a stretch of wind mills - thousands of them - harnessing the gusts of wind the road signs warn us about. It is also a “chain-up” area. Huh? It’s where you put chains on your tires in the winter. I remember my Dad doing that when I was a kid, had forgotten about tire chains (winters south can do that).

We saw a couple more dams along the Columbia before turning further north from Oregon into Washington.

We are in the Cascade Mountains, and they look more or less like the suede hills of BC. Their covering, which should be lush green, is a sandy beige - all the hay/grass is extremely dry. In fact we heard on the weather that they were expecting thunderstorms in the afternoon around Mt. Hood and were concerned that the lightning might set off fires.

We didn’t see any rain - sunny and clear all the way - and hot! 95 degrees F.

Our destination tonight is the Spokane County Fairgrounds - apparently they have campsites. Well, they do, but we are the only ones here! But they have power (at 95 degrees we are putting on the air conditioning) and water and the price is good so we’re staying.

After another late supper we walked over to the horse ring and watched the end of a flag bearing practice - we’re definitely in horse country!

Day 17 - On the road again!

No blog for yesterday - poured rain the whole day so did laundry and grocery shopping - 'nuff said :)

Today we're ready to hit the road, but I haven't poured my Atlantic Ocean water into the Pacific yet! Well, it's not going to actually be the Pacific, but the water from here goes to there so it will have to do. So bright and early we're on our bikes headed for the water - dang! I forgot the camera! Good thing, too, because when I reached for the jar of water the bag on the back of my bike was......gone?? How did that happen? I am sure I put it on securely (obviously not) and don't remember going over any bumps. So that was a ride to nowhere!

We retraced our ride, but didn't find the bag - someone else's lucky day. They got bike gloves and a couple of lights, fortunately not the camera!

Back at the trailer we had a big breakfast - finished up the lovely organic eggs plus the rest of the blueberry/beef sausage since we're not allowed to take them across the border. Can't eat everything, so guess we'll be making another donation...

We plan on staying at a truck stop tonight, not sure if there will be internet, so this may be the last post for a couple of days. It's the end of Wheelygoode Across Canada, but we'll continue anyway as we plan on stopping at Yellowstone, an RV rally in Wyoming, friends in Michigan..... obviously more excitement to come!

No pictures today since I didn't take any yesterday (could have taken one of the laundry I guess) and forgot the camera earlier this morning (a very good thing).

So now we're on the road again!

Our route led us out of Vancouver and along the Trans Canada to the US Customs where there was an hour delay getting through. Once our turn came up it was fairly simple, until the guard said he would send someone to check our rig. OK, guess it's donation time again. But then he looked at our license plate, ran it in his computer and said "Have a nice day" and waved us on! Our fire-fighter plates are looked upon with respect in the US, and more than once have helped us at customs.

We followed I-5 along the Washington State coast and into Oregon where we turned onto I-84. We had glimpses of the waterfront in Seattle, looks like a beautiful city except for the heavy traffic - at 2 pm on a Tuesday! Glad it's not rush hour! Then we saw Mt. Rainier (about 3/4 snow covered) and passed the turnoff for Mt. St. Helen (but couldn't see it as it was too far away and other hills were in front). Our plan was to stop overnight at a truck stop just east of Portland, OR but both of the ones there were absolutely full of trucks and not an RV in sight, although they are usually RV-friendly. So on to a campground. Fortunately the Sandy River RV Resort was just a mile away, so we decided to check and see if they had room. It's in a lovely spot on a river where we can see Mt. Hood - also almost all snow covered.

We're in luck! Reasonable rates with a Good Sam discount, neat as a pin with concrete pull through pad that is perfectly level so we don't even have to consider unhooking! Plus free WiFi so I can update the blog for today.

It was 9:00 by the time we finished supper and had the dishes put away, and we're planning an early start tomorrow, so guess there won't be much internet use after all.

Day 15 - Farmer's Market and Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

We still have a couple of things on our 'list' for while we are here - one of them is the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge.

There are several suspension bridges in the region, the most famous (and likely the largest) being the Capilano bridge. However the bridge is part of a whole amusement type park, and the admission is much more than we are willing to pay when all we want to do is cross the bridge! Where do the locals go? Lynn Canyon! It is in a beautiful setting, has hiking paths etc. as well as the bridge, it's free and also nearby!

But first we had to visit the Farmer's Market as it is only open in the morning. It is in a park not far from here - walking distance! Well, depends on who you are. It ended up being a whole lot further than we thought! And it was hot and sunny - usually a good thing, but this time Mike thought it was more of a good thing than he wanted. But it was a beautiful walk, in a section of North Vancouver we likely would not have seen otherwise, in a park right on the water. Finally we got there, mainly looking for a nice loaf of bread but also anything else that looked good. Believe it or not, there was no bread! Two bakers, and they had other tasty and attractive things, but no bread at all. But we found blueberries (wished our freezer held more), fresh corn, and a vendor selling organic beef and blueberry sausages. That should take care of supper! We found a less roundabout way to get back home.

After lunch we walked back to the bus stop, and used some more of our tickets to go to Lynn Canyon. Being a sunny Sunday, we weren't the only ones going there! The bus was full, and when we got there the parking lots were full too (glad we took the bus).

The bridge is along a hiking path (8 km if you do the whole thing; we didn't) and is over a very deep gorge in the mountains complete with waterfall! The trees are unbelievably tall. The trail itself has some steep and rough places, and in other areas lots and lots of steps. It is a lovely park, great for families. Add a swimming hole (lots of wet dogs and kids!) and what more could you ask for?

Back on the bus we stopped off at the transfer point to enjoy North Vancouver's waterfront shops, ending up buying more cherries! I didn't think until afterwards that we have to take them across the border - hope they aren't on the forbidden list!

We finished off the day doing laundry. Ranks right up there with grocery shopping. The park has a nice laundry room with lots of machines, all being used so I can only do one load and have to do the rest tomorrow. Oh well, it's supposed to rain.

Is this where I say I beat Mike at cribbage (again)?

Day 14 - Vancouver Island - Victoria!

I have wanted to visit Victoria for years! Said to be more English than England, well, I have not been to the UK, so can't say. However there are double decker buses, and places to have 'high tea' if that counts.

Victoria's downtown is the older historic area, right on the water. There is a huge marina - what a lovely place to berth your boat!

When we arrived there was an Indian festival in progress, with booths selling curries etc. and women in saris dancing.

We walked through the square and ended up in Chinatown - not a large area of the city, just a couple of blocks, set off with a large arched entrance and guarded by a dragon. There were shops selling vegetables and fruits that we didn't recognize, restaurants with good smelling food, and other shops and businesses.

Next we headed for the waterfront area, and walked along to government house (looks like parliament buildings) and the famous Empress hotel (where you can have high tea for $60). Undaunted, I decided to explore the hotel a bit, checked out the lobby area and dining rooms. Not in our budget for today (or tonight) so guess we'll just go back and sleep in the trailer :)

There are any number of restaurants! Waterfront patios, pubs, fine dining..... Mike was hungry, so we had a panini at a small cafe.

Maybe time to find a bus and head back to the campground. We retraced our steps and arrived home very late, and quite tired as well :) but it was a great day which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Pictures to follow.

Day 14 - Vancouver Island Butchart Gardens

Our first stop on Vancouver Island was Butchart Gardens. Mike's Mom had been there many years ago and we thought we should see them.

First stop - the coffee shop for some lunch, a browse in the gift shop, and then our walk through the gardens that were planned and designed by Mrs. Butchart and of course a landscape gardener.

In a word? Beautiful!

Mrs. Butchart's back yard was beyond ugly - a dug out limestone pit with chimneys etc. from her husband's cement factory. What it became was a combination of great imagination, much study and research (in the days before computers made research so easy), a lot of labour, and of course a goodly amount of money.

The tall lombardy poplars in the sunken garden were planted to cover up the cement plant chimneys, which they do very well. I wonder how long it took! Guess I'd better add patience to the above list - essential for gardeners I think.

Mr. Butchart collected rare duck species, and built a special star shaped pond for them. The rose garden has varieties collected on their various travels. There is also a Japanese garden (which our Japanese friend enjoyed). Many of the flowers are annuals or bulbs - dahlias, geraniums, begonias etc. all much larger than ours at home. Imagine the work that takes in the Spring!

Surprisingly, it only took 1-1/2 hours to go through the gardens, which we found later was about average. Beautiful, but at $30 apiece it's maybe a bit overpriced (but since it was crowded, guess it's working for them).

We returned to the stop to catch a bus to continue on our day's 'adventure'.

Day 14 - Planes, trains and automobiles, and interesting people

Well, not exactly, but how about bus, seabus, skytrain, double decker bus, ferry, 2 more buses to Butchart Gardens and another to downtown Victoria?

Today's the day to explore Vancouver Island! We originally wanted to take the trailer over, but much too expensive unless we were actually spending several days there (one time a truck camper would have been perfect!); next plan was just to take the truck ($50/each way), then we looked up public transportation, and voila!

So, up very early to walk to the bus (good walk); transfer to the seabus (a small ferry) which connected to the skytrain - actually half subway, half elevated train; then to a large city bus (the kind that is hinged in the middle) to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen. Cost so far? $1.75 each! This is a large ferry like the one going to PEI from home which gave us a 90 minute cruise from Vancouver through the islands to Swartz Bay; then a double decker bus (not the fancy red kind, but a city bus) which transferred to another city bus which took us to Butchart Gardens, then another bus to downtown Victoria!

At the station for the skytrain we met a confused young Japanese girl who is a college student here for a month to learn to speak English. She was with a group, but missed her first bus so they were separated. She had the station and bus routes written out, but it's a lot of transfers. Since she was going to Victoria too, she followed along with us. Then another young lady going to Victoria for the weekend decided she could be 'tour guide' for all of us, joined by a third young lady who now lived in Vancouver but whose home is in Victoria - she had a backpack, a heavy hand bag and was carrying a pie that she baked for her Mom in an aluminum pan! Once off the skytrain we met yet another young Japanese man accompanied by his quite senior hostess who also was going to Victoria - she was getting him to the ferry. It turns out that the 2 Japanese students came from the same city in Japan! Anyway they enjoyed talking together during the ferry ride. During the ferry ride the Japanese girl called the contact number she was given only to find out that that person had stayed in Vancouver! So she stayed with us through the gardens and on to Victoria and then figured she might be able to find the rest of her group on her own. Anyway, it was interesting, and fun to meet and interact with these young people.

The return trip was exactly the same but in reverse (except for the people). We left Victoria at 6 pm, made fairly good connections all the way but the every hour on the hour ferry had an hour off (meant we waited almost 2 hours for the next one since we had just missed the previous one by minutes), then missed the seabus by literally seconds even though we ran all the way through the station. Now it is dark and we still had a long ride on another bus to go and a walk back to the trailer on an unlit street. We arrived 'home' at 12:45 am!

Was it worth it? Yes! We enjoyed the public transit, much more interesting and less frustrating than driving and finding parking spaces, plus Mike figured he saved a bundle on fuel and parking.

Posts for Butchart Gardens and Victoria to follow - this morning we're off to the Farmer's Market!

Day 14 - We've 'arrived'! Hope to North Vancouver

Next door to us in Hope are 2 couples from Australia who flew to Los Angeles, rented a car, drove to Vancouver, picked up an RV which they rented for 8 days and toured as far as Jasper, AB. Today they were dropping off the RV and getting on a boat for an Alaskan cruise before flying back home! They were really envious of the large RV's we have here - much different from the ones in Australia.

We left Hope fairly early, wanting to get to Vancouver before the afternoon traffic. From Hope the land gets flatter, and there are market gardens growing blueberries, corn, cherries etc. Surprisingly not so much irrigation is evident. BC logging is big business, and we saw some logs being sent downriver. And of course the trains!

We went through Chilliwack and Abbotsford and then quite well outside Vancouver the traffic got heavier, and didn't improve with the construction - they are building a new bridge, HOV lanes etc. to ease the congestion, but it is a big project so actually less delay than we would expect. The traffic eased only after we crossed to North Vancouver, making us really glad we didn't do the drive from Vernon to Vancouver today, which is a Friday.

Whew! We made it! We arrived at Caprilano RV park (very nice park, right in the city), got ourselves settled, had a quick lunch and then unloaded the bikes - we're going to cycle Stanley Park!

This RV park is right at the bottom of the Lion's Gate bridge, so we don't have to take the truck at all! There is a bike path ramp just outside the park, and there is a bike lane right to Stanley Park. This is a wonderful large park with 2 beaches and their concession stands, a huge pool, a totem pole area with some beautiful totems, lots of places to just sit and enjoy, and best of all a seawall that encompasses the entire park and which has both a walking and bike path!

Just as we got a bit inside the park, we heard beautiful music - a Chinese gentleman playing the erhu! He had a taped background, and had an amplified erhu. We chatted for a bit and he made some suggestions to improve the sound of my erhu - I wish I had brought it with me!

The seawall is exactly that, and we had great views of Vancouver with its cruise ship docks as well as large tanker ships, pleasure boats and seaplanes.

Cycling around the park was great! Nice and level - unlike crossing the bridge which was only great on the downhill side:) We're out of shape from basically sitting the last several days (my story and I'm sticking to it).

Back at the park I am sitting in the very nice lounge area overlooking the pool. It's a beautiful day, and so people are out sunbathing. Mike is back at the trailer relaxing outdoors (likely having a nap).

So, we are here! We plan to spend 4 nights here before heading south and east. Lots to do in Vancouver/Victoria!

Day 13 - Vernon to Hope - with a donation to the Fraser River

We’re leaving, but which way to go? Down through the Okanagan Valley? On the faster Route 5? Or backtrack to the Trans Canada? We were told the Trans Canada was actually the more scenic route, and since our trip is along the Trans Canada, we decided to retrace our route back up the 97 to #1, which annoyed ‘Matilda’ no end, but she finally realized we wouldn’t change our minds and gave up trying to get us to make U-turns in the middle of the Trans Canada.

More scenic? More scenic than what? We followed the Thompson River, through the ‘suede hills’, well named because they aren’t green at all, but mostly brown dirt. Houses are built right underneath - from the highway it looks like they could be at risk of landslide. The ground is fertile enough, but only if it gets water, and obviously not enough comes from rain because anywhere there is green there is irrigation, even the hayfields and pastures! It is not agricultural like the valley area, and doesn’t seem as prosperous.

I was looking forward to seeing Kamloops, but was very disappointed - it is not pretty at all, or at least not today.

The railway is well used all along, in fact in all of the west there are huge trains moving stuff, but here we’re really glad things are shipped by train and not by truck - imagine all those big trucks on this mostly 2 lane highway!

Where the Thompson River meets the Fraser, it is very turbulent, and water rafting signs are evident. We only saw 2 rafts in the water though, for the whole trip.

Just after the point where the rivers meet, the spare tire on the trailer decided it had travelled far enough and fell off! Of course we had no idea, but a following truck passed us and gestured - what? We didn’t know what he was trying to tell us, but there was a pullout nearby so we stopped, and another car came up behind us and told us how our tire had come off the trailer, rolled nicely down the side of the road and into a parking area. He offered to take Mike back to pick it up, and so his wife Sylvia and I had a nice visit sitting on the side of the road.

It was good that Mike had someone to show him exactly where the tire went, or he would have been searching forever. Really forever, because it was obvious that the tire wanted to try out the river rapids - the parking lot was right by the river with nothing to stop a speeding tire. On inspection, we found the weld was faulty - one of the things we probably should have checked. Well, maybe it will be found somewhere by someone who can use it!

Anyway, Sylvia and her husband (never found out his name) joined us for a picnic lunch just a few miles down the road, and then they went off to Vancouver to catch the ferry for Nanaimo where they live and we carried on our way.

We had been travelling in mountains all day, and the suede hills (actually really mountains too) seemed like foothills, so we thought we were through the ranges, but then higher, sharper and snow-covered mountains appeared. Awesome!

We decided to stop in Hope - a small town completely surrounded by snow topped mountains. We unhitched the trailer and drove into town to check it out - a wide main street, lined with shops. Not the tourist kind either, but ‘real’ shops (pharmacy, movie theatre, deli, grocery, etc.) and a lovely park right there for people to enjoy. Hope is known for its chainsaw sculptures, and there are several downtown.

Back at the campground we found we had excellent WiFi, so I settled down to update the blog before something happened to it. Yesterday’s park had WiFi, but really slow and then none, so maybe I can post pictures today!