WOW!!! I didn't realize how light it can be at night. We are in the Fairbanks area and it is plenty light enough to play golf or baseball 24 hours a day. I've looked at the weather statistics for various areas as we passed through. We all know about sunrise and sunset. There is also a term called "civil twilight" this runs from 1/2 hour before sunrise until sunrise and from sunset to 1/2 hour after sunset. This corresponds to the legal requirements of daylight, those hours when you can legally hunt or operate an airplane. Beyond "civil twilight" there is "nautical twilight", which is the time between civil twilight and the time the horizon disappears. And then there is night. Except up here at this time of year. We go from daylight to civil twilight and back to daylight.
I'm happy that the bedroom is so dark, but our dogs are confused. They don't know whether they should be playing or sleeping or something in between. Within the next few days we will venture above the Arctic Circle where we'll have a 24 hour day.
The wacky adventures of Paul and his patient wife, Helen
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
WE MADE IT TO ALASKA ! ! !
This morning we passed the last few miles through the Yukon and made it to Alaska. I really wanted to arrive yesterday,but Helen was concerned about Jodie and the long ride, so we stopped for the night in a roadside rest area with three or four other campers. The following picture was taken at 10:15 PM local time, so you can see how easy it is to drive long into the day.
We saw a LOT of wildlife along this leg of the trip. Just about an hour before we settled down for the night I saw a real Grizzly bear off the side of the road. I didn't mention it to Helen right a way as it looked like a rusted 55 gallon drum. By the time I got close enough to properly identify him, I was too late to allow Helen to see. If there were some way to turn around and go back, I would have, but in the motorhome towing a Jeep u-turns are not easily accomplished.
These are stone sheep and there were a lot of them along the road. These allowed us to take pictures as there were three or four RVs stopped along the road. I was the last in line and had one eye glued to the rear view mirror in case another vehicle should come around the curve.
This is a common view we had during today. Helen was a bit miffed that the camper was always in the picture, but it really wasn't so.
See what I mean?
Another friendly sheep.
Wish I could remember what lake or mile marker, but.......
We saw several bears along this stretch. They were apparently grazing in the lush grass along the side of the road. Our presence didn't even make them pause. They appear so tame that you could walk right up to one, but we know better. That's especially true in a couple of cases where we could see a pair of young black bear cubs out in the open. You can be sure that Momma is near.
There were a number of bison along the road. We passed a herd earlier of females and young. Later we could see these large males off by themselves. They were laying in a sandy area and were flicking the sand over themselves with their tail. Again, they were not at all impressed or disturbed by us.
A nice view that caught Helen's eye.
As we drove the Alaska Highway, we would see signs to be careful of deer, moose, rock sheep, bison, and bears. We also saw signs warning of horses in the wild that can run in front of a vehicle. These are the first ones we saw close enough to catch with the camera. I am no horse person, but a few of them looked like fine horses.
Another lumbering bruin. Walking along and having an occasional hank of grass. We didn't slow him down or speed him up. We were just part of his normal routine.
Helen at the Continental Divide....again. In Montana, we crossed the Marias Pass a number of times during our stay, going from one side of the Divide to the other. We have a picture of Helen in Montana as we crossed fro west to east, so it's only fitting to get a picture as we pass east to west.
One of the many narrow bridges that one has to cross on the Alaska Highway. I am so very pleased to state that I never met anyone coming the other way on any of the bridges.
More of the majestic Rockies.
And this is the end of the Alaska Highway in Delta Junction, Alaska. On the whole, the trip was very easy. The roads were much better than I was led to believe. The last hundred miles in the Yukon and the first 50 or so in Alaska were a bit rough. In Alaska, there were signs warning of heavy dust for miles, but it was not a problem. The rain kept the dust down and made the road very muddy instead.
Sorry for so many pics.
We saw a LOT of wildlife along this leg of the trip. Just about an hour before we settled down for the night I saw a real Grizzly bear off the side of the road. I didn't mention it to Helen right a way as it looked like a rusted 55 gallon drum. By the time I got close enough to properly identify him, I was too late to allow Helen to see. If there were some way to turn around and go back, I would have, but in the motorhome towing a Jeep u-turns are not easily accomplished.
These are stone sheep and there were a lot of them along the road. These allowed us to take pictures as there were three or four RVs stopped along the road. I was the last in line and had one eye glued to the rear view mirror in case another vehicle should come around the curve.
This is a common view we had during today. Helen was a bit miffed that the camper was always in the picture, but it really wasn't so.
See what I mean?
Another friendly sheep.
Wish I could remember what lake or mile marker, but.......
We saw several bears along this stretch. They were apparently grazing in the lush grass along the side of the road. Our presence didn't even make them pause. They appear so tame that you could walk right up to one, but we know better. That's especially true in a couple of cases where we could see a pair of young black bear cubs out in the open. You can be sure that Momma is near.
There were a number of bison along the road. We passed a herd earlier of females and young. Later we could see these large males off by themselves. They were laying in a sandy area and were flicking the sand over themselves with their tail. Again, they were not at all impressed or disturbed by us.
A nice view that caught Helen's eye.
As we drove the Alaska Highway, we would see signs to be careful of deer, moose, rock sheep, bison, and bears. We also saw signs warning of horses in the wild that can run in front of a vehicle. These are the first ones we saw close enough to catch with the camera. I am no horse person, but a few of them looked like fine horses.
Another lumbering bruin. Walking along and having an occasional hank of grass. We didn't slow him down or speed him up. We were just part of his normal routine.
Helen at the Continental Divide....again. In Montana, we crossed the Marias Pass a number of times during our stay, going from one side of the Divide to the other. We have a picture of Helen in Montana as we crossed fro west to east, so it's only fitting to get a picture as we pass east to west.
One of the many narrow bridges that one has to cross on the Alaska Highway. I am so very pleased to state that I never met anyone coming the other way on any of the bridges.
More of the majestic Rockies.
And this is the end of the Alaska Highway in Delta Junction, Alaska. On the whole, the trip was very easy. The roads were much better than I was led to believe. The last hundred miles in the Yukon and the first 50 or so in Alaska were a bit rough. In Alaska, there were signs warning of heavy dust for miles, but it was not a problem. The rain kept the dust down and made the road very muddy instead.
Sorry for so many pics.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Catching up on the blog.
Wednesday we left Spring Hill Campground relatively early and got a good start on a long, gray, and mostly rainy day. It was a very good day for driving because the weather was cool and the rain was mostly light. There were no big surprises. We filled up the motorhome in Red Deer and paid $2.71 a gallon for diesel, adjusted for the liters/gallon and Canadian vs. US dollar.
As we traveled, I had the laptop set up on the dashboard using the GPS system that is a part of Streets and Trips. There is the advantage over the Garmin in that you can zoom out and see your route a long way off. Garmin only shows your current position and the next turn. After a while, we got an error message saying that there was a problem with the program and it had to shut down. I told Helen just to shut down the computer. She tried, but there was no response as it was locked on the error message. No big deal as I told her to hold down the start button until the computer shuts down. She did that and it worked.
Later on, I tried to boot the computer and it would not boot up. I tried with the electric cord plugged in and it still wouldn’t boot up. All I’d get is a little yellow light in the front that would blink 10 times and stop. WHAT IS THIS??? I’m crushed without my computer. As we approached Grande Prairie, Helen mentioned several campgrounds, but without my computer and without a paper map we were out of luck. My Garmin GPS was of limited use and we did find a suitable Wal-Mart parking lot. We would have had it to ourselves if not for the dozen or so other campers already there.
It was too late to try to have the computer serviced, so I went in Wal-Mart and Staples looking at a possible replacement. All garbage! Helen told me that she talked with a woman who recommended Best Buy. I told Helen that I had already searched for a Best Buy in Grande Prairie with the Garmin and there wasn’t one. Helen said that according to the woman, there was one just up the street. I took a quick ride in the Jeep and they were right. Unfortunately they were closed until 10 the next morning.
Early this morning I was at the public Library, mostly to find out what time they were open, but hoping to use a computer. They also didn’t open until 10. So I drove around the corner to head back to the camper when I noticed Alberta Computers, Sales and Service. Again, my Garmin let me down for it did not list this place among the three computer services, as it did not mention Best Buy. Since it was only a few minutes before opening time, I waited. When the fellow arrived to open the shop I approached him with my problem, explaining that I was traveling and was looking for a quick determination to see if my computer was dead or merely ill. He took the computer and tried to boot it up and had the same problem I did. He then took the external power and plugged that in and tried booting again, with the same results. Then he wanted to try one more thing, taking out the internal battery pack and booting the computer with just the external power. SUCCESS!!!!! He explained that sometimes there is some kind of interference between the battery and the computer. I am so happy to have my computer back that not having the battery is not much of a problem. Except that there are little glitches in the electricity in these RV parks and when one occurs, like a few minutes ago, you can lose everything you’re working on. Fortunately, MS Word has some kind of auto save that bailed me out this time.
I’ve heard it said that a sailor, who puts to sea with electronic navigation with no reasonable ability to operate if the electronic should fail, is a fool. I am apparently a fool on shore. We have three map books of the United States that we use in conjunction with our Garmin or Streets and Trips. We have NOTHING when we are in Canada, a situation that must be remedied.
OK, to go on, we left Grande Prairie heading to Dawson Creek and beyond. Dawson Creek is considered mile zero of the Alaska Highway. There is a monument announcing the fact and we were going to pause for a quick picture, but as we passed, there must have been 40 or 50 members of a caravan crowding around. I said the heck with it. We’ll get a picture at the other end. I paused just outside of town and filled up again. No, I was not able to get the same kind of deal I got in Red Deer. I paid about $.58 a gallon more.
Throughout yesterday and into today, we are seeing more wildlife beside the road. Yesterday we saw several deer. This morning we saw a beautiful fox walking along the side of the highway, scarcely ten feet from the RV. We saw a herd of elk, but they may have been farmed. I saw a beaver and the remains of a moose that must have been hit by a car.
The road has been like a superhighway most of the way, but is now down to two lanes. A ways out of Dawson Creek I got behind a very wide, very large load. There are many of these on this highway. Since it was going 20 kph under the limit, I wanted to pass. I waited for my chance and thought I had it. I started to accelerate on a long stretch when I could see a semi heading the other way. Before I could ease of the gas and get back behind the wide load, Helen let out a scream that almost made me have an accident in my pants. She does this from time to time thinking I don’t see an animal or a car and it’s terribly upsetting. This time I was at the edge of my nerves and the scream put me over. I yelled back. It was very quiet for a very long time as the passenger seat was now occupied by Coco while Helen sat on the sofa behind me.
Early in the day we pulled into a small campground on the shore of the Sikanni River. Jodie and Coco had an excellent romp in the water and in playing with them along the shore I noticed a number of moose prints. Then I noticed moose droppings. We’re out in the wild here, with nothing but this campground for miles around.
As we traveled, I had the laptop set up on the dashboard using the GPS system that is a part of Streets and Trips. There is the advantage over the Garmin in that you can zoom out and see your route a long way off. Garmin only shows your current position and the next turn. After a while, we got an error message saying that there was a problem with the program and it had to shut down. I told Helen just to shut down the computer. She tried, but there was no response as it was locked on the error message. No big deal as I told her to hold down the start button until the computer shuts down. She did that and it worked.
Later on, I tried to boot the computer and it would not boot up. I tried with the electric cord plugged in and it still wouldn’t boot up. All I’d get is a little yellow light in the front that would blink 10 times and stop. WHAT IS THIS??? I’m crushed without my computer. As we approached Grande Prairie, Helen mentioned several campgrounds, but without my computer and without a paper map we were out of luck. My Garmin GPS was of limited use and we did find a suitable Wal-Mart parking lot. We would have had it to ourselves if not for the dozen or so other campers already there.
It was too late to try to have the computer serviced, so I went in Wal-Mart and Staples looking at a possible replacement. All garbage! Helen told me that she talked with a woman who recommended Best Buy. I told Helen that I had already searched for a Best Buy in Grande Prairie with the Garmin and there wasn’t one. Helen said that according to the woman, there was one just up the street. I took a quick ride in the Jeep and they were right. Unfortunately they were closed until 10 the next morning.
Early this morning I was at the public Library, mostly to find out what time they were open, but hoping to use a computer. They also didn’t open until 10. So I drove around the corner to head back to the camper when I noticed Alberta Computers, Sales and Service. Again, my Garmin let me down for it did not list this place among the three computer services, as it did not mention Best Buy. Since it was only a few minutes before opening time, I waited. When the fellow arrived to open the shop I approached him with my problem, explaining that I was traveling and was looking for a quick determination to see if my computer was dead or merely ill. He took the computer and tried to boot it up and had the same problem I did. He then took the external power and plugged that in and tried booting again, with the same results. Then he wanted to try one more thing, taking out the internal battery pack and booting the computer with just the external power. SUCCESS!!!!! He explained that sometimes there is some kind of interference between the battery and the computer. I am so happy to have my computer back that not having the battery is not much of a problem. Except that there are little glitches in the electricity in these RV parks and when one occurs, like a few minutes ago, you can lose everything you’re working on. Fortunately, MS Word has some kind of auto save that bailed me out this time.
I’ve heard it said that a sailor, who puts to sea with electronic navigation with no reasonable ability to operate if the electronic should fail, is a fool. I am apparently a fool on shore. We have three map books of the United States that we use in conjunction with our Garmin or Streets and Trips. We have NOTHING when we are in Canada, a situation that must be remedied.
OK, to go on, we left Grande Prairie heading to Dawson Creek and beyond. Dawson Creek is considered mile zero of the Alaska Highway. There is a monument announcing the fact and we were going to pause for a quick picture, but as we passed, there must have been 40 or 50 members of a caravan crowding around. I said the heck with it. We’ll get a picture at the other end. I paused just outside of town and filled up again. No, I was not able to get the same kind of deal I got in Red Deer. I paid about $.58 a gallon more.
Throughout yesterday and into today, we are seeing more wildlife beside the road. Yesterday we saw several deer. This morning we saw a beautiful fox walking along the side of the highway, scarcely ten feet from the RV. We saw a herd of elk, but they may have been farmed. I saw a beaver and the remains of a moose that must have been hit by a car.
The road has been like a superhighway most of the way, but is now down to two lanes. A ways out of Dawson Creek I got behind a very wide, very large load. There are many of these on this highway. Since it was going 20 kph under the limit, I wanted to pass. I waited for my chance and thought I had it. I started to accelerate on a long stretch when I could see a semi heading the other way. Before I could ease of the gas and get back behind the wide load, Helen let out a scream that almost made me have an accident in my pants. She does this from time to time thinking I don’t see an animal or a car and it’s terribly upsetting. This time I was at the edge of my nerves and the scream put me over. I yelled back. It was very quiet for a very long time as the passenger seat was now occupied by Coco while Helen sat on the sofa behind me.
Early in the day we pulled into a small campground on the shore of the Sikanni River. Jodie and Coco had an excellent romp in the water and in playing with them along the shore I noticed a number of moose prints. Then I noticed moose droppings. We’re out in the wild here, with nothing but this campground for miles around.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Chompin' at the bit!
We're spending our last night on the plains near Calgary, and we are ready to move on. The weather here on the east side of the Rockies is something else. When you look toward the Rockies you can see a constant cloud pattern right out of some science fiction movie. There are gray clouds, black clouds, and blue sky. In the course of a couple of hours we'll see at least two showers, very gusty winds, and blue sky. As I write this at 9:45, it still light out. The temperature is about 50. It's raining moderately hard and I can hear occasional thunder. That all come to an end in the morning.
The tanks are dumped, the fresh water topped off and the car is almost all ready to be towed. In the morning I have to unplug the electric, plug in the aux brake in the Jeep, and insert the ignition key and turn to the first detent. We'll be on our way toward Edmonton, but will bypass to save time. Our first stop will be 95 miles up the road where Flying J has diesel for the equivalent of $2.81 US. That's MUCH better that we would have expected. With a tail wind and a bit of luck, we could make it to British Columbia by tomorrow night, but I expect we'll quit a hundred miles or so short.
We have the Winnebago Journey with the basement A/C and heat pump. All through the vacation we have been plugged in and have relied on the heat pump exclusively. It amounts to quite a savings as we have used almost no propane yet on this trip. My next blog will be from much closer to Alaska.
Oh, my tooth is now fine and I HOPE that this is the end of our "side" adventures.
Later.
The tanks are dumped, the fresh water topped off and the car is almost all ready to be towed. In the morning I have to unplug the electric, plug in the aux brake in the Jeep, and insert the ignition key and turn to the first detent. We'll be on our way toward Edmonton, but will bypass to save time. Our first stop will be 95 miles up the road where Flying J has diesel for the equivalent of $2.81 US. That's MUCH better that we would have expected. With a tail wind and a bit of luck, we could make it to British Columbia by tomorrow night, but I expect we'll quit a hundred miles or so short.
We have the Winnebago Journey with the basement A/C and heat pump. All through the vacation we have been plugged in and have relied on the heat pump exclusively. It amounts to quite a savings as we have used almost no propane yet on this trip. My next blog will be from much closer to Alaska.
Oh, my tooth is now fine and I HOPE that this is the end of our "side" adventures.
Later.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Banff
Since Helen and I are in the Calgary area for a few days we decided to make the most of it and the day before yesterday we went to Banff, a very picturesque city of a Tyrolean nature. It's truly beautiful by itself with the colorful buildings and interesting architecture. Then you add the most spectacular views of the majestic, snow covered Rockies and you have quite the scene. Only 60 miles from the campground it was an easy trip to those accustomed to doing 400 to 500 miles in a day.
There were shops of every sort and dining from McDonalds and Subway on up. In fact, the shops start at curios and go to stratospheric heights. In one store I saw a beautiful canoe. OK, a lot of you might think I'm weird, but it was a piece of art. The construction was conventional bent rib with lath overlay. It was nicely stained and varnished to a fair-thee-well. You could get the fiberglass covered one for a steep $7500.00, but the not so plain natural wood was a mere $6500.00. It would almost be a shame to put these in the water.
There were also many shops with expensive hand knit sweaters and such and it's obvious that Banff may be open to the masses, it caters to the wealthy. We took a side trip, hoping to see some wildlife, but that is difficult in the middle of the day. Viewing such is best in the early morning and late afternoon
The river running through Banff was fast and cold. It's spring and the melting snow along with the frequent rains make the river wild. There was a rafting spot on the edge of the city with a takeout spot further downstream. Helen and I have enjoyed rafting in the past, but in water this fast and barely above freezing we're not likely to take the trip
All to soon it was time to head back to tend to Jodie and Coco. On the way out of the park, I did see one deer off the side of the road.
Yesterday was dog day and we took the dogs to the Bow River in Cochrane, Alberta. There is an off-leash dog park there that abuts the river. Here, too, the river was fast and cold, but it didn't daunt Jodie and Coco. They had no interest in the grounds of the park, only the river and they went in time and again. Jodie will generally go for a swim and then rest awhile, swim and rest. However, moving water seems to get her going. She leaped into the water numerous times and let the river move her downstream. Then she'd come ashore, run upstream along the bank and jump in again. This is behavior we've seen where there are ocean waves. She loves to play in the waves.
Coco is our constant retriever. Throw the stick and she fetches it. Throw it again and she will get it again. We have never had her quit. When we see her tiring we have to call a halt to the fetching. It was funny watching her try to swim against the current. She gave it her all, but finally realized that the only possible route was back toward shore. The got a good toweling and were very quiet on the way home, then came in the RV and crashed
More Later.
There were shops of every sort and dining from McDonalds and Subway on up. In fact, the shops start at curios and go to stratospheric heights. In one store I saw a beautiful canoe. OK, a lot of you might think I'm weird, but it was a piece of art. The construction was conventional bent rib with lath overlay. It was nicely stained and varnished to a fair-thee-well. You could get the fiberglass covered one for a steep $7500.00, but the not so plain natural wood was a mere $6500.00. It would almost be a shame to put these in the water.
There were also many shops with expensive hand knit sweaters and such and it's obvious that Banff may be open to the masses, it caters to the wealthy. We took a side trip, hoping to see some wildlife, but that is difficult in the middle of the day. Viewing such is best in the early morning and late afternoon
The river running through Banff was fast and cold. It's spring and the melting snow along with the frequent rains make the river wild. There was a rafting spot on the edge of the city with a takeout spot further downstream. Helen and I have enjoyed rafting in the past, but in water this fast and barely above freezing we're not likely to take the trip
All to soon it was time to head back to tend to Jodie and Coco. On the way out of the park, I did see one deer off the side of the road.
Yesterday was dog day and we took the dogs to the Bow River in Cochrane, Alberta. There is an off-leash dog park there that abuts the river. Here, too, the river was fast and cold, but it didn't daunt Jodie and Coco. They had no interest in the grounds of the park, only the river and they went in time and again. Jodie will generally go for a swim and then rest awhile, swim and rest. However, moving water seems to get her going. She leaped into the water numerous times and let the river move her downstream. Then she'd come ashore, run upstream along the bank and jump in again. This is behavior we've seen where there are ocean waves. She loves to play in the waves.
Coco is our constant retriever. Throw the stick and she fetches it. Throw it again and she will get it again. We have never had her quit. When we see her tiring we have to call a halt to the fetching. It was funny watching her try to swim against the current. She gave it her all, but finally realized that the only possible route was back toward shore. The got a good toweling and were very quiet on the way home, then came in the RV and crashed
More Later.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Coping as well as we can!
Early yesterday morning Helen started calling periodontists and endodontists. They were reluctant to do anything without a referral from a local general practitioner. Finally we were given the name of Dr. Schwann. He was much too busy to see me, but his office manager, Elaine, told us to see Dr. Andrew Hoe. When Helen called with the referral from Schwann's office, Dr. Hoe agreed to see me. His is a very amiable dentist and his staff was terrific. He determined that the tooth had gone too far and that a root was indicated NOW. He put me in a completely horizontal position and gave me the shots to ease the pain. There was a system I had never seen before. Directly over my head was a television set. The assistant placed headphones over my ears and gave me the remote control so I could watch whatever I wanted. Being with out a TV for so long,I settled for CNN's Situation Room, getting caught up on the national news. Before I knew it, the root canal was done and I had another appointment for next Tuesday for a crown. So we'll be staying in the Calgary area at least until Wednesday.
We'd had enough of the Whispering Spruce Campground. Interestingly, when the assistant at the dental office asked where we were camped and we told her she said "That place is a hole, it's not even a campground". She was very close to the truth. I was filling up for the weekend, but nearly all of the people were loaded with ice hockey equipment. Even the street had a goal for street hockey. We got out of there and headed west to Springhill Campground, a few miles north of Cochrane. It's about 20 miles and 9 light years from the other campground.
While Helen was getting the inside settled, I was out getting the motorhome hooked up. Alas, there was water leaking from the water pump! I tried tightening the screws to no avail. I went up to the office to locate the nearest place to get a replacement. It was a 20 mile drive on way,but I got one and it's installed and working well. Replacement, what a word and how often I'm using it on this vacation. Wonder what is going to be next.
At least we are in a great location to pass the next few days. Tomorrow we're headed to Banff, in the National Park right in the Canadian Rockies. We've been watching the Rockies snow capped mountains off to our left as we drove north from Montana. Tomorrow we will get a close-up look, but we are no longer naive, many roads may be closed due to snow.
Recap: Tooth feels good, motorhome is 100%,(I think), Banff is a little over an hour away.
More later.
We'd had enough of the Whispering Spruce Campground. Interestingly, when the assistant at the dental office asked where we were camped and we told her she said "That place is a hole, it's not even a campground". She was very close to the truth. I was filling up for the weekend, but nearly all of the people were loaded with ice hockey equipment. Even the street had a goal for street hockey. We got out of there and headed west to Springhill Campground, a few miles north of Cochrane. It's about 20 miles and 9 light years from the other campground.
While Helen was getting the inside settled, I was out getting the motorhome hooked up. Alas, there was water leaking from the water pump! I tried tightening the screws to no avail. I went up to the office to locate the nearest place to get a replacement. It was a 20 mile drive on way,but I got one and it's installed and working well. Replacement, what a word and how often I'm using it on this vacation. Wonder what is going to be next.
At least we are in a great location to pass the next few days. Tomorrow we're headed to Banff, in the National Park right in the Canadian Rockies. We've been watching the Rockies snow capped mountains off to our left as we drove north from Montana. Tomorrow we will get a close-up look, but we are no longer naive, many roads may be closed due to snow.
Recap: Tooth feels good, motorhome is 100%,(I think), Banff is a little over an hour away.
More later.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
What a nice day!
You all have been very patient while I whined and whined about the very poor weather we've been having. The forecast is for continued rain for at least several more days. Yesterday my replacement heater core arrived right on schedule and I was determined to get it in no matter how bad the weather. Shortly before it came, the clouds parted and we had a very warm, beautiful afternoon. The temperature was 65 and it could not have been better for working on the motorhome.
The pieces and parts went together well and it was nice to have everything going right. I did have to pause for awhile to go out and get some automotive sealer to do the job right. I was done before dark and even had time to pick up and stow all my tools and get the Jeep ready for traveling today.
We headed out around nine, heading for Calgary. Heading up Route 89, the GPS said I had to make a turn to the right in 57 miles, and I figured that we'd have that much to go before getting to Canada. All of a sudden we drove over a hill and there was Canada Customs. The agent took our Passports and wanted to see our registration and insurance papers. He also saw the dogs and wanted to see their papers as well. In the many trips to Canada, this is the first time we had to show those papers. He asked if we had guns or explosives, as usual then wished us a nice trip.
We made it to our destination around 5:00, but we were a bit disappointed in the campground. The comments I read were generally good, the only complaint being the noise from the highway so close. I don't find the noise too bad,but the run-down campground with all the large mud puddles is a bit much to take.
Tomorrow we'll start the next act in the saga of our Alaska trip. I had work done to a tooth just a couple of days before vacation. Dr. Magyar's associate thought that a root canal and crown were indicated, but I told him about our imminent vacation and he did a work-a-round, thinking the root canal could wait until I returned. A week ago, the same tooth started to bother me greatly. It wasn't caused be a dying nerve, but an extreme sensitivity to cold, or anything remotely cool. We saw a dentist in Billings and he though we might get lucky with fluoride therapy, but the situation has gone from bad to worse. I have a list of periodontists and endodontists in Calgary and Helen is going to call around for a referral and a possible appointment. I'll have more information later. We will take care of this and move on.
Later!
The pieces and parts went together well and it was nice to have everything going right. I did have to pause for awhile to go out and get some automotive sealer to do the job right. I was done before dark and even had time to pick up and stow all my tools and get the Jeep ready for traveling today.
We headed out around nine, heading for Calgary. Heading up Route 89, the GPS said I had to make a turn to the right in 57 miles, and I figured that we'd have that much to go before getting to Canada. All of a sudden we drove over a hill and there was Canada Customs. The agent took our Passports and wanted to see our registration and insurance papers. He also saw the dogs and wanted to see their papers as well. In the many trips to Canada, this is the first time we had to show those papers. He asked if we had guns or explosives, as usual then wished us a nice trip.
We made it to our destination around 5:00, but we were a bit disappointed in the campground. The comments I read were generally good, the only complaint being the noise from the highway so close. I don't find the noise too bad,but the run-down campground with all the large mud puddles is a bit much to take.
Tomorrow we'll start the next act in the saga of our Alaska trip. I had work done to a tooth just a couple of days before vacation. Dr. Magyar's associate thought that a root canal and crown were indicated, but I told him about our imminent vacation and he did a work-a-round, thinking the root canal could wait until I returned. A week ago, the same tooth started to bother me greatly. It wasn't caused be a dying nerve, but an extreme sensitivity to cold, or anything remotely cool. We saw a dentist in Billings and he though we might get lucky with fluoride therapy, but the situation has gone from bad to worse. I have a list of periodontists and endodontists in Calgary and Helen is going to call around for a referral and a possible appointment. I'll have more information later. We will take care of this and move on.
Later!
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