What Went Wrong

Well, if you’re an RVer, or even if you aren’t, you know things don’t always go as planned when you’re off on a trip.  We had a few things go wrong; thankfully nothing that couldn’t be fixed and, thankfully, nothing that caused any bodily harm.

I guess the most traumatic incident was that trip I made to the ER in Colorado Springs.  As we were driving over to the hospital, I was making a plan on how we were going to get back to Nashville after my open heart surgery.  That scare turned out to be altitude sickness so I didn’t need surgery after all.  However, that little trip to the ER and subsequent visit to the cardiologist hit the pocketbook to the tune of over $2000.  That almost caused a heart attack for sure.

This is a close runner up to the most traumatic incident--having the motor home towed from Trinidad to Colorado Springs.  That was when the oil light came on and we thought the engine was shot.  That almost caused a heart attack, too.  Turned out to be just a malfunction in the dash lights and Ford covered all expenses including the tow, labor, and hotel room while our motor home was in the shop.

I guess the next would have to be the flat tire along the Dempster Highway.  It wasn’t anything that was unexpected and we were prepared for it, but a flat tire anywhere anytime is a big deal.  At least it was on the car and not the motor home.  Once again, a great big thinks to the RCMP and the road service crew on the Dempster for being right there and taking care of us.

The water heater is finally fixed after months without hot water.  The particular incident which occurred on this trip was the mother board went out.  That probably would have happened whether we were traveling or not.  The good folks at the repair center in Wasilla took good care of us on that one.  They also looked for a leak in the shower, but couldn’t find one.  Didn’t even charge us for looking.  How great is that?  However, we did have a leak and Gene finally found it.  He applied a little extra caulking to the inside of the shower and so far so good.

Speaking of water, we still have that water leak somewhere around the bedroom slide.  Haven’t nailed that one down yet, but plan to have the rig pressurized when we get back to Nashville to find that leak.  It’s major and something we need to have fixed.  Until then, if there is rain in the forecast, we park just a little off level with the bedroom slide on the down side.  Keeps the water from running in.  We called the factory in Elkhart, Indiana, but they’re booked until November.  Forget that.  They recommended our own dealer in Nashville.  That was good to hear.

Then there was the time the furnace quit running.  That was all related to the thermostat which controls the AC and furnace.  That problem actually started in Florida last winter.  The folks in Edmonton put in a new thermostat and all is well now.  I’ve very glad, too since we’ve been using the AC everyday for a week now.

We finally broke down and bought a new car battery. We’ve had a dead battery twice. When we tow for 2 or 3 days in a row without driving the car, the battery runs down.  The Even Brake controller just drains too much of the battery.  We need to be more diligent about letting the car run at the end of a towing day for a longer period of time.

During our week in Winnipeg, Gene spent some of everyday rubbing on the motor home and car.  I am happy to report that he did not find any significant damage.  When we first got to the Yukon we got a rock chip on the windshield of the motor home which we had repaired.  We always drove with the Protect-a-Tow attached and other than a couple minor scratches on the car there is no damage.  We’ve decided to continue to use the Protect-a-Tow anytime we have the car attached.

What’s not working today--the awning doesn’t want to release on one side for some reason and the toilet bowl won’t hold water.  When we say it’s always something it really and truly is always something.

So, on a trip like this, the damage report is not so bad and in the scheme of things could have been a whole lot worse.  RV owners know that something always needs to be fixed.  That’s just the nature of the beast as frustrating as it is at times.  You can’t drive down America’s highways (or Canada’s) at 60 miles an hour and not have something come loose, fall off, or break.  After Wednesday’s drive down Manitoba route 75, I’m kinda surprised anything works at all.

That being said, it is still a bit discouraging to find the maintenance budget ($142 per month) over for the year by $1616. and this is only August.  Yikes.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

A Look at the Canada Numbers

Today is Gene’s happy birthday.  Boy, is he ever old now!  We celebrated by driving 91 miles from Wal-mart in Crookston to Royal Oaks RV Park in Bemidji, MN. I did the driving, so he got the day off.  He’s been pampered along the way.  I fixed one of his favorite breakfasts--pancakes and bacon and for dinner he chose steak, french fries, and a salad.  No cake for this birthday boy.  He selected Key Lime Pie from the freezer section at Wal-Mart.  He’s VERY picky about his stuff so I take the easy way out and hand over a little cash which he uses to purchase a prize of his choice.  He ordered a pair of New Balance tennis shoes the other day from LL Bean and with the money I gave him I think he’s going to get a new watch.  So even though it was a travel day, he had a good birthday.

At the beginning of this trip in March, we figured we’d be worn out and homesick to see family and would thus make a mad dash to Tennessee once we crossed back into the United States.  We are worn out, however the week off in Winnipeg has really boosted our energy level and we’re homesick, but we’ve made a slight change in our homeward plan.

We’re now thinking to stay on US Route 2 and take it across the corner of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, get on I-75 and head south toward Columbus, Ohio.  We’ll probably make a quick stop to see friends in Toledo then scoot over to Columbus to visit with Gene’s brother and sister-in-law before continuing our drive to Nashville.

This will add a few extra miles to the trip, but not many.  After all, we’re over 10,000 now; what’s a few more?  We can do this and still be in Nashville by the first of October.  Can’t get too far south too soon because it’s still HOT down there.

We enjoyed our drive across Canada.  We spent more time in Canada than we did in Alaska.  Banff and Jasper National Parks are just wonderful and we’ll visit again if the opportunity presents itself. I’d really like to see Lake Louise when it isn’t frozen.  We love the northern wilderness fell of the Yukon.  We weren’t so taken with Edmonton, but really like Winnipeg.  That’s good since Winnipeg is much easier to get to than Edmonton.

We really like Canada and plan to go back, probably more than once.  We have the Canadian Maritimes on our short list as well as Montreal and Quebec City.  We’ve been to Victoria for a very brief visit, but definitely want to return and spend some time on Vancouver Island.  We really liked Winnipeg and want to visit again just to see the Human Rights Museum which is currently under construction.  Like the US, Canada has so many wonderful places to visit--too many to get them all done.

As much as we like Canada, I’ll have to say, it is very expensive.  Gas is expensive, food is expensive, campgrounds are expensive.  I’m also glad not to be making those metric conversion any more.

For the record, here are the numbers to the Canadian Border.

Total miles from Nashville--9967
Total miles Canadian Border to Canadian Border--7284
Total miles in Alaska--1927

Total days from Nashville--155
Total days Canadian Border to Canadian Border--105
Total days in Alaska--46
Total days in Canada--58

Total gallons of gas from Nashville--1329
Total gallons of gas Canadian Border to Canadian border--906
Average price per gallon--$4.87
Highest price--$6.93
Lowest price--$3.35
Total dollars--$5843.74

Total campgrounds from Nashville--50
Total campgrounds Canadian Border to Canadian Border--36
Total campgrounds in Alaska--14
Average price per campground--$26
Total spent on campground fees--$2846.
Highest--$47
Lowest--$7.
Total free nights--36

We still have about a thousand miles to go and expect to be back in Nashville by October 1.

We’ve set up our camp at Royal Oaks RV Park in Bemidji near the headwaters of the Mississippi River.  It has been very tempting to go home by way of the Great River Road, but have decided that to do that drive justice it would take more time and energy than we have right now.  It will remain on our short list of things to do someday.

We plan to be here three nights before moving further east.  I haven’t had much time to investigate the campground, but it has excellent ratings.  We have a lovely back-in wooded site with grass on either side of the gravel parking pad.  This is a Good Sam park and with the discount the site is only $26 per night for full hook-ups, cable and wifi.  The Bemidji Lake is nearby as well as Bemidji Lake State Park where we’ll be doing some hiking.

That’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Back in the USA

We are once again back in the USA.  We really like Canada and plan to make many more trips there to visit, but there’s no place like home.  We’re glad to be back in the United States.

We were prepared for the border crossing.  We had our passports handy and we took off our sunglasses so they could see the whites of our eyes.  Gene even pulled his side mirror in against the truck so he could get up close to the window.  Didn’t want to make the guard come out of his little space. We knew how long we’d been in Canada, what we’d bought, where our car registration was, and we had pretty much cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer.  We would have had any citrus confiscated and probably any fresh meat.  The border guard asked about wild fish and we told him about our salmon in the freezer.  Thankfully, it had come from Alaska.

All was well, but they wanted to search anyway and directed us to the search lane.  As Gene was pulling forward away from the guard’s window he pushed out his side mirror.  That little bit of bending to the left caused him to turn the steering wheel to the left and he accidentally drove up onto the curb with one back tire.  We had to unhitch the car before we could move out of the lane.  Everybody was watching; even the guards came out to help.

After that, the rest of our trip was uneventful.  The 70 miles from Winnipeg to the border (Manitoba 75) was awful.  First, we had 12 miles of construction then the rest was desperately in need of construction.  I-29 south of the border was very nice as was US 2 from Grand Forks to Crookston.

GAS REPORT: Our last fill up in Canada was in Portage la Prairie and we paid $4.43 for a gallon of gasoline.  Today, we filled up in Grand Forks, North Dakota and only paid $3.64 (diesel was 3.79).  “God Bless America, land that I love”.

Here is a border crossing story for you.  We have heard some pretty fantastic tales, but I think this one takes the cake.  One of our neighbors we spoke with while parked at Traveler’s RV Resort in Winnipeg related his border crossing story to us.  He and his wife are from California and had traveled across the US this summer.  They had had significant problems with their motor home so finally just got fed up and bought a new one in Minnesota.

When this gentleman tried to cross into Canada, the border guard immediately notice there was no license plate on this obviously new, and, I might add, pretty expensive motor home.  One of the standard questions everyone gets asked is “do you have any fire arms or weapons”.  The gentleman had to say “yes” because he had a hand gun and a rifle.  He was promptly asked to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  The gentleman told the inspectors what kind of weapons he had and where to find them.  According to the gentleman, they searched everything, everywhere even taking the covers off the decorative pillows.  Then they informed him that he could not bring weapons of any kind into Canada.  He had a couple choices.  He could leave and not come back or he could go back across the border to a gunsmith and have the gunsmith mail his guns to another gunsmith in his home town in California.  The gentleman opted to have his guns mailed home so the border guard supplied him with the name and address of a nearby US gunsmith.

Our gentleman friend turns his motor home around and heads south to the US border patrol station.  Of course, he gets the same question and again the answer has to be “yes, I have guns” and he explains to the border guard what had just happened at the Canadian border.  When the border guard heard he had guns and had been turned away at the Canadian border, he invites him to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  Once again his motor home is gone through with a fine-toothed comb.

After the second inspection, he makes his way to the gunsmith and fills out all the paperwork and hands over the money to have his guns mailed to California.  With his receipt in hand, he proceeds to the Canadian border.  The border guard recognizes him from his earlier visit and since he had guns the first time he tried to get into Canada, he is invited to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  This time, however, since he had been denied entry into Canada once, he had to file for a visa.  It all worked out alright because we were talking to him in Winnipeg, but, boy, what an experience.

We’re at the Wal-Mart in Crookston, Minnesota tonight.  We’ve already done our shopping and replenished our food stores.  It’s fun having food again.

Thanks for tagging along.

Back in the USA

We are once again back in the USA.  We really like Canada and plan to make many more trips there to visit, but there’s no place like home.  We’re glad to be back in the United States.

We were prepared for the border crossing.  We had our passports handy and we took off our sunglasses so they could see the whites of our eyes.  Gene even pulled his side mirror in against the truck so he could get up close to the window.  Didn’t want to make the guard come out of his little space. We knew how long we’d been in Canada, what we’d bought, where our car registration was, and we had pretty much cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer.  We would have had any citrus confiscated and probably any fresh meat.  The border guard asked about wild fish and we told him about our salmon in the freezer.  Thankfully, it had come from Alaska.

All was well, but they wanted to search anyway and directed us to the search lane.  As Gene was pulling forward away from the guard’s window he pushed out his side mirror.  That little bit of bending to the left caused him to turn the steering wheel to the left and he accidentally drove up onto the curb with one back tire.  We had to unhitch the car before we could move out of the lane.  Everybody was watching; even the guards came out to help.

After that, the rest of our trip was uneventful.  The 70 miles from Winnipeg to the border (Manitoba 75) was awful.  First, we had 12 miles of construction then the rest was desperately in need of construction.  I-29 south of the border was very nice as was US 2 from Grand Forks to Crookston.

GAS REPORT: Our last fill up in Canada was in Portage la Prairie and we paid $4.43 for a gallon of gasoline.  Today, we filled up in Grand Forks, North Dakota and only paid $3.64 (diesel was 3.79).  “God Bless America, land that I love”.

Here is a border crossing story for you.  We have heard some pretty fantastic tales, but I think this one takes the cake.  One of our neighbors we spoke with while parked at Traveler’s RV Resort in Winnipeg related his border crossing story to us.  He and his wife are from California and had traveled across the US this summer.  They had had significant problems with their motor home so finally just got fed up and bought a new one in Minnesota.

When this gentleman tried to cross into Canada, the border guard immediately notice there was no license plate on this obviously new, and, I might add, pretty expensive motor home.  One of the standard questions everyone gets asked is “do you have any fire arms or weapons”.  The gentleman had to say “yes” because he had a hand gun and a rifle.  He was promptly asked to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  The gentleman told the inspectors what kind of weapons he had and where to find them.  According to the gentleman, they searched everything, everywhere even taking the covers off the decorative pillows.  Then they informed him that he could not bring weapons of any kind into Canada.  He had a couple choices.  He could leave and not come back or he could go back across the border to a gunsmith and have the gunsmith mail his guns to another gunsmith in his home town in California.  The gentleman opted to have his guns mailed home so the border guard supplied him with the name and address of a nearby US gunsmith.

Our gentleman friend turns his motor home around and heads south to the US border patrol station.  Of course, he gets the same question and again the answer has to be “yes, I have guns” and he explains to the border guard what had just happened at the Canadian border.  When the border guard heard he had guns and had been turned away at the Canadian border, he invites him to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  Once again his motor home is gone through with a fine-toothed comb.

After the second inspection, he makes his way to the gunsmith and fills out all the paperwork and hands over the money to have his guns mailed to California.  With his receipt in hand, he proceeds to the Canadian border.  The border guard recognizes him from his earlier visit and since he had guns the first time he tried to get into Canada, he is invited to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  This time, however, since he had been denied entry into Canada once, he had to file for a visa.  It all worked out alright because we were talking to him in Winnipeg, but, boy, what an experience.

We’re at the Wal-Mart in Crookston, Minnesota tonight.  We’ve already done our shopping and replenished our food stores.  It’s fun having food again.

That’s all for now.  Thanks for tagging along.

Royal Canadian Mint

Monday was our day to go to the Canadian Mint.  While we’ve been in Winnipeg, our daily routine has been to have breakfast, do the morning chores, then go up to the office for about an hour for internet.  About 9:30 we’re ready to head out for the sightseeing activity of the day then come home for a late lunch and spend the rest of the day piddling around the house.  That schedule has worked out very well and this has been a very relaxing week.

We were going to follow that same plan for Monday.  The guidebook indicated the Mint didn’t open until 9 AM.  When we got back from our internet time, Gene called the Mint just to make sure they were open and giving tours.  They were, on both counts, but the tour schedule was different on Mondays.  Instead of a tour every half hour, they were only every hour beginning on the half hour.  They offer two tours--one in French and one in English.  We, of course, wanted English and as it turned out the next one was at 9:30.  We didn’t have time to get there for that so had to wait for the next English tour at 11:30.  It was good thing Gene called.

We went over about 11 and had a few minutes to take photos outside and browse around the gift shop before our tour started.  Photos are not permitted on the tour.

There are two mints in Canada.  The other is in Ottawa which produces the collectors coins.  The mint in Winnipeg makes all the coins for circulation in Canada--millions of coins a year.  They also strike coins for over 70 other nations.  Currently, they’re producing coins for Ethiopia.  The drive through two rows of national flags as you approach the building represent all the nations for which the mint has produced coins.

The tour was conducted from the second level so we were actually looking down on the work being done on the first floor.  The tour began at the “loading” dock where spools of steel are delivered then continued through each step to the finished coins counted, wrapped, and boxed to be sent out another “loading” area for distribution.  It was very interesting and worth the $5 each for admission.

In the gift shop, there is a 99.99% pure gold bar on display.  It’s chained down and there is an armed guard standing by, but you can pick it up.  Our AAA guidebook from 2009 lists its worth at $200.000.  The 2011 Winnipeg Visitor Guide lists it at $400,000.  The current value when Gene picked it up yesterday was over $600,000.  Wish our little next egg were doing as well as that gold bar.

When we finally got back home after the tour, a quick stop at the grocery, and lunch at Perkins, we didn’t have water.  Apparently, it was some sort of electrical problem at the office.  They didn’t have water or electricity.  Boy, were we lucky since it was 90 degrees and we really needed the AC.  Anyway, the couple of hours before it’s fixed turned into something like 12.  We have often said, and sometimes practice, that we should always have some water in the fresh water tank and also have a gallon of drinking water in case of emergencies.

We had some water in the fresh tank, but not much and we were really lucky to have that because Gene was planning to drain that tank and put in fresh water before we left here.  If he had drained it, we would have been out of luck.  We didn’t have any drinking water except for what was in our small water bottles we carry around with us.

It’s not often that the water is off at a campground, but it happens from time to time.  Usually, it’s a scheduled repair and we know in advance.  Monday was an emergency.  We have a new rule now--always have some water in the fresh tank and a gallon of drinking water on hand.

Tuesday will be our last day in Canada.  We plan to head to Minnesota Wednesday morning.  So no more sightseeing; we’ve got to prepare to move and get things in order for a border crossing.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Manitoba Legislative Building

We have visited seven state and provincial capitol buildings so far on this trip.  We’re a little burnt out on state houses and legislative buildings.  So much so that we almost had to force ourselves to go in Edmonton.  Today, we mustered our where-with-all and drove the few miles downtown and we are so glad we did.  We had a wonderful experience and what a gem the people of Manitoba have.

The Legislative Building is a littler farther down Broadway than we have been going so we decided to drive there by a different route than we have been using.  Big mistake.  We got into the middle of an enormous construction project.  However, driving around the orange cones we found our way to the Legislative Building and were lucky enough to get a parking spot right in front.

Parking on the street is similar to what we’ve found in several US cities.  There are no meters, but there are pay boxes located on the sidewalks.  Insert your money into the pay box, get a receipt, and put it on your dash.  We were reading all the signs surrounding the pay box and all the instructions on the pay box trying to figure out if parking was free on Sunday or not when another couple parked behind us and walked up to the box.  They looked like locals so we asked them if Sunday’s were free.  They were locals, but had no idea about the price of parking on Sunday.  Collectively, we decided not to pay.

That couple invited us to attend a special tour of the Legislative Building with them led by an author of a book describing the Masonic symbolism found in this particular building.  That sounded like a fun thing to do so we accepted their invitation.  The author never showed up for the tour, but we did have a very enjoyable conversation with this nice couple.

We missed out on the private tour, but joined one of the regular tours and learned quite a lot about Manitoba as well as the legislative building.  I failed to make a picture, but the pink marble used in the floor is from Tennessee.  Made us proud.  The walls are made of limestone quarried in Manitoba and it is choked full of fossils.  For me, as a former science teacher, that was way cool.

Construction was started in 1913 and completed in 1920.  I think this is the only “capitol” building we’ve been in that is built in the shape of an “H”.  The dome rises 223 feet above the center of the building and crowning the dome is the “Golden Boy”.  The Golden Boy is directly above a star on the rotunda floor.  According to our guide, that star and the Golden Boy are situated at the geographic center of Canada. That may be true east/west, but it certainly isn’t true north/south.  The architecture is neoClassical in design with Egyptian, Roman, and Greek features.

We got to go into the Lieutenant Governor’s Reception Room.  King George V and Queen Mary graced either end of the room.  These were identical portraits to those in Edmonton.  There was also a portrait of the Queen at the time of her coronation.  

The Legislative Chamber was interesting. We actually got to stand down on the floor rather than look down from one of the galleries.  The desks were arranged in a “U” shape facing the Large ornate Speaker’s chair.  I was amazed to see a sculpture of Moses and the Ten Commandments occupying a prominent spot in the chamber.

The Manitoba Mace

I have read in some of my research that the Manitoba Legislative Building is thought by many to be the finest legislative building in Canada and the self-guided walking tour brochure proclaims it as one of the “finest public buildings in North America”.  I guess that’s really a matter of opinion, but, in my opinion, it is a magnificent building, one well worth visiting.  I’m sure Manitobans are proud, as they should be.

Bears on Broadway

We’re not cramming our days full of sightseeing and are enjoying some much needed down time.  Gene continues to rub on the motor home or the car and I work on this massive photo collection.  Tomorrow, we have a tour of the Canadian Mint on the agenda.  It’s a thoroughly modern building.  Now, that’ll be something different.

That’s all I have for now.  Thanks for tagging along.

Downtown Winnipeg

This morning after coffee, breakfast, and a little internet time we headed back downtown.  One thing that is of interest to us, especially Gene, in any city we visit is the historic district and the architecture it offers.  Our goal for today was to visit the Exchange District, the historic business section of Winnipeg.

We got an early start so traffic wasn’t so bad and we were able to find a place to park on the street for a dollar an hour.  We bought two hours worth.  Just by luck we parked on the street of the old exchange building.  There are probably walking tours with maps and descriptions of buildings, but all we had was the small map which came in the Winnipeg Visitors’ Guide.

Our plan was to walk up and down the streets in the 4 or 5 square blocks of the Exchange District.  That plan didn’t work out so well.  There were some buildings that had been torn down and new one going up in their places.  There was some road construction with streets closed.  And remember I said previously that the city is not laid out in a true grid because of the rivers.  Holy cow, we were quickly confused.

We wandered around, I’m not sure where, making pictures and pointing at anything that appeared old.  We almost immediately found ourselves in Chinatown at the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center.  We didn’t go in, but spent several minutes in the small garden.

The theater district was interesting.  Most of the buildings there were newer, but we did find an old Vaudeville Theater.  That was cool.

Over the years, with the old buildings being torn down and parking lots installed, murals have appeared on the end building left standing.  We found several interesting murals.  I think my favorite was on the side of the Public Safety building.

Although we found some interesting things, we were somewhat disappointed.  As it turned out the street where we parked with the old Exchange Building was the best we saw. I guess it’s happening in cities all over--the older structures are too difficult and expensive to maintain and they’re so out of line with modern codes they are unsuitable for living or working.  Probably only the communities with a strong Historical Commission will strive to preserve these old giants.  Too bad.  Or maybe Gene and I should just let it go and move into the modern age.

We were back home in time for lunch and after a short nap I continued my work on organizing Alaska photos and Gene cleaned the glass on the motor home and car.  The Peanut indulged himself in an extended nap.  It’s good to be the cat.

We have two more things on our list for Winnipeg--the Legislative Building (this is the capital of Manitoba, after all) and the Canadian Mint.  The Legislative Building will probably be tomorrow because it’s Sunday and there’ll be less traffic and easier parking downtown.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Downtown Winnipeg

This morning after coffee, breakfast, and a little internet time we headed back downtown.  One thing that is of interest to us, especially Gene, in any city we visit is the historic district and the architecture it offers.  Our goal for today was to visit the Exchange District, the historic business section of Winnipeg.

We got an early start so traffic wasn’t so bad and we were able to find a place to park on the street for a dollar an hour.  We bought two hours worth.  Just by luck we parked on the street of the old exchange building.  There are probably walking tours with maps and descriptions of buildings, but all we had was the small map which came in the Winnipeg Visitors’ Guide.

Our plan was to walk up and down the streets in the 4 or 5 square blocks of the Exchange District.  That plan didn’t work out so well.  There were some buildings that had been torn down and new one going up in their places.  There was some road construction with streets closed.  And remember I said previously that the city is not laid out in a true grid because of the rivers.  Holy cow, we were quickly confused.

We wandered around, I’m not sure where, making pictures and pointing at anything that appeared old.  We almost immediately found ourselves in Chinatown at the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center.  We didn’t go in, but spent several minutes in the small garden.

The theater district was interesting.  Most of the buildings there were newer, but we did find an old Vaudeville Theater.  That was cool.

Over the years, with the old buildings being torn down and parking lots installed, murals have appeared on the end building left standing.  We found several interesting murals.  I think my favorite was on the side of the Public Safety building.

Although we found some interesting things, we were somewhat disappointed.  As it turned out the street where we parked with the old Exchange Building was the best we saw. I guess it’s happening in cities all over--the older structures are too difficult and expensive to maintain and they’re so out of line with modern codes they are unsuitable for living or working.  Probably only the communities with a strong Historical Commission will strive to preserve these old giants.  Too bad.  Or maybe Gene and I should just let it go and move into the modern age.

We were back home in time for lunch and after a short nap I continued my work on organizing Alaska photos and Gene cleaned the glass on the motor home and car.  The Peanut indulged himself in an extended nap.  It’s good to be the cat.

We have two more things on our list for Winnipeg--the Legislative Building (this is the capital of Manitoba, after all) and the Canadian Mint.  The Legislative Building will probably be tomorrow because it’s Sunday and there’ll be less traffic and easier parking downtown.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

After a couple days of not riding in a moving vehicle, we were ready to get out and about today.  Winnipeg has several attractions to offer the tourists.  Perhaps the most popular tourist attraction is the area downtown at the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers which is simply called “The Forks”.  Since the city probably got its start there, we might as well begin our tour there.

Winnipeg is the provincial capital of Manitoba as well as its largest city with a population of about 650,000.  This is another big city with big city traffic.  Because these two rivers are running through downtown, a true grid arrangement of streets and avenues which we found helpful in Edmonton, does not exist here.  Somehow we found our way to the Forks and I think we parked in the first parking spot we saw just to get out of the traffic.

The confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, The Forks, has been a transportation and commercial center for centuries.  The First Nations peoples used the rivers as canoe routes long before the European fur traders arrived.  More recently, the railroads occupied this area along the river banks.  In the 1980s Winnipeg, along with the help of provincial and federal governments, began to redevelop this area.  Today, The Forks is a thriving tourist destination and gathering place for locals with shops, eateries, a venue for live entertainment, and a large green space in an urban setting.

From The Forks we walked across the Red River on the Esplanade Riel Pedestrian Bridge to St. Boniface--Winnipeg’s French Quarter.  It seemed like a likely place to find a French bakery for a midmorning treat.  We wanted something authentic and a place the locals would visit. The lady at the Information Kiosk sent us several blocks down Taché Ave to Le Croissant.  What a fantastic place.  We were hoping for a place to sit down with a pastry and cup of coffee, but they didn’t have tables.  So instead, we got a variety of treats to go and found a park bench to enjoy the flakey goodness that can only be found in a French bakery.

On our way back to the bridge from the bakery we stopped at Saint Boniface Cathedral.   The present cathedral is actually the sixth building built on the site.  The previous buildings were torn down for larger structures to be built or were destroyed by fire.  What we really wanted to see was the fifth church building constructed in 1905.  It was destroyed by fire in 1968, but the outside walls withstood the flames.  It’s undergoing a little restoration right now, but we were able to see most of the old walls.

Out in the front yard of the Cathedral is the St. Boniface Cemetery.  The “father of Manitoba” and former provincial president, Louis Riel, is buried here.

From the Riel Pedestrian Bridge we could see construction underway of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights scheduled to open next year.  That might be something to come back to visit.  Along the path in front of the museum is a life size bronze sculpture of Gandhi, a gift to the Friends of the Museum from the government of India.  What an honor and how appropriate.

We enjoyed our tour of The Forks and the French Quarter.  Tomorrow we’ll try something else in downtown Winnipeg.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

A Few More Thoughts on Alaska

We’re still hanging out around the motor home.  It’s a sure sign we’re ready to get out and about again when we drag out the maps and tour guides.  Over breakfast we discussed all the things we want to do while in Winnipeg.  We’ll get started on that Friday. In the meantime here are a few more of our thoughts concerning the trip to Alaska.

When planning for the 2004 trip as well as this one, we noticed that most people included one or more what we call megabuck trips either on small planes or boats.  Often these excursions are remembered as the highlights of the Alaska trip. In 2004 we did a few of these trips and even though I might not say they were all the highlights of our trip they were all very good and we definitely recommend them.  Although this might not be considered a “megabuck” trip, we really liked the Riverboat Discovery cruise in Fairbanks.  In Seward we did a dinner cruise around Kenai Fjords which was excellent.  For the marine wildlife, I’d say this was the highlight of the 2004 trip.  This year we did the glacier dinner cruise out of Whitier.  The glacier was much more impressive, but it was lean on wildlife.  We were very lucky to have seen the humpback whale.

In 2004, we took the Alaska Marine Highway ferry from Haines to Skagway.  Not only did that save us many miles of driving around, but it also offered us the different perspective by being on the water.  We had looked forward to that, but as it turned out the ferry was many hours late and it was dark at the time of our crossing and we saw nothing at all.

We also took a cruise from Skagway to Juneau along with a bus tour of Juneau.  That was also a worthwhile trip.

While we’re discussing the coastal towns, I might as well throw in a few tidbits about the inside passage.  This is something we have not done and it remains on our list of things to do.  We know many people who have done the big cruise ship thing and they all, without exception, rave about the scenery along the inside passage.  A cheaper alternative to the cruise is to take the Alaska ferry system.  Many RVers do this either coming or going and drive the other way.  The ferry charges by the foot, so size does matter, after all.  Travelers are not allowed to stay in their RVs onboard ship, but pets can.  There are scheduled times when owners may go down and tend to pets.  You may stop for as long as you want at any port city and continue your journey when ready.  We probably will do this someday.  Since we’ve already been to Haines, Skagway, and Juneau, we would just visit the southern ports.

Our friends, Tony and Diana, came to mainland Alaska by way of the inside passage on the Ferry.  They were planning to drive home via the Cassiar Highway, but loved the voyage so much they are returning home by ferry.  I’m anxious for them to get back to Washington so I can find out if they preferred the scenery of early June or late August.  I’ll pass that information along.

When mentioning a trip to Alaska to those who’ve never been, almost without fail something is said about road conditions, flat tires, or the inability to find fuel.  This fear and trembling is unnecessary.  What used to be an issue is just no longer a problem. For the most part, the Alaska Highway is in good condition.  It’s a paved road like any in the lower 48.  I-40 through Oklahoma was worse.

On this trip we noticed a lot of the wayside businesses (those with campgrounds, rooms for rent, restaurants, and fuel) along the Alaska Highway were closed.  Still, we didn’t have any trouble finding fuel or campgrounds along the way.

The road has some rough spots; there’s no question about that.  The secret is to pay close attention for frost heaves and drive slowly.  Many times, a rough area is marked with a red or orange flag.  We did not encounter as many areas of construction as we did in 2004.  In construction zones, you may have to wait for the pilot car and your rig is probably gonna get dirty, but they usually don’t last for very many miles.  We have heard of a flat tire in a construction zone. Cool Judy and Luke had a flat on their toad as they were driving through the construction on Tok cut-off.

The dirt highways are a whole different matter, of course.  There are several around, but our experience is with the Dempster and Top of the World.  The Dempster Highway is the road that runs between Dawson City, Yukon and Inuvik, NWT.  It’s 400 miles of dirt and gravel.  Flat tires here are common and we had one.  They put stuff down to cut down on the dust.  That stuff makes your car filthy and it’s not good for the paint.  It is what it is and if you want to go down that road, that’s what you get.

Our opinion is this--The Dempster is not worth the difficulty and risks of the road unless you have a great desire to go to the Arctic Circle.  The first hundred miles are the most scenic.  If you go to Dawson City anyway, I would recommend driving the Dempster to Tombstone Territorial Park Interpretative Center.  The Center is nice, but the scenery is also beautiful around there.  If you have your heart set on going to the Arctic Circle, but don’t want to drive, there are bus tours from Fairbanks which go up the Dalton Highway.

The other dirt road, Top of the World Highway, from Dawson City to Chicken, Alaska then to reconnect with the Alaska Highway, is worse than the Dempster.  That statement probably needs some clarification.  Top of the World is not all dirt.  The Canadian side was once paved.  The pavement is now past its prime and literally falling apart.  Generally, there are flags to mark where pavement turns to gravel.  On the US side between the border and Chicken, the road is dirt.  We drove it in rain and it was a mess.  From Chicken to the Alaska Highway is paved, with a few rough spots, but a real sweet ride compared to the rest of the road.  A real hazard on Top of the World Highway are the shoulders.  They’re too soft to support an RV and we have heard numerous tales of drivers pulling too far onto the shoulder and toppling over.

This is how we feel now about the Top of the World Highway.  Dawson City is worth a visit.  Considering the price of fuel, the distance involved (about 300 miles from Whitehorse), and the drive over Top of the World Highway, we wouldn’t do it.  Chicken is an easy day trip from Tok.  We’d just drive up there in the car, have lunch, and drive back to our rig in Tok, all on paved road.

This would, of course, only be possible if you had a car.  Well, should you take a car or not.  We researched this some before we left although it really didn’t matter much.  We were going to be gone so long we wanted our car.  The opinions we found were split.  Those who had their cars were glad; those who didn’t were glad.  Gene found on one of the caravan websites a question and answer thread.  The caravan director made this statement--”those who take their cars are glad and those who don’t wish they had.”  Only you know what’s best for you and your style of travel.

We were very glad to have our car in places like Banff National Park, Denali National Park, Whitehorse, Dawson City, Fairbanks, Wasilla, and Homer.  Basically, that’s any place where we stayed for several days.  Of course, there were times when we didn’t unhitch the car for several days in a row.  The fact that we’ve put over 3,000 miles on the car this trip obviously says we’ve used it.

Most of the towns are small enough that walking is an easy way to get around and nearly everywhere there are bike lanes.  It would be possible to get along just fine without a car.

Phone and internet.  Isn’t it amazing how dependent we are on these things that didn’t even exist just a few years ago.  We have Verizon for both our phone and air card (MiFi).  We extended our phone coverage to include Canada, but not the air card coverage.  It seems like it was easier to find campgrounds with WiFi along the Alaska highway than it has been along Highway 16 since we left Edmonton.  Of course, anytime we boondocked in Canada we were without internet.  Our phone coverage in Canada has been great except for the Yukon.  Only in Whitehorse were we able to get phone service there.  We didn’t have complete service in Alaska, but we did more than we didn’t.  The worst place was at Denali National Park.  We had service at Riley Campground, but just barely.  We didn’t have any coverage while in the backcountry or anywhere away from the main Visitor Center.  The rest of Alaska was pretty good, especially in all the little towns.

Well, this has gone on and on again, but I think that wraps it up.  We’re continuing to keep data on campground fees, fuel prices, and milage.  When we get back to Nashville, we’ll have a final accounting on those things.  These thoughts have been primarily about Alaska.  I do have a few thoughts about Canada.  I’ll get to those in a few days.  Boy, do I have a border crossing tale to tell that I heard this morning.  Although I try to make it sound like everything has run smoothly and according to plan, it hasn’t.  I’ll get to all those things that went wrong in the next few weeks.

When I read over this summary, I feel like I’m leaving a negative impression.  I don’t mean to do that.  We had a wonderful trip and, like I have mentioned previously our primary interest, not just in Alaska, but anywhere we travel is the area’s natural beauty and wildlife.  Few places in North America are as rich in wildlife and natural beauty as Alaska.

So, there you have it for today. Thanks for tagging along.

Edmonton to Winnipeg

We are now settled in Traveler’s RV Resort in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  After four long days on the road, you can imagine how happy I was to get parked with full hook-ups.  We stayed at four Wal-Marts (Lloydminster, Saskatoon, Yorkton, and Portage la Prairie) as we made our way from Elk Island National Park near Edmonton along Highway 16, Yellowhead Highway.   We had a short day today of only 70 miles, but the other four days were at or near 200 miles each day.  Too many days and too many miles.

The largest city we passed through was Saskatoon with a population of about 200,000.  Saskatoon is the largest city in Saskatchewan, even larger than the provincial capital of Regina.  Saskatoon has some First Nations and Pioneer Heritage stuff, but we’ve had about all that for one trip we can stand.  So we pulled into the Wal-Mart for the night and went on our merry way the next morning.

We did have a short discussion about turning south in Saskatoon and going down to Regina.  It is a provincial capitol after all, but we’re about burnt out on capitol buildings for this trip too.  Can you tell we’re tired?  In the end, we decided to continue on Hwy 16 until it intersected with Trans Canada 1 at Portage La Prairie.

Speaking of the Yellowhead Highway, it started out pretty good.  We got on 16 in Edmonton where it is undergoing some construction in town.  As we got out of town and away from the construction zone, it was a very fine 4-lane, limited access, divided highway.  The farther we got from Edmonton, the worse the road got.  Past Saskatoon, it is a 2-lane road all the way to Winnipeg.  Part of the reason we talked about going to Regina was to get on Trans Canada 1, hoping it would be a better road.

For the past 1,000 miles from Grand Prairie to Winnipeg, we have been driving through Canada’s breadbasket.  I feel like I’ve made about eight trips across Kansas.  It was pretty the first 300 miles or so, but I get it now.  I have never seen so much wheat in all my life.  I really liked seeing the yellow canola and the two fields of sunflower yesterday were a real treat after all that wheat.  We even saw corn today.

What I really wanted to see was lentils.  Canada is the largest producer of lentils in the world and Saskatchewan grows about 99% of Canada’s lentils.  You would think we would have seen lentils and perhaps we did, but you can’t prove it by me.  We were parked at a Wal-Mart next to a field of what I had decided was lentils, but when I walked out into the field to investigate, I don’t think I found lentils.  The plant was covered in pods which I expected, but inside the pod was a tiny, round, black thing about the size and shape of a poppy seed.  I don’t think even the Beluga Black lentils are that small and I don’t think they’re round.  However, the plant looks like the picture I found on the internet of a lentil plant.  I am so confused.

After four nights of dry camping in Wal-Mart parking lots, we are very happy to be in a campground tonight.  We arrived about noon today and have spent the afternoon doing much needed house keeping chores with long rest periods in between.

Traveler’s RV Resort is large with over 200 sites.  We have a pull-thru site with water, electric, and sewer for a weekly rate of $26/night. There is no cable, but we get several channels over the air.  They’re all Canadian channels, though, so no NBC news.  They do not have campground-wide WiFi.  There is a hotspot at the office where they provide a table for those wanting to use the internet.  They also have a table on the porch with an electrical plug for those wanting to sit outside.  They even have a public computer in the office for travelers without computers who want to use the internet.  I give them an “A” for trying to make it as convenient as possible.

There are several things on our list to do in Winnipeg.  All I want to do now is piddle around the house.  The last thing I want is to be in a moving vehicle, so we’ll get to the sightseeing tomorrow or the next day.

GAS REPORT:  All across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba the gas prices have been pretty consistent ranging between $4.40-4.60 per gallon.  Edmonton and Lloydminster were about twenty cents cheaper.  Diesel has been a few cents cheaper per gallon than gasoline.  We’re real happy that our gas milage has been a littler better this week, probably due to the flat terrain.  Tuesday we had a tail wind all day which pushed the mpg all the way up to 9.5.  Gene has been very happy with the Co-Op gas stations.  They’re huge with lots of room to maneuver a motor home and their prices are about the cheapest around.

That’s it for now. Thanks for tagging along.

Thoughts, Opinions, and Reflections on Alaska

We are now in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in yet another Wal-Mart.  We got an earlier start this morning, but stopped just 2 miles into our trip at the Saskatchewan Welcome Center.  While there, we learned they had free WiFi and were able to log on from inside our rig out in the parking lot.  I took the time to post the blog, but that’s all.

Since before we arrived in Edmonton the terrain has been pretty flat and the scenery huge fields of crops--wheat or canola or whatever.  We’ve seen the farmers out cutting, raking, and baling hay.  All across Alberta and Saskatchewan we’ve seen lots of small ponds.  It’s really quite pretty.  Except for the ponds, it reminds me of driving across Kansas.  I guess Alberta and Saskatchewan are Canada’s breadbasket.

We don’t have much hope of seeing any more bear of moose, but we have been on the lookout for deer and antelope.  So far we haven’t had any luck sighting either of those critters.  Too many fences, I guess.

Today was truly a travel day and there isn’t much else to report.  This seems like as good a time as any to impart a few thoughts about our Alaska Trip.  It was our topic of discussion over many miles both yesterday and today.

Our first thought when thinking of this trip is how long it is.  Tomorrow morning we’ll be rolling over the 9,000 mile mark.  Unless you’re starting from somewhere in the Northwest, you’ve gotta be prepared for a long drive.  Perhaps it seems longer for us because we started out so early.  We left Nashville in March headed west and it seems like forever ago.

I guess there are a couple options for a trip like this.  We started early and did short mile days and a non-travel day about every third or fourth day.  Some might prefer to start later and do big mile days and travel many days in a row.  I think for us, we did what suits our travel style best.  We all get too grumpy (Peanut included) when we’ve spent too many hours of the day driving.  Nor do we like to travel too many days in a row.

We also had a very long list of things we wanted to see and do as we “passed by”.  We visited several National Parks, state capitols, and high points before we ever crossed the border into Canada.  For our return trip we wanted to take the time and opportunity to drive across Canada.  We’re glad we made those choices, but it has made the trip to Alaska much longer than necessary.

When we went to Alaska in 2004, we were in awe of the grandeur, vastness, wildness, and magnificent beauty of both Western Canada and Alaska.  It was our first time to see a grizzly bear, to see a glacier calve, to see whales, to see Mt McKinley.  We’ve dreamed of seeing all those things again and when we did they were great, but you can only have the “first time” once.  We were thrilled with seeing these things again, but they just weren’t as special as that first time.

Our favorite parts of Alaska--Denali National Park and Resurrection Bay in Seward.  We really enjoyed Homer and being parked on the Spit, but the beauty of the high mountains on Resurrection Bay and the feeling of being enveloped in this magnificent place was more pronounced in Seward.  Homer was the place for fishing, drinking beer, and browsing through the shops admiring the fine workmanship of the local artists.  The wildlife of Denali is its appeal for us.  Even though we saw bear, even grizzlies, and moose more often in other places, at Denali we felt like we were visiting their space rather than the other way around.  We are also very fond of Talkeetna.  I’m not really sure why.  Talkeetna is a stop for the tour buses and trains, but somehow, if the tourists weren’t there, this village seems to fit my vision of what Alaska is like in the off season with its dirt roads and wooden sidewalks.  I also have a vague connection to the climbing mentality.  We may have to return to these places some day.  Basically, the best of Alaska for us is its abundant wildlife and natural beauty.

Much of the interior of Alaska--Anchorage, Fairbanks, Tok--we don’t care to ever go back to.  There are some nice things to see and some fun stuff to do, but to make a trip to Alaska for these cities is not for us.  There are many cities in the lower 48 that have more appeal than these.

A trip like this has a price tag, of course.  We knew it would be expensive, especially the gasoline.  We’ve tried hard to stay within the budget and have succeeded in some areas, but not all.  We won’t have the final budget figures until the end of the month, so will wait until then to discuss specifics.  For now, I’ll just say that we found everything more expensive in British Columbia than anywhere else.  We tried to camp for free as often as possible and we’ve discovered we rather like boondocking although Wal-Mart parking lots are not my favorite places.  When planning the trip, we chose a couple “megabuck” items to include.  One was the trip to the Inuvik and the other was a trip to Katmai National Park.  As it turned out, we drove ourselves to the Arctic Circle instead of taking the tour.  It was a little more stressful, well, a whole lot more stressful, and we didn’t get all the way to Inuvik, but we saved hundreds of bucks and Peanut didn’t have to stay in a kennel.  And what an adventure it was.  We ditched the Katmai thing because it turned out to be way more expensive than we thought and picked up the glacier dinner cruise out of Whitier instead which was a wonderful experience. We chose to eat in rather than out to save a few extra dollars, but we generally do that anyway.  It was very expensive to get to Alaska, it was expensive to be there, and it is expensive to get home.  But over all, I think we both feel it was worth the cost.

Weather can make or break a trip.  Alaska has a wet climate and we had a few days of rain, but for the most part our weather was very good.  We were ten days in Denali and had rain only the last couple days.  We were about ten days on the Homer Spit and I don’t think it rained much there.  We were in Seward for several days with beautiful blue skies every day.  Sure, we had some rainy days, sometimes several days in a row, but we really can’t complain about the little rain we had in a place that is known for its wet climate.

There are many other things I want to mention--the Dempster and Top of the World highways, whether to take a car or not, what went wrong, and where to find the best views, but this has gone on long enough for now.  We’ll get to those other things in a day or two.

WED AUG 17:  Posting this blog from our campground near Winnipeg.  We’ll be here for several days so I’ll have a chance to catch up.

Thanks for tagging along.

Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village

Well, Saturday was certainly a different travel day.  We left our campground about 9:30.  We didn’t get an early start because we wanted to stop at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village which was only a few miles from our campground and it didn’t open until 10 AM.  So we sipped coffee.  Not a bad way to start the morning.

Ukrainian pioneers began arriving in Central Alberta during the late 1800s.  They came as homesteaders seeking a better life.  This area was home to the largest settlement of Ukrainian pioneers in Canada.

The Village is a living history museum depicting life in a Ukrainian community during the 1920s.  Most of the buildings have been removed from their original setting and reconstructed and restored at the village.  Costumed interpreters are in the buildings and along the streets to explain what’s what and answer questions.  As with most living history museums, it almost seemed real with vegetables growing in the gardens, cows and pigs in the barnyards, and food cooking in the ovens.

We went on a guided tour lead by a young woman who was very knowledgeable.  Being on a guided tour, we got to go into a building that wasn’t open without a guide.

The admission to the Village was $9 each, but somehow Gene got a 10% CAA discount.  We’re not even AAA members in the US.  It may have had something to do with having a Parks Canada pass although this museum is not administered by Parks Canada.  Who knows, but we’ll take 10% whenever we can get it.  The Village was definitely worth the price of admission.

We spent far more time there than we anticipated and didn’t leave until almost 3 PM.

Our next stop, keeping with the Ukrainian theme, was in the town of Vegreville--the home of the largest Easter egg in the world.  We got to Vegreville without any trouble, but we didn’t know where the egg was. Since we didn’t know where the egg was, we decided to unhitch the car at Wal-Mart so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting into a spot too tight to turn around.  We unhitched the car and were off on the Easter egg hunt.

This giant Easter egg, or Pysanka, was created for the 100th birthday of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  The powers that be came up with the design to represent the Ukrainian heritage of the region incorporated with the geometric design to represent progressive thinking in the modern age.  The egg is made of aluminum in three basic colors.  Bronze represents mother earth and fertility, white silver for pureness, and yellow for prosperity and happiness.

We’re not afraid to stop and ask direction and what better place to stop than Dairy Queen.  After a few quick photos of the egg, we headed back to Wal-Mart to hitch up.  We were soon on our way again with our GPS set for the Wal-Mart in Lloydminister.

This was another warm day in Alberta with temperatures in the 80s.  Not really so bad, but sitting in a Wal-Mart parking lot, the motor home heats up quickly.  It worked out well  doing most of our driving today during the heat of the afternoon when we could take advantage of the AC.  This seems to be a popular Wal-Mart for travelers; there are several rigs here with us tonight.

We’ve mapped out a plan and will probably scoot right on across Saskatchewan and be in Winnipeg in three more days.  There are a few things to see in Saskatchewan, but none so appealing that we want to spend much time.  We’d rather spend our time in Winnipeg which has lots of offer the tourist.

That’s about it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Elk Island National Park

Thursday, we moved 55 miles from the West side of Edmonton to the tiny community of Lamont on the East side of the city.  As I’ve mentioned before, Edmonton is a big city with lots of traffic.  It also has lots of road construction.  There are no interstates as we know them in the US.  The closest resemblance to an interstate are the TransCanada highways, of which the Yellowhead Highway (16) is one.  We got on 16 and almost immediately got into the construction zone.  Past the construction, as we made our way across town, we had traffic lights and turning traffic to contend with.  We survived it all, however, and came out unscathed on the other side.

We chose Lamont RV Park because of its location near Elk Island National Park.  Elk Island has a campground, but, like most national parks, without hookups.  Temperatures are warmer this week and we wanted electricity in case we needed air conditioning for The Peanut.  It’s just as well we decided to stay at Lamont RV.  We drove through the campground at Elk Island and would have been hard pressed to find a site long enough for us.

Elk Island National Park has been a disappointment.  It is a long, skinny park with one road running north/south through the middle.  Although the name is elk “ISLAND”, it’s not an island.  There are some islands scattered about within some of the many lakes and there are a lot of ponds, but the park is not surrounded by a body of water.

Although the name is “ELK” Island, it is probably more known for its bison herd than for elk.  In fact, I’m not sure there are any elk here.  We’ve made 4 trips through the park and haven’t seen one.  We were beginning to think there weren’t any bison either, but they finally appeared this morning.

The park has a population of both species of North American bison--the Plains bison which we are most familiar with especially at Yellowstone, and the Wood Bison.  It had been assumed the wood bison were extinct until a small herd was discovered in the late 1950s near the border of Alberta and Northwest Territories in what is now Wood Buffalo National Park.  In the 1960s a small number of those animals were moved to Elk Island.   Those few animals have grown into a substantial herd and are now the source herd for other parks in North America and Russia.

Astotin Lake

We found the herd this morning as we were driving to a trailhead for a hike.  They were several yards away, maybe a hundred, so I couldn’t get a very close photo.  The most disappointing thing, however, was the fence between us and them.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fence in a National Park.  It did keep them off Highway 16.  I guess that’s a good thing.

We started our hike, but I quickly lost interest.  Maybe I didn’t have much interest to start with.  Just kinda wanted to stay home today.  It was easy for me to turn around when we came to a wet spot over the trail that I absolutely wasn’t going to wade through.  We turned around and returned to the car.  I came home and Gene went back to hike one of the other trails near Astotin Lake.

On our drive out this morning, we again took the Bison Loop looking for plains bison.  We got very excited when we saw one around the bend, but when we got there we discovered he was behind a fence.  Gene did see one grazing along the road as he drove back for his hike.

I think the main attraction for the locals to this park is Astotin Lake with its grassy picnic area, sand beach, kayaking and canoeing.  Also at Astotin is a golf course and small cafe.

We stopped at the Visitor Center at the South entrance of the park, but there was nothing there except a very small gift shop and a stuffed baby bison.  The interpretative center and theater were up at Astotin.  Access to the interpretive center was not up to the standards of our Americans with Disabilities Act.  We parked in the lot near the beach and had to walk along a paved path about a quarter mile before reaching the building.

We got there only to learn that they don’t show the movie on sunny days.  Oh well, no rain in the forecast for our stay here.  The interpretive center consists of a few more stuff animals; although, I must admit the mountain lion was great.

As we were driving through the park yesterday, we stopped for a short hike to Beaver Pond.  Not only did we not see any beaver, we didn’t see the pond either.  It has dried up long enough ago to be completely grown over.

Also in the Astotin area is the Ukrainian Pioneer Home.  This replica was built in the early 1950s as a museum to honor the Ukrainian pioneers of this area, but it is closed now because it fails to meet modern codes.

We’re moving farther East tomorrow.  I’m not sure of our destination for tomorrow night, but it will probably be a Wal-Mart.  You know what that means--no WiFi.

That’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

West Edmonton Mall

Well, today was Gene’s big day--the day he’s been dreaming about since we left home in March.  This was the day we went to West Edmonton Mall--the largest mall on the continent.  This seems so funny to me because I never really think of Gene as a shopper.  He is, however, more of a shopper than I am.  I think he was mainly interested in seeing the attractions and not so much in shopping.

The statistics I read were pretty impressive. The size is mind boggling--over 6 million sq ft.  We wanted to see it all, so we just started walking in a counterclockwise direction from where we entered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond on the second level about 10 AM.  We stopped to make a few pictures and to look in a couple stores.  It was noon before we had made a complete lap.  After lunch, it took another couple hours to walk around the lower level.

In that space are some 800 businesses and 100 or so eateries.  The stores are those common to most malls and most are familiar to us in the United States.  The eateries consisted mainly of fast food places. There were 4 or 5 food courts.  I lost count.  All were fast food except for the real restaurants located in the Bourbon Street area.  We ate our lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory.

Perhaps the main attraction, especially for kids, are the attractions--largest indoor wave pool in the world, largest indoor amusement park in the world, putt-putt golf, aquarium, ice skating rink, IMAX theater, and the list goes on and on.  They say there’s a bowling alley, but we didn’t see it in our circuit.  We did find the casino. The attractions are not free.  Of course, you wouldn’t expect a movie to be free, but neither are the other activities.  We didn’t pay for anything, but got a lot of enjoyment just watching from afar.

With all that stuff to do, food to eat, and goods to buy, the crowds are also pretty impressive.  There are over 20,000 people there trying to do their jobs of serving another 60,000 to 150,000 shoppers every day.  Surprisingly, parking was not a nightmare.  Parking decks provide space for 20,000 vehicles within a relatively short walking distance to the mall.

We wouldn’t come back to Edmonton just to go to the mall.  Then, again, we’re not shoppers.  Nevertheless, we had fun and enjoyed our day at the WEM.  Did we buy anything besides lunch?  Gene looked for tennis shoes, but was unable to find what he wanted at a price he was willing to pay.  I got a pair of house slippers on sale for $13.  I think we got out of there for less than $35 including lunch.  Not bad for a day at the mall.

That’s all for now.  Thanks for tagging along.