Radium Hot Springs

We pretty much wore ourselves out yesterday afternoon trying to get all the chores done.  We were more than ready for bed and actually headed in that direction earlier than usual.

This morning we were moving a little slower than normal, but are still finishing up a few last minute things before departure time.  Gene has been emptying and flushing tanks--not a hard job, but takes some time.  After my shower, I noticed a little water pooling on the floor.  It seems one of the screws holding the shower enclosure to the base was leaking.  Thank goodness it was an easy fix.

While Gene was still enjoying the excitement of finding an easy to repair leak, he started checking every nook and cranny under the shower for dryness.  To his disappointment, he found a small puddle.  So far he has been unable to determine the source of the leak.

Columbia Lake

Our drive today along Highway 93/95 was scenic, but traffic was heavy making it a little more stressful than we would have liked.  We pulled over at a rest area for lunch.  To stretch our legs, we walked up the hill to the picnic area and were rewarded with a commanding view of Columbia Lake.

We’re parked at Dry Gulch Provincial Park at the southern end of Kootenay National Park.  Dry Gulch is very typical of American forest service parks.  The sites are spacious, there are lots of trees, and there are no hook-ups.  It is very peaceful and we only have one other camper with us besides the camp host.  The park has 25 sites, two-thirds of which are still closed.  Of the nine sites in the front of the park; we only found three that we could get into easily.  We enjoy the solitude so we’re happy.

Radium is the gateway community at the southern entrance to Kootenay National Park.  It’s a small town of about 1,000 people and a resident population of about 150 Rocky Mountain big horn sheep.  The sheep just wander around on the side of the road, on the sidewalks, in parking lots and graze in yards.  I guess that works out great in the summer; you don’t have to mow so much.

One of Radium resident big horn sheep

The town doesn’t have much to offer--a few shops, a small grocery, a coffee shop and a candy store is about it other than a half dozen hotels.  Residents and guests alike go to Invermere if they want anything.  We’ll take advantage of the free WiFi at the coffee shop to do our internet stuff.

Radium Hot Springs Lodge

Radium Hot Springs is located inside the National Park.  The hot springs get their name from traces of radon in the water.  It’s perfectly safe, they say, and people come to soak in the pools. There are two pools--one hot, one cool.  The cool pool is really like a swimming pool complete with a life guard.  The hot pool whose water comes from the spring is shallow and made for soaking.  The temperature is around 104 degrees.

Radium Hot Springs cool pool

Also at Radium Hot Springs is a lodge, a gift shop, and a small snack bar.

Our plan is to stay at Dry Gulch for two nights.  Tomorrow we’ll take our picnic lunch and drive through Kooteney.  There is only one road in the park and it goes from Radium to Banff National Park, a distance of about 50 miles.  Some say the Kootenay Rockies are the best.  It should be a nice drive.

GAS REPORT: We got gas this morning at the Fort Steele RV Park.  We paid 5.06/gal and that was the lowest price we saw all day.  Diesel was a little cheaper at 4.96/gal.

CRITTER COUNT:  5 mule deer and many, many sheep.

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

Fort Steele, British Columbia

Today was a travel day with no detours for sightseeing.  Well, I guess that’s not really true.  We made a stop for groceries and found the world’s largest truck.

Our home last night

We left our cozy little campsite at the rest area early.  We wanted to get to Fort Steele as early as possible to take full advantage of electricity, free flowing water, and laundry facilities.  Since Fort Steele is a tiny community, we wanted to stop at one of the larger towns we would be passing through to do some grocery shopping.

By doing a little research in the huge mound of brochures he had picked up in Lethbridge, Gene was able to discover the world’s largest truck was sitting right next to Highway 3 in Sparwood.  Right next to the truck was the Visitor Center with RV parking and right across the street from the truck and Visitor Center was a supermarket.

We made our stop, viewed the truck, made pictures, and went to the grocery.  This seems like a good place to make a few remarks as a way of explanation for what I did regarding groceries.  I had the short list of items not to bring across the Canadian border--meat, dairy, and plants.  I really concentrated on eating those items down and as a result my refrigerator and freezer were just about empty.  I knew that everything is more expensive in Canada (and Alaska, too, for that matter), so while I was eating down the items in the refrigerator, I was stockpiling other stuff--paper products, personal hygiene products, cleaning products--and some food items like crackers, pasta, snack stuff.  If I’d known the border agents weren’t so interested in meat, dairy, and plants, I would have had my refrigerator and freezer full.

Everything we looked at in the grocery was significantly more than what we pay in the southern states.  Most boxed items like cake mix and pancake mix were double.  Cheese and all produce was also much more expensive.  I bought fresh chicken breast and ground beef, both of which were about the same as I usually pay.  Peanut’s food (Iams dry) was about $3 more per bag.  Granted, this was a small town and even small towns in Tennessee are more expensive than large metro area supermarkets.  Still, we were pretty much shell shocked by the time it was over.

Richardson Ground Squirrel

With that little chore out of the way, it was on to Fort Steele.  We are parked at Fort Steele Resort and RV Park in Fort Steele, British Columbia.  It’s an older park, but very well maintained.  All interior roads are gravel as are the parking pads with a spacious grassy area with picnic table between sites.  Most are pull-thrus, but there are some back-ins along the perimeter and there are also tent sites.  The office has a good selection of grocery items, a few gifts and souvenirs, and is doing a big business selling ice cream cones today.  They also have gasoline, so we’ll fill up in the morning before leaving.  The view is not bad, either, as you can see from the photo.  The price is almost double our campground budget at $42/night, but it is what it is and we needed what we needed--full hook-ups, WiFi, and laundry.

View from my window tonight

Ice cream is a hot item today because the weather is just about perfect.  The sun is shining in a bright blue, cloudless sky and the temperature was in the low 70s.  We enjoyed having our door and windows open this afternoon.

I haven’t said anything about road conditions since we entered Canada.  The roads we traveled on in Alberta (Highway 4 and Highway 3) were in excellent condition.  Even that little county road which we took over to Head Smashed-In was excellent.  Since crossing into British Columbia, we have run into a couple areas of construction.  The area just past Sparwood was pretty rough, but, except for the construction areas, the road (again Highway 3) has been very good.

We have been busy doing chores since we arrived at Fort Steele.  Tomorrow we’re heading up to Radium Hot Springs and Kootenay National Park.  We’ll be there a couple nights, then move over to Banff National Park for three or four days.  Since we will be staying inside the National Parks, we probably won’t find laundry facilities; we may not even have full hook-ups.  We wanted to have everything done before getting there.  I just bet we won’t have WiFi either.

That’s all for tonight.  I’ll post again as soon as possible.  Thanks for tagging along.

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump

Our first night staying at a casino was pleasant.  Unlike most casinos we’re familiar with, this one closes about midnight and doesn’t open until 9 AM.  It was pretty quiet around here all night.  We’re not gamblers so really didn’t have an interest in the casino.  Gene went in to see if they had a good dinner special.  They were offering meatloaf for $10.  We like meatloaf, but it causes Gene a lot of gastric distress, so we ate our own chicken instead.  They have a breakfast special for $5, but we didn’t want to hang around until 9 to get it.

From Lethbridge we turned west and followed Highway 3 to Crowsnest Pass.  Along the way we made a slight detour to visit Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump--a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The site is dedicated to the preservation of the ancient hunting ground of the Plains Indians.  This may be the largest and best preserved of all such sites.  Archeologists estimate this site had been used as a buffalo jump for 9,000 years.  They credit its preservation to its remoteness so it was never mined for the bones.

Legend Paintings

The Interpretative Center is very well done.  The building consists of six levels, built at an angle mostly inside the sloping cliff.  We started our tour by watching the film which was excellent.  Then we went up to the 6th level, exited the building, and walked the short trail to the top of the cliff.  This was the point where the buffalo were stampeded off.  We could look over the edge to the kill sight.

Cliff where the buffalo fell off

Back in the Interpretative Center we started at the top and worked our way down examining the displays on each level as we made our way back to the ground level.  The displays explained the lifestyle of the northern Plains Indians and the role of the buffalo in that lifestyle.

View of the cliff from the upper level

When we finished inside we again went outside to walk the trail at the base of the cliff.

The whole thing was very well done and we felt it well worth the $10 each admission and the three hours we spent there.  After a quick lunch in the parking lot, we made our way back to Highway 3 and headed west to Crowsnest Pass.  Crowsnest Pass is the border between Alberta and British Columbia.  We are parked for the night at the rest area just inside B.C.

GAS REPORT:  Hold onto your hat for this one.  This was our first fill up inside Canada.  At Crowsnest Trail Outpost we paid 1.24.9 per liter.  That’s $4.73 per US gallon and an increase of almost a dollar per gallon from our last fill up in Montana.  Not only that, but it was three cents cheaper per liter than at the other stations we saw. Oh, Canada!

Critter Count:  We didn’t see any wildlife until we got near Crowsnest Pass. Once in the mountains we saw several deer.  At Crowsnest Pass we rounded the curve and there were six mountain sheep almost in the road.  It happened so fast I couldn’t get a picture.  At the rest area there is a pair of Richardson ground squirrels.

This is our third boondocking night in a row so tomorrow we’re heading to Fort Steele and full hook-ups.  It’ll be a short drive of only about 100 miles.

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

Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

We had a good night at the rest area--very restful.  There was one tractor trailer rig who kept us company.  One other rig came in during the wee hours.

The border crossing went smoothly.  There was a very long line of semis, but only a few in the other lane.  We waited maybe 10 minutes and then had our three minutes with the border agent.  She asked a few questions, most of which we anticipated--where are you from, where are you going, how long are you staying, what’s your purpose for being in Canada.  They always ask about tobacco, alcohol, and firearms.  Crossing into Canada they also always ask about pepper spray and mace.  It’s fine to bring in something like bear spray, but not a product designed for use on humans.  We expected them to ask about fresh produce, dairy products, and meat, but thy didn’t.  Instead they surprised us by asking if we had any firewood.

At the end of questioning we were allowed to continue on our way. We were lucky, I guess, because while we were sitting there for that relatively short time, they pulled three RVs over for inspection.

After the border crossing, our first stop was at the Milk River Travel Information Center.  They were still closed for the season, but their large, empty parking lot offered a great place for a short break.  Besides, they had this cool dinosaur in front of the building.  Why a dinosaur?  Apparently, dinosaur eggs and fossilized fish and reptiles were discovered near this location in 1987.

Our first stop in Lethbridge was the Travel Information Center where we picked up several brochures about attractions which are on our “see” list.  The attendant also pointed us in the direction of the casino--our home for tonight.  The Information Center parking lot served as our lunch spot.  We ate inside our motor home, but there were picnic tables available.  There was also a dump station and fresh water.

We got over to the casino and were surprised to find the parking lot full of cars.  It seems a local business is having some construction done and the employees are parking at the casino.  We managed to find a spot large enough to park along the curb.  I’m happy.  I can put our the bedroom slide.

We learned all this information from a gentleman we saw standing near a 5th wheel.  He told us where we could park and that we could stay as long as we wanted to.  It seems he came here, ask the management if he could park over night, they told him to stay as long as he wanted to.  This is his second summer here.

After we got parked and unhitched the car, we drove over to view the High Level Bridge.  This is a railroad bridge--the highest and longest trussel bridge in the world--a mile long and 307 feet high.

We continued on down the hill below the bridge to take a look at Oldman River.  Oldman River, gathering water from the streams and creeks of the eastern Rockies, feeds the Saskatchewan River which eventually empties into the Hudson Bay.  There is a very nice park at the edge of the river with picnic tables and several miles of walking trail.  It is also the site of the reconstructed Fort Whoop-Up, a trading post during the late 1800s.  It’s primary trade good was whiskey and it soon developed a reputation for being the most notorious of all the trading posts in southern Alberta.  Whoop-Up is actually a nickname.  The official name is Fort Hamilton.

Oldman River

This drive around gave us a pretty good view of the city.  Lethbridge has a population of about 80,000 making it the fourth largest city in Alberta.

GAS REPORT:  We stopped in Shelby, Montana to get gas figuring it would be cheaper than in Canada.  It was by over a dollar/gallon.  We paid 3.86 for mid grade.  Diesel was 4.16.

CRITTER COUNT:  We didn’t see many critters today--about a dozen pronghorn and a few prairie dogs.

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

Niagara Falls, The Rest Of The Story

As with most places we go or things we do, there are different levels to the adventure. That is true of our trip to Niagara Falls. Everything I said yesterday was true—we got up early, we drove to Ontario, we got went on the Maid of the Mist, the falls were gorgeous, we had a picnic lunch, and we made many, many pictures. But we were bombarded with other stuff, things we didn’t expect or even want, which, all rolled into one, made it a truly international, summer vacation experience.

Flowers in Victoria Park

We are from the south where there are very few toll booths. We are not opposed to the practice, we just don’t have that personal relationship with toll booths that the folks in the north, especially in New York, have. The one thing we did more than anything else yesterday was pull up to a booth and hand over money. I am confused as to why it costs $7.10 to drive on the New York Thruway from our campground exit to Syracuse (about 30 miles) but only $4.00 to go all the way to Buffalo--a distance of 100 miles. My personal favorite was the little fellow who wanted $20 at the park and ride lot. Then we found out it costs extra if you wanted to ride. We decided to walk and leave the riding to souls richer than us.

We have crossed the border between the US and Canada many times, most often on our trip to Alaska. When we went to Hyder, Alaska, we crossed the border 4 times in one day. Always, without exception, the Canadian Border Guards are much more thorough in their questioning than the Americans. They are all business. They want to know who you are, where you are from, where you are going, how long are you going to stay, why are you here anyway, when are you going to leave, and just what have you got in that truck with you. When we came back into the US yesterday afternoon, the young guard wanted to know if we were citizens and all about our “See all of America the Beautiful” map which rides on the driver’s door of the truck.

Time of day has a lot to do with our enjoyment level of what we are doing. Saturday morning was great. There was very little traffic on the freeway and we could usually pull up to the toll booth without waiting. There were plenty of places in the park and ride lot to choose from which is critical with an F250 extended cab, long bed with tow mirrors that reach to the next county. We marched ourselves right up to the ticket booth at Maid of the Mist and had tickets within 5 minutes. After our picnic lunch, things changed dramatically. The crowds came out. It has been a long time since I have seen so many people in one place and it seemed nobody spoke English. All countries were represented in every imaginable dress. When we drove back by Maid of the Mist ticket booth as we were leaving, it was a mass of humanity—like one of those popular water rides at Disney Land. The line of cars to get across the bridge to the US was backed up three blocks from the river. We were shocked to find 14 lines open at the border and still have that kind of back up. Where did these people come from anyway—everybody in the world was standing in line at Maid of the Mist.

The sun came out along with the crowds and brought with it a sauna. I was not surprised that it was 10 degrees warmer than normal. That is always the story of where ever we are.

My man in a blue poncho

Our nerves were somewhat frayed from the crowds and the heat. I was pushed right over the edge by the young girls trying to lure folks to see the “Fury of Niagara”. In their enthusiasm they were going through the masses, one with a bull horn and the other shoving a brochure in your face. We were walking along dodging strollers and Hagan Das carts when out of the blue up comes a bull horn about 3 feet from my left ear while at the same instant a hand with a brochure flies up in my face. I informed the girl that her style of salesmanship would not win me over as a customer. Well, I may not have said it quite that nicely.

Twin bridges over Niagara River

We really did enjoy our trip to Niagara Falls. The falls were beautiful. The crowds and heat are things we expect at any major tourist attraction. We prefer the solitude and quite of a backwoods trail. However, there is more to our great land than trails, and we want to see it all. It makes us proud that everybody else in the world wants to see it, too.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is a huge waterfall on the Niagara River between Ontario, Canada and New York. There are really two separate waterfalls—Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side is the widest at about 2,600 feet across and the American Falls. Bridal Veil Falls is also on the American side separated from the main American falls by Goat Island. Today was our day to see Niagara Falls.

We left very early for the 125 plus mile trip to the Niagara Falls, Ontario. Traffic was light so we made it in good time. Our first order of business was to get tickets for the Maid of the Mist Boat Tour. We walked right up to the ticket booth without much of a wait even though a tour bus had just deposited its group. We had initially planned to get our tickets for an afternoon tour; however, we seemed to be swept along with the throng of people heading to the boat.

American Falls

The Maid of the Mist had been highly recommended to us and we both enjoyed the ride even though we got pretty wet. Being below the falls “in the mist” was awesome. The mist was so thick we really couldn’t get a complete view of the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side anywhere we were, but the view of the American Falls from the boat was the best.

After our picnic lunch we walked along the edge of the falls trying to get that “perfect photo”. The boat tour was good, but I think my favorite part was just walking along and seeing the falls from different viewpoints. I am awestruck at the amount of water that goes over the falls every minute of every day and it never runs out.

Old Power Plant

There is more of this story to tell, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Preparing for a Border Crossing

Tomorrow we are planning to go to Niagara Falls. Of course, everybody we talk to says “be sure to go to the Canadian side”. Actually, they say two things—go to the Canadian side and do the Maid of the Mist boat tour. We are all excited, but there was some prep work for this trip. We needed an insurance card for Canada.

Gene called our insurance company last week and they got it out to us right away at our campground location; even sent it overnight delivery. That was pretty special. The campground office had promised to call when we got any mail and after several days and no call, Gene decided the insurance company probably sent it to our Nashville address. He called his office and sure enough they had received a package from our insurance company. A couple days later, we stopped by the office (not having received a call) to see if we had gotten any mail. We had indeed received the package from Nashville, but to our surprise, we also had a FedEx package from our insurance company. Who knows how many days it had been there.

Back at the Montana, Gene discovered that the insurance card had already expired. Actually, probably what happened was just a typo, entering 2008 instead of 2009 for the expiration date. For whatever reason, the card was still expired by the time we got it. The insurance company was very apologetic and was happy to get another card out to us right away. We finally got our card in hand on Wednesday. The card is not required to enter the country. You only need it if you have an accident. We just were not willing to risk going without it.

We have been on the go quite a bit in the past several days. With this big trip tomorrow, we decided to take a couple days to stay at home and relax, do a few chores, and save some fuel. Each afternoon we have had the proverbial afternoon thunderstorms. They usually pass on by and give the sun a chance to peak around the clouds before setting. The sunsets have been pretty awesome. I climbed upon the roof of the Montana and caught this one.