Month: September 2018

Tripometer – 5880 mi

Gas Gauge – 463.001 gal

Location – Lake Louise Campground, Banff National Park, AB, Canada

Lodging – $33 CAD

Cans of OFF – 4

Kelly & Paul’s 20th Anniversary

Again with the 8 o’clock noise ordinances. This morning right at 8am a helicopter buzzed the campground to ensure everyone was awake. We had planned to grab breakfast at a local hikers hostel just down the street from the campground. As Kelly prepped to go to the restaurant Paul had a Disney Princess moment while finishing his coffee and reading his phone at the picnic table. A small bird perhaps the size of a wren landed on Paul’s shoulder ever so briefly before realizing he was actually alive and flew off in a flurry of feathers. Trail magic can sometimes happen in camp!

The hostel restaurant turned out to be a highlight of Lake Louise. We were pleasantly surprised with our best and least expensive hot breakfast in weeks. We asked the two local police officers at the table next to us at breakfast to recommend some restaurants in Lake Louise to celebrate our anniversary. They were pleased to help. We made dinner reservations at the Station Restaurant for that evening.

After breakfast we visited Lake Louise itself. Talk about crowded. Lake Louise is the crown jewel in Banff’s crown. It has a historic hotel on the shores of the lake that costs close to a thousand dollars a night to stay. It’s a beautiful old place, but lends an unpleasant air of exclusivity and pretentiousness to an otherwise completely pristine location. We sat on a bench and admired the view for quite a while as we watched what we assume to be the same helicopter that woke us up this morning ferrying some kind of cargo to a destination way back in the mountains at the back of the lake. The throngs of tourists on the little path around the lake encouraged us to find somewhere else to walk the dog today.

In the afternoon we walked the river trail from our campground down into the little town of Lake Louise to visit a little book store in town and, more importantly to take a little of Ranger’s edge off before we leave him in the car for dinner. The color of the water in most rivers and lakes in the park is the beautiful greenish blue color that you can see in both pictures above. From many placards by roadside and trailside we know this to be the result of rock flour, very fine grain rock powder created when glaciers slowly erode the rocks that they pass across.

Dinner was lovely. The Station Restaurant was built by the Canadian Pacific rail company in 1909 as the rail station for Lake Louise and is still in use today but only for fancy passenger trains on touring trips through the national parks. They have two restored 19th century railway dining cars in the back of the restaurant for special events – we thought that was especially creative.

Tripometer – 5861 mi

Gas Gauge – 463.001 gal

Location – Lake Louise Campground, Banff National Park, AB, Canada

Lodging – $33 CAD

Cans of OFF – 4

Cloudy and cold with a drizzle now and again, it’s a moody day in the Canadian Rockies.

The Bow Valley Parkway is the old route up the main valley in Banff N.P. and consequently smaller, slower, and more scenic than it’s larger brother the Trans-Canada Highway, on the other side of the river. We really enjoyed our drive yesterday and decided to use this smaller road to drive the trailer from Banff to Lake Louise where we have reservations for two nights.

Lunch at a river overlook was a great way to save time and money in our travels. We’ve been doing this quite frequently when near park land around lunch time. We always try to have some road meals in the trailer for days like today.

Banff and Jasper National Parks both have healthy populations of Grizzly Bears. The campground we just left near Banff is so populated and noisy that bear visits are rare and as such we felt OK using the tent beds on our trailer the past two nights. As we move further into the national parks and further away from civilization the risk of bear encounters goes up significantly. Our campground for the next two days is ringed by an electrified bear fence so people who have tents, popups, and hybrid trailers can keep and cook food in their camping equipment without concern for attracting bears. We’re not sure what we expected an electrified bear fence to look like, but we weren’t expecting the dystopian, post-apocalyptic feel that this fence gave the campground. It was like summer camp in the gulag! When we move on to Jasper in the next few days we will have to sleep without opening the fold-away beds. Something both Kelly and I are somewhat less than excited about as this means we sleep together on a rather small collapsible dinette.

Paul’s cough has not improved over the past handful of days. As a precautionary measure we stopped by a clinic in Lake Louise to have him looked over. The Dr. confirmed allergies and listened to Paul’s chest before providing us with several different medications as options to treat symptoms as they might develop. From cough drops to antibiotics, we left the clinic with a better stocked medicine cabinet and a somewhat clean bill of health for Paul.

Technical note: We replaced our propane tank today for the second time this trip. We may not be completely empty but we also don’t want to run out of gas for the furnace in the middle of the night.

    

Tripometer – 5779 mi

Gas Gauge – 463.001 gal

Location – Tunnel Mountain Village II Campground, Banff National Park, AB, Canada

Lodging – $29 CAD

Cans of OFF – 4

Early in this trip Paul said that he didn’t want to turn around and head south until he sees snow on the mountain tops. Last night’s cold temps (~38F) and pouring rain knocked the smoke out of the sky and deposited a glorious touch of snow to each and every mountain top. This morning is the definition of clear and cold! We started off the day with coffee indoors for a change turning up the heat to the 60s to get a head start on warmth for the day. We dressed in layers consisting of every piece of cold weather gear we brought shy of our thermals, winter hats, and gloves. Check out the difference between the picture of our trailer this morning versus yesterday evening. Note how clear the mountain is today.

Paul’s cough has gotten bad. Lots of coughing at night means little sleep for either of us because the trailer shakes on the suspension with each cough. Our beds are at either end of the trailer so leverage really helps amplify any movement at the other end of the trailer. Historically Paul’s allergies flare up in the spring and fall and manifest as sinus issues and a nagging cough. Maybe it’s just the dynamics of our sleeping arrangement but this feels worse than normal.

We spent the early afternoon looking through the town of Banff, a tourist town of high order. Tiring quickly of pushy tourists and redonkulous prices we decided to take a drive out the Bow Valley Parkway back to Castle Junction to appreciate the beautifully clear day. We don’t know how long this clear air will last and don’t want to miss the gorgeous views.

On the way into town this morning we noted a large liquor bottle near the curb behind the truck. We joked that it likely belonged to the owner of an overland camper parked behind us. On the way out of town this afternoon we promptly forgot about the bottle and ran it over with the back right tire. Two car incidents in as many days… Paul confirmed that it wasn’t loosing air fast enough to hear so off we went down the Bow Valley Parkway. Most of the mountain pictures above were taken on this drive. It’ was amazing! Predictably, about an hour into the drive the tire pressure warning came on and we pulled over. A quick check of the tire pressure (with a pressure gauge) showed no loss of pressure at all? 15 more minutes down the road and the tire pressure warning began blinking. As we were to find, out a blinking pressure warning light does not mean the tire pressure is significantly low, it means there’s been a malfunction in the tire pressure warning system. Would someone like to tell us the odds of having a tire pressure warning system failure an hour after running over a liquor bottle? We dodged that bullet!

Tripometer – 5710 mi

Gas Gauge – 463.001 gal (19.623gal @ US$ 3.94 / gal – Most expensive gas to date, not taking into account the free 10L from CAA!)

Location – Tunnel Mountain Village II Campground, Banff National Park, AB, Canada

Lodging – $29 CAD

Cans of OFF – 4

Sure, no problem, we have plenty of gas…

Waking up this morning we packed up and headed out as quickly as possible. We stopped for a few last minute items at a small grocer in Radium Hot Springs because we knew prices would be much higher in the park. In the same line of thinking, Paul wrote GAS in big letters at the top of the shopping list thinking the cost of gas within the park would probably be ridiculously priced. Paul went to the visitor center while Kelly went to the grocery across the parking lot.

Paul with his nose in maps and pamphlets and Kelly with arm loads full of groceries to put away; neither of us remembered that we wanted to fill up the truck. We didn’t actually remember gas until 20 minutes into the park. At this point the navigator (Paul) decided that there were two small dots on the National Park map to indicate towns on our route to the campground. It wasn’t worth backtracking 20minutes to save a few dollars. We can just stop at one of those. As we passed the first of these ‘towns’ and realized that it was actually a trail head we both began to get concerned. At this point we had no cell signal and no way to see how far it actually was to the next gas station. Great.

We passed the second small dot and again, trail head. Now we knew we were in trouble. We had about 2/3 of a tank when we entered Kootenay National Park. After the second trail head mark we were well below a ¼ tank and falling fast. We were not going to make it to the next (at this point confirmed via maps) gas station at Castle Junction. We decided that we had better squeeze the last of the gas for the generator into the truck tank – about a gallon. The next 30 minutes was a tense ride just waiting for the engine to die but we made it to the gas station and parked next to the gas pump that said… ‘Out of Order’.

We had an afternoon snack and enjoyed the views of Castle Mountain from the gas station parking lot in Castle Junction. CAA (The Canadian version of AAA) arrived about an hour and a half later with 10L of gas to get us into the town of Banff. We were only allowed 10L as the other 10L in the tow truck driver’s can had to go to the fellow parked next to us in the gas station parking lot. (Misery loves company!)

We moved on down the road into Banff to fill up and get to our campsite. We were blown away by the view at our site. We booked the last campsite available and sure enough got one of the best sites in the campground. That is Mt. Rundle framing our camper out in the picture above. Astonishing!

The temperature was due to drop into the 30’s tonight, so for the first time this trip we turned on the camper’s furnace at the lowest temp setting so we didn’t get too cold in bed. By the time we called it a night the temp was well into the 40’s. The rain had just started to fall as Paul turned out the last light.

Tripometer – 5598 mi

Gas Gauge – 440.736 gal

Location – Edgewater Hilltop RV Park, Edgewater, BC, Canada

Lodging – $30

Cans of OFF – 4

The smoke just keeps getting worse and worse. It has crossed our minds several times to just skip Banff / Jasper and go do something else that is either west of the smoke or isn’t dependent upon viewing things at a distance (like gorgeous mountains). Today’s drive was miserable. The smell of fire was in the air and the smoke was so thick there simply wasn’t anything visible more than a few hundred feet in any direction (including up). As we passed through some of the smaller towns we could see street lights on at 7pm, well before dark. In the picture above, if you look very carefully, there is a lake on the other side of the trees and a mountain on the far side of the lake that is in the upper left hand corner of the picture.

On the other hand, our smoke problem has actually relieved another problem. We found a campsite with no issue. It seems that many people cancelled plans in the area due to the smoke. We found a site at a Par 3 golf course just north of Radium Springs, BC. The little RV park attached to the golf course had about 10 sites, all but one site was empty and all had full hookups. Perhaps more importantly, the proprietor had a fine selection of homemade pies for sale at check in. We availed ourselves of a slice of both Lemon Merengue and Cherry Rhubarb for after dinner. Delicious!

The temperature has dropped significantly. As we climbed into the trailer this evening the temperature had dropped into the low 50s.

Tripometer – 5358 mi

Gas Gauge – 428.040 gal

Location – Wayfarer’s State Park, Bigfork, MT

Lodging – $28

Cans of OFF – 4

Paul woke up feeling ill today. His chest sounds like there’s a trout flopping around in there. We generally took it easy today. After Kelly finished work we took Ranger for a swim to take off the puppy energy edge and then took a nice easy drive down the west coast of Flathead Lake. Dinner was at The Raven, a small little eatery on the edge of the lake with a gorgeous patio on the back side.

At home and on a regular basis we both like ethnic foods and as we travel we frequently seek out more interesting and different fare for our meals. We both find it fun to try new and different things in the various areas we pass through. More often than not there are pockets of foreign influence in each region, you just have to search for it and you can be rewarded with lovely meals cooked by skilled chefs. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. Montana has proven to not be the most diverse area for eating. It has been weeks since Kelly and I had anything out of the ordinary for a meal and we were both craving something different. When we saw Pad Thai on the menu at The Raven, we both individually decided that was what was for dinner. Huge mistake. We could both tell that the dish we had for dinner was inspired by Pad Thai but the creation wasn’t even close. The flavor, texture, spices, and ingredients were very different from what we both expected. We’ll just call it Pad Soup. Better luck next time!

Tomorrow Ranger becomes Ranger, International Dog of Adventure!

Tripometer – 5278 mi

Gas Gauge – 428.040 gal

Location – Wayfarer’s State Park, Bigfork, MT

Lodging – $28

Cans of OFF – 4

Back to cherries. We have a lot of cherries. After work, Kelly headed out to run a couple of errands in town. This included trying to find some decent balsamic vinegar, more difficult than you might think. 4 stores later, she came home with a plan… a Flathead cherry, balsamic reduction with shallots and pine nuts over grilled chicken breasts… wow, was that yummy!

We spent the rest of the evening fishing some of the spots that Paul found yesterday. The truth of the matter is the Swan River valley was so pretty Kelly had to see it for herself. Ranger swam to exhaustion in the river downstream from the fishing action. Paul is having fun trying to fly fish but alas with no luck.

We knocked out a rough plan for our week in Banff / Jasper. We decided that given the amount of work Kelly had to get done and the fact that we didn’t want to have to find a campsite on a Friday night after driving into Canada we’d wait to leave here until Saturday morning.

Tripometer – 5231 mi

Gas Gauge – 428.040 gal

Location – Wayfarer’s State Park, Bigfork, MT

Lodging – $28

Cans of OFF – 4

Today as Kelly worked, Paul sought fish. The only fly fishing shop in town was somewhat less than helpful so Paul followed the nearest river south as it climbed into the mountains looking for feeder streams and access points. As it turned out, the Swan River in town leads to Swan Lake and then further on south, back to the Swan River again (pic above). There was a wonderful pamphlet found online to describe all of the fishing spots in the area with trail information and stream size. Even though he competed for stream space with many other fishermen throughout the day, Paul caught no fish.

When Kelly was done work for the day we headed to a local rock shop and took in some of the local history. The area is known mostly for cherries. Apparently the climate and soil around Flathead lake is uniquely suited to grow cherries. The local Flathead cherries were amazingly sweet and strong flavored (sorry, Washington, they win hands down).

In our drive around the lake we noticed that the area has an untold number of both man made and natural harbors tucked out of the winds that come across the lake from the west (in our experience). In some cases the little harbors were personal – a house having its own little 3-4 boat harbor, in other cases small nooks in the coastline look like they were modified to enclose a harbor for many dozens of boats. Overall it was a gorgeous area with SO MANY beautiful homes and properties.

Tripometer – 5175 mi

Gas Gauge – 413.876 gal

Location – Wayfarer’s State Park, Bigfork, MT

Lodging – $28

Cans of OFF – 4

Today we both worked on our computers from cell phone range sitting in the truck about a half mile from the campground gate. We need to find a new, more reliable source of information on cell phone coverage…

At lunch we made the fairly short drive to Wayfarer’s State Park The smoke was again particularly bad. In the picture above the lake is on our left. You’d never know it. We also learned that we’re much more attuned to the sights and sounds of emergency equipment. When we were passed by a fire truck on the highway it dominated the discussion in the car until we arrived at Wayfarer’s.

We scored a site! It’s not a great site as this campground goes, but the area is beautiful, the fishing looks good and there’s a lake for Ranger to swim in. That means it meets all of the minimum criteria.

Kelly has decided to take a week of vacation next week for our visit to Banff and Jasper. As everyone knows, if you want to take a week off you have to get a weeks worth of work done before your vacation. The local little town has all of our needed amenities and we will likely stay here until we make the move to Canada on Friday evening or Saturday morning.

 

Tripometer – 5131 mi

Gas Gauge – 413.876 gal

Location – Whitefish Lake State Park, Whitefish, MT

Lodging – $33 (Or maybe 66?)

Cans of OFF – 4

A Train Runs Through It

While Kelly worked, Paul cleaned the trailer. As said yesterday, having a full hookup is a real treat. It’s wonderful to know that there are no consequences to using the water and sewer system at will. You can turn on the hot water heater and just bask in its pitiful 6 gallon capacity wonderfulness. Doing the dishes becomes a tolerable job. Wiping up counters and bathrooms with a wet cloth becomes less stressful because you know that you don’t have to stop by the dump station before you leave the campground. Consequently, by flushing the toilet for a few seconds (vs. ASAP) you know that the waste is completely gone, forever… We appreciate flush toilets so much these days… That camper shined by the time we pulled onto the road in the afternoon!

The smoke today was really bad. The worst we’ve seen. The drive would have been incredibly beautiful as we drove the shore of Flathead Lake for over 50 miles. Sadly we didn’t have one picture taking opportunity.

We pulled into Whitefish Lake State Park to disaster. Our campsite had no cell signal and our campsite was about 30 feet from a rail line as the crow hops (not even a crow would fly that far). There is a movie above that Kelly captured as the train went by our site. This isn’t going to work… at… all… but it’s late enough at night with paid reservations that this will have to do for tonight. Sad too. The second picture above is the beach and lake that is about 50’ from our trailer this evening.

We dumped the trailer in the site and went to McDonalds for free wifi to figure out where to go from here. We had two nights booked in this campground. Not sure if we’ll ever see the $33 fee for night number two refunded. After some quick ‘recalculating’ we decided to head back south to Flathead Lake and the little town of Bigfork. The Wayfarer’s State Park Campground looks like a winner but we would need to score a First Come – First Served site.

During the night, passing trains actually shook us back and forth in our beds. Long, long freight trains went by, on average, every 58 minutes. Yes, Kelly was awake enough to do the math.