My Trails

I drove to Edmonton today. The traffic was pretty bad all the way. I thought I would see a lot of camper trailers going north but there were very few. From Lethbridge to Calgary and a little beyond I could see the snow covered Rocky Mountains off to my left. After I got through Calgary, the terrain was mostly flat farmland in all directions – I could have been driving through Nebraska!

I filled up with petrol in Calgary for $1.07 / liter. First time I’ve ever run a gas pump past $100! I was a little discouraged that the bank where I exchanged my currency gave me so many $100 bills, but I see now that they will be easy to spend.

Now I see what they did with all those Canadian pennies they don’t use anymore. The melted them down and put them inside their Toonies! I’m slowly getting used to the currency and the metric speed and distance. I’m just thankful that no one changed time to a decimal division; can you imagine if there were 100 minutes in an hour?

I’m outside a Cabelas tonight. I’m hoping once I get north of here the traffic will thin out some. I should be close to Grande Prairie tomorrow unless I slow down and take a rest.

I’m still at Lethbridge Walmart along with several other RVers waiting for the wind to let up. It was so bad last night that my fridge flame blew out and I awoke to a fault code on the display. I talked with a few of my fellow travelers parked beside me that confirmed they are just waiting for the wind to calm down before pushing on north. Tomorrow looks like a good travel day.

Another cold morning in Butte, Montana. I packed up early and headed up interstate 15 for 170 miles. A quick stop at Butte Walmart for a couple grocery items, a gas fill up in Helena, and a break at a rest area, were the only diversions to the drive. There is a neat canyon just before the rest area that follows the Missouri River for a while. There were signs at the rest area that told about the Lewis and Clark expedition camping near there in 1806.

I am at a town park in the little town of Cascade, Montana. I am the only one here but maybe someone else will come in later. I arrived by 2:00 so it is still early. This is a nice little park with a dump station, playground, and picnic tables. One sites on the internet said there was electric but that has been taken out and the bathrooms closed. I don’t need anything but the dump. I will take a good long hot shower tonight.

The weather has turned lovely. The elevation is only 3400 feet here, so lots warmer. It was so nice that I walked down town and asked at a bank if they had any Canadian money I could exchange before I went across the border. All they had was $40. They said I may have to exchange at the border because even banks in Great Falls might not have any. My bank charges 3℅ transaction fee in Canada but maybe it will be worth it to use the convenience of my credit card. Don’t you hate it when you get behind someone at the pump that has to go inside to pay cash before they move? They always have to buy a .79 cent drink as long as they’re in there.

One day before my time expired at Blacksmith Canyon, we were hit with a snowstorm. It only dropped two inches but it was enough that it would have made packing everything a mess. I decided to push departure for a couple days to let things melt and dry out.

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear but very frigid. I didn’t get packed until well into the morning because I was too much of a sissy to brave the cold. Then it was off to town to dump, fill with water, find a place to fill both propane bottles, stock up on groceries, do laundry, and eat at Taco Bell. By then it was well into the afternoon so I rented a movie from Red Box (LaLa Land) and parked at the Logan Walmart for the night.

Next morning bright and early I got on Interstate 15 and headed north. This was the longest day Minnie and I have ever driven together. We travelled 367 miles. Minnie didn’t seem to mind the trip today near as much as she did some in the last few weeks. The roads were wide and smooth, there were no bad hills to pull, the traffic was light, and there was little wind to speak of. I just wanted to get over the Rockies and try things on the east side.

We hit the Idaho border early in the morning and crossed into Montana just after noon. Even though we went over the Continental Divide twice the elevation was only about 7000′. The interstate follows the old trail that cowboys drove cattle from Montana to Utah back in the 1800’s. The road is mostly gentle grades and follows a wide green valley for most of the way. A sign at a rest area told that it was made by tectonic plates and a fault line and some other volcanic action too complicated for me to comprehend. You have to expect lots of earth action when you get this close to Yellowstone.

I’m only about 5 miles east of Butte, Montana at a recreation area. There is still some snow here but should be gone in the next few days. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here – no more than a couple days, probably. Minnie did good but I need a rest.