Expedition Canada

Very Flat - Next Stop Saskatchewan - Also Flat 100 km of long straight road By the time we departed River Grove Campground in Drumheller, we had completed 2614 km of our trip.  Admittedly, 300 of those was a dash into Calgary on Monday morning to get the roof glass replaced.  Which is now done.  We are again watertight!  The duct tape did its job but also done a job on the roof, which I anticipate will need respraying when we return home, along with the corner of the front right bumper that I scraped reversing the trailer into a tight campsite.  We knew we were going to miss the BC mountains. As they receded in our rear-view mirror the elevation reduction was not as much as we'd anticipated.   Drumheller is 640m above sea level.  This part of Alberta is flat oil, gas, cereal and cattle country.  The wide open spaces often talked about.  What we hadn't anticipated was the long straight roads.   Driving back from Calgary with my ...

Goodbye Mountains Next stop Calgary Today we leave the mountains and head for the prairies after two weeks of exploring beautiful British Columbia we now get to drive over to Alberta.    It has been an amazing first two weeks to our four months of travel, not all as planned!  The roof glass, which shattered ten minutes into the trip is due to be replaced in Calgary on Monday, to much relief.  The almost daily ritual of replacing duct tape will not be missed!  After our three days in Revelstoke we had a 482 km drive west and south to Kikomun Creek Provincial Park in East Kootenay. As we drove south the mountains slowly gave way to more undulating hills and mixed forest and grassland, following both the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers.  It also got warmer.  After waking to frosts and 3c in Manning Park, Kikomun topped out at 33c.  The AC was both welcome and necessary.  RV's are not as thermally efficient as one's home.  The heat also ensured...

Humpbacks Return Thu May 18th Orca cruising just past the start line I was sailing last Sunday after a break of two weeks and it felt as though summer had arrived.  We had good wind and a warm 30c, though a windproof jacket was still required.  In the previous race, we were in winter wet weather gear.  My brain-related knee injury, which had prevented my appearance for the last two weeks, is on the mend and it has reminded me that I should engage the grey matter before doing anything so stupid in future.  Bruised bones rather than anything more serious.  For those that missed the last blog, I'd jumped off the back of a stationary pick-up truck.  Doh! As well as good sailing weather we enjoyed watching a pod of Orca put in an appearance as we motored out to the start line.  They were heading out to the Salish Sea from West Howe Sound through the Shoal Channel which runs between Keats Island and The Bluff, a large outcrop that sits above Gibsons Marina....

Home Sat Feb 18th Made it down to breakfast 2 days after op Our one disappointment from our trip to Calgary was that we didn't see one horse, cow or cowboy/girl.  The closest I got was a visit to Lammle's to buy a pair of jeans as the ones I flew out in developed a split where a fella doesn't want a split.  Lammle's stock everything 'cowhand' including tack for your horse.  More designs of boots than a cowhand could wear in a lifetime. I resisted the temptation. The taxi who took us for Fred's x-rays on Sunday, certainly had 'the knowledge' of the city.  Thirty five minutes south of the hotel, he knew the street numbering sufficiently well to correct the address we gave him.    Quite a coincidence, but t he following morning he was at the front of the taxi queue to take us north of the city to the former maternity hospital for Fred's op.  An early start as she had to be there for 0700 Monday.  I decided to walk back which is always a better way ...

Winter Woollens Packed Sun Feb12th Calgary from 5000' Friday 10th we arrived in Calgary, aka Cowtown.  The largest city in Alberta (not the capital which is Edmonton) and in the middle of Canada's largest beef producing area.   The journey out worked well.  The ferry was on time, little traffic through Vancouver, a quick stopover to drop off a tray table for Seb's high chair in Kitsilano, then on to the airport.    The flight, just over an hour, offered clear views of Vancouver at dusk and patterns of an illuminated Calgary on arrival.  Vancouver Departure A ccording to Calgary tourist sites,  Alberta as a whole has the largest cattle herd in Canada. A lthough now a cosmopolitan city, it retains a solid core cowboy culture.  The summer Calgary Stampede which takes place in July, is one of the biggest rodeos in the world, attracting around 1mn visitors.  Think agricultural show (Bath & West show circa 140,000) with lots of horses,...