Alberta Canada

We're on our way! I first began planning this trip almost two years ago and now I'm actually on my way. The drive from Great Falls to the border crossing was pretty and easy. The border crossing into Canada was uneventful. There are 6 RV's plus me. Our group consists of: Bobbie & Linda sharing a MH, Ken & Karen sharing a "C", Marge in her MH, Daryl in her's, Roger in his "C", and Tom in his MH, plus me in my 5'er. All the others have opted to go directly to Alaska via the AlCan. We'll only be together until Dawson Creek when I will begin the more adventurous route on the Deh Cho MacKenzie Highway, through the Northwest Territory. We all made it to Lethbridge  and the only event seems to have been Daryl held up for about an hour at the border crossing. She had some problems at Canadian customs last fall and she must be on their "S*** list". The Bridgeview cg is very nice with friendly staff. During our two days we managed to see the: Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens, the Bird of Prey Center, and Fort Whoop Up Interpretative Center. Lots to do and see in a short time. On our drive from Lethbridge to Calgary we stopped at the "Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump". Prior to the native Americans having horses and guns, they would stampede buffalo off cliffs. The process was very ritualistic with several tribes cooperating to insure everyone had sufficient food, hides, and bones to get them through the winters. The native Americans would cull the number of buffalo they needed from the larger herd to avoid killing indiscriminately. The "white man" was awed by these magnificent animals and viewed them as trophy's, killing for sport and eventually wiping the endless herds from the land. The visitor center itself was an engineering marvel. It was a multi-story building built into the side of the mountain to avoid disturbing the view. From the top of the buffalo jump you seemed to be able to see the curve of the earth. The story is awesome and sad!


Calgary is one of the largest cities in Canada with a population of about 1.2 million. As with most cities, campgrounds are few and expensive. We stayed at Mountain View cg which had an okay location but very tight sites and more of a trailer park feel. As soon as we arrived I found a dinner theater with tickets for the evening we arrived. Linda and Daryl joined me for an incredible evening. The buffet was worth the ticket price by itself. The play, Fiddler on the Roof, was absolutely first rate. It was a great evening. The next day most of our group opted to take a tour of the city on a "hop on, hop off" bus. The process of getting the tickets was the most interesting part of the tour for me. We drove to the area where we thought the bus left from arriving with about 15 minutes to spare for the tour time. We walked up and down the street looking for some indication of the bus stop. Roger finally noticed the "hop on, hop off" sign on a post with several other bus signs but no one around to buy tickets from. We went into the Calgary Tower ticket center to ask and they directed us to the adjoining information center. The information center didn't seem to know what we were talking about but finally directed us across the street to a hotel concierge. The concierge was off today due to the Canadian National holiday so we spoke with a reservation clerk who had no idea what we were referring to. He went to his manager who said we could use the hotel's one available lobby computer to book the tour and print our tickets. By the time we all finished getting our tickets we just made the second bus almost 1 1/2 hours after we first arrived. After all of this, I fell asleep on the overly warm bus (lol)! Another day, Marge, Daryl and I went to the Calgary Zoo. This is definitely worth a visit for anyone in the Calgary area. The exhibits are done in an interesting way with some very pretty indoor botanical sights as well.


I had heard that the Icefields Parkway is one of the most beautiful, most scenic drives in the world. The road did not disappoint me! I was driving down the road in a zig zag manner almost driving off the road gawking at the snow capped mountains all around me. The Banff campground was another great surprise with easy pull thru spots and more incredible views of the mountains. The town of Banff is like a little Swiss village, very pretty with lots of little shops and restaurants. In the couple of days we were there we managed to; enjoy a few hours in the hot springs, a great lunch at the Lake Louise Fairmont Hotel, a short walk to the Takkakaw Falls, and took the Gondola about a mile up the mountain. On our way driving to Jasper we stopped at the Icefields Visitor Center. They had recently opened a glass floored walkway which extended out over the glacial canyon. The walkway included a self guided audio tour of the construction of the walk and the Columbia Glacier. It was a very interesting, awesome place. From the center we boarded these special buses which had glass skylights and tires almost six feet high. The bus drove us out onto the Columbia Glacier where we were able to walk around and even scoop up a hand full of glacial melt. I seem to keep using the word "awesome" to describe these sights but it really is "awesome".


The group had some lengthy "discussion" over which campground to go to in the Edmonton area. In the end, they opted for the less expensive one I had listed that was further away. "Further away" was over an hours drive from town! We left about 2:30pm to go into town to take a 3:40pm trolley ride and didn't even find parking until well after the time the trolley was to leave. As it turned out the trolley had been discontinued anyway. We ended up walking around a quaint section of the city which seemed to have lots of college-age people. The shops were interesting and one shopkeeper suggested a neighborhood restaurant called "Just Eat Meat"! I wonder what type of food they serve (lol). The next day we went to the West Edmonton Mall, billed as the largest mall in the world. We walked around for awhile, checked out lots of shops, had some lunch, watched the seal show practice (yes, a live seal show), looked at the bathers in the full sized water park/wave pool with zip lines going overhead, saw the amusement park, looked at the full sized ice rink, and even saw the full sized replica of a pirate shop in a water lagoon. This is one huge mall.
I can't believe I drove 327 miles from Edmonton straight thru to Dawson Creek! The drive was relatively easy but long and horrible roads. The roads were like a roller coaster for over 100 miles. When I opened the rig, nothing was broken but two cabinets were open with "stuff" all over the floor and the sofa was on the opposite side from where it belongs. The Northern Lights campground seems nice with a friendly staff. Bobbie. Linda, and Roger also drove straight thru. Daryl, Marge, Ken & Karen, and Tom decided to stay at the Walmart in Grand Prairie.
Linda, Bobbie, Roger, and I checked out the Dawson Creek visitor center and took pictures at the Milepost Zero sign. The Alaskan Museum had a great video about the construction of the 1,500 mile highway plus lots of interesting exhibits. While in Dawson Creek I took a circuit tour of six towns: Taylor (the gold panning capital of the world), Fort St. John (with a great memorial dedicated to 12 US Army Engineers who lost their lives during the construction of the highway), Hudson's Hope and the Bennett Dam (the tour of the dam was incredible), Chetwynd (the chainsaw capital of the world), and Tumbler Ridge (known for its many dinosaur bones and tracks), Pouce Coupe (the town that almost was the hub instead of Dawson Creek). Taylor had a little library and the most talkative person manning it. At Fort St. John they had a museum with great artifacts of earlier times. The memorial was at the southern end of Lake Charlie with a great view of a pretty lake. Hudson's Hope also had a little museum plus a few short hikes to and along the river. The Bennett Dam is the second largest earthen dam in the world. I got butterfly's in my stomach driving over it! The tour took us by bus to the generating plant where we rode an elevator about 500 feet underground, walking through where the ten, 400 ton, turbines spin producing more than 13,000 gigawatts of power, supplying about 25% of British Columbia's total needs plus selling off some power to Alberta and the United States. At Tumblers Ridge I took a hike along a dinosaur trail. The town created a path along the tracks and added phosphorus to the prints. After dark you can follow the glowing dino tracks for a great experience. At Pouce Coupe, Jodi, the docent and I chatted for well over an hour about life and the ever changing values our kids are now experiencing. Six interesting towns and lots of great people.
I took my time driving to Manning taking time to stop at Fairview and Grimshaw. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday so the little museums were closed. Still, there were a couple of outdoor exhibits about the area. In Manning I stopped at the municipal cg. It had a short walking trail along the river and was next to the visitor information center. At the cg I saw an elderly guy trying to take something from the rear of his van. I asked if he needed any help. We chatted a bit. His name is Russell, he's 95 years old, and he has been planting trees in the area for many years. At 95 he drives around digging holes and planting trees!!! Instead of driving directly to High Level, I took a detour to the two old communities of La Crete and Ft. Vermilion. Getting to La Crete required the coolest ferry ride I've ever had. The ferry travels sideways turning to pick up and discharge vehicles. The ride is only about 15 minutes across the Peace River. At first I was a little concerned about my rigs weight on the ferry. That is until I saw a tandem tractor trailer loaded with lumber! La Crete is a small village which started as a Mennonite community. The Mennonite Heritage Center consists of a museum and a town of about 20 houses. Many of the houses are original to the site. Several other have been relocated to their little village to recreate an old town feel. Ft. Vermilion is the oldest settlement in Alberta. Their museum was fascinating with lots of artifacts illustrating what the area was like a couple of hundred years ago during the trapping era as well as lots of prehistoric items of native peoples dating back over 3,000 years. The High Level visitor center and museum was very interesting. They had a giant totem pole out front and a fully stocked general store from the early 1900's. I found it amazing how many of the items looked familiar to me from the late 1940's and into the 1950's. I guess change happened at a much slower pace back then. The High Level cg didn't have anyone in the office and the phone number on the door went to a voicemail. I left a message as a drove my rig around the cg. The sites were very tight, no one called me back, and it was still early especially considering that it doesn't get dark around here until about 11 pm! I began driving north along the MacKenzie thinking I'd find a cg within a few miles. The scenery was great, the driving was easy, and before I knew it I was at the Northwest Territory visitor center at the 60th parallel.