Hard couple of days.
Yesterday we went from the Great Falls KOA intending to go to one of the two Good Sam parks, west of Calgary, a thriving city.
The border crossing was a breeze and took perhaps 45 seconds. We were both stumped when the matter of fact Customs officer asked us for the plate of the truck, which neither of us knew. We scrambled for the registration held in my sweaty palms along with our passports, insurance cards for truck and trailer, and vet information, and were quickly on our way. He kept calling us guys, which reminded me of Ming Tsai's Food show on CreateTV. He cut me off when I started to inventory my kitchen knives (which technically could be classified as Firearms and weapons), saying that was not what he was interested in. He did not blink an eye (or charge us) when I reported we were carrying six bottles of wine and one bottle of VT Maple liqueur. I was dying to add that some of these were gifts, but I bit my tongue.
We had some trouble in Lethbridge as the Canadian road signs are exactly the same size and colors as posted speeds and much smaller than in America and I now need corrective lenses to see up close and far away! We almost got lost in Lethbridge, but came safely through without a wrong turn. The Irish was a bit upset that we had missed the truck route though as there probably wouldn't have been as many red lights.
Then we discovered our Net10 phone we had specifically purchased for emergencies and finding RV parks and directions on the advice of our friend, does not work in Canada, although all information we have says it does. The Trailer Life program with directions and parks is not completely up to date we had already discovered, and one of the parks in YYC had a big long message on the answering machine that pertained only to people who were looking to store their rigs for the winter and wanted us to leave our phone number and receive a call back.
So we decided to look for a Flying J and a WalMart to purchase a throw-away phone. Long story short: we ended up driving through YYC at rush hour as twilight fell and the Flying J address in Airdrie was incorrect so by the time we got there, we had passed it. So we drove on to Olds, AB, a pleasant town of 7200 and parked in the WalMart for the night.
The throw-away phone was much more expensive than anticipated but the vegetables in the SuperCentre were not.
We had few lights as we discovered the trailer battery does not re-charge while driving so we were conservative and went to sleep early.
Today, although we got up at 7, it still took us two hours to get stowed as we are much farther North and the sun did not rise until 9:23!!! I told the Irish that when we finally arrived in ANC, he would be completely acclimated! I don't think he believed me.
Today's journey brought us around YEG, a thriving city of over 1,000,000 and to Grand Prairie. Because of the terrible roads (bumping and grinding on the cement) we were fighting the sunset as we arrived at Country Roads RV. We are in a pull-through spot and will easily access the highway tomorrow and will head for Mile 0 of the AlCan Highway in Dawson Creek, BC!!!
It is noticeably cooler although fall has been stupendously warm for all. We are out of the prairie (which the Irish hated) and into rolling hills. We have yet to cross the Rockies.
It has taken its toll driving so late in the year. I definitely was unprepared for the growth and sprawl of nearly every town since I last drove this stretch which was admittedly a very long time ago. I did not recognize Whitecourt at all or any other little stopping point. I will be disappointed if Dawson Creek has been spruced out of recognition.
The Irish is stressed with towing, unfamiliar turf, the enormous tractor trailers which would not be allowed down South, and the poor condition of the concrete roads which have taken a pounding from the overloaded tractor trailers. I am stressed as navigator, not being able to find open RV parks or good directions and now I have a new phone to figure out! My students will laugh at me because they know I am telling the truth here as last year they helped me with my digital camera and MP3 player which came with no directions. So we had a good dinner and are spending a quiet evening decompressing.
Off bright and early in the morning for Mile O of the AlCan!
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