In and Out of Canada

And there it is!  We made it!

Shoot!  We could have gotten our TWO bottles here.  :)

Donald wanted me to show this as the last house we saw in the US.  Not sure why??

On August 13 we crossed into Canada.

We waited in the line of cars & trucks for about 25 minutes and only about 3 minutes answering questions at the window.  We must look honest. 

Ok, first thing.... start thinking in kilometers instead of miles.  Hmm I think that's the little circle of numbers inside the big circle of numbers on the speedometer.  What would he do without me?  We were in the lead this time and a few minutes over the border we could no longer see Richie.  So we pulled over in a wide spot and waited for about 20 minutes... Uh Oh!  We unhooked the car and were just about ready to go back when they pulled up going very slowly.   They had lights on the dash blinking saying he needed to do a re-generation.  So we sat there for a few minutes and then started going again.  We made it to a little town where we could pull into a parking lot.  We went into a Tim Horton's for lunch.. my first Canadian fast food.  Then they ran some re-generation procedure on the MH.  All the lights went off on the dash so I guess it worked.  I don't know what exactly what that is but I sure wish I had a re-gen button that I could push & be good as new!

We saw some pretty landscapes on the way to our next stop.  We are staying at the Campers Haven in Donald, BC.  Not much of a Haven but some room to spread out.  It is pitch black at night.  You could probably see lots of stars if it were clear but it is pretty overcast.

On Friday the 14th we took the 1 1/2 hr. drive to Lake Louise.  

It was a little overcast when we arrived but it was still a spectacular site! 

 A young woman took this picture for us but I think she didn't know how to focus. :(

These are a little better...

The color of the water is amazing.  I've never seen this aqua color in a lake before.

We we not the only ones enjoying the views.

It started to rain so we went into the Chateau Lake Louise and had some lunch with a beautiful view of the lake & the glacier.

Tammy's heart skipped a couple of beats when she spotted the jewelry store.  :)

What a beautiful Hotel!  But I don't think I'll be staying here anytime soon.  I'm waaaaay too cheap!

Chandelier in the main lobby.

Next stop was Moraine Lake.  It is also in the Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies.

Beautiful clear blue water.   
Mt. Temple is the 3rd highest mountain peak in the Canadian Rockies at 11,500 ft.

Of course our hamms couldn't help but pose with the big, mean, grizzly bear.

Donald looks like
 he's giving him a hug.

Tammy looks like she is walking like an Egyptian with him.  :)       

And Richie... well, you know.

                                                 

This glacier was up in the hills along the ice field parkway.  
Then Donald decided we needed to make one more stop.  So, we checked out the ...

 Just a short walk down this trail to the base.

It was very beautiful!  Great stop Donald!

 On Saturday we took a ride the other direction to Glacier National Park.

You can see the buildings are all boarded up and run down.  We could see why because there really wasn't much to see.  It was a pretty rainy day.

We did see this beautiful river that ran thru a golf course.

 It was really stormy all night so we decided to stay one more night in Donald.  Spent the day cleaning up & had dinner in. This picture is just to prove we didn't always eat out.

And we also spend lots of time brainstorming and making calls to see where we can stay next.

Well, you are not gonna believe this...Monday morning we headed out of Donald, BC.  Just a few klicks  up the hill and all of a sudden Richie was barely moving.  (Only a few days in Canada and I already sound like a Canadian EY?) Donald said his MH was in LIMP mode.  Ok, I'm familiar with the term but not really when it pertains to motor vehicles.  :)

When he gets to the top of the hill he pulls over to the side of the road.  Lights are flashing again.  We are on the side of the highway for the next hour while  he runs 2 more of those re-gen procedures.   I know now that means running the motor in a really high temperature to burn the soot out of the diesel filter.

All the warning lights stop blinking so we get to a parking lot in Golden where Richie calls a repair shop nearby. 

I drove down town & brought back some lunch while we waited for Guy to come.  We borrowed this trailer that was parked here for our picnic.  He was there within a half an hour and hooked up the MH to a computer.  I think he did one more re-gen and cleared the computer.  He did mention it was a little low in coolant.

Everything's looking good so off we head to Bow Rivers Edge RV in Alberta.

All along the highway is fencing to keep the animals off the roadways.

And then every few miles they have these overpasses.

They are all covered with grasses & trees for the animals to cross to the other side.  Too Cool!

 More beautiful landscapes on the way along the Bow River.

We arrived at our destination which was probably the nicest RV park we have been to yet.

The sites were really nice, clean & pretty roomy. 

 It was right on the Bow River.

I thought  the houses on the other side of the river were all 3 stories but a lady walking on the path informed me they were called walk out basements not 3 story.... Okay then.

 This couple was floating with the current fishing.  Looked like fun but I didn't see any fish being caught.

Each site had a really nice "Christmas Tree".   I don't think they are even open in the winter... not sure.   But if I still had a home I think I would have tried to steal mine & take it there.

Richie made an appt. in Calgary at the International truck repair place for the next morning.  He thought that the filter might still need to be cleaned professionally. Well.....8:00am Tuesday morning when he started her up to take to Calgary all the lights flashed on the dash including the red stop light that means shut it down!  After many phone calls he got a mobile to agree to come out before he decided to have it towed.  While waiting for the repair man he decided to give Guy a call.  Remember Guy from yesterday in Goldern?  Remember Guy said it was a little low in coolant?  Ok.. let's try a little water in the coolant tank.

 $1.00 bottle of distilled water...Really??

Now it's filled up over the sensor.  Start her up!  NO more dash lights.  However...

Meet Tony!  

The moblie repair man who was already on the way.

 Now you would think that at $140 an hour these boys would let the man do his job.  But Richie had a few stories to tell him.  

This has been a really expensive situation for him but hopefully all is well now.  Keep your fingers crossed!!!

We spent the afternoon exploring Calgary.

Of course we had to go to the Calgary Tower.  It was built for the 1988 Winter Olmypics that were held here.

 The tower has a glass platform you can stand on & look down on the street.  

 These guys did it but I could barely get close enough to take the picture without getting dizzy & sick to my stomach.

I don't know how he can stand here & look down to take the picture.   Ugh!

This picture is from the street looking up.  Good thing no one wears dresses anymore!

 These are a few pictures from the top of the tower.

It was a pretty clear day so we could see for quite a ways.

 This is where they have the Calgary Stampede every year.  I hear it's the biggest thing going in Alberta.

 

We took a walk down Steven Ave.  This was painted on a sidewalk.

 People just walk down the middle even though some cars still drive down it too. 

There were all kinds of restaurants and outdoor cafes.  Very colorful.

And some cool sculptures too.  The overpass or bridge they call it in the background allows you to walk almost 26 miles through a 50 block range of climate controlled buildings. I think they said there were about 15 them.  They are connected on the 2nd floor (or 15ft. above the street)  and take you to stores, business buildings, restaurants and anywhere you want to go without going out into the cold winter streets.  It is the largest pedestrian pathway in Northern America.   Pretty cool!

A little shopping at Hudson Bay. 

I loved this drinking fountain for all sizes!

  Hmm.... do you think it's for the dogs too?  It is a little rusty at the bottom of the fire hydrant.

 And since today is Tammy's B-Day we had to celebrate with dinner out!  Happy Birthday!

Birthday cake at the MH & we called it a day.  Looking pretty darn good for 39!  We had a great day in Calgary!

Next morning we left Bow River, Alberta with no issues.  I thought I would get tired looking at the back end of R&T's motorhome going down the road but now that's all I want every morning.  :) 

On the way out of Alberta we saw lots & lots of hay bales.

And some nice farms.

And then there was the border.

You can barely see through the bugs on the windshield but we were through the gates & back in the USA!