Glasgow, Montana

As mentioned in my previous post we left Havre and were planning to stop in Glasgow.  I had made reservations at what seemed like a decent campground to cover us for the Fourth of July weekend.  Fortunately the campground did not require a deposit as when we drove up to it we learned it was horrible.  I do not think our trailer would have fit in any of their spaces.  Everything was overgrown and run down.  Fortunately, across the main street was a hotel/casino with a small RV park in the back.  It had nice long gravel spaces with grass and some small trees.  I had seen this campground in our book but the reviews for it were not that good.  I do not understand as it is a nice campground to stay a couple of days, although we will be staying a little longer.  Plus it is only $25 per night for full hook-ups.

We set up, eat dinner and are watching TV when the wind begins to pick up and dark clouds suddenly appear.  I check the weather on the computer and discover there is a severe thunderstorm watch for the area.  OK, a watch is not that bad, so we continue to watch TV.  The winds pick up and up and up and the clouds get darker and darker.  It starts to rain slightly, but big drops.  Then hail the size of peas start, not a huge amount but enough. The hail gets bigger with some the size of golf balls.  Lightning all around and winds that are really shaking the trailer.  OK, time to close up shop.  We quickly put our outside stuff away, put the satellite down and brought in all the slides while continuing to watch the skies.  Our shelter would be the laundry building, or the hotel.  After about an hour the storm began to subside to where it was just a light wind.

I checked for damage today and did not see any hail damage to the truck or trailer so maybe we made out OK. 

Here are a couple of pictures of our RV park

After this weekend we make our way through North Dakota then Minnesota, Wisconsin and into Illinois.  We have changed our dates in Illinois and will be arriving on the 15th of July and probably leaving on the 3rd of August.

Havre, Montana

We left St. Mary, Montana on Monday since the Road to the Sun was still not open.  Prior to leaving, over the weekend, we did some additional sightseeing by driving another road, Many Glacier, into the park as it was near our RV Park.  It had some great views of the mountains as well as a Resort Lodge on a little lake.  We took a walk around the lake but did not run into any wildlife.  Here are some pictures from our walk.

In looking at the map I had decided to go across Montana on State Highway 2 instead of going out of our way south to pick up the interstate.  The drive out of St. Mary on Highway 89 was just beautiful.  It was very scenic as most of it was through the mountains.  We paid the price for the views with gas mileage around 6 mpg because of the hills. 

We stopped in Havre, Montana, which is about 200 miles from St. Mary.  It is a small town but it has a Wal-Mart Supercenter so we could go grocery shopping at decent prices.  The campground was nothing special.  It is actually quite small but it is amazing how they got over 50 spaces in it.  When checking in the lady has a map of the park with the length of every space on it.  Due to the length of our rig we were limited to just a few spaces around the center median.  They are pull through, sort of.  It is a very different RV park.  It is situated between a rail yard and the main street for town.  It is part of a gas station, hotel complex.  We had planned to stay a few days here but decided against it as it really is just an overnight type park.  Here are a couple of pictures.

So, where to next.  We did not make any reservations for the July 4th weekend as we were playing it day to day as we travel.  Looking at the map there were not many choices of RV parks in this area of Montana, or western North Dakota.  We found a park in Glasgow, Montana, about 120 miles from Havre, that has spaces for the weekend so we are headed there.  Not sure if the park is any good, we will see, otherwise we may just drive much further into central North Dakota and hopefully find something there.  Before leaving Havre I have to add this information, the town has about 10,000 residents but has 9 casinos.  Machine gambling (poker, keno, etc.) is legal in Montana and it is everywhere.  Our RV park/Hotel has two casinos!

I did not do a 4 month update last week, so here is the map to keep you informed.

Chinook Winds

When we arrived here in St. Mary, Montana it was during a thunderstorm along with some wind.  We got a little wet setting up our trailer, but the rain quickly subsided.  The wind continued and we did not think much about it because of the storm.  Well it has not stopped yet.  The wind is steady around 5 to 10 mph but has huge gusts that must be upwards of 20 to 30 mph.  The whole trailer shakes. 

We were talking with a local and learned that this area gets Chinook winds most of the time and that this is what we are experiencing now.  It is a little scary as it woke us up during the night as the noise is exaggerated due to our awnings over the slides.  I checked everything out in the morning and there are no issues from the wind, but our concern is still there.  We looked at moving on but checking the weather for the various cities on our route revealed they are experiencing the same winds.  So, we will stay here until Monday and then move on and see what is in store.  Nice area to visit, but be aware of the winds.

Glacier National Park

We arrived at the east side of Glacier National Park and picked the cheaper of the two available private campgrounds as the park campgrounds do not allow rigs our length.  This campground is OK, nothing special, but has fantastic views and is $20 cheaper, per day, than the KOA, which is the other campground.  The campground sits on the top of a small hill and gives you views of the mountains and St. Mary’s lake.

Here are the views from our camp site

We learned as we checked in that the Road to the Sun, which is the road from the east entrance to the west entrance of the park, was only open for 17 miles as there is still too much snow on the rest of the highway.  This was disappointing news as we have heard the drive is spectacular.  We were told that the park hopes to have it open by mid-July.  Pretty tough for this area as the tourist season lasts only the summer months.

We went ahead and made the limited drive and were rewarded with an up close viewing of a Black Bear and cub.   They were both right along the road eating grass.

It was cold and extremely windy when we took this drive so our plan is to come back on a better day and do some of the hikes and possibly a bike ride.  Here are some additional pictures I took of the views from the drive.

Almost a catastrophe

We left Banff on the Trans-Canada Highway to Calgary where we picked up Highway 2 to go into the US and to Glacier National Park.  At the international border it is a small crossing with very little traffic.  When we arrived they had 1 of 3 lanes open.  Only one of the lanes did not go under the building and it was closed.  From the picture below you can see the lanes off to the left and in the upper portion of the picture.  This picture shows 2 lanes with vehicles in them.  The height posted on the overhang was 13 feet 1 inch, which is right around the measurement I did when we first got the trailer.  Before entering the overhang I waved towards the US officials to get their attention and they seemed to acknowledge me but did not indicate I could go to the outside lane, AND THEY DO NOT WANT YOU TO EXIT YOUR VEHICLE!  I moved slowly towards the window and when I got within speaking distance I told them of my concern.  They checked their cameras and looked up and finally decided I should not proceed forward.  I started to get out to make my own check and was told to STAY IN THE VEHICLE.

OK, so they clear our passports, but we have to do an agriculture inspection of the trailer, and I have to back up to move on.  An official comes out and clears all the vehicles behind me.  Now I have to back my trailer and truck through an opening that is just a hair wider than the mirrors on the truck, using only my mirrors.  From the picture you may see there are structures about 20 feet back from the overhang.  These have the signs on them to stop there, etc.  This is what I had to clear in my backing.  Fortunately the wheels were straight on the truck and I slowly reversed trying to keep them straight while watching sides and back.  I almost lost my mirrors but quickly noticed and retracted them to clear the signs.  Fortunately I was able to accomplish the task and gained significant confidence in my backing ability.

 

After I cleared the structure I proceeded to the outside lane, which they now had opened, and over to the Inspector.  I was asked questions about food we had in the trailer and was told an inspection would be needed.  Again I was told to REMAIN IN THE VEHICLE and she asked Fran to accompany her.  I guess I just have a criminal look.

Leaving Banff

After two weeks in Banff we are on the move back into the United States.  I would have to say that Banff is probably one of the most beautiful places I have visited.  The scenery was amazing.  In my previous post I told you about some sightseeing we did our first few days here.  During our second week our friends from Idaho visited us for the remainder of our stay.  For some reason they brought bad weather with them as it rained just about every day they were here but it did not hinder us from getting out.  From our sources we learned that must sees were the Bow Valley Parkway, the Icefields Parkway, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.  We did all those plus walking around the Banff Springs Hotel, riding the Banff Gondola and visiting the Banff Hot Springs.  In addition there were drives touring the area, walks and bike rides.

I took way more pictures than I could ever begin to show you in this blog so I will give you some highlights to give you a flavor of the area and highly recommend that if you get the chance you should come visit the area.

Here is us at Lake Louise

Moraine Lake

Friendly animals along the road on a drive near our campsite. 

The Icefields Parkway is a highway between Lake Louise and Jasper and runs for 142 miles.  We drove to the mid-point, Icefields Centre, and then returned to Banff.  The beauty of the drive is that there are numerous waterfalls along the way, very high snow capped mountains and glaciers.  It is called the Icefields Parkway because on top of the mountains are huge icefields that have glaciers coming off of them between the mountains.  Unless you are in a helicopter or airplane you do not see the icefields but you do see the glaciers.  At the Icefields Centre we were able to walk to the edge of one. 

The Banff Hot Springs

At the top of the Banff Gondola

The view from the observation tower at the very top of the mountain from the Banff Gondola

A small pond while on a bike ride.  I took it because of the reflection in the water

We really enjoyed ourselves in Banff and the time with our friends  Our next stop is Glacier National Park in Montana. 

Sightseeing in Banff

We have been here a few days now, although this posting probably will be towards the end of our stay due to no internet at the RV park.  We have done some hiking around the campground and the town and I thought I would share some pictures.

Here is a picture of the town looking down Banff Avenue, which is the main street of the town, with the mountains as a backdrop.

Leaving our campground to go to town there is a road, Tunnel Mountain Drive, that is open only during the summer months that gives you some really great elevated views of the town, but the best is the view of the famous hotel, Banff Springs Hotel, which is over a 100 years old and modeled after a Scottish castle.

Today, Monday, we took a hike on a trail called the Cave and Basin.  It is right outside of town and goes around a marsh area and next to the river.  While on the trail we came across and elk.

Across from our campground is an attraction called the Hoodoos (I have no idea how the name was derived), which is a rock formation made over the years from glacier movement and water runoff.  It is a huge attraction for this area as our campsite is just down the road from the parking lot and tour buses are constantly coming by on the road, even as late as 8:30pm on Sunday evening.  It does not get totally dark here until around midnight!

For wildlife we see lots of these prairie dog type animals (see my first Banff posting for a picture) around our trailer, they are all over the place and make an annoying squeak to communicate.  They must get fed by campers because they will come up to you if they smell food.  We have seen an eagle flying overhead while sitting outside our trailer along with many large ravens. On a bike ride through the campground woods we came across two deer that were not at all frightened of us and we have a coyote that we see running around the campground periodically.  No bears have been spotted yet.

Banff, Alberta

Our front yard

Our back yard

Our neighbors

We drove to Banff, Alberta on Thursday.  The drive on the Trans-Canada Highway was just beautiful, especially the part from Revelstoke to Golden.  We are staying at the Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court, which is the only campground in the national park that has full hookups.  Instead of the usual side by side space configuration that most RV parks have they have semi-circle pull outs along a road which means you face away from the road and when you are outside your door you are not seeing the hook-ups or the backside of your neighbor.  It is a really nice arrangement.  For us we are on the outer perimeter so there are no neighbors in front of us, just the view you see above and we are the first space in our section so no neighbor on one side.  I asked for a “satellite friendly” site and was given this site as it faces south and has no tree cover.  Satellite works perfectly!

Here is our rig in the space

Leaving Revelstoke

On Thursday we leave Revelstoke, British Columbia and travel to Banff, Alberta.  As best I can tell there is no internet at the national park campground we are staying at, so any internet will have to be from something we find in town.  With that in mind, this may be my last posting for a couple of weeks until we leave Banff. 

This week we did some more sightseeing of the area.  We drove to the dam which is a few miles away.  Then on Monday we went to the Mount Revelstoke National Park hoping to do bicycle riding, hiking and enjoy the Meadows in the Sky drive, but the drive was only open part way, which also meant no access to the bicycle trails.  We did however get some great views of the area.  Here are some of the pictures.

This is a view of the town of Revelstoke from the park with the mountains as a backdrop.

Here is a good view of the mountain peaks that tower over the town.

We stopped to take a hike but this trail was for very experienced, and in good shape, hikers as it climbed over 900 vertical meters.  Needless to say we went for a short way then realized it was too much for us.

After the short time at the national park we drove into town and found a bike trail that goes around town.

Today we found another bike trail on the other side of the river from town.

As you can see from these and previous pictures it is a spectacular place to visit, however it does not appear tourist season is here yet for this area.  We noticed that school is still in session in town and the only campers at this park have mainly been those using it as a one night stop over while driving on the Trans Canada Highway.  What has been interesting is that about 75% of the rigs that stop each night are various size van motorhomes all made by Adventurer.  I was curious so I did some research and discovered that there is an RV company, FraserwayRV, that has lots in major cities across Canada and they rent these motorhomes as well as trucks with campers so people pick them up in one city and drive across Canada and drop them off in another city, or back to the same city.  It seems really popular up here.  So, if any of my followers are interested in this for a future trip, check them out http://www.fraserway.com/content04.asp?nav=107417&.  I can tell you all the rigs I saw were in excellent shape.

Revelstoke, British Columbia

Yesterday we went out and did some sightseeing of the area so I thought I would share the pictures with you.

Here are some shots of the campground

Here is the view of the mountains from the campground

This is downtown Revelstoke.  There was a Farmers Market and a car show going on

Two statues of grizzly bears greet you on the main street of the town

This gives you an idea of the views all around

Oh…..Canada

This is something like our fifth trip with a trailer into Canada and the first that I can remember that the U.S. dollar is worth less than the Canadian dollar.  Fortunately it is just a small amount ($1.00 US = $.978 CAN), but what the heck happened?  Gas has always been higher in Canada but they are selling diesel for less than regular unleaded (take the hint US!).  At last fill up we paid $1.29 Canadian per liter which with metric conversion and currency conversion comes out to $4.99 a gallon.  On top of that, since  I use a credit card, add the 3% foreign transaction fee.  Oh well, it is the price you pay for seeing such beautiful country.

Continuing on with my price theme, we went grocery shopping at a local store in Oliver, Super-Valu.  Now Oliver is a fairly small town but it does get a lot of visitors and is on a major highway.  We found the prices at the grocery store to be very high as compared to what you pay in the U.S.  We did not buy much at this store as we knew there was a Wal-Mart Supercenter on our way to Revelstoke (our next stop) and hoped the prices would be better (which they were).  The interesting tidbit from our grocery shopping was Fran found her coffee additive, Nestle Ice Java, on sale here in Canada.  They stopped selling it in the US a couple of years ago with no explanation.  At that time I learned that it was still being sold in other parts of the world and people were selling it on ebay, but the company was ceasing production totally.  I guess not!

On Friday we did drive from Oliver to Revelstoke, British Columbia.  This is about the half way point between Oliver and Banff (our next stop).  What a beautiful drive.  For the entire way the highway follows a series of lakes in the valley of two very high mountain ranges.  With all the rain and it still being cool everything was lush green and the water like a mirror.  We are staying at a KOA just outside of town.   The RV park is set right in the woods and is very green.  The spaces are large and they have full hook-ups but the park could use a good sprucing up.  With all the trees and the mountains towering over us there is no satellite service and the TV antenna pulls in one Canadian station out of of Vancouver.  Oh well, I guess it is back to “roughing it”.