Edmonton - Winnipeg - Lower 48

From Edmonton we needed to decide if we would travel the shortest route back to the lower 48, straight south to Montana, or go through Winnipeg.  Going through Montana added 325 miles to the trip to WashPA, an extra day of driving.  Going through Winnipeg made the trip shorter, but it meant more miles in Canada and one last topping off with more expensive Canadian fuel.  By going through Winnipeg we would also get to see friends, so that option won out.  What's a few more dollars for fuel after a summer of high prices, right?  It was another three day's drive covering the 850 miles to Winnipeg.  On day one we stayed at Wally World in Saskatoon and the second night we found a free community RV park in Russell, Manitoba. These free stops helped ease the pain of the higher fuel costs.

Just outside of Edmonton we saw a few buffalo at Elk Island National Park.  Maybe our last look at big animals along the road.

We drove many miles with rain and threatening weather.  Check it out, they even cut and bale the grass in the median.

The fields were alive with the color of the canola plants in bloom.

We lost track of how many grain elevators we saw.  You can tell when you were approaching a town when an elevator comes into view.

There were thousands of ducks that were enjoying all the water from the record rainfall.  The water was very close to the highway in several places.

More roadside oddities that welcomed us to many small towns.  The bicycle is the world's longest.

There is a large Eastern European population in the prairie.  This old Orthodox church reminded us of ones we had seen in Alaska.  

When traveling in farm country you never know what you will encounter on the road.

While there are no soaring mountains the plains have there own unique beauty.

We met Gary and Anita at Betty's in 2008 and have seen them a few times since on our travels.  We only got to spend a couple of days with them as we were on a mission to get back to WashPA.  We had a fun time as they showed us around Winnipeg.

We went to the Forks, an area along the river with shops, restaurants, and walking trails.  The water taxi was operating even with the high water.

A neat display of several sculptures with each pointing to a different constellations or other celestial event like the equinox and solstice.  Stories about each were carved into the stone. 

When we were here two years ago the new Human Rights Museum was under construction.  The exterior is now complete and it will be opening next month.  Something to add to our to do list for another visit.

We got together for a toddy with Gary and Anita, and Marcel and Sonya, who we met in Alaska and who also live in Winnipeg.  We had a fun time getting caught up with all our travel adventures.  As we say many times, making and seeing friends along the way is the best part of the fulltiming lifestyle.

Back to the lower 48.  87 days after crossing into Canada from Montana we crossed into North Dakota and are still 1350 miles from WashPA.  Unfortunately, they confiscated many of our veggies, even the cherry tomatoes that Gary and Anita gave us that day fresh off the vine.  Such a pity, we were soooo looking forward to those:-(   On the bright side, all in all it was a fantastic experience and we are looking forward to spending time with family and friends before heading off on our next adventure.

Heading East, Friends - Old and New

We left Jasper and started our slow trek back to WashPA.  As we drove out of the mountains the land quickly changed to the high plains of Alberta.  We continued to see wildlife coming upon a big black bear and a huge mule dear buck with a big velvet rack right along the road.  Our plan is to go to Montana and head east through North Dakota along the same road we cycled on our 1982 transcontinental trip.  We have crossed parts of that trip's route before, near the start in Washington and at the end in New Hampshire and Maine, but we have never driven many miles of it in the rig.  It will be interesting to see what we remember, what has changed and what hasn't, along that road.   We continued our - "we do not have to go to Alaska to experience this" - when, as we went through a tar and chip zone, a truck kicked up a stone and we added a chip to the windshield to the list. 

We decided to spend a couple of days near Edmonton and I got malled.  We went to West Edmonton Mall which was the the world's largest when it was built.  In addition to over 800 stores and a casino, there are also those things pictured above; a sea lion, an amusement park, a pirate ship and a wave pool. We only walked around and had a snack at one of the many restaurants, but even I, the ultimate non shopper, had to admit the place is impressive.  A note to anyone heading north, we paid less for diesel here than we did in Montana on our last fill up.  Alberta has a booming oil economy.

 We did make some new friends as soon as we pulled into the RV park when our new neighbors, Ron and Louise, invited us over for a drink.  They are from Vancouver Island and we had a great couple of days learning all about that beautiful place we have on our to do list to visit.

 A roadside curiosity along the road in Medicine Hat, Alberta is the world's tallest tipi. 

We wanted to add Saskatchewan to our provinces visited and spent at least one night in during our five years on the road.  So on our way to Montana we headed off the Trans Canadian Highway and  we encountered another "we did not have to go to Alaska moment" when we came upon this well marked frost heave.

 We stayed in Val Marie, a small town close enough to the US border that it was part of it from the time of the Louisiana Purchase until the present border was agreed to in the 1880's.  Grain elevators are a real part of the landscape all across the Great Plains in both the US and Canada. 

 We picked Val Marie as a stop because it is the home of Canada's Grasslands National Park.  This park is different from the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas because this land is the largest piece in Canada that has never been plowed, so it is in its natural state.  The plains do have a different look than the soaring mountains, but with the big sky they have their own unique beauty. 

 Buffalo have recently been reintroduced into the park and join the many prairie dogs and huge variety of birds.  You have to be a more careful observer to see the wildlife in the plains. 

The next day we crossed the border at a place so small that we were the only vehicle there.  The American border agent came aboard and open a few doors while we sat and chatted with his Canadian counterpart who shares the same building.  This is the first time we crossed at a spot where both countries shared one building.

 We were staying in Fort Peck and knew our WashPA friends, whom we have not seen since last summer, were passing through nearby Glasgow on the train on their way to a trip through many Western national parks.  Our first thought was to get on the train and travel with them for one stop and then catch the Eastbound train an hour later.  That plan did not work out because their train was delayed four hours while tracks that had been washed out by a flood were being repaired.  

Our visit was only about one minute while a few passengers got off and on the train in Glasgow.  It was a short visit but it is always great seeing old friends.  Here is Nanc, Jim, John, Patrice, Ron and Becky.  We even had Mardi Gras beads for them.  We hope John shared:-)

I have added a new feature to the blog, My Blog List.  Most of them are RV blogs, with the exception of killing Mother.  All but the bottom three will move to the top of the list when there is a new entry.  Marty's Travels is an exception as, for some reason, it does not update, but it is still current.  Hitchitch is a site with many RV blogs. See Ya' Down the Road is no longer active but I found it to be one of the best when we were planning to go fulltiming and the material is still very useful.