Today was a travel day to Fort Nelson BC. 284 miles. BUMPY road today, We thought we were on the high seas. It was slow going. We have been traveling the last several days with 3 other rigs. Nice group of people. Every one is eager to enjoy and share the experience.

Did you know that you cannot farm mustard in Canada because mustard seeds can cross contaminate with canola seeds? Just an FYI

We are headed to Dawson Creek, BC today. Total of 285 miles to travel. There was a presentation from the visitor’s center about the Alaska highway being built. Interesting. When you realize the conditions all I can say is better man/woman than me. That was followed by a nice chicken dinner with all the group. As you can see by the pictures we have arrived at mile 0 to the Alaska Highway.

guess they wanted to be sure everyone gets a picture

The drive to our new spot was 227 miles. We are in Jasper, AB. Alan and I can now say we have been on a glacier. A unique experience. The Columbia Ice Fields are what you see on tv all the time when they talk about the glaciers receding. Stopped at the Athabaskan Falls on the way. Really did not appreciate how beautiful Canada is and what is has to offer

Drove 226 miles today. We are at a national park. We will be here 3 days. Arrived and simply enjoyed the evening. There were gophers at the end of our site. Too cute. Went on a tour bus and stopped at Lake Louise, Takakkaw Falls (got so close my shirt and hair were damp) a “natural” bridge, the Emerald Lake. Had a lovely lunch at the Lake Louise Ski Lodge. Next day took a small side tour. It was only “ok”. We definitely did not enjoy the public transportation in Banff. The town of Banff was soooooo crowded. The height of tourist season. $6.00 for a very small cup of ice cream after waiting in line for 20 minutes.

The 20th was our first official day of traveling together. We did 226 miles ending up in Fairmont, BC. where there are hot springs. We have been warned that once we get to Alaska these types of campgrounds will no longer exist. We are nestled in a valley of mountains that are breathtaking. Food for the soul. I took pictures but then deleted them because pictures do not do the mountains justice. In the distance you can see the snow caps. Alan and I actually took a hike today with several of our new friends. I don’t think I’ve hiked in more than 20 years! Going to buy walking sticks in the next town so we can look the part. Alan and I were the only ones without them. It has been an easy two days just visiting and getting to know the members of our group.

On travel days Charlie comes around and thumps everyone’s tires for soundness.

Errands, maintenance and paperwork the last two days. Got the fog light fixed on the truck to the tune of $600.00. Ouch. But they had to take the whole nose off to do. Called 18 groomers. Earliest appointment available for Layla was September! Alan fixed the two drawers that the bottoms fell out of. I washed the RV. Just took off the first layer of dust. The last of our fellow travelers arrived. They were delayed due to mechanical troubles. We can relate. Had our first official event. A drivers meeting followed by a delicious dinner at a hotel in Coeur d’Alene. Quite the upscale place. Reminded us of Vegas actually. Walked the floating boardwalk out to the attached marina. It is the longest floating dock in the world. All the boat slips have individual canopies. Can’t imagine what dock space costs here. Just saying. Saw a beautiful 25 foot mahogany Chris Craft boat. It has obviously been lovingly cared for. Tomorrow is our first travel day as a group. Will be in Canada 🍁 tomorrow night.

More errands today. Went to Cabela’s today, Then off to Campers World. Did grocery shopping at Walmart, then Safeway. Picked up shish kabobs for supper with a nice fresh salad. Very tasty. Did some cooking for the freezer. Then went to another meet and greet. The group is getting bigger. I think there are 4 more people coming. That’s all for today.

Very short driving day today. Only 150 miles. We have arrived at our rendezvous point of Coeur d’Alene, ID. All I can say is we have never been to a gated RV park. Had to sign a THREE page document which stated all the rules and disclaimers. No tents or campfires 🔥 here. Does anyone remember the song from the Jeffersons – Moving On Up To The East Side? That’s us! They messed up our reservation. We were supposed to have a pull thru. So we had to take the truck and the motorcycle off before getting into our spot. Annoying. This place is all brick and mortar. And certainly not the family owned type of place we are used to. Had a lot of errands to do today. Found a GMC dealer. Have an appointment for Tuesday at 7:30 am to fix a broken turn signal. Found a place to store the motorcycle for 2 months. ☹️ No riding for awhile. Found a car wash and cleaned up the truck. Tried to get an appointment to have the dogs groomed. Petco can do Layla in September (not a typo). She would look like a woolly mammoth at that point. Going to google and see what I can find on Monday. Fingers crossed. Also tried to book a dinner cruise. Hah – not a chance. I had no idea what a hot spot Coeur d’Alene was. Apparently quite the tourist town. Everything has to be booked months in advance. Met the wagon master and the tail gunners of our trip. There was a meet and great with a few of our fellow travelers. So far they all seem very pleasant.

Today was a laundry and housekeeping day. Enough said. Went into town to have a “world famous” huckleberry float. Pretty good. The restaurant is a combination saloon, casino, motel, restaurant and gift shop. As you can see the gift shop saw Alan coming.

Took a drive along Camel 🐪 Hump Road. Zzzzzz. Win some, lose some.

Alan tried a little more fishing

Today was a “just relax and enjoy the views kind of day. We decided to go to the Bison 🦬 Range. It was too hot to take the bike – the temperature today is a toasty 93 degrees. Also, motorcycles are not allowed on any of the dirt roads which means you can pretty much only hike the trails that start at the visitor’s center. The 20 mile twisty road took almost 3 hours to complete. We did manage to see a bit of wildlife.

Alan got up at 5:30 this morning to go fishing 🎣. We had sausage and peppers for supper – ha ha🤣. The photographer was NOT available at that hour but Alan said he did at least look the part.

Can you guess what is wrong with the picture below? Hint – that is my new skillet cover.

Bought that skillet last year for the camper – never unpacked enough to notice there was a part missing. Pretty useless without it.

We will enjoy one more day here then we will be on our way to meet up with our traveling companions and hopefully new friends.