May 17, Banff and Lake Louise, AB - Surprise and Disappointment

 

 

May 17, 2015.  The surprise was the eatery recommended by Chris and Susan. The disappointment was Lake Louise.  There, the storyline is revealed in the first paragraph.  No reason to read the rest of this.

Are you still here?  Well, okay, you asked for it.

We began the day later than usual because we planned to travel only about 100 miles from Calgary to Lake Louise with a stop over in Banff.  The drive was reminiscent of the Colorado Rockies; snow-covered mountains, small in the distance but growing larger and larger as we got closer.  Banff is the only incorporated town within Banff National Park.  It began as, and remains, a tourist attraction.  It was settled in the 1880s by the Canadian Pacific Railway.  It was named by the President of the railroad in honor of his birthplace in Scotland. Today, it serves as a base for people who want to get away from the cities and enjoy the outdoors.

About an hour northwest of Banff is Lake Louise.  I described it previously as among the most beautiful places on earth.  I believe that but today's visit was a disappointment.  I remember it being a sparkling turquoise lake resting in a valley between shimmering snow-covered mountains capped by a knock-your-eyes-out blue sky.  It could be a Swiss postcard.  It is that beautiful.

But, not today.   The lake is still frozen except around the edges.  White ice covers 99 percent of the water.  The color of the lake was indecipherable. Worse, the sky was blanketed with white clouds which blended with the snow on the mountains and the lake.  Instead of distinct colors, it became a mishmash of white and off-white.

The most entertaining thing about the lake was the droves of tourists, many from Asia, taking pictures of one another and themselves.  Selfies were the order of the day.  Several had selfie sticks which they used to take group photos on their phones.  I couldn't leave without taking a picture of the picture takers.  Do you know what the two-finger gesture means?

The surprise was the place we dined for lunch.  The Storm Mountain Lodge is very much like the Baldpate.  It was built in 1922 and continues to serve lodgers and diners today.  On the recommendation of old friends we backtracked from Lake Louise about 20 miles to lunch there.  Annie had a salad and I had barbecue.  No mock surprise, please.  Both were excellent.  There was a hummingbird feeder outside the window next to our table.  We felt right at home.

The tunnels you see above are wildlife crossings.  And, wildlife is abundant.  We spotted two moose (or is it mooses?), elk, deer and a brown bear.  Well, actually Annie spotted the bear.  I believe her because several cars had stopped along the highway to observe.  She said it was bigger than the grizzlies we saw in Denali years back.

We have decided to move west again tomorrow.  We will stop somewhere short of Vancouver Island tomorrow night.  We don't know where.  But, then, that's what makes these trips fun.

Tune in tomorrow if you want to know.  The journey continues.

May 16, 2015. Livingston, MT, to Calgary, AB.

May 16, 2015.  Another day on the road, in the rain, and another 500 miles traveled. Well, another 476 miles traveled, to be exact.  Or, making the metric conversion - as we have to do now that we are in Canada - 766 kilometers.  The weather has been nasty since departing Livingston.  It has rained constantly, sometimes raining so hard that the wipers, at their fastest speed, were unable to clear the windshield fast enough to keep up.  Add to the rain, temperatures in the forties and winds at 25 MPH and you get my characterization of nasty weather.  The wind chill is in the twenties which makes for discomfort in the outdoors.  It also taxes the heat pump in the coach.  But here were are, ten miles west of Calgary, ensconced at Calaway RV Park.  I connected to electricity in about three minutes then rushed back to the coach seeking heat and dry.  The rain turned first to sleet, then snow.  The bicycle seats were photographed from inside T-Harvey.  I didn't want to go back outside.  Brr-rr-rr.

Most of today's pictures are just scenery we encountered on this leg of the trip.  The next-to-last picture is a through-the-windshield-in-the-rain look at the 1988 Winter Olympics site.  We passed through Calgary in the summer of 1988 and saw the site shortly after the Olympic games concluded.

I read somewhere that diesel fuel is about 30% more costly here.  So, I filled the tank about 35 miles south of the Canadian border anticipating the increased cost here.  Nevertheless, a 73.9-liter refill in Calgary cost nearly $76.00.  That's $1.20 a gallon more than in the US.  On top of that, the credit card company sent a fraud alert, by text, asking if it was I who was making purchases in Canada.  Yes, it was me said I.  And, please don't cancel my card.  I have no Canadian money, only US dollars.  After some fast talking I convinced the nice lady on the phone that I really am me.  She made a note on the account that I would be traveling internationally for the next several weeks so other account handlers would know that Canadian purchases were really being made by me.  I hung up the phone hoping that was the last of that.  We will see.

We fell short of our goal today, Banff, Alberta.  Banff is another fifty miles down Highway 1, also called the Trans-Canada Highway because it traverses all ten Canadian provinces .  Malachi was game, but Annie said he should either stop or die.  He chose to stop.  Dying seemed an unacceptable option.

Annie has had enough of these 9-10 hour days sitting in Harvey.  She is worried that Malachi will get another pulmonary embolism and keel over sitting at the wheel.  She makes him exercise every couple of hours.  If we don't stop, she has him bounce his feet while sitting.  He appears to be dancing to some unheard tune.  Malachi can't dance, so the exercise gives the appearance of some poor soul in the midst of  a convulsive spasm.  He jerks, bounces, seizes and jerks again all to the silent sound of some bizarre rhythm.  Elaine Benes would make a compatible dance partner for Malachi.  If he were to do the same thing in public, someone would surely call in an EMT squad.

Poor Malachi.

May 15, 2015. Wall, SD to Livingston, MT.

 

 

 

May 15, 2015.  Annie and I cranked out 500 miles today through rain and fog.  Banff, AB, and Lake Louise is another day's drive from our campground tonight in Livingston, MT.  We may spend a couple of nights around Lake Louise.  It is among the most beautiful places on earth. 

 

There is a new and very nice visitor's center just over the Wyoming border on Interstate 90.  The exhibits are interactive.  Annie had a little trouble mounting the steed on display there.  Malachi had less trouble boarding the horse, but then, he has a higher center of gravity.  The bronze cougar and fawns provide a nice accent to the center. 

 

After nine hours in T-Harvey, we arrived at Osen's RV park.  The critters posed for a photo and we took a walk to compensate for sitting in Harvey so long.   

 

The engine warning light illuminated again today.  I recalled reading in the manual that sometimes air in the fuel line may cause that result.  The recommended remedy is to start the vehicle 3-4 times in quick succession to "bleed" the fuel line.  So, I tried it.  To my astonishment, it worked.  On the fifth restart, the light was off.  I haven't been a fan of reading manuals.  That seems like cheating to me.  It is a little like an open book exam in college.  It takes all the sport out of solving a problem.  However, I am gaining some respect for that approach.  Every now and then, I have found a gem or two.  Today was one of those times.

 

Don't worry.  I won't become a manual reader.  I am too much of a sportsman to do that.    However, occasionally, it becomes necessary when a solution doesn't reveal itself through guesswork or intuition.  Still, I feel a little guilty. 

 

 

 



May 14, 2015, Wall Drug - Wall, SD

 

 

May 14, 2015.  After several hours at the service shop this morning, we departed Sioux Falls after 11:00 AM.  We finished the day at Wall, SD, home of the world famous Wall Drug Store.  We previewed this stop yesterday with a roadside sign advertising Wall Drug.  There are hundreds of those signs within a 250-mile radius of Wall. 

The service done on T-Harvey was a non-event.  The technician opined that several of the engine settings were jimmied during the pre-sale prep of the vehicle by the dealership.  He found nothing wrong and adjusted the set points to where they should be.  It seems to have worked.  We drove 300 miles today without the warning light coming on. 

We also went to a Unity RV shop to check on the radio.  The radio is a complicated Sony product which plays CDs or DVDs.  It has a navigation system and does the dishes.  The problem yesterday was that it would just shut down after 15 seconds.  I went through the manual last night and tried resetting the entire system.  It helped some.  The Unity dealership doesn't work on radios and suggested I return to the Mercedes dealer.  I didn't.  At least I get the radio now and I can also connect my phone to stream satellite radio through the speaker system.  Still, it doesn't work all the time.  I'll do some more tinkering on this trip. 

Today's pictures speak for themselves.  There are some barns - of course - and scenery shots which show the terrain between Sioux Falls and Wall, SD.  It is a nice drive along Interstate 90 with little traffic.  In mid-South Dakota the land tumbles and rolls.  The sky is vast and remarkable, although it was mostly cloudy today. 

We altered the planned route this morning.  We originally were aiming at Regina, SK.  We veered west instead of continuing north.  The road was more appealing and we didn't want to get too far from civilization until Harvey proves himself fit.  We are about 50 miles east of Rapid City tonight and we will have another 100 miles tomorrow before entering Wyoming.  We will then angle toward Calgary, AB.  At least that is the plan tonight.  Who knows what it will be tomorrow night. 

Annie is glaring at me.  She wants me to finish this so she can go to bed.  She can't do that unless I get up so the bed can come down.  I know what that glare means.  It mean SWMBO has spoken.  SWMBO?  "She Who Must Be Obeyed."  Don't you love acronyms?

Good night, mates.  The glare has had its intended effect.

May 13, 2015, The Red Barn Campground - Tea, SD

 

 

 

 

 

May 13, 2015.   History repeats itself.  Four years ago, May 13, 2011, we found ourselves in Tea, SD, on the first night of our long awaited driving trip to Alaska.  We spent the night in the Red Barn Campground.  I slighted the campground by posting a picture of a red shed - see the next to the last photo above - and referring to it as "The Red Barn".  We arrived at the same campground a little earlier today and walked around the campground before dark.  The last picture on this page is the actual red barn, presumably the one after which the campground is named.  My apologies to the proprietor.  I intended no insult.  I was just ignorant.

 

We have critters with us.  The critters are on loan from the grandchildren and BJ.  We promised to photograph them as we travel across Canada and the US, exposing them to more than 5000 miles of North America.  The second photo above is the critters resting on the windshield, waiting for us to depart.  The other two pictures show them taking a buckboard ride, here at the campground. 

 

There are a couple of just interesting pictures on this page.  One is an old clapboard shed, the owner of which evidently receives satellite TV.  The second is a scarred, dead tree.  The puffy circle is a growth where one of its limbs was removed.   It looks like one of those whoopee cushions Annie Farkley used following one of her many pregnancies. 

 

Now, the common theme of this trip with others we've taken recently:  the engine warning light came on today as we neared Sioux Falls, SD.  I don't know what it means and the owner's manual doesn't know what it means.  It could mean I am out of fuel.  I am not.  I refilled 20 miles back.  It could mean the diesel emission device requires more DEF.  It doesn't.  I filled the DEF tank yesterday.  Annie Farkley, the book and I don't know what the light is trying to tell us.  We are hoping the Mercedes service manager in Sioux Falls can tell us at 10:00 AM tomorrow.  

 

And, so it goes.