200709

SATURDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2007 – It’s still raining when we get up so we might as well press on.  Since coming back into BC we’ve noticed most of the trees in their autumn colours but this doesn’t seem quite right as they are supposed to be evergreens.  It’s a scenic route with fine views of rivers and mountains but the idiots who overtake us on the double yellow lines don’t seem to care.  Not only that but many come past us hooting their horns as they are far too impatient to be held up by a motorhome chugging along at 80kph!  The rain has stopped when we arrive at the turning to Wells Gray Provincial Park so we decide to drive in as far as the paved road goes.  After 10km we are impressed by Spahats Falls, leaping out of a crack in a tall gorge it’s really stunning.  Nearby Shaden viewpoint gives us a sweeping vista down the valley below.  The drive takes us through a valley lined with Swiss style chalets and ranches.  Dawson Falls are more on the Niagara style, wide and curved and equally good viewed from below and above.  The grand finale is Helmichen Falls a very dramatic high single drop into a rocky gorge.  Backtracking to the main road we must have blinked as we missed the town of Blackpool, certainly not something you could do with the English counterpart.  Turn off onto highway 24 aka the Fishing Highway because of all the lakes.  Soon find a forest track to provide us with a quiet overnight parking place

FOREST TRACK OFF HIGHWAY 24                       

SUNDAY 2 SEPTEMBER – There are many lakes by the highway but they seem to be either inaccessible by vehicle or the shores are taken up with holiday homes.  A huge area of forest has been cleared and a sign declares “savage harvesting of ice storm damaged timber”, maybe this is why the trees have turned brown?  The road climbs over the hills and we get a super view of Lac Des Roches and finally get the truth about the brown trees.  Beetles have taken a hold and devastated the forest in this area; man controlling fires has encouraged this as they like the mature trees best.  We try numerous tracks in an attempt to get a parking spot by a lake but holiday homes are everywhere.  At least we get a good look at all the different style log cabins.  Get the feeling we are not going to find any free camping in this area.  Turn off to the touristy Green Lake where it’s cheap to camp on the Provincial Park Emerald campground.  Secure us a site with a super view over the lake and in no time at all Steve has a roaring log fire going.  He takes the bucket to the pump to fetch some of the “safe drinking water” and comes back with a bucket of sludge, the lake water being clear and much better looking.   Just starting to relax when the heavens open up and rain dowses the fire and drives us inside.  Lying in bed we hear a tapping noise and look out to see a magnificent red headed woodpecker on the tree nearby.  Constant observation reveals a black and grey one then a baby with red head.  The only time we open the door is when the ranger calls for the money.

GREEN LAKE, EMERALD CAMPGROUND

$14 (£7)

MONDAY 3 SEPTEMBER – The site is still full as it is Labour Day public holiday today and the children don’t go back to school until tomorrow.  Detour off route to visit “painted chasm”, not overly impressive but we could have easily free camped in the car park overnight.  Pass through the old mining town of Clinton then enter the Marble Canyon with its 3 different colour lakes.  In the Fountain area the scenery gets really impressive as we are high up above a wide gorge and can see the river and rocks down below.  Dropping down to Lillooet we see lots of blue tarpaulins at the side of the river, first nation people drying salmon the feed themselves through the winter.  We need to get on the Internet to do some banking as the sale of our Keighley house went through on Friday.  Fraser Cover has attractive sites on the river, a sandy beach and free wi-fi.  All well and good except the funds have not gone in to our account.  Still there are worse places to hole up.

LILLOOET, FRASER COVE CAMPGROUND

$15.90, (£8) without electric.

TUESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER – First port of call is the town of Lillooet where huge chunks of jade are dotted around town as a reminder of the mining days.  It’s a funny old town, as it seems to have been built on the mining seams.  We need the launderette but its closed on 2, 3 and 4^th September.  Continue our journey towards Vancouver up over mountains then down into valleys and over single lane rickety wooden bridges crossing pretty streams, all very beautiful.  Once again it seems the more scenic the highway the worse the condition of roads as we rattle and bump our way along.  There’s an abundance of really nice free camping spots by the river and we stop to check one out at Roger Creek.  They are properly signed recreation areas but there is no charge.  Walk around and pick a flat site by the river then return to move the van but can’t.  We are locked out due to me letting my door slam shut after putting my hand on the automatic locking button.  Steve can see the keys in the ignition and I can see my handbag on the floor with the spare key inside it.  We have another spare set of keys in the bathroom cabinet for dire emergencies knowing that at a push we can break in through the skylight but first we want to check out alternatives.  There’s a car parked up and we ask if we can borrows his keys on the long shot that they will fit.  They don’t but it gives us an introduction to Andy who emigrated to Vancouver 18 months ago from Derbyshire.  He comes over to try and help us as he has some tools with him.  We try jiggling the sliding windows but to know avail so Steve & Andy remove the rubber around the back window hoping the window will drop out.  Meanwhile I go up onto the road to see if any motorhomes like ours go past in the vague hope that their keys will fit.  The first one to stop is another fellow Englishman from down south.  He is a panel beater and when his keys don’t work he says he knows how to break in quite easily through the cab door.  He tries his usual trick with a piece of wire but somehow this recent model American Fords has him beaten.  He has a deadline in Whistler so leaves us and wanders off muttering that he would have been inside in minutes on an English motor!  Steve and Andy now go up on the roof and prise the roof vent open then use Andy’s knife to cut through the fly screen mesh.  We soon have the spare keys out and get ourselves back into the van.  Lesson learned, as we will find a better more easily accessible place for a spare key in future.  Meanwhile we realise that the flies and mosquitoes are a problem here so we won’t stay anyway!  More stunning scenery as we pass Duffey Lake with a log jam at one end and superb views of snowy mountains at the other.  It’s 400m to walk to the lower Joffre Lake, a typical green one with a glacier in the distance.  The road becomes very steep, 11%, and winding down to Lillooet Lake.  There’s free camping on the shores but we soon realise the narrow bumpy road is not for us but can’t turn around.  The road is rutted, has potholes and rocks and we are giving Harry a real shake up.  After 3km we find a spot to pull over and flag a car down to ask about the camping.  It’s another 5km and he says the road is just as good as the one we have come on!  Back on the main highway we stop 3km south of Pemberton at Nairn Falls Provincial Park where there are some lovely sites above the river.  It’s now a hot afternoon so we sit out sunbathing then take a late walk to the falls, 1 ½ km each way, not all that high but we get very close and the water is a beautiful colour.  Final stroll of the day is to the campsite beach area where I spot a salmon jumping out of the water.  The ranger calls to collect the fees and warns us to keep all our food inside, as there are bears in the area. 

NR PEMBERTON, NAIRN FALLS PROVINCIAL PARK

$14 (£7)

WEDNESDAY 5 SEPTEMBER – Arrive in Whistler a pretty purpose built ski resort in a valley surrounded by snowy mountains.  It’s really very pretty and there are lots of quirky artworks scattered around the pedestrian only centre.  At the library we find the money from our Keighley house has now gone into our account so for a few minutes we feel rich until we transfer it to a savings bond.  At the visitor centre we are asking a few questions and somehow end up at another desk where we are easily talked into giving up 90 minutes of our time to go to a sales presentation.  It’s not time-share but surely something like it however in order to get the free $100 shopping voucher it seems worth doing.  Club Intrawest is similar to timeshare but you buy points and can use them within many other organisations including RCI and Disney.  At US$21,000 (£10,500) for 125 points it's an interesting concept but definitely not for us.   Spend the next hour spending our voucher, not as easy as normal as we will be leaving our motorhome parked up for 10 days and have just run the fridge and freezer down.  Make use of the launderette at the Riverside campground, $3 (£1.50) a load.  Cal Creek 15km south of town is our overnight stop.  There are 3 campgrounds and the 2^nd one is supposed to be the best but we’re only here overnight so take the first site.  OK but a bit dismal being under the trees. 

CAL CREEK

$10 (£5)

THURSDAY 6 SEPTEMBER – Clearing out the freezer means we get to have a cooked breakfast.  Get a bit more than we bargained for when I see flames shooting up under the kettle.  We have a couple of small rubber mats to stop the cooker cover moving and one has got stuck to the bottom of the kettle and is on fire.  Luckily I was near enough to spot the problem and deal with it quickly.  Continue south on the sea to the sky highway (or in our case sky to sea).  Preparations for the 2010 Olympics are well under way with the widening of the road.  Squamish is a pleasant service town presided over by a huge rock, the second largest to Gibraltar.  Shannon Falls south of town are worth a quick look but we can tell we are getting near to Vancouver as they charge $1 (50p) hour for parking.  The journey is still very scenic with more beautiful lakes and mountain.  Porteau Cove Provincial Park is on the waterfront opposite some islands.  We are early enough to bag ourselves a waterfront site and spend the day alternating between sitting out in the sun and doing odd jobs.  It’s one of the more expensive provincial park campgrounds but at least they have flush toilets, warm showers and electric points in the ablutions block enabling me to dry and straighten my hair.  Now not only can we hear the railway but we can also see it as the track is directly behind the campground with the road just beyond it, no chance of peace and quiet. 

PORTEAU COVE PROVINCIAL PARK

$22 (£11)

FRIDAY 7 SEPTEMBER – Nice quiet night – not.  Not only did we get the trains and traffic noise but also between 3am and 5am they were blasting rocks.  It’s an easy journey to Vancouver and we pick up the motorway #1 to avoid the city itself.  We’ve arranged to leave Harry parked at a host in South Surrey and easily find his home as he lives quite close to where Auntie Joan lived.  Bill is a retired fire fighter and busy getting his home ready as he is off on a 7-week trip to Europe tomorrow.  His wife Marlene works in the city and stays in their apartment there through the week.  As a hobby Bill makes outdoor chairs from driftwood and has some wonderful examples in his garden.  We have plenty to do in the van, packing to go to cousin Chris’s tomorrow for 2 nights then on to a host in New Westminster for 2 nights before setting off on our 1 week cruise.  Bill is having a leaving party and we are invited to join in.  His father Bill is the first to arrive and we have lots to chat about as he used to be a motorhomer.  Verne & Amanda arrive next, an interesting couple that are building on Savory Island.  Other guests are Pat & Dodie, Terry & Diane, Tim with his dog Molly and Bills kids Nathan and Sydney and Bills wife Marlene.  Bill has cooked hockey pucks and gravy, a sort of huge meatball cooked in gravy with onions and mushrooms.  Bill, Terry & Pat are off on a 3 week rugby tour around Britain so everyone is in a jolly mood and we have a great time and stay on late around a wood fire in the garden.  Would have great to have spent even more time with everyone. 

WHITE ROCK

SATURDAY 8 SEPTEMBER – Chris drives a small 2-seater sports car so has rented a car in order to pick us up.  We’ve not seen her for 5 years but she looks much the same when she calls for us.  Drive to Earls restaurant where we wait for John (Auntie Joan’s partner) to arrive.  He joins us for lunch and we catch up on his news.  Think we tire him out as he leaves straight after lunch to go home for a nap.  Back at Chris’s place in Coquitlam we settle in before I go out with Chris to the local shops.  Her partner John arrives home after 7pm and joins us for our evening chilli meal. 

COQUITLAM

SUNDAY 9 SEPTEMBER – John & Chris return the rental car early then Steve & John go off together so that John can give Steve a bit of a speed thrill in his sports car.  Chris takes me down to Granville Island where we wonder around the interesting market selling produce and crafts.  It’s a gorgeous day so we sit out by the waterfront having a cake and drink.  Call at an interesting furniture store and arrive back early afternoon to spend the afternoon chilling out.  John cooks a tasty pasta alfredo with crab for our evening meal.

COQUITLAM 2

MONDAY 10 SEPTEMBER – Chris & John have to go to work but say we can stay until it’s time for us to leave late afternoon.  Needless to say I spend the time on the computer and Steve watching TV.  Chris has told us how to exit via the parking bay but not how to get the door to open.  Eventually figure out that we must pretend to be a car and tread on a pipe that crosses the road to activate the remote.  Walk down the hill to catch the sky train, $2.10 (£1) for one sector, to New Westminster station.  From there we head off to find our host Janice.  New Westminster is on the Fraser River so we make our way down to the waterfront to walk along the boardwalk.  Steve pops in to check out the casino on a paddle steamer.  It sit underneath the biggest tin solder in the world and whist waiting a lady coasts past in her disability scooter and I admire her ice cream.  No sooner has she gone past than it occurs to me that she looks like the picture we have seen of our host Janice who has recently had a foot operation.  However I can’t for the life of me bring her name to mind quickly enough to shout after her!  Steve comes back and we begin our walk with the trolleys rattling along the boards.  Cross paths with the scooter lady and almost simultaneously make the connection.  She leads us to her Quayside 17^th floor apartment with stunning views as far as snow-clad Mount Barker in America.  On the River below we see the tug boats pulling the logs and acting rather like sheep dogs as they double back to push any strays into line.  We’ve so much in common with Janice that the time goes fast and we appreciate sitting out in the warm sun on her balcony and even eat supper there. 

NEW WESTMINSTER

TUESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER – Janice is a teacher but not working full time at the moment so around to spend the day with us.  She has a boot on her foot just like I had last year but can’t stand up for more than 10 minutes.  As well as the mobility scooter she has a wheelchair so we take this down to her car for a ride out.  Luckily it’s her left foot in the boot and she has an automatic vehicle.  We head out towards the airport and park parallel to the tarmac runway and also the river that the floatplanes use for their landing strip.  Next we move to a viewing area laid out like a miniature version of the airport complete with numbered runways.  Now we can lie down directly under the path of planes that are landing but unfortunately today it is only the smaller ones using this flight path.  Next stop is the area known as Little India where Janice recommends the vegetarian buffet $9.99 (£5) lunch at “India All Sweets”. Follow this up with a visit to Queen Elizabeth Park with views over the city, albeit mostly obscure by trees.  Return to New Westminster where we stay in the apartment whilst Janice goes out for the evening giving me chance to iron and pack our stuff ready for the cruise.  A tug goes past with an incredibly long log load behind.  So much so that we can’t see from one end to the other and 2 other tugs are escorting it.  They all come in to play when one section breaks away and they congregate to push the logs back in line with some of the men climbing onto the logs themselves.

NEW WESTMINSTER 23

WEDNESDAY 12 SEPTEMBER – Janice is working this afternoon so we tag along with her back to the skytrain station.  We are like a convoy with Janice on her scooter between Steve & I with our trolley bags.  We have to travel 2 sectors on the skytrain $3.25 (£1.60).  They are unmanned so the person on the single seat at the front looks like they are driving.  Arrive at waterfront where it’s a short walk to the cruise terminal at Canada Place.  There are huge queues at check in but most people have arrived by other means and been relieved of their luggage.  We are segregated to a seating area of non-Canadian or Americans.  American security was beefed up due to the anniversary of 911 so we have quite a delay and it’s well over an hour before we are ready to board the ship and that’s with us doing an on line check in procedure.  Board the, 1400 passenger carrying ship, Holland America Zaandam to be directed to the Lido deck and poolside area where there are buffets.  Outside you can get tacos and beef burger type snacks and inside is a full buffet including an ice cream bar.  We attempt to restrain ourselves but you may not think so looking at our plates!  An announcement soon goes out that our cabins area ready and this is where we benefit from bringing our luggage along, as we don’t have to wait for it to be delivered to our cabin.  We’ve been upgraded from HH class to C and have a lovely outside stateroom on the lower promenade deck 3.  It’s quite spacious with a mini sofa seating area, TV & DVD player and bathroom with a small tub.  There’s a nice bottle of red wine in the room with a “Happy Anniversary” gift card and we are stunned to find it is from our Dutch friends Henk & Clara from Hungary.  Steve finds sport on TV so I leave him channel surfing whilst exploring the ship in order to find where to change our dining arrangements to an earlier sitting.  Certain areas of the ship are a bit like a “Hard Rock Café” with lots of musical memorabilia including guitars from Queen and Bill Clintons Sax.  It’s a very luxurious ship with many different themed bars and seating areas and I am suitably impressed, especially given that we have only paid £317.50 each!  The atrium runs through 3 floors with pride of place a very ornate 3-story organ with moving figures.  I manage to change our mealtime but the 6pm is full so I get 5.30pm.  We have a programme of events so I pick up Steve to join me for a tour of the spa where all the treatments are tempting, but not the prices.  4.15pm is a very comprehensive lifeboat drill with everyone checked off by name upon reaching the muster station with lifejacket in place.  By the time we have done that and another orientation walk of the ship it’s getting on towards our sailing time of 5pm so we head back to the cabin to change.  Tonight is casual dress, men in collared shirts, and no jeans.  From the aft pool deck there are stunning views of Vancouver as we head up the coast, keep having to pinch myself to believe it is real!  We have been given a window seat on a table for 6 but seem to be the only ones attending tonight.  The food is first class and I enjoy an unusual starter of chilled blueberry soup and we both finish with baked Alaska.  In spite of the dress code the majority of people look extremely casual with many in jeans and T-shirts.  Leaving the restaurant we catch the liqueur sampling at the duty free shop en route to the early show. Dave Levesque is a fantastic violin player who combines his skills with a comedy act, different and rather good.  We then wander around the ship checking out the different entertainment and pick up some popcorn in the cinema followed by a late night snack.  In the casino they have a late night free raffle and champagne so we make that our last stop for the night.

HOLLAND AMERICA ZAANDAM 1

LEAVING VANCOUVER FOR ALASKA

THURSDAY 13 SEPTEMBER – Our 32^nd wedding anniversary and we wake just before 7.30am and peer out of our window to see - nothing.  It’s daylight but raining and misty.  Minutes later there is a knock on the door, room service delivering our breakfast.   Steve gets stuck into the activity programme flagging the things we want to do or making choices where things clash.  We are at sea all day and he seems determined to make the most of the things on offer.  At 9am we are in the theatre for the shoppers presentation where we learn the best buys within each port, particularly appropriate as there is only 1 cruise after ours so end of season sales proliferate.  This presentation is immediately followed by one about our destinations, a sort of shore excursion sales ploy mixed with great info.  There are many different specialists on board in addition to the personal shopper, and this guy is a naturalist.   Steve ducks out part way through to go to the casino for free gaming tuition before we rendezvous back in the cabin.  Must schedule a sleep for later as this is already getting quite tiring.  The weather improves and we have lovely views of the shore and many islands as we continue north along the coast of Canada.  Free champagne is provided at the art auction after which we get a break until the evening.  It’s formal night tonight and I must say we do scrub up rather well although it’s strange seeing Steve in a suit when we are not going to a wedding or a funeral!  Take Henk & Clara’s gifted bottle of wine to the evening meal where Aussies Tony & Helen from North Adelaide and sisters Anna and Joan from Tauranga New Zealand join us.  After our main course the dining staff come over with a chocolate cake complete with candle and Happy Anniversary.  They gather round and proceed to sing the Happy Birthday songs replacing the words with Happy Anniversary lovely couple!  Don’t think I will be mentioning Steve’s birthday later in the week.  Anyway it’s another excellent meal with good company and a great way for us to celebrate.  Steve goes to the evening Broadway musicals show whilst I enjoy “Shrek 3” at the cinema amongst about 30 adults and 2 children.  Meet up back at the room where I find Steve fast asleep.

ZAANDAM 2, CRUISING NORTH UP THE COAST OF CANADA

FRIDAY 14 SEPTEMBER – We entered USA, ALASKA in the early hours of the morning so have to put our clocks back an hour (now 9 hours behind BST).  Steve is wide away before daylight at 5am enabling us to see the pink sunrise over the land.  Taking an early breakfast on the Lido deck Steve spots whales quite close to the ship.  We sit out on the promenade deck and then have fun watching people point out all the whales, many of which are icebergs.  Pop up to Rotterdam restaurant for a hot chocolate and end up being Hobbits and having a second breakfast.  It’s nearly 10am and time for the ship to turn into Tracey Arm for our scenic cruise.  Instead we get an announcement from the Captain saying we have a lady on board who is in ICU so we are going full steam ahead for Juneau to get her to a hospital.  I spoke to a passenger early in the cruise who said there is an “incident” almost every week on the Holland America line, maybe a reflection of the general age of the passengers.  No sooner are we under way than we hit a huge bank of fog and that’s about it until we approach the capital city of Juneau.  Amazingly it is not raining, anything without rain is considered a beautiful day in Juneau.  It can be 50 below, blowing a gale, ear high in snow with a tsunami coming through the bay but it doesn’t rain it’s a beautiful day.   We disembark at 11.30am 3-hours ahead of schedule.  Our centre of town docking leads us straight into the touristy shopping area.  We stroll around and use many of our coupons to get little free gifts whilst being enticed into buying other things once in the store.  Surprisingly many things are very cheap compared to the lower 48 (Alaskans name for the rest of the USA).  Return to drop the shopping off and have a bite to eat then explore a bit of the old mining town before our 2.30pm rendezvous with Couch Surfing host John at the State museum.  John soon establishes that we are a bit museumed out and would prefer to skip through the highlights of town then see a few lesser-known things.  He begins by walking us to the Centennial Hall rooftop viewing point, talking about the city history en route.  Once back from the waterfront the city rises quickly up towards the mountains so streets are steep and often have pedestrian staircases between them and sometimes lifts within buildings that you can use.  In the State Capitol building John points out a portrait of a lady with a pair of earring in the bottom of the frame.  She must have found many of the meetings boring because one earring says “in” and one says “out” (i.e. in one ear and out the other)!  We quickly cover the city highlights and end up in the hills near dramatic waterfalls.  John walks us along the start of the Perseverance Trail leading us across the river so we can walk back along the covered wooden flume to meet him at the other end.  He picks us up in his car, an ex police vehicle giving us our first ride in an American Police car.  Heading out of the centre we are amazed to see a dual carriageway running beside the old road.  Juneau is inaccessible by land so these roads all lead to nowhere but are very busy doing so.  Stop to look at the salmon ladder at the hatchery where fish are making their way upstream to spawn before dying.  Alaska Gold brewery gives a free tour and very generous samples.  The tour guide has a passion for beer and gives an unusually interesting talk whilst constantly making sure everyone’s glass is topped up.  Steve particularly likes their smoked dark ale.  By the time we get to Mendenhall Glacier on the outskirts of town the tour buses have all left so it’s easy to wander around the boardwalks.  It’s quite a spectacle as the glacier is calving and there are lots of bergs in the lake below.  Salmon are in all the meandering streams and it’s easy to see where bear have trampled the grass to catch them and then abandoned the fish after eating their favourite bits, also pretty smelly.  John drops us back at the ship at 6pm after a most interesting afternoon, far better than doing an organised tour sights and we’ve learnt a lot about his life in Alaska to boot.  We’ve missed our early meal sitting but get in on the 8.15pm one and sit with a Taiwanese family.  David Deeble features in the evening show. He’s from Los Angeles and also known as the world’s funniest juggler and has us in stitches when he juggles ping-pong balls out of his mouth.

ZAANDAM 3, JUNEAU PORT

SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER – Wake up in Skagway but are still surprised to look out of the window and find we are face to face with a cliff face plastered in graffiti.  Not your normal graffiti but a record of the different ships and captains that have been anchored here over the years.  It is far from a beautiful day with rain and accompanied by a strong cold wind.  Skagway became famous as the gateway to Dawson City during the gold rush and we walk to the nearby town info centre to learn more.  There are many attractive buildings along “Broadway” fronted by raised wooden (slippery) paths to walk along.  A&B building, the most photographed in Alaska, has a false facia of 1000’s of pieces of driftwood but almost all the other buildings also make for good photos.  Interesting as it is we don’t hang around in the cold and give up on the idea of our planned walk to the cemetery and waterfalls up in the hills.  Opt for the cinema in the evening to watch the latest Bruce Willis movie. ZAANDAM 4, SKAGWAY

SATURDAY 25 AUGUST – Head through the small town of Eureka then to the border at Roosville.  There is no queue and after a few cursory questions we are back in CANADA in BRITISH COLUMBIA.  Head to Cranbrook where we have been offered a place to park up overnight.  Hospitality Club host Rhia is working until mid afternoon.  She lives with her Mum Gina who invites us into the house where we spend time chatting before being taken on a tour of the town.  There’s nothing special about it but it’s a good service centre.  The info centre was burnt down by animal rights activists in 1999 because of its stuffed animal display but has been reopened on the same spot and the new “wildlife museum” features stuffed road kill!  In Wal Mart the check out operator asks me where I am from as her husband is from Leeds.  I tell her Yorkshire and she asks if I am the new family that have just moved into town.  As I leave the store I see that Steve has bumped into the new residents who have emigrated here from Huddersfield!  Join Rhia and Gina for an evening meal that includes the famous locally grown corn on the cobs. 

CRANBROOK

SUNDAY 26 AUGUST – We are invited into the house for a home baked scone breakfast, delicious.  It’s late morning when we head off to the highest city in Canada and one of its silliest.  After the closure of the mine someone decided to transform it into a Bavarian village and built false fascias onto the buildings and started selling Bavarian style goods and food.  The centrepiece is the Bavarian Platzl complete with the biggest cuckoo clock in Canada.  Somehow although kitsch it seems to work, even the fire hydrants painted to look like Bavarian characters.  The next point of interest on our journey is the Dutch Creek Hoodoos, huge weather worn cliffs right at the side of the road.  Fairmont is famous for the hot springs resort but we’ve been given a tip off that rather than pay $9 to use the commercial swimming pool you can walk down stream to a section of natural pools fed by water from the commercial one.  In fact there are 2 sections, one with a waterfall dropping in to a large natural rock pool and another where water trickles down a sort of rocky slide into a small pool.  Not exactly hot water but warm enough for a good soak and much more attractive than the concrete rectangle above us.  At Windermere on the edge of the lake we have a free camping spot offered by Kerstin whose parents own a roadside fruit & veg selling shop.  We get a free ice cream and a place to park round the back.  Kerstin and her friend are off to Australia in October so gather lots of info from us.

WINDERMERE

MONDAY 27 AUGUST – We go into the shop to buy some produce before leaving but Kerstin insists on us having it for free.  At Radium we enter Kooteney National Park (inc in pass) and stop at Olive Lake to walk around to the spot where the natural spring bubbles up.  On the main highway Steve spots a black bear on the grass verge nibbling away at the berries totally oblivious to all the traffic racing past.  Unfortunately we have too many cars behind us for us to slow and get a photo but are still very excited about our first bear sighting.  Verdant Creek is picture perfect and venturing further into the park we reach area with snow-capped mountain.  Many fires have gone through over the years but with this type of tree the scars remain visible long after.  There is a short walk to the attractive Nuna Falls and a longer one to the “Paint Pots” where the aboriginals mined ochre.  The minute we leave the park we enter ALBERTA and Banff National Park.  Turn onto the Bow Valley Parkway towards Banff in order to do the Johnston Canyon walk.  2.9km take you to the second waterfalls but it’s a great walk almost from the start.  Following the river up into the gorge there are many rapids and interesting rock formations.  In many parts you are on a catwalk fixed into the sheer side of the gorge.  The first falls are very impressive dropping down into a lovely blue pool and with a close up view through a small cave.  The second falls are different again with calcium terraces at the side.  All in all a most excellent walk.  Back track and continue through Lake Louise (visited previously) and onto the Icefields Parkway.  More stunning scenery on all sides and more of the beautiful blue water in lakes and rivers.  Settle onto Mosquito Campground for the night and hope there aren’t too many around.

BANFF NATIONAL PARK, MOSQUITO CAMPGROUND

$14.85 (£7)

TUESDAY 28 AUGUST – It’s been a 2 duvet, 1 blanket + hot water bottle night and still chilly.  It takes 1-hour for the central heating to bring the van up to temperature in the morning.  Continuing along the Icefields Parkway we reach the lookout for Crowfoot Glacier just at the moment when the mist clears for a short time.  There’s an interesting environmentally friendly information machine powered by the turn of a handle.  Park up at Bow Lake near to the historical Num-Ti-Jah Lodge.  It’s strange shape too into account that only short lengths of wood were available when it was built in 1920 but this adds to its character.  We are here to do the Bow Glacier Falls hike, 3.7km each way with 155m ascent.   The views are superb as we head around the gorgeous green/blue misty Bow Lake.  Amongst rocks below a landslide we manage to pick out the well-camouflaged piko, a sort of small rabbit crossed with a rat.  Next we cross a stream to head onwards through a boulder-strewn valley before beginning a big climb.  As the morning progresses the mist lifts and we can see recent snow on the mountaintops.   We’re heading up the side of a narrow gorge where a huge bolder has jammed across it giving us an excellent downward viewing area.  The finale of our walk is to emerge from the narrow valley opposite Bow Glacier Falls.  Walking out is equally dramatic with stunning views in all directions. Back at the lodge we notice some marques and lots of activity.  We find out that they are shooting a commercial for a new Toyota car and the theme is a woman in the forest who makes one out of leaves.  We see them take their fake leaf model out to the fields to film it.  40km into the Parkway there’s an excellent uphill hike to the Peyto Lake.  Said to be one of the finest vistas in the Rockies it will certainly take some beating with the glacial moraine leading into a long bright blue lake that draws your eyes onwards to snow capped peaks.  Km 71 is our next stop with a 500m rough descent to view Mistaya Canyon.  Totally different from all the other ones this is very narrow but twisted and very dramatic.  At Saskatchewan River Crossing Steve is delighted to find a pub with big screen TV as Liverpool are playing.  His excitement is short lived as the match is not being televised but we make it our lunch stop and warm up with some home made tomato and lentil soup.  We’ve done enough hiking for the day so stop at KM88 Rampart Creek campground.  It seems much quieter than last nights especially as we opt for a site in the back loop, the riverside ones are beautiful but the river is very noisy.  There are now envelopes at the honesty box so we assume a ranger will call.

RAMPART CREEK

$14.85 (£7)

WEDNESDAY 29 AUGUST –The rain wakes us up early.  No one has called for any fees so we figure that if we make a break now we will have had a freebie!  In spite of the rain it’s a clear morning so we get a fine view of the weeping wall before climbing “the hill” at the top of which we photograph Bridal Falls.  Arrive at the Parker Ridge trailhead but the rain is worse and there’s a bitterly cold wind so back to bed for a couple of hours.  By the time we have had a snooze and then breakfast it is 10am and the weather still poor so we give up on the hike and continue into Jasper National Park to Columbia Icefield centre.  This is a highlight of the park with a huge and busy visitor centre.  We are parked directly opposite the toe of the Athabasca Glacier and the scenery is outstanding.  I’m keener than Steve to do the tour onto the Icefield so go it alone.  The $35.95 (£7.50), 90-minute trip begins with a conventional bus out to the edge of the glacier.  There we change to a specially designed 6-wheeler Ice Explorer giant all terrain vehicle.  Begin with a 35% descent onto the ice for our drive up through the Icefield with an interesting commentary.  Once we are parked up everyone gets off the bus to wander around and takes photos.  It’s incredibly cold but we have a great view of the surrounding area and other glaciers.  When I get back I find that Steve has been chatting to one of the rangers who has recommended a better walk for us rather than the long steep hikes to Parkers Ridge or Wilcox Pass but it is further along the road.  After lunch we drive across to the Glacier car park from which there is a steep walk to the toe. Many signs warn of the hazards of leaving the cordoned off area.  In 2001 a young boy fell into a crevice and died of hypothermia before he could be pulled free.  In spite of this we see many people venturing beyond the safe section seemingly totally oblivious to the dangers.  We opt to walk along the moraine below the glacier first to the left where we see an ice cave, many water carved crevices and areas where water seems to bubble up from under the glacier then disappear further downstream.  To the right is even better.  At one point you can crouch down to see under the glacier and through to a waterfall.  Around the corner we are stunned by the spectacle of a sheer blue ice wall with a cave underneath.  Spend ages looking at it from all angles and taking far too many photographs.  Seriously impressed, you bet.   It’s now mid afternoon and almost too late to fit in the hike the ranger suggested so we return to the visitor centre park that doubles up as overspill camping.  By nighttime there is only one other motorhome on the car park and he can do little to interrupt our 360-degree stunning views.

COLUMBIA ICEFIELD

OVERFLOW CAMPING $9.90

THURSDAY 30 AUGUST – Our grandson Daniel 10^th birthday so we will try to give him a call later.  Make an early start to do the ranger recommended Beauty Creek & Stanley Falls walk, 6.4km return.  We miss the car park the first time, as the only sign is a small square one showing walkers.  In fact many of the places in the park are badly signed, signed in only one direction or worse still not signed at all.  Anyway we head off on a low dike across a wet area then join the old, torn-up Banff-Jasper highway for a short stretch.  Once we reach Beauty Creek we turn to follow it upstream.  It’s actually more like a raging river as it passes through the narrow gorge that we climb above.  The Creek makes many twists and turns and we see a lot of beautiful waterfalls.  At a sharp tight turn there is a really spectacular high fall gushing over cliffs.  The track worsens and we scramble precariously over slippery clay like landslides.  By the time we’ve been going just over 1 hour (the walk should take 2-3 hours) I think its getting dangerous.  Steve explores a little further ahead but doesn’t find anything different.  Walking back along the same track we can only conclude that Stanley Falls were the high dramatic ones but they would only have been just over ½ hour into the walk and with no signs around we were not to know.  The scenery on the parkway has changed, there are still dramatic Rocky Mountains but on our right are huge steep smooth angled rocks with pink and grey shiny crevasses and an area where rock fall must have left the huge pink rocks strewn by the roadside.  Our next point of interest is the short side road to the very busy Sunwapta Falls.  They are just a 5-minute gentle downhill stroll from the car park so easy enough for almost everyone to do.  We still find them impressive as the river upstream negotiates an island then hurtles down through a gorge in two stages.  At the bottom of the gorge the sheer cliffs force it to make a sharp 90% turn creating lots of rock erosion and many rapids.  Check out Honeymoon Lake campground but they are very small sites and not really by the lake.  Further on at Mount Kerkeslin we encounter a different problem.  There are only a handful of sites on the river and these are small and shelve off towards the water but worse still almost all the sites in the forest are also sloping.  We drive around the whole camping area twice before making the best of a bad job using ramps.  It’s early afternoon and we are ready for dinner and all the campsites from here on to Jasper are the more expensive commercial ones.  Steve walks up to the pay phone but it doesn’t seem to be working so we miss our chance of phoning Daniel.  It’s a very pleasant afternoon so Steve sits out ready and I have a nap.  I join him outside after washing my hair but this must attract the mosquitoes as I am soon forced back in.

MOUNT KERKESLIN CAMPGROUND 

$14.85

FRIDAY 31 AUGUST – Sticking with the routine we make another early start and arrive at Athabasca Falls where we catch a motorhome free camping in the car park, good for them.  Known to be one of the busiest tourist sites in the park we are early enough to enjoy it alone.  Another different style of spectacular falls with an abandoned channel you can walk through where the water previously ran.  At the end of the park we arrive in Jasper, full of tourist souvenir shops but a good place for us to do Internet and pick up a few groceries.  The rocky mountain train is in the station and I am surprised to see that there is only one special car with viewing area on the whole train.  Soon after leaving town we are back in BRITISH COLUMBIA on Pacific Time (BST – 8 hours).  It’s pouring with rain but still a scenic journey past many mountain lakes.  Turn south on highway 5 and just through Valemount we see a track on the left with a parking area in the forest.

S OF VALEMOUNT

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WEDNESDAY 1 AUGUST 2007 – Leaving Sudbury we pass the heavily mined outskirts of town and the commemorative “big nickel”.  The journey itself is uneventful but we pass lots of cyclists, a man who looks to be on a long hike with his camping gear in a pushchair and a lady trotting along the road in a horse and carriage.  It’s another glorious day and after a couple of hours driving we are tempted by the rest area at Serpent River.  It’s a beauty with easy access to the river and no one else around.  Within minutes we have settled ourselves in and taken to the water.  There are some gentle rapids where we enjoy a natural Jacuzzi and then a “lazy river” type ride to get down and out from them.  A few people come and go throughout the day and we would love to stay overnight but the signs forbid camping between 9pm and 5am, as if you would want to camp at any other time!  Steve goes for a stroll around and susses out a free parking area by a quarry in a nearby road.  It’s well after 6pm when we leave to drive up River Road to the quarry and park up for the night.

SERPENT RIVER

THURSDAY 2 AUGUST – First stop of the day is at Blind River, a small town sandwiched between two lakes.  At the Information centre we make use of the free water, dump station and wi-fi Internet.  It’s a very pleasant town with nice sandy beaches, a marina and quite a few free camping opportunities but too early in the day for us to stop.  Hit a major traffic jam just before Sault Saint Marie, spend over 1 hour crawling past a bad accident where a lorry has hit a car head on.  Don’t fancy any ones chances judging by the wreck.  No sooner have we cleared that hold up than we hit another one for road works taking up another half hour or so.  At least we manage to have our dinner whilst in the queue as we now have no chance of making it to the casino in time for lunch.  Head straight down to the famous locks enabling pleasure boats to navigate the 20metre drop from Lake Superior into Lake Huron.  It’s a National Historic Site and with lots of interesting information boards in the visitor centre.  We’ve missed the 2pm tour but the girl puts one on especially for us and it includes a visit to the original hydroelectric power station used to provide electrical power for opening the lock gates.  Cross the International Bridge into USA Upper MICHIGAN giving us fine views of the American locks used by the freight ships.  We inadvertently get into the bus lane but the extremely pleasant customs officer passes off our error and even nods his head telling us we have no beef or citrus fruit rather than asking us.  Typical as this time we had made a point of eating it all so were legal anyway!   Emerge into the American town of Sault Saint Marie and head for Wal Mart for our overnight stop.  Approaching the shopping centre we see 2 fire engines with lights flashing, another accident this time involving a Police car and another vehicle.  We have lots to buy as the things we need all seem to be cheaper in American than Canada.  Within the shopping centre is a store called “Glen’s Market” and with lots of 2 for the price of 1 grocery offers it’s my kind of place.  Also take up the opportunity to buy some clothing and for me some shoes for the cruise.  There’s an end of summer season sale and Steve can’t resist a padded sun lounger down from $39.99 to $19.99 (£10). 

SAULT SAINT MARIE – WAL MART

FRIDAY 3 AUGUST – Begin our long trek across America heading west on the 28.  I guess we are in Indian, or should I say Native American, territory as this area of dense spruce pines is classed as Hiawatha State Forest.  We see black smoke looming on the horizon.  We are listening to the local radio station and learn that there is a big fire in the area to our right and 2000 acres of forest have already been burnt out.  To try to control the fire they are considering closing one of the side highways to do a back burn.  This is the side road to Paradise so takes out our decision as to whether or not to go there.  Reach the edge of Lake Superior at Munising where we stop on the outskirts to make a short walk to the pleasant Wagoner Falls.  The coast north of here is classed as “Picture Rocks National Park” because of the amazing colours and shapes in the rocky coastline.  You can view them from a boat but today the wind is strong and the trips have been cancelled.   Driving up the coast you can get to a viewing area.  A longer walk takes us to Miners Falls, an unusual angled waterfall over sandstone.   Miners Castle overlook is extremely busy but we nudge our way to the front of the viewing platform to see a very attractive bay with the Miners Castle rock at one end.  The water is crystal clear and it’s not uncommon to see large fish swimming around.   Nearby Miners Beach is packed out and not for us so we retract our journey back to Munising then continue west along the coast.  Lake Superior is so huge that you can’t see the far side of it and with the sandy beaches looks much like the ocean.  Christmas is closer than we realise, in fact just a few miles west of Munising and they cash in on the town name with huge Santa statues and other kitsch things.  We’re looking for a place to park up for the night and pass superb rest areas behind beautiful beaches but all have “no overnight parking” signs.  We’re about halfway to Marquette when we see a road to our right, with a sign to a boat ramp along Whitefish Point Road.  It soon turns into a gravel road but we press on ever hopeful.  After about 2 miles we spot a parking area with “Historical Pathway” signs and read on the sign that it is also a campground.  Steve walks to check out the boat ramp as the road goes over a single-track bridge.  The boat ramp is by a muddy river and even though we could get there it is not appealing.  Settle onto the seemingly abandoned campsite with plenty of shade.  There are few cars using the main track so it’s also very quiet and suits us nicely.

HISTORICAL PATHWAY - OLD TYOGA TOWNSHIP

SATURDAY 4 AUGUST – We both have an excellent nights sleep as it was totally peaceful.  Whilst I potter around the van Steve does the trail.  The logging town was abandoned 100 years ago.  Both it and the walking track have been taken over by the forest for Steve says he almost needed a machete to get through head high bushes.  Set about sealing up any gaps in the van as our journeys down dirt roads have left us with far too much dust inside.  Using cardboard, masking tape and silicone we think we have filled the worst spots.  Steve takes a dip in the river and assures me it is pleasant once he is in but he overlooks the muddy access point.  Its so nice here that we will have another night.

HISTORICAL PATHWAY 2 – OLD TYOGA TOWNSHIP

SUNDAY 5 AUGUST – We could easily talk ourselves into staying another day but the clouds decide us to press on.  Marquette is our next stop and the first point of interest is the display of “Grandma doors”.   Dozens of old doors have been painted or covered in photos and decoupage depicting Grandmas.  Most make interesting reading and we spend ages walking amongst them.  Another curious sight in town is the “Superior Dome” at the University campus.  It’s the largest wooden dome in the world and we go inside the building to take a closer look.  The inside support structure is completely made of timber and very impressive as are the displays of Canadian Olympic athletes who have trained in the stadium.  Further along the shore we reach Presque Isle Park where we drive the loop to get views of the cliffs and out across the lake.  There are walks and waterfalls to be done but we are a bit overdosed on that kind of thing so head off west.  Passing into WISCONSIN state we put our watches back 1-hour to be on Central Time.  (Now 6-hours behind BST).  We are now on Highway 2, which we intend to follow all the way across to Glacier National Park.  You can tell it’s the most northern highway in the country by the number. Generally odd numbered roads run north south and are numbered from west to east.  Even ones from east west and are numbered north to south.  Most logical once you know the system.  Bad River Casino at Odanah is on Bad River Reservation and run by Native Americans.  As an inducement to gamble they offer free camping including electric, water and dump station.  The camping area is at the back of the parking lot by a forest and quite pleasant.  Vehicles range from the big 40’ RV’s with 4 slide outs down to a solitary motorbike camper with his one-man trailer tent.  Within the casino there are free hot and cold drinks and if you join their club you get $5 of non-redeemable chips free.  These can only be used in specific slot machines, Steve loses all his and I come away with $6.50.    

BAD RIVER CASINO, ODANAH

MONDAY 6 AUGUST – It’s a slow process leaving the casino, as we are keen to use all the facilities.  We both shower then I use my hair dryer and straighteners. Next I do some hand washing.   Dump our waste then fill up water and gas before Steve heads back into the casino.  For every $20 you spend on gas they give you $5 in chips so we’ve another $30 worth which Steve manages to convert it into $28.75 cash.  Meanwhile I sit in the car park using the wi-fi.  A most satisfactory stop on all fronts.  In Ashland we make a lunch stop at Maslowski Beach where there is an Artesian Spring.  Locals are all filling up containers so we get in on the act and fill our empty bottles.  Cross another huge bridge to Duluth in MINNESOTA.  There are 3 things we want to do and we easily make it to the Canal Park but from then on things go pear shaped.  It’s incredibly busy and we can’t fine the marine museum or anywhere to park so head out to pick up the Skyline Scenic drive.  Duluth is a bit like San Francisco built on a steep hill so we have to climb up through the town to then find we have missed the turn off.  Try to drop down to pick up the scenic drive but miss it once again and end up back Canal Park.  However this time it’s quieter and we manage to find the Marine Museum now renamed Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Centre & Aerial Lift Bridge!  Cross the bridge to park on the opposite side and walk back across to visit the free museum.  There are many interesting exhibits extolling the size of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world.  We did not know there were over 350 ship in it nor that it was large enough to contain all the other Great Lakes plus 3 additional lakes the size of Lake Erie.  This is down to the depth rather than surface area of the lake with a deepest point of 1,333 feet.  Canal Park is a rejuvenated dockside area with lots of shops and trendy restaurants so it’s very pleasant to walk around.  Hang around near the bridge to watch a large 1000’ ship pass underneath once the centre section of the span has been raised.  Armed with an improved map we retrace our drive up Lake Ave and turn off on 7^th to link up with Skyline Drive.  The view from Enger Park is outstanding, the city, harbour, across to Wisconsin and up into Lake Superior.  It’s getting quite late so we make a very convenient overnight stop at the Wal Mart on the highway out of town.

DULUTH, HERMANSTOWN – WAL MART

TUESDAY 7 AUGUST – Heading out across Minnesota we notice the dense forest thins out, changes to Pine and Aspens with bogs full of dead trees.  In Grand Forks we get our cheapest fuel yet $2.78 (£1.35) gallon and top up ourselves with double cheeseburgers at Burger King $1 (50p) each.  At the tourist office we explain to the girl that we are looking for a place to camp for free near water and she gives us a map with “primitive” campgrounds marked and tells us they might suit our needs.  There are a number of lakes about 100km further on with some distinct possibilities.  Traversing "Leech Indian Lake Reservation” we can’t resist a stop at Palace Casino Hotel at Deer Lake.  Too early in the day to take up the free camping with electric but not too early for us to join their casino and get $5 each back in cash.  After spending a reasonable amount of time browsing around we leave with cash in pocket.  Now if we could just find half a dozen of these to do each day we could fund our trip completely!  Drive along the southern end of Lake Winnibigoshish, what a delightful name, with $24 night campground fees.  However we do see a side road and decide to chance our luck.  We see an abandoned wheelchair in a ditch and a kid’s pushchair thrown down at the side of the road.  Does this lake offer miracle cures?  On the contrary, we have just turned into a housing area where the Indians live and before long are doing an about turn as the gardens and street are littered with rubbish and it doesn’t feel like a good area for us to be in.  Just before Cass Lake town we turn north on highway 10 then take the 1^st left after the “Beltrami County” sign onto “Camp Cassaway CT SE”.  It’s a narrow dirt track but seems passable.  There are few places for us to turn around if need be so I hop out and walk the last mile or so the check it out.  Race back to call Steve on to the primitive campground on the lakeshore.  It’s superb, a nice grassy area to park, enough trees for filtered shade and our own private sandy beach right in front.  In no time at all we have set up full camp with the awning out to keep the sun off the fridge, table, chairs and sun loungers in place with us flat out relaxing.  Just a couple of cars come down during the afternoon but for most of the time we have our own little piece of paradise.  Steve sets up the hammock that Cory gave us and spends most of the afternoon swinging from the trees, a bit of a worry!  Take lots of cooling dips in the fresh water lake fed by the Mississippi River.  In fact originally it was thought to be the source of the river but this was later found a short way upstream from here at Lake Itasca.  In the evening we sit and watch a beautiful sunset then light a small campfire until it gets too cold to stay out.

CASS LAKE

WEDNESDAY 8 AUGUST – It’s been a quiet night with just the distant noise of a train horn and the occasional creature sounds.  Wake to a cloud morning, as it was yesterday, but with temperatures in the 80F forecast, wrong again.  The weather remains poor all day but we find lots of things to do in the van, watch a DVD in the afternoon and TV in the evening.  The only visitor is someone in a car with a parks type camping badge on the side.

CASS LAKE 2

THURSDAY 9 AUGUST – We get a bit of rain during the night but wake to a nice morning although it’s almost 10am before it gets really hot.  Funnily enough the lady at the tourist office told us the summer season was over and it does actually feel that way.  Again the “ranger” drives round mid morning but we then have the place to ourselves to sit out an relax until another vehicle arrives in the evening.  The only sounds are the lapping of the waves as the fishing boats buzz across the lake.    Steve cooks jacket potatoes in the bonfire and we sit out by candlelight to eat them.  Someone gave us a disposable pan with popcorn for cooking on the fire and we give it a go.  A huge dome of foil rises and the corn pops but it works very well.

CASS LAKE 3

FRIDAY 10 AUGUST – Another pleasant day but with a few more visitors – human and flies.

CASS LAKE 4

SATURDAY 11 AUGUST – We get a few showers in the night and find it’s very windy and much cooler when we get up.  Time to move on but only to the nearby town of Cass where we pick up our E-mails.  The girl at the library tells us we were at the best of all the primitive campgrounds in the area – more by good luck than judgement.  Make Bemidji our lunch stop and chance to photo the huge Paul Bunyon statue.  The sun has come out and it’s now in the 80C.  Could do with putting a few miles in before we stop for the day.  Highway 2 is now a dual carriageway with little of interest en route but McIntosh offer camping in the “City Park”.  Bit of a laugh really as it’s more of a small town with a population of less than 700!  Anyway for $6 we get electricity and use of the toilet and shower.  We can hear a lot of noise over a tanoy and find an auction at a nearby house so we get some free entertainment.  There’s a very wide main street to the town but not a soul around.  A sign shows “horse and buggy” parking area.  Late afternoon we see some children playing in the park with the girls wearing long dresses so maybe we are in Amish country. 

McINTOSH CITY PARK

$6 (£3)

SUNDAY 12 AUGUST – We’ve had a noisy night, too near the railway line with trains going throughout the night and hooting at every road crossing.   Continuing west on highway 2 we are now in prairie land.  Enter NORTH DAKOTA at the town of Grand Forks.  At the visitor centre we watch a 10-minute video about the 1997 floods.  The town was completely flooded when the river rose by over 50’ following the thawing after a 98” snowfall.  One of the biggest flood evacuations ever took place and a number of people never returned.  We can tell we are in prairie country as the prairie dogs play in the car park and look really cute.  There’s a massive and impressive university campus but the aerospace museum we want to visit is closed.  We wander around the downtown area to visit some of the “pocket parks” created in gaps where rebuilding has not taken place.  Many contain attractive sculptures but nothing outstanding.  Sadly the shop Widmans “ home of the chocolate covered potato chip” is closed.  There’s some sort of pop concert going on in the main square where only a handful of people have paid the admission, no surprising as you can see and hear it from the sidelines and it’s not good.  Our next stop is Devils Lake where the damning of rivers inadvertently caused the lake level to rise, 25 feet so far and quadrupled in area since 1997.  Dikes have now been built around the town to prevent it also becoming part of the lake.  Wal Mart has a nice location by the lake and from their car park we get a lovely sunset over the lake itself.

DEVILS LAKE, WAL MART

MONDAY 13 AUGUST – It’s a cool and cloudy morning and we soon get some rain.  Drive out across the lake, on one of the specially raised roads, to visit Spirit Lake Casino.  We are not impressed, $12 to stay overnight on the car park, $28 for camping with facilities and no freebies.  Take a drive around Sully Nature Preserve, $2 (£1) per vehicle but the scenic overlook is too overgrown to see.  At an area called “prairie dog town” we see many of them making their kind of squeaking bark whilst moving their tails, we half expect them to do a somersault like a similar sounding toy dog does.  There’s definitely a storm brewing as it’s getting dark and we can see lightening in the distance.  Tune in to a local radio station and learn that there is a severe weather warning for this area with Esmond, the town we are heading to, in the thick of it and getting baseball sized hail stones.  No point in driving towards it so we take refuge in a car park near Fort Totten.  Do we park under trees to prevent our roof and solar panel from hail stone damage and chance the lightening or what?  Opt for some trees but not the tallest ones in the area.  In the next bulletin that storm has moved off but there’s a second one around heading for Fort Totten with recommendations that everyone stays indoors and away from windows.  See this as an ideal opportunity for a coffee stop so settle down to see what happens.  Later news tells us this storm has changed course and the hail is now golf ball sized.  Luckily it completely misses us and we just get heavy rain and thunder.  We’d thought of visiting Fort Totten, used as a boarding school for the Indians, but much of it is outside and the central area is flooded so we pass.  Passing round the edge of Devils Lake we see many marooned abandoned houses.  We are now about 20 miles south of the Geographical Centre of North America traversing country roads bound by wheat and sunflower fields.  Reaching Esmond the rain has stop and it’s brightening up.  4 miles west of town we turn off to Buffalo Lake.  Drop down to a beautiful lakeside camping and fishing area with only one other motorhome in situ.  Pick a spot at the end of the track with our own covered picnic area, tables, electric, barbecue, grassy lawn and superb views.  It’s virtually free camping as they just ask for a donation.  The toilets are appalling, pit style and very smelly and the pump that pumps up the water isn’t doing so but we are well catered for inside Harry.  Take a walk around the site and up the hill topped by an old concrete buffalo.  The views are superb and with the storm miles away it’s turned into a very nice day but not quite hot enough for us to swim from the beach.

ESMOND, BUFFALO LAKE

TUESDAY 14 AUGUST – Unfortunately it’s a cooler day with only the occasional sunny spell but not enough to tempt us outside for long.  We’re ready for another day of rest so happy to stay for the day and fester. 

ESMOND 2, BUFFALO LAKE

WEDNESDAY 15 AUGUST – After an extremely cold night we are not surprised to wake and find clear blue skies.  Decide to put a few miles in anyway knowing that even the nice hot days don’t warm up before late morning.  The fields of sunflowers are spectacular with their heads all turned to the sun.  Spot a Police roadblock ahead where we have to stop.  Apparently a murder escaped from prison in Louisiana and was on the run with his girlfriend.  She was arrested last night in the nearby town or Drake after they had a fight.  We are questioned whether we have seen anyone walking and then warned that if we do we must not stop as he is very dangerous and carrying a bag with guns in.  Rejoin a main highway and hit another roadblock with officers in jeans and FBI flack jackets. After leaving the last roadblock it occurred to me that it would be possible for someone to stowaway in one of our outside lockers.  The last Policeman only checked inside our van.  I mention this to the FBI man and we check them together although once he tells me the man is 6’4” tall and 240lbs it kind of eliminates that possibility anyway!   Back on a country road we see a flashing light coming towards us.  This time someone is moving house, literally, and it’s creating a very wide load on the back of the following lorry.  At the next road intersection we are blocked by another car with flashing lights.  This time it turns out to be a convoy complete with large civilian lorry, army trucks and escorts.  They are going the same way as us so we fall in behind them and then realise that they also have helicopter surveillance following them so it must be something important.  So who says driving across the prairies is boring?  In New Town I spot a port-a-loo up a pole, door open and man sat on the toilet with his pants down.  A novel way of advertising chemical toilet rental.  Pick up the historical Lewis & Clark trail near the attractive Lake Sakakawea.  Cross the Four Bears Bridge then stop to read the interpretive signs about the 3 bridges that have been here including this one only opened in 2005.  There’s also lots of info about the Indians as it was one of their tribe, a girl called Sakakawea, who escorted Lewis & Clark in their explorations.  Many have wonderful names such as “Chief Drags Wolf”.  We soon enter the badlands area with dramatic and attractive rock formations.  Theodore Roosevelt National Park enclosed the best parts.  Invest $80 (£40) in an annual “America the beautiful” pass then go to the visitor centre.  They often have guided walks and campfire talks in the parks however there are none on tonight but 3 events scheduled for tomorrow.  Decide to camp outside the park and return tomorrow.  4 miles further south, through more scenic badlands, we turn off to Summit Campground.  It’s free to camp and we pick a shady spot with our own picnic table.  A 10-minute walk takes us to a scenic overlook giving us a taster of what we should see tomorrow.  It’s similar to the badlands we visited in South Dakota but here there is much more greenery around.

SUMMIT CAMPGROUND - NR THEODORE ROOSEVELT NP

THURSDAY 16 – I’ve been having a few problems with my laptop running slow so over the last week have tried to correct this problem but threw up some errors.  Last night I decided to restore the system but had to turn the computer up part way through – big mistake as it now won’t work at all.  Will have to try and find a computer doctor in one of the larger towns.  Back track to the national park and begin the 14-miles scenic drive following the course of the Little Missouri River through the Badlands gorge.  The rock formations are superb with many colours showing up in the morning sun.  We see Cannonball Concretions where cannonball shaped rocks literally work their way out of the cliffs.  Spot a lone bison in a field; these have been reintroduced to give the park a feel of what it would have been like in the early 1800’s before they were all killed.  At Oxbow Overlook we take a walk out to Sperati point with even more stunning views.  Return to River Bend Overlook for the ranger talk and find out they were called the Badlands, as they were very difficult to cross in days gone by.  The sloppy bentonite made both following the river and walking over the top of the cliffs very hard going.  With modern roads throughout the area they are now accepted for the scenic attraction and we are certainly impressed.  The ranger talk is very brief and we don’t think it warrants us hanging around another 4-hours for the next one so we take our leave.  Just west of Cartwright we cross the Yellowstone River and turn into Sundheim Park where you can free camp by the banks.  It’s a very pleasant spot under the shady, but ever rustling, cottonwood trees.  A little further up river from the modern road bridge there is the historical lift bridge originally built to carry the railway but with a section that lifts to enable ships to pass under.  It’s all now disused but you can walk over the bridge and through the Cartwright Railway tunnel.  Interestingly the lift part of the bridge was used just once, in testing, as river traffic stopped shortly after.  Feel a little intimidated walking below the massive suspended concrete blocks that were used as counterweights.  With our torches we walk to the far end of the tunnel, about ½ mile, but there’s nothing to see other than the substantial structure itself.  Take a cooling dip in the river before retiring for the night.

W OF CARTWRIGHT, SUNDHEIM PARK

FRIDAY 17 AUGUST – It’s been a very windy night so we are awake early.  Pass into MONTANA putting our clocks back 1-hour to mountain time (BST – 7 hours).  Of course this means that when we pass through the first few towns nothing is open.  Catch the local news report that the murder was caught in a field near Drake yesterday morning.  Back on track on highway 2 we see lots of roadside white crosses presumably the sites of road accident deaths.  Now this is a moderately boring part of the journey through flat prairie land and many Indian reservations.  Arrive in Glasgow at lunchtime where we get great value out of the Pizza Hut buffet lunch, $5.95 (£3) pp and no extras as this is a 0% tax state.  Just west of Saco we turn off to Nelson Reservoir with free camping by the lake.  A pleasant spot but unfortunately the flies and mosquitoes think so too.  Steve attempts to walk down for a dip in the lake but has to turn back as he is being eaten alive.  We’ve done enough driving for the day so shut ourselves in the van feeling very glad to have fly screens all around us.

NR SACO, NELSON RESERVOIR.

SATURDAY 18 AUGUST – The mozzies are still there when we wake up so we head off.  By 11am we have arrived in Havre, the biggest town we will visit in Montana.  We’ve lots to do so begin by putting the washing on at the Laundromat, $1.50 (75p) load.  There’s a local “Farmers Market” in progress and many of the Hittite farmers have come into town.  They wear rounded hats, have beards and are dressed in check shirts with braces.  Their wives and daughters have long dresses and a sort of cross between a squared of hat and head scarf.  At the Salvation Army thrift shop Steve is very pleased to buy himself a dark suit for $5 (£2.50) and leather shoes $3 (£1.50) to wear for the formal nights on our cruise.  The library fixes us up with Internet and we both take long showers in the van before using the town dump station.  Manage to find a computer shop in a shopping mall and talk the guy into fixing mine straight away.  He needs to use a special fix programme and this will take an hour or so.  Whilst this is going on we do a grocery shop but find the computer is not ready.  The problem is being resolved so we don’t mind hanging around and we have already haggled the price down from $50 to $30 (£15) cash with no receipt.  Its 5pm when we finally leave town but 6-hours well spent as we have done everything we set out to.  West of town you can camp at Fresno Reservoir and we head for the tailrace area, it’s a very quiet spot with only us camping.  There are just a few flies but no mozzies.  A fisherman tells us that Saco is known as the mozzie capital of the world and they are much less of a problem here. 

W HAVRE, FRESNO RESERVOIR TAILRACE

SUNDAY 19 AUGUST – Steve enjoys chatting to the different fishermen as they come and go.  One is of Indian descent of the Cree tribe and Steve learns quite a lot from him.  Take a walk around the area but decide that we are in the best spot.  The water is easy to get in to and certainly very refreshing.  With a plentiful supply of it Steve decides to do some work on the rubber van roof and treat it with a cleaner and conditioner.  This leads to dirt running down the sides of the van so after lunch he carries on and cleans the rest.  I follow him round doing windows and odd jobs inside.  Late afternoon the winds get even stronger with a dust storm heading our way.  Luckily before it reaches us it turns into a rainstorm. 

W HAVRE 2, FRESNO RESERVOIR TAILRACE

MONDAY 20 AUGUST – Well we don’t know whether it was dust in the rain last night or dirt in the lake water but we have ended up with sort of coffee coloured watermarks all over the outside of the van necessitating a quick wipe over before we leave.  Stop at the visitor centre in Shelby where we get excellent information, free Internet and goody bags containing lots of toiletry and other samples.  Learn that our hosts from Ottawa Kevin & Ruth have just bought a motorhome having been spurred on by our chats no doubt.  There’s a giant penguin on the outskirts of “Cut Bank” proclaiming it to be the coldest spot in the nation and with the chill winds it certainly feels it.  Traverse the Blackfoot Reservation where the casino offers new members a spin of the wheel for a prize giving us both T-shirts.  The Rockies loom impressively ahead and we want to visit Glacier National Park but you cannot drive the road through the park in a motorhome so we plan to skirt the southern boundary and go in from the west using their free shuttle bus.  US 2 crosses the Continental Divide in an area struggling against forest fires.  The Summit campground is closed and fire camps and incident bases have been set up for the fire fighters.  Luckily for us the National Forest camp of Devil Creek is beyond the fire area and has nice basic campsites.  It soon begins to rain and becomes a very chilly night.

DEVIL CREEK NATIONAL FOREST CAMPGROUND

$10 (£5) camping, half price with pass.

TUESDAY 21 AUGUST – Make an early start to do the last 36 miles to Glacier National Park.  Park admission costs $25 (£12.50) for 1 week (free with pass).  Find a spot on Apgar Campground ready for our day of being tourist.  This is the first year they have started running the “Going to the sun road” shuttle buses and they are obviously having teething problems.  The Apgar loop bus does not arrive at the campground at the appointed time so we walk to the visitor centre, enjoying fine views of Lake McDonald surrounded by mountains.  We’ve just missed the bus from there so end up hiking through the forest to the Apgar transit centre.  Lake McDonald Valley route bus runs every 15 minutes but the small mini buses can’t cope with the demand and we have to go on a waiting list.  Finally get away on our journey to Logan Pass.  The views are excellent and increase as we begin our climb up towards the pass.  The Rockies are very narrow here so the ascent is steep giving dramatic views and sheer drops at the side of the road.  It takes the best part of 2-hours to reach the Pass, as there are a few hold ups at road works.  Amazingly at the roadworks someone comes along to tell us there will be at least a 5-minute wait but no one turns their engines off and that includes the parks buses.  Catch the 12.00 Ranger talk about disappearing glaciers and what we can do to help global warming, a bit of a joke considering the afore mentioned. We set off on the Hidden Lake hike initially on boardwalk climbing up over Alpine meadows with pretty flowers.  The ptarmigan birds are very hard to spot camouflaged with their summer plumage, easier to listen to them then follow the noise.  It’s a hard uphill walk of about 1-½ miles to the overlook.  The scenery is breathtaking, or is that the wind chill as it is bitterly cold.  Mountain goats scramble up the path to join us as we are now above the tree line.  Hidden Lake is stunning and makes for great photos.  Luckily as we arrive the mist clears but on our descent it comes in big time and we can hardly see 10 feet ahead at one point.  However you only have to wait 5 minutes and it clears again.  The next leg of the shuttle is the yellow bus towards Saint Mary’s running every ½ hour with larger buses so we are able to get on the first one.  Hope off at Sun Point Nature trail where we get fine views from Sun Point over Saint Mary Lake.  Continue the hike to the Baring Falls (average) then loop back to the main road for the very short but extremely rewarding stroll to Sunrift Gorge, a really dramatic narrow gorge with babbling stream.  Make our way back to Apgar then continue to Fish Creek intending doing the fire walk but it turns out the mileage is wrong and we don’t want to do that much more today so return to the campground for the night.

GLACIER NP, APGAR CAMPGROUND

$20 (£10) night but half price with pass.

WEDNESDAY 22 AUGUST – Get up early to drive around to Apgar transit centre.  The central heating soon warms the van and with breakfast out of the way we catch the 8am shuttle bus out to Avalanche.  It only takes ½ hour so we are well early for the 9am ranger guided walk.  Megan arrives to escort a group of about 15 on the 2 miles hike up 500 feet to Avalanche Lake during which she will give us geological and other information.  To reach the start of the Lake walk you have to take the “Trail of the Cedars” walk along which she stops to give a talk.  She is just about to step backwards when a young child calls out a warning.  Immediately behind her foot is the smallest vole type creature we have ever seen.  It’s like a mouse but fatter, fluffier and extremely dozy.  Happy to pose whilst we all take photos it then takes its time ambling away.  We are encourage to join in with a rock song, actually sung to the tune of “Row row row your boat” it’s all about the 3 types of rock and actually an easy way to remember the formations.  The main walk begins at the side of the dramatic “Avalanche gorge” with superb areas where water has carved bowls into the pink rock.  The next section is all steady climbing up through forest with frequent info stops.  There seem to be more fallen trees than ones standing and even many of those are dead.  Whilst most of the talk is interesting it does start to get a bit drawn out towards the end so we head off on our own.  After a few more steep climbs we emerge to a mountain lake in natural amphitheatre surrounded by steep cliffs with waterfalls.  The water is crystal clear, icy cold and the lakes edges and shore covered in fallen trees.  The sun has now come out so we bask in the warmth just absorbing the view before having our picnic.  Hiking back down is much quicker and we link the latter part of the “Trail of the Cedars” and still take less than 1-hour as opposed to 3 going up.  Back to the transit centre we pick up Harry and head out of the park.  We could stay a few more days as there are plenty more hikes to do but with the Canadian Rockies coming up next we don’t want to go into overload mode.  Here The Rockies are really just a narrow spine so we are soon on flat land but a very tourist orientated area with lots of RV parks and other accommodation.  With many lakes and rivers in the area the water sports predominate in summer and cross country ski-ing and skidoo’s in winter.  Once we past through the last big town of Whitefish and head north towards the Canadian border it gets much quieter.  Turn off at a National Forest sign to “Good Creek” but after a few miles we haven’t found it so do an about turn.  A little further on we see a Parks office and learn that due to fires “Good Creek” area including the whole town has been evacuated, however sites further north are fire free and safe to visit.  7 ½ miles north of Olney, just beyond Still Water Lake, we take an unsigned side road to the West leading down a small track to Spring Creek where you can camp for free.  There are a few primitive sites with fireplaces holding fire ban signs.   It’s a pleasant spot and we sit out to enjoy the late afternoon soon but find the creek is much too cold even for a paddle.  It stays warm into the evening and we sit out until dusk.

N OLNEY, SPRING CREEK

THURSDAY 23 AUGUST – The usual pattern of a very cold night and with no early start required I leave Steve in bed and get on with my diary, snug and warm with the blown air central heating on.  The day improves and we sit out sunbathing until early afternoon when we get a few showers.  Making use of our new awning we are able to stay out, as it is still warm. 

N OLNEY 2, SPRING CREEK

FRIDAY 24 AUGUST – A potentially nice day so we drive about 10 miles north to Dickey Lake where there is a forest campsite.  It’s a lovely spot with sites stepped up from the waters edge.  Although it is very busy we find a nice site with a view of the lake.  A short walk takes us to the lakeside where we spend the morning watching the water skiers and having an occasional swim ourselves.  The water is crystal clear and you can see some sort of freshwater prawns by the rocks but the soon move when you get close.  By early afternoon the sun is behind the trees so we return to camp.  Pick up a Canadian television station and watch Coronation Street, an episode from last December. 

NORTH DICKEY LAKE

$7 (£3.50) SITE, half price with pass.