Day 10, Wednesday, May 30th

We are overnighting at Whispering Spruce RV park, Golden BC. Friendly staff but they are a little overwhelmed. New management are in the midst of renovating the washrooms and office etc. Ran into contractor delays on renovating the washrooms so they are far from complete for the start of the season. To top it off, they had a flood last night when their deep freeze in the office died and all of their bags of ice melted.  Someone said 200 bags. When we arrived today the office was torn apartment and workmen were installing a new floor. Total chaos. At any rate the place is full up and we are in the overflow area with 3 or 4 other campers, mostly German tourists. Not the best but we have had worse.

We stopped of at Lake Louise on the way here. Early season, cold - some snow on the ground from the previous night - and still more tourists than we like. Not as crowded as it is in full season, though. Pretty soon they will Disneyfy the place and access will be by shuttle bus from far flung parking lots. It is the way of the world. No matter what, Lake Louise is still a beautiful sight!

Banff was going to be about 2C (34.6F) tonight so we decided to head to Golden which is going to be a cheery 6C (43F).

Day 9, May 29. Camped just east of Calgary AB

We are doing another one nighter, at MountainView campground just outside of Calgary. Again not much to write home about with this campground although it is a step up from yesterday. It is far enough off the highway that we don't hear the semis although they weren't really that noticeable last night - all these first world problems to contend with! The campground is clean and maintained but the sites are packed in like sardines with very few trees in the campground proper. We have left the heat behind us. Today it was in the low 20s C for most of our traveling versus the 28 to 30 C of the last couple of days. Currently 12 C going down to 10 C tonight with light rain which has just started. The weather in Banff is forcast to be chilly with lows of 3 or 4 C and maybe some light snow so we have decided to push on to Golden BC tomorrow. We met a German couple (Wilfred and Annalise) who have been camping from Vancouver Island and through the Rockies for the last 3 weeks. We sat outside swapping stories until it got too cold. Unfortunately, our get together was a little late for starting a campfire. They both spoke excellent English. Tricia was happy that we spotted two Antelopes outside of Medicine Hat as we traveled.

Day 8, Monday, May 28th - Swift Current SK

We are camped at the Ponderosa RV camp just outside Swift Current. Not much choice of local campgrounds. The one we are in is pretty full up with a number of contractors who are working on a local power plant project. Anyway we are camped between Dustin and Grayson who are working on the project. Seem like fairly reasonable types. That is about the best to be said for the campground - basically it is maintained and reasonably priced.

We had a pleasant drive on highway 48 which passes through gently rolling hills. Saw both an elk and a Bison farm. Also passed by some salt flats associated with Chaplin lake which is a saline lake (sodium sulphate). Enjoyed the Big Sky as we drove along. Of course, we had to get a picture of the
big moose in Moose Jaw, SK as we went through.

Day 7, Sunday, May 27th.

We left Winnipeg for Moose Mountain PP, Saskatchewan this morning. Arrived fairly early around 3:00 pm. However, we didn't realize that we were an hour earlier than we thought  due to time change. We gained an hour and didn't realize it until after dinner! Spring is running a little late here compared to home. The aspens have just come out. We had one couple from Regina who admired the Alto and commented that we were pretty "far from home".  :)

Day 6, Saturday, May 26th.

We visited with Penny and Richard, Tricia's cousin and her husband. Did some laundry and found time to visit the Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The museum building is a piece of art and while worth seeing in and of itself. The exhibits are well enough done but just too much. They become monotonous half way through. We know some people in one exhibit.

Day 5, Friday, May 25th.

We headed north and arrived in Winnipeg where we are staying at Penny's Place, a lovely B&B run by Tricia's cousin. We will be here until early Sunday, May 27th. We are parked in Penny and Richards driveway where we are using the BAL leveler for the first time on this trip. We will be coming back to Winnipeg on our way home because there are many great relatives that we must visit, more time permitting.

Day 4, Thursday, May 24th.

We continue across the Upper Peninsula. We tried to stay at a Corps of Engineers park at Grand Rapids (Pokegama) only to learn that it was full. A ranger suggested the Winnie Dam park on lake Winnibigoshish and we managed to get an overnight reservation online. Lovely little park run by the Corps, with only 22 sites which were all booked for the weekend starting the next day.

Day 3, Wednesday, May 23rd.

In the morning we visited a camera shop in town and then crossed the border bridge at the Soo to the USA We made it to Champion MI and stayed Van Riper SP.  Very clean comfort station. Still early spring here. At this point we have begun our trip across the Upper Peninsula. Roads are as straight as the prairies with woods to either side instead of grain fields.

Day 2, Tuesday, May 22nd

We stopped at Sault Ste Maria KOA. The park was just setting up for the season so not very full. Went down to about 4C (39F) that evening but we were quite warm just using a ceramic heater (electric site).

Day 1, Monday, May 21st, continued.

Our first stop is Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park (ON). This is only about 200 miles from home but that was far enough for our shakedown trip of the season.

Day 1 of our sojourn from Ottawa, ON to Vancouver Island and parts west.

 All packed and ready to go.

Our Alto #038, in the not so "wild"