The Home Stretch

Day 7 and we are in the homestretch!! By mid afternoon we should be hugging Connor!

We traveled for a bit along the Trans Canada Highway before making the final turn north towards grande Prairie. About 25 kilometers in, we start going through smoke from the wildfires in British Columbia. It was a little unsettling to be going through and the smokey smell was strong, even with all of our windows up. I don’t think I will think of a camp fire the same ever again. We drove in and out of smoke patches for about 25 kms and then back into clear air,

The roads here were very hilly and we drove in and out of several valley's - some of them big, some of them very big. The biggest was just before Grande Prairie. I think my car had to push the RV up the hill! We knew there was a big hill ahead when there were signs for a turn out so the trucks could put chains on.

Rick took the dash cam video from the "BIG" hill just before Grande Prairie and made a little video. It is a wide lens camera and doesn't really convey just how big and steep this hill was. Have a look!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SopZkhE-k4U&feature=youtu.be

Along the way there were a few interesting things. Pump-jacks were popping up frequently on properties alongside the roads and, while climbing out of a valley there was this huge, old fashion train trestle - like something you would see in an old west movie.

Finally we arrived in Grande Prairie about mid afternoon. We went directly to see Connor and got some muggings in before finding our campground. After a nice dinner and a good rest, it is time to explore our home for the next 3 weeks. 

The Longest Travel Day

Day six was going to be our longest day travelling. We were starting just north of Regina and wanted to get just to the north of Edmonton before stopping for the night.

When crossing the prairies the towns were few and far between. You always knew you were approaching a town when you saw a big grain elevator in the distance. Then you would see billboards starting at about 2 kms before getting to the actual town. This was true in North Dakota as well as in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

As we traveled through western Saskatchewan we noticed a strange cloud formation. It looks like the top of a tornado, but these clouds were not moving and the weather was fair. I handed the camera to rick and he took a picture of it. The other thing of note about Saskatchewan is that I have never seen so many hay bales in my life! it was clearly harvest season and we saw huge threshers cutting down the wheat crop. There were more gas wells dotting the fields and the roads were not quite as straight. We still looked out for the grain elevators to tell us when we were approaching a town. I did see my first real wild life in the form of a Silver Fox running along the Trans Canada Highway. I reacted too late to snap a picture, though.

When we entered Alberta there was a noticeable change in the terrain. I started to get hilly and curvy. Some of the hills were very big and we started to gain speed going down the hills to get a jump on climbing back out of them. There was one hill, though that had an unmarked bump just as we were finishing the decline. Rick hit the brakes but we did not slow down enough to hit the bump gently. I am pretty sure our car being towed behind us grunted! With the big hills the highway was expanded to include a 3rd lane. Now there was a fast lane, a slow lane and what I called the slow poke lane. We spent a lot of time in the slow poke lane. :-)

The weather was nice but as we moved further into Alberta we could see rain off in the distance. We did get sprinkled on a little but mostly the highway twisted away from it.

We stopped for gas in Vegreville, home of the largest Faberge egg. I managed to get a picture that framed both the town name and the egg.

One of the things I noticed out here is they paint things to make something dull interesting, like this silo in North Battleford Saskatchewan (I think).

 I also snapped this road sign that gave a name to the Lake we were passing.

 I caught this deer statue somewhere in Wisconsin. There were many of these little statues in that state, but I missed most of them, seeing them just a bit too late to take the pic.

Some Random Thoughts

Just a word about Lake Superior. I always knew the lake was big. After all it is called "Superior" But you really do not get a sense of just how large it is until you follow some of it's shores for a day and a half. We started to see some of the bays of Lake Superior through Michigan and stayed along her shores all the way through Wisconsin the next day. You might think after following a day and a half that we would have covered an entire shoreline. In reality, though, it was only one small corner of the lake. Years ago I travelled along the north shore of the lake in Northern Ontario and it was amazing. I wonder how long it would take to go all the way around it?

One of the things they do really well in the US is provide roadside rest stops. They are all very clean, and most provide bathroom facilities, picnic tables and, in some cases, a person to provide you with any travel information you might need. We stopped at these rest areas at least twice per day. I only seemed to take pictures of the ones near water on the trip here, but I will take pictures of some of the others coming home.

While at one of the rest stops Rick saw what he thought was a softball so he went to investigate it. Turns out it was a huge mushroom! I offered to pick it and serve it to him that night with dinner but he wanted no part of it. i wonder if it will still be there next trip and how big it will get? The pictures do not really give you any idea of just how big this thing was.

Covering Miles to Stay on Schedule

We started day 5 by figuring out where we wanted to be the next 2 nights. The goal was 

to make Grande Prairie by mid afternoon on day 7 so we had some serious ground to 

cover. This was the first of 2 very big travel days. Up until now we had been driving about 

8 hours a day and then resting. On this day and the following one we would be driving 

closer to 12 hours. Our target tonight was to be north of Regina. We crossed back into 

Canada late morning at a small border crossing in Western Manitoba. It was odd crossing 

at such a small port and not having to cross a big bridge. Again, we fully expected to be 

pulled in and searched but we answered the standard questions and were done.

One notable part of this journey was that the towns had become further and further apart 

as we crossed the northern plains. When we stopped for lunch and gas just before the 

border and noticed they had a mobile vet clinic and grooming service. They stop at a 

specific location in small towns and people bring their pets to them. Picking them up 

at the same location if a stay is required. We saw 1 cat get picked up and a very happy 

owner carrying it to their car and another young girl taking hers in. She did not look very 

happy when the cat had to stay.

I was also very surprised to see Pump-jacks almost immediately after we crossed the 

border. All the trips to Texas and I never really got a good look at one and here they were 

right beside the road. They were an unusual color (black and orange) and a bit of research

told me they were most likely water pumps not oil pumps. I would see some of those, but 

not until we were in Saskatchewan. We also started to see natural gas pumps dotting the countryside throughout Saskatchewan. They seemed to be pretty random and all over the place.

We hit construction delays in Saskatoon but after that it was pretty clear sailing. With 

such a long day on the road it was disappointing to not have rest stops along the Trans 

Canada Highway. They are along most roads in the US and we relied on them heavily 

to take a little break along the way.

One of the towns that we drove through had a McDonalds - not just any McDonalds. It is one of the original stores with the exterior from the early days.

Multi State Travels

Day 4 starts as bright and sunny as day 3. We were very fortunate to have perfect
travelling days up to this point.  On this day, we started in Michigan and traveled
through Wisconsin, Minnesota and ended in North Dakota. this was our last full day
in the US and we were going to cover a lot of ground. We stayed in Grand Forks ND
only because they had an IHOP. Rick had never been to one and wanted to try it. We
arrived just before dinner time and had our pancakes in a nearly empty restaurant


We entered Wisconsin about 30 minutes into our travels and there was a big sign
welcoming us to the state. The scenery was much the same as in Michigan - tree 

lined hilly roads but this time Lake superior showed her face several times. It definitely 

helped to break up the tedium. We stopped for lunch at one of the rest stops on the lake 

and enjoyed the view. I was surprised to see all of the natural sand and the long sandy 

beaches of this shore line. We drove along the coast of Lake Superior for the entire 

time we were in Wisconsin.

The city of Duluth Minnesota welcomed us to that state. No friendly sign this time. Duluth 

is a huge port and definitely an industrial town. It sits in a large valley which we descended

into and then had to climb out of. It was one of the most challenging climbs for Meander. 

We also had to cross a very large bridge over the port. Rick hates bridges and I am sure 

he held his breath the entire way. After the huge climb out of Duluth the terrain leveled off 

and we started to cross the northern flatland's. We started the day on US Highway 2 and 

stayed on that piece of road the entire day. Eventually it got very straight and flat and we 

did not hit any curves until we were near the North Dakota border. We were so excited to 

see a curve! Rick got a little loopy on the straight stretch and started to sing. At first it was 

"the wheels on the bus" and about half way through he changed it up and said the wheels 

on the bus fell off.  I asked him to change songs so he went to "99 Bottle of Beer" but 

again changed it up and tried to do it backwards - starting at 1. I think the man needed a rest!