Hanging with the Loosey Gooseys

Fox Creek & Grand Prairie, AB & Dawson Creek, BC  - May 19 thru May 24, 2014

Finally, after we left the Cree River Casino, we spot our first Alaska sign. Guess this means we’re really on our way.

We make an overnight stop at the Fox Creek, Alberta visitor centre. The oil business has really taken off and we see sand trucks (used for fracking) and water trucks and maintenance trucks of all shapes and sizes. We visit the grocery store and see some of the truck drivers loading up on steaks, potatoes, canned goods. Lot’s of money being spent here.

EJ and I went for a walk around town, and it’s pretty much all devoted to the oil business.

Back on the road Tuesday, we make a beeline for the Elks Lodge in Grande Prairie. Frank sends out an email to the LG group letting them know where we are. Before too long, Chuck and Kathy show up and invite us to come by and visit at 4PM.

They were staying at the Rotary Campground which was a short walk from us. We took our chairs expecting to sit outside but it was too windy and they invited us into their RV. We also got to meet KC, Sheila and Molly (their sweet dog).

While in Grande Prairie we get caught up on the laundry and vehicle clean up then rewarded ourselves with a pizza and beer after we are done.

On the way to Dawson Creek we just couldn’t pass this up. Beaver’s Lodge of course.

We’re on schedule to met the Loosey Goosey group in Dawson Creek but we’ve already met 6 of them along the way. It’s good to know some of the folks instead of going in cold. In Dawson Creek at the Northern Lights RV Park we have our first meeting. There are 27 people and 14 rigs represented.

It’s a good get together and we even get a presentation from the Dawson Creek Visitor Centre. Name badges and Mile Zero pins are handed out.

Arrangements are made to meet for a group photo at the Alaska Highway sign on Friday at 11:30. Quite a crowd.

And we each had to have our turn at photo ops under the sign.

One of the group, who we refer to as Classy Mark because his name is Mark and he owns a Class C RV, appeared to be directionally challenged at first.

But then we got him pointed in the right direction.

Dennis is the man (orange flowered shirt) responsible for the coordinating the Loosey Goosey group. This is what happens when you let a few friends know you’re planning a trip to Alaska and love the color orange.

And the lady who made the presentation to the group came out to take pictures with all of our cameras.

After the group photo, everybody scattered in their own directions. Frank and EJ wandered off to see the Kiskatinaw Bridge. The only surviving curved wooden bridge on the original Alaska Highway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the stay at Northern Lights RV Park ended, most of the group were headed on up the road. EJ and I just wanted to catch our breath a bit. So after a visit to the Gas Bar and sucking down quite a few liters,

we settle in for the evening near Steve and Nancy (another Loosey Goosey couple) at the local Camp Walmart. Strange rain clouds in the distance. It looked like rain, but it never hit the ground. There’s probably a fancy meteorological term for that.

Steve and Nancy came over for a visit on their way to a dance. They’re staying behind to get some repairs made on their RV but, will catch up with the rest of us in Watson Lake.

It’s official, the journey actually begins now that we are on the Alaska Highway. We couldn’t resist and had to get one more picture at the Zero Mile Post located in the center of downtown. Delta Junction, Alaska is the end of the highway. Gee, only another 1398 miles to go!

Hey Buddy! You’re in the way!

LeDuc Walmart & Cree River Casino, May 17 & 18, 2014 – LeDuc & Enoch, Alberta, Canada

StarTrek. In college I remember waiting for that first episode to appear with all my dorm dwellers. Weekly, we waited in anticipation for each new episode. So what better way to pay homage to the StarTrek francise than to visit Vulcan, the StarTrek capital of Canada?

The Adventure begins here at the Vulcan Visitor Centre.

Inside we had to try out the various props.

Outside was a replica of FX6-1995-A and another StarTrek crew picture opportunity.

They also had a T-shirt that I wish was in my size. It read “Live Long and Collect Your Pension”.

For a country that embraces the oil industry so heartily there sure are a lot of alternative energy displays.

With our Trekkie fantasies fulfilled it’s time to hit the road again. Around 5pm we pull into the Red Deer visitor centre only to find they just closed. We need a break so we take a walk and find out there is a nice park with a lake attached to the visitor centre and a combination dude ranch/restaurant. EJ spots a black rabbit hopping around and goes back to get the camera.

By the time the camera is ready, the rabbit is just laying there doing nothing. Did it expire? Is it just playing possum? Finally it raised its head up and we both breathed a sigh of relief.

We arrive late at the Walmart in LeDuc and after a walk we settle in for the evening. About 1:30 in the morning, Frank is awakened by the sounds of leaf blowers, shovels scraping pavement, diesel engines and dump trucks. I peak out the windows and see that we are surrounded by heavy equipment starting to work on the very parking area on which we are sitting. Panic ensues and we scramble around getting Big Guy and the Element ready to move.

So here we are at 1:45 in the morning driving towards Edmonton looking for another place to park. Fortunately we had also scoped out an alternative camp spot. With information entered into the GPS here we are driving in the dark in a strange city putting in another 35 miles.

We arrive at the Cree River Casino in Enoch, just west of Edmonton. First we pull into the parking lot only to find signs all over saying “No heavy vehicle parking”. We’re pretty sure that means us. So we look around and see another RV parked in a grassy field nearby. Slowly we pull into the field trying to feel if it is soft and we are in danger of sinking. But it seems solid and at about 2:30 am we bed down for the second time that night.

We check out the casino the next morning and get our players cards. EJ’s luck turns for the better and she quits while she is ahead.

We visited the West Edmonton Mall last time we were here but Frank wasn’t feeling too good so we decide to it again. Plus we need a little exercise. West Edmonton Mall is the largest mall in Canada. Inside are not only stores, but pirate ships, a beach complete with waves, an Imax theater, and more.

Later that afternoon, we take a drive to Devon hoping to see the botanical gardens, but we arrive too late to make the admission fee worthwhile. But Frank did spot this cool car. It’s a ‘49 Merc I think.

The driver had stopped to pick up this sweet young thang!

Our stay at the River Cree was quite nice. We got to park next to the Marriot, use their WiFi, drink their Starbucks and EJ went back to the slots and won enough to finance our trip from the casino to the filling station. Life is good!

Hide the liquor honey, the Border Patrol’s coming

Casino Lethbridge, May 15 & 16, 2014 – Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

One last trip into Walmart to pick up a few items we’re convinced will either be unavailable or incredibly expensive in Canada and Alaska. Paper goods and adult beverage fixings are expensive up north, and favorite brands simply don’t exist. So this is our last chance to fill every available space in Big Guy with items we know will be hard to find. Of course it may be interesting trying to explain to the border patrol why you need a 10 packs of paper plates and 10 quarts of apple juice and what’s with all the water bottles? Ah, but there is a method to all this madness.

We didn’t really have all that much, but we have pretty much filled up all the storage space in Big Guy. I gave EJ some wine to throw away so we’d be under the legal limit, but I don’t recall seeing it make it to the litter bin. We consume or get rid of any fruits or vegetables that we suspect would be confiscated like potatoes and citrus fruit. Then we read that ‘sub-tropical fruits are OK. What’s a sub-tropical fruit you ask? Any fruit that won’t survive in freezing weather. Ah, so we guess those oranges are OK after all.

On the road, we make one more stop to fill up with cheap US diesel. Well, cheap is relative. It was $3.99 a gallon. There are some long up hill pulls on this road.

We arrive at the US/Canada border in Sweetgrass, MT.

We had a cute young lass as our border agent and she asked the usual questions about firewood, where are you going, how long will you be in Canada, and how much liquor did we have. I was wondering what would happen when I told them we were at the wine limit (which is your total liquor allotment) and that we had several partial bottles of alcohol. Didn’t faze our border agent a bit.  She was more interested in why we weren’t carrying any weapons. Weren’t we afraid of bears? Where was our bear spray? (Which is illegal by the way). Weren’t we concerned about traveling alone? Where was our protection? Finally satisfied with our answers, she let us pass through into Canada.

Once across the border our first stop was the visitor center to stock up on brochures and travel guides.  I guess we are pushing the season somewhat as the visitor center doesn’t officially open until tomorrow. But, lucky us, they were having training sessions and let us in to forage and gather. They also had a dump station which we took advantage of.

And there was the Albertosaurus we wanted to check out. Just like a Tyrannosaurus, only it grew up in Alberta. This one is named Tyrone.

We had read that Casino Lethbridge in Lethbridge, appropriately enough, had a parking area set aside for RVs only and that overnight stays were OK. This was our destination.

We arrive and find our spot right away. Notice it’s close to the front door.

There is a saying that a true RVer drives a million dollar motorhome looking for a free place to camp. I think this fits. That’s a Prevost motorcoach in the background and the H3 was their tow car.

During our two night stay here EJ found out that so far Canadian slot machines aren’t nearly as loose as those in the USA and they don’t give you any freebies.

First order of business is to see if the bank has any Canadian money they want to give away. We didn’t have any luck with that, but we found a bank that was willing to do a trade. We gave them good old American paper money and they gave us back this plastic stuff. You can even see right through it! Turns out, all of the Canadians we’ve asked about it don’t like it either.

Then we took off to explore the downtown area. We start with Galt Gardens. Nice except there aren’t any gardens. Too early in the season. We see some Park Security guards and ask them where the Galt Museum is. They point and tell us to walk down this road until we see the Tim Hortons (think upscale Dunkin Donuts) and the museum will be right behind it.

Well, we walked and we walked and found this. According to the signs, this is the world’s longest and tallest railroad trestle bridge.

Since we had run out of street, we decided to turn around and head back. Walking through the downtown area we spot this interesting object. That’s Wranglin’ Willie on top.

Done with downtown, we search for the elusive Galt Museum and find more artwork.

We never did go through the Galt Museum, but EJ did go over their gift shop with a fine tooth comb.

We explored a park under the trestle bridge and learned about how those pesky Americans kept causing trouble by importing liquor to  the locals. A fort had to be built to house the soldiers charged with keeping those folks in check that liked to get likkered up and have a whooping good time. The name of the fort? Fort Whoop-up!

The view from down under gave us a whole different perspective of the bridge. And along the beach we saw this discarded cigarette package. We guessed this is comparable to our surgeon generals warning but it should be a lot more effective. Just plain gross!

We heartily endorse repurposing old buildings and wish more towns would encourage it. This, however, is probably the best we’ve ever seen. It’s an old water tower that has been turned into a restaurant with a great view of the city.

See you down the road.

What’s that funny smell?

Camp Walmart, May 13 – 14, 2014 - Great Falls, Montana

Since the Elk’s Lodge in Billings has such an excellent location we were able to walk to breakfast and enjoy ‘Great Grains of Montana’.

Afterwards we had some more stockpiling to do since our favorite brands are not going to be available in Canada and Alaska. Plus there’s those pesky alcohol limits to deal with. So we had to prepare for that.

After unloading and reloading we got off to a late start at 3:30PM, but since it is staying light later, this wasn’t a real issue.

As you know, we like traveling the back roads when possible. Some times they get a little scary. We hope everything holds together while we pass through here.

Those gloomy skies just won’t go away! Wonder if that rain is really reaching the ground?

Check it out, mountains and what is that white stuff up ahead?

A few million more of these and we can tell the middle east to take a hike.

We’re thinking they should consider renaming Great Falls to Great Dams. Most of the original falls are now underwater because of the dams they built to generate electricity.

Here is a 3 mega-watt power house that we hiked to. It was originally built to supply power to an ore stamping operation. Now it supplies power to the city of Great Falls.

Folks around here seem to have a lot of fun. Here’s one feller carrying all his toys. ATV, check. Trailer, check. Boat, check. Canoe, check. Anything else??

Big Guy resting at another Camp Walmart. Sniff, sniff…what is that funny smell? Is that an oil refinery across the street?

It got up to 70 degrees today. Maybe winter is finally taking a hike. Tomorrow is a big day, we cross the border and become
Canadians for a few weeks.

Blowing through Billings

Elks Lodge, May 12, 2014 – Billings, Montana

The departure is cast in stone (well sorta) and we are tired of waiting on the weather to improve. The day we left Blackhawk was predicted to have some of the strongest winds yet, but the weather map indicated if we could just get 50 to 75 miles north and west from here the winds would die back down again.

I don’t know about you, but driving in winds coming at you from the side is especially tiring. Big Guy’s alignment is right on the money, but with those winds blowing you around, it doesn’t matter if your tires are straight or not. You’re going to fighting that steering wheel all day long.

The train that traveled right next to the campground made one more pass as we were leaving.

20 miles from Black Hawk, we made a stop in Sturgis at a coffee shop Frank remembered from our last time through here. We made a wrong turn and had to drive down Main Street Sturgis which was kind of neat because no one was there. Hard to imagine this place with hundreds of thousands of people here in August for the motorcycle rally.

Frank tends to get sleepy without his caffeine so this was a necessary stop. One special and one regular coffee to go and we were back on the road.

Leaving South Dakota, we passed through a corner of Wyoming before entering Montana.

In Broadus, Montana we made a lunch stop at a combination bowling alley, casino and café. There wasn’t much else in Broadus. Turns out the food was good, the desert was great (homemade cherry pie) there was one guy in the casino and the bowling alley was empty.

Nice scenery but we kept hoping the sky wouldn’t open up and dump a bunch of rain on us.

Semi-modern TeePee?

Finally Billings comes into view.

Our plan was to overnight at Cabella’s in Billings. The Days End directory had it listed as a business that would allow RVs to spend the night in their RV parking lot. But when we got there, “No Overnight Parking” signs were posted all over the place. Have to send an email to the Escapees about this one.

Plan “B” was to find the local Elks lodge. The Google satellite view showed the had a large parking lot so we gave them a call and they said “Sure, come on over”. It was in a very nice residential area and was very quiet. The next morning we gave them a donation for their children’s fund and they gave us a tour of the inside.

After a long 300+ miles day, Big Guy spends a peaceful evening in front of the Elks Lodge.