Travel Blog

So we said goodbye to Skagway for another season.





We were ready for some sun for a change. Canada is always sunnier than Skag. And it was. For the first half a day. Then it rained on us the rest of the way down. But I finally got to see a big, male moose with all his antlery glory. I even pulled over so we could get a great picture to share, and this was a feat because we were going about 60 when I saw him and there was no pullout. I just sort of screeched to a halt. The problem with that being the screeching halt made him run into the trees, so no picture. Oh well. I got to see him. Plus two female moose besides. That was about all the wildlife we saw this time around.

Not too much else went on in Canada. It was a lot of this….



The foliage was very pretty, though. A lot of yellow.

We spent the first two nights sleeping at little rest stops, but we splurged on the last night in Canada and stayed at Buffalo Pound Provincial Park. Very nice place. Not really made for big rigs, but we squeezed in.




There were little deer everywhere.



We took the dogs for a walk and scared all the deer away. But we got to sit by a lovely lake for a little bit.






And I just really liked this tree:



Then we were on the road again for the last leg of Canada. We missed a few landmarks that we should have stopped for. There was the story-high beaver. Rugby, the geographical center of North America. And whatever this giant teapot was there for:



At the border, we got questioned by two border guards. I don’t know if the one was a trainee or what, but we started out with a woman who took our passports and left for awhile. She came back with a second border guard, who asked the usual alcohol/firearm questions. Then he asked if the RV was locked. I said yes. He said he wanted the key to go inside. I said, “Ok, but we have two cats loose back there. Don’t let them out, ok?” He asked me if we had a kennel for them. I said yes, but it was behind a slide and that’s why they were loose. He looked at this partner, paused a moment and said, “Well, I guess I’ll just have you two hold them.” So we stood outside with two petrified cats while they had a look around the RV. They confiscated half of a lemon, and let us be on our way. Phil and I got cat scratches from the experience.

But then we were back in the good, ole USA, land of the miles-per-hour and gas by the gallon. We were driving through Minot, ND, and I saw a sign advertising a convenience store called Schatz. My PA buds may know of my affinity for the Sheetz chain of stores, so I laughed and asked Phil if Schatz was the past tense of Sheetz. Ha ha ha. Ten miles down the road we pass the Shatz, and I wish I could have taken a picture because a Schatz is an exact replica of a Sheetz store, down to the hideous brick red/mustard yellow color scheme. Hoo boy! I wish you could have been there. Fun-nee.

We’re now in E. Grand Forks, Minnesota, which we’re counting as our night in North Dakota for our RV sticker map. We called our sugar beet dude, and he’s moving us from this place to another place about 25 miles down the road. But at least we got one night with running water, and we were able to bathe after three days without. That’s always a pleasant experience. I’m not sure what our connection will be down the road, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from us for a time.

I’ll leave this posting with a picture of the traveling Willoughby and her head rest, Xander.