Getting Settled Near Dunnville

Maitland Shores does not yet have regular weekly activities organized to the extent that they had them at Silver Dove Estates or Tucson Meadows for that matter. At Maitland Shores most of the activities are for the kids, like wagon rides and games. On long weekends they have a pot luck dinner (where the owners provide the main protein and a side) and live band one of the nights and fire works if appropriate.  My first full weekend there was the May 24th weekend, the official start to the summer in Ontario. The meal was to feature hot dogs and hamburgers. I arrived on time, the others arrived fashionably late (about 30 minutes.) I met a couple of seasonal campers, but generally the group weren't that welcoming/friendly. 

With a home base and golf membership taken care of I began to check out what else Dunnville had to offer.  I went to town and found the local library branch. They have 4 computers you can use, WiFi throughout (useful as the campground doesn't have any, and with my phone plan I am supposed to be limited to 1GB per month of roaming, which Dunnville is considered, but in reality I am able to use more), lots of materials available to borrow, including a good selection of movie and TV series on DVD's, which would come in handy because over the antenna I wasn't getting a very wide selection of TV channels. I found a study carol, in a well windowed corner with a power outlet nearby. This pretty much became my spot. 

At the library I saw postings for other events in the area like church run fundraising dinners and charity bingo games (Tuesdays and Fridays at the Optimists Club.) 

I visited the local Chamber of Commerce where they provided me with a welcome package (a handbook listing business and services in town) and a copy of the weekly local paper called The Sachem.  Through the paper I learned about a Euchre game in the nearby town of Lowbanks on Monday nights. By playing at Lowbanks, the other Euchre aficionados put me on the the games on Wednesday nights at the Dunnville Legion and the last Saturday afternoon of the month at the Presbyterian Church. 

Dunnville is a big enough town, population around 6,000, that it has enough stores and restaurants to meet the majority of my needs, though the locals I met often spoke of making trips into Hamilton to shop, to me that was a little farther than I was interested in going just for shopping, but also shopped when I would go to Hamilton to visit my brother. There is certainly more in Dunnville than there was last summer in close proximity to my campground in Appin, Ontario. There is a Canadian Tire, a large Home Hardware, a couple of drug stores, Liquor and Beer Stores, Sobeys, Food Basics and Giant Tiger. In the downtown there are quite a few small boutique types stores and several banks.  A local coffee shop, trying to be like Starbucks, a Tim Horton's, a McDonalds, a Subway, two Chinese restaurants, two Pubs, several Canadian style family restaurants, one upscale restaurant, one Italian restaurant and several pizza places, a couple of fish and chip shops. There are government offices for drivers licenses and health cards, police and fire departments. A very safe feeling and easily habitable place, without traffic jambs

My typical weekly schedule while in Dunnville would be:
Monday morning Mixed Seniors Golf
Monday evening Euchre in Longbanks
Tuesday evening Bingo occasionally.
Wednesday evening Euchre at the Legion.
Last Saturday afternoon of the month Euchre at the Presbyterian Church. 
The other days of the week I would play golf, go cycling and go out for dinner occasionally. 
When I needed to go into town for groceries or other activities, I would generally visit the library for an hour or two. 

Moving To Near Dunnville Ontario

When I left Ontario for the winter, I was planning on returning to Silver Dove Estates for another summer. I had spoken to the owners about my intentions and had offered to leave a deposit, which they said was not necessary. In April, I emailed them to reconfirm my intentions and the response I received was that they had "rented my site to other people," and had no other sites available in the spring, but that they would have new sites available July 1st. I believed that those sites were the same ones that were supposed to have been ready the previous April, when I first arrived at the campground, so was not prepared to wait for July 1st, because of their unreliable track record and my need for a campsite well before that date. There was no explanation as to why they did this, and it was surprising because they had said on several occasions that they liked me and liked having me in the park because I didn't cause any trouble and I added a touch of class to the place. I suppose I fell victim to their poor management and organizational skills.  

It was at that point that I started researching alternative places to spend the summer. First off I realized that there were no other campgrounds close to Wardsville Golf Club, where I had played the previous season, so relocating would require finding both a golf course and a campground. 

One of the focal points of my summer in Ontario was going to be playing in the Canadian Women's Golf Championship, which was to be played at Lookout Point Country Club in Pelham, Ontario. Pelham is in the Niagara region, an area I had spent some time in in the past and held some appeal as it is closer to Hamilton and Toronto than Appin. So, I got to thinking that I could be really well prepared for that tournament if I played the course all summer and I knew that the Pro and Assistant Pro from my former club, Ladies Golf Club of Toronto, were working there, so if would be familiar. They had offered a one year trial membership program the previous season, which proved quite effective, so they didn't need to repeat it, to my detriment. But, there were other options like an out of town membership or a 10 round package. With this in mind I started looking for a campground nearby. I learned that there were three, but sadly two were completely full for the upcoming season and one had only one site open, but it was too small for my trailer. So, I started to pan out from the Pelham area trying to find a solution to my accommodation and golf needs. I was feeling there was a bit of an urgency to settle on a place.

I ended up landing upon Maitland Shores RV Resort and Marina, who said they only had two seasonal sites available at that point and Freedom Oaks Golf Club 

on the basis of their websites, a few phone calls and google maps, I pretty much committed to both site unseen. 

I arrived at the campground on Mother's Day (not my favorite day of the year, since my Mother passed away and I am not a Mother), Sunday May 13th, the ground was a bit soggy, but I was happy with my campsite, which was a corner lot at the far edge of the property, next to some woods and a farmers field. Being on the corner makes it easy to get into and out of, which I tend to want to do a few times throughout the season. I was able to level the trailer quite easily and hook up to the services, all of which were not the most conveniently located, but I had enough cord, hose and sewer pipe to reach them all. I soon met my immediate neighbors, who were all very welcoming. 

The following day I went to the Golf Course. It was less than 10 minutes away, all on paved rural roads, a very stress free drive. I was initially encouraged to take a cart and drive around the course to check it out. I had a look at the east portion of the course, which looked fine, though wet and I was disturbing golfers already out playing, so I cut the tour short. I then went back to the clubhouse with the plan of playing a preview round, even though I was already in my mind committed to joining. The round was fine. The west part of the course is a little more interesting than the east. Freedom Oaks was going to suit my golf needs. 

The owner of the course who looks after the pro shop, Pete, suggested that I get in touch with Lynn, who often walked the course (my preference) playing by herself. 

Lynn

She used to work in the clubs kitchen, but was now retired. We arranged to play the following day, and as kindred spirits became friends quickly. She helped to introduce me to a number of other ladies in the club, including Ella, Kathy, Joan:

Joan

Pat and Anna Loraine one of the owners who plays with her dog Darla, along side. Lynn suggested that I join the Monday Seniors League, but not the Tuesday Ladies League. Lynn and I typically played together two or three times a week when I was in Dunnville and did other things together, like going to play Euchre and having dinner together at each others places or at nearby restaurants as she was recently separated and had no interest in dating.  

Back In My Home Province Spring 2018

For those that aren't all that familiar, Ontario is a very large province. The population is over 14 million and the land mass is 1.076 million square kilometers. People generally consider Texas to be a big state, but Texas is only 695,662 square kilometers, which means Ontario is 35% bigger than Texas! The provincial health care people require Ontarian's to be in the province a minimum of 5 months of the year in order to maintain the provincially financed health care coverage, or as the Americans refer to it, "free health care." I want to keep my health care, so when I was planning on entering back into Ontario from the west side and quite far north, I figured I could do a considerable amount of touring around, while I complied with their requirements. I should also point out that I am usually pretty meticulous about my planning for these trips, but I hadn't done much in advance for this portion. I think I was lulled into complacency by the fact that this place is my home and shouldn't be that difficult to navigate.

My first stop in Ontario was the Wabigoon Lake RV Park, appropriately named as it is on the bank of the lake, the night of May 7th. It is a very small campground but well laid out and well run. Easy pull through sites. If I was going to open a small campground I would use this one as a model, though I would want to build it in a location where campers were likely to want to visit 12 months of the year. If I had know what was ahead of me, I would have stayed at least a second night, even though it was right next to the Trans Canada Highway, so there was some traffic noise all night long. 

My next stop was Thunder Bay. I saw the Terry Fox Statue as I was entering the city, but didn't stop because it seemed like it would be difficult to navigate the area with the trailer. The Provincial Park I had hoped to stay in was not yet open for the season, so I ended up staying in the parking lot at Walmart. I got dinner from their "steam table"  and had breakfast a the in store McDonald's. (1st night without an electrical hook-up.)

The following day I drove a couple of hundred miles along the North Coast of Lake Superior. The views were quite nice. I spent the night in Marathon, which is such a small town, they don't have a Walmart, so I stayed in the shopping mall parking lot as once again the campground was not open. I had dinner at a Mom and Pop restaurant in the mall and breakfast at A & W. (2nd night without an electrical hook-up.)

Unfortunately as it turned out it was an old fashioned winter, not as mild as some of recent years, so the campgrounds were not going to be opening for a couple more weeks. They were gearing up for the May long weekend which this year was May 18th to 21st. 

The following day I drove about 250 miles along the East Coast of Lake Superior. Once again the scenery was quite nice. 

I don't usually stop at touristy spots along the highway, but I made an exception for Chippewa Falls. It wasn't planned, however there was some road construction with a signal person just past it, and I had to stop for that anyway. There also appeared to be public washroom there, but as it turned out they were not yet open for the season (there is a theme developing.) I was thankful that I travel with my own washroom, so went in the trailer to look after nature's call. Thus relieved, I was able to hike a short ways up the trail to the waterfalls, which were flowing rapidly with the aid of the snow melting up stream: 

There was interesting signage close to the parking lot, firstly about how this was roughly the halfway point on the trans-Canada Highway, and secondly about how members of the group of seven artists had enjoyed painting in this area. I enjoyed this brief educational stop and then carried on to Sault-Ste Marie, where with no campgrounds open I got permission to stay in the parking lot of the OLG Casino. 

When I arrived at the Casino, the battery in the trailer was showing that it was quite low. Not driving very far the last couple of days and needing the battery power for my CPAP machine, the furnace fan (the nights have been pretty cold), water pump and some lighting were taking its toll. I was pretty sure I needed to stretch the power out for at least one more night, so rather than use it all up and be really inconvenienced, I decided to not use my CPAP that night. I knew I would not likely sleep as well, but at least I would no likely wake up in the middle of the night without any heat available. I had dinner in the casino and breakfast from Tim Horton's. (3rd night without an electrical hook-up.) 

The following day I drove about 250 miles along the North coast of Lake Huron towards Sudbury, another place I had visited in the past but not fully explored. This leg of the trip also marks the point at which I have been on the coast of each of the five "Great Lakes" with my trailer. I arranged to stay overnight at Timberwolf Golf Club, where I had played a tournament several years ago, and which had opened for the season earlier that week. It was pleasant enough and there was enough daylight left to play 9 holes. I had dinner in the clubhouse before retiring for the night. Once again I opted to forgo the CPAP machine and thankfully made it through the night with heat. (4th night without an electrical hook-up.) 

The following day, before heading out of town I visited Dynamic Earth Museum, home of The Big Nickel:

Inside they have displays about mining and minerals. The highlight is a tour through a portion of a mine, which depicts the evolution of mining, from the early days of men with picks and axes and donkeys pulling ore from the mine in small carts, through more modern times with mechanized equipment. Now I have a better understanding of the confines and concerns when there are reports on the news of miners trapped in mines. 

My last stop "on the road" was at the KOA in Barrie, Ontario. It was quite busy there, somewhat surprisingly, on Mother's Day Weekend, which most Ontarian's would consider to be a couple of weekends before the official start of camping season, and I would think most Mothers given the choice would prefer to be at home rather than camping. It was nice to be back in a campground with full hook-ups, and I was able to get a discount using the membership card I had purchased in Cedar City, Utah. I stayed there just one night.  

And finally on Mother's Day, May 13th, (not my favorite day of the year, since my Mom passed away) I arrived at my "home" for the summer, Maitland Shores, RV Resort and Marina near Dunnville, Ontario, on the shore of the Grand River, just before it enters Lake Erie. 

If I had decided to purchase a portable generator earlier on in my RVing career, I could have hung out a bit longer in Northern Ontario during this cold spring, but for the few nights I really could have used it, I don't think it was worth an investment of a minimum of $1,000.00 and then the worries about where to store it so it wouldn't get stolen, having fuel on hand for it, and maintenance on it. (A solar system has its limitations and expenses as well.) The last few days of this trip were a bit stressful, worrying if my batteries would hold up and sleeping without my CPAP, but I survived.

Winnipeg Manitoba

The next stop on my journey east was Winnipeg, Manitoba. I had been there a couple of times in the later 1990's for Christmas visiting with my then boyfriends family, but had never really done anything touristy there. There are quite a few people I know who live in Toronto, who are happy to be FROM Winnipeg, or in other words, not living in Winnipeg anymore. 

I stayed at the Town & Country Campground on the outskirts of town, next to a water-slide park that wasn't open this early in the season. The park seemed to be owned and run by a nice young couple that were really enthusiastic. A whole different vibe than at the place I stayed near Calgary. Their water wasn't turned on at the sites yet, but the sewers were working. You could fill your trailer with water next to the office, or you could borrow their water tanker truck, fill it up and take it to your trailer to fill it. I filled up on my way in. 

The Jets (NHL team) were in the playoffs and the entire city had caught the fever and were on the bandwagon. Each night of their games, home or away, there was a giant street party on the streets adjacent to the arena. They had a jumbo "goal light" 

Selfie with the goal light.

set up as well as a stage for live bands to play from and big screen TV's to watch the game on, if you couldn't/didn't want to get a seat indoors. They had food and beer concessions outside. I wasn't happy that they were only selling beer in pairs. I went downtown to take in the festivities prior to the start of the game and was interested in getting a ticket for the Manitoba Moose minor league teams playoff game the following night. Low and behold, when I got to the box office, they actually had a few single seats left for the Jets game. (Prior to this, I was hoping that the manager of the campground in Saskatoon, who's son is the equipment manager for the Jets would have been able to arrange a ticket for me, but sadly that didn't work out.) It was a bit on the pricey side, but I figured it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so bought one of those and one for the following night. (If you dollar cost average them, it works out a little more palatable.)

View from my seat for the Jets game.

View from my seat for the Moose game.

As it happened, both teams lost, so I have vowed to never attend another hockey game in Winnipeg.

Saturday morning I attended synagogue and in the afternoon I visited The Royal Canadian Mint,

Photo op, outside the mint.

Large Lone outside The Mint.

where not only all of our Canadian coins are struck, but also those of 62 other countries from around the world. Each countries flag was flying on a separate pole outside. There were so many it wasn't possible to take on photo with them all in it. There is a display inside with details of these countries and the coins the mint produces for them. I found it quite interesting. For security reasons the raw materials arrive and the coins are shipped out in nondescript trucks. The mint wasn't in operation so the tour was less expensive, and the place is reportedly much quieter and the floor wasn't vibrating.

They had a very large gold bar on display, which was well guarded, but there was an opportunity to pick it up, which pretty much required two hands as it weighed about 400 troy ounces, which is equal to about 28 lbs and at the current price of gold was worth a bit over half a million Canadian dollars.

Large bar of pure gold.

On Sunday, prior to my planned visit to The Canadian Museum for Human Rights I decided to treat myself to some Dim Sum. I did a google search for a good place and headed there, however it seemed that there were more other people heading to the place across the street, so I decided to follow the crowd and wasn't disappointed. This is just one of the carts they had going around with items on it:  

Dim Sum the old fashioned way, on wheeled carts. Yummy.

The museum, approaching its 10th anniversary, is quite an interesting shaped structure situated next to the river and not far from an area of small shops and restaurants. 

Museum of Human Rights, from behind it.

Overall, I found my visit to the museum worthwhile, though rather depressing, which I guess is only natural, given how badly many groups of people have been treated over the years, and the need to keep human rights front of mind. The museum boasts 10 galleries, which touch on indigenous people, the holocaust, doctors, Canada 150, a big timeline, among other things related to human rights. I chose to proceed through the museum from the bottom to the top, which meant walking up innumerable rather steep and long ramps, imposing some misery on me, which I suppose rather intentionally helped dull my mood as well. (As I recall The Guggenheim Museum in New York City had lots of ramps, but my impression of them was quite different than here.) I think I would advise others to visit in the reverse order, by taking the elevator to the top and walking downwards.

After visiting the Museum, there was still enough daylight for me to play the 9 hole Winnipeg Canoe Club Golf Course. I had practiced a bit of chipping and putting earlier in the week. It was very early spring like conditions, so I didn't have very high expectations for the course conditioning, but it was nice to get out and play now about a month removed from the decent golf in Arizona and a couple of weeks since I last played in Utah. I played on my own, and a couple of slower groups let me through so it didn't take long. There is some talk of closing the golf course soon, because the land would be very valuable for development as it is virtually downtown. So, if it meets its demise, I can say I had played it. Sadly for the golf enthusiasts quite a few courses are going that way. 

Eastern Saskatchewan

My next stop was Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (most likely named by indigenous people after the local creek who's shape resembled the outline of a moose's jawbone.) I visited the Western Development Museum, which has displays of mostly modes of transportation (cars, boats, planes, trains, snow mobiles, etc.) and how they evolved through the years. 

A very early RV.

Snowbird acrobatic team training aircraft.

Next up was Regina, Saskatchewan, for the primary purpose of visiting the Royal Canadian Mounted Police  (RCMP) Depot or training center. Every member of the RCMP attends the Depot in order to receive their training in policing. From there they are deployed anywhere in the country to begin their careers. I have always loved the red coats and their musical ride. My favorite piece of currency had been the Canadian $50 bill with the picture of the musical ride on the back. For those of you who may be unfamiliar:

I enjoyed my visit at The Depot, 

including touring the museum, which was designed in the shape of the RCMP's iconic hats:

and watching the new recruits parade around the grounds. 

As one would expect, the training is done in quite a militaristic way. The recruits earn parts of their uniform as they progress through the training program, from running shoes to riding boots, tee shirts to red coats. Though they don't all have to be willing to take to the back of a horse anymore, but they all need to be able to play a musical instrument. 

To break up the journey between Regina and Winnipeg, I stopped in Grenfell, Saskatchewan.  I picked Grenfell because they had a campground that was supposedly open, that I was able to book online. Unfortunately, when I arrived shortly after 5:00, the only thing that was open was the gate. There was no water or power turned on at the site I had reserved. Additionally, access to the washrooms and showers for the campers, in the adjacent arena complex, were locked as well. At this point I really needed a campground with power available because my on board batteries were getting depleted due to several nights in a row without being fully recharged. I need the batteries to run my water pump, washroom exhaust fan, 12 volt lighting, CPAP machine, thermostat and furnace fan when needed, and in this instance it was needed because the nights were still cold!  I managed to find the circuit breaker for my site in the main power distribution box, which thankfully was unlocked. 

After sorting out the power matters, I headed into town for a bite of dinner. All the locals I encountered were quite nice. I settled on a one of the two Chinese restaurants in town. I prefer more authentic Chinese food but the meal was fine, a good sized portion for a reasonable price, prepared fresh, arrived quickly and was piping hot:

After dinner I was seeking out Saskatoon Berry Pie for desert. I realized this was my last night in Saskatchewan and I hadn't yet tasted their berries. I knew they weren't in season yet, but I thought they would have been more readily available then they proved to be. Neither the bakery or diner in town had any baked goods with the berries in them. The best advice I got was to go to the Co-op grocery store in the morning and they may have some in the freezer section and then I could do with them what I choose.

The following morning I switched it off the electricity and I was able to reach someone in the city office responsible for the campground. They said they didn't really open until the May 24th weekend and that the website had recently been opened to start taking reservations for then and the rest of the summer. They need to learn to block off the dates for possible reservations when they don't really want people camping there. I ended up getting a refund for my stay.
On my way out of town I was able to pick up two bags of frozen Saskatoon berries. Mission accomplished.

Eastern Alberta and Western Saskatchewan

From Calgary I headed to Drumheller, Alberta (which was close enough that it could have been a side trip, but I was getting kind of sick of the campground in Calgary) in order to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. 

I believe I said in the post from Salt Lake City Utah that I'm not really that into Dinosaurs, but being at this amazing museum it is hard not to be enthralled and is 10 times better that what is at the University of Utah museum. They have some amazing artifacts and fossils of massive proportions:

In addition to the displays they have windows open into the preparation labs, where recently dug up fossils are being prepared for display in the future. Much of the work is done by volunteers and university students. 

A few kilometers down the main road there is a collection of Hoodoos, stone columns remaining after the softer rock around them has been eroded by the weather.

My next stop was Kindersley, Saskatchewan. This was the first time I had set foot in the province of Saskatchewan and crossing through the province was an important part of this trip for me seeing as I had previously visited all the other provinces in Canada. 

In Kindersley, I went to their small museum that had a number of large collections of small items like: 

Match Books

Manual Meat Grinders

both items you don't see that much any more, so pieces of nostalgia for me. 

That evening I had dinner at Boston Pizza. It was the trifecta for Toronto Sports fans. All three major sports franchises were playing on the same night and were on TV for me to watch at Boston Pizza. The Raptors and Maple Leafs were both in the playoffs (that in itself doesn't happen every year) and the Blue Jays were starting their season!

No campgrounds in the area were open, so I stayed in the parking lot at Walmart. It wasn't the most restful night because a car dealership nearby had audible music playing on their outside speakers, even though they were closed. 

On my way out of Kindersley, I stopped at the Regional Park Community Walking Trail for some exercise. The well marked and maintained trail circles a pond. I passed quite a few other people using the trail for exercise. Across the street from one end is the local campground, which wasn't open for the season yet, but looked nice and may be worth a visit if I am ever passing through this way again. 

My next stop was Saskatoon. I had a reservation at the Gordon Howe Campground. This is probably the nicest, most well run campground I have stayed at to date. The fellow who runs it has a lot of experience that other campground operators could learn from. It is located within the city limits, adjacent to some sports fields and the river. When the trees and shrubs are in leaf, the campsites would have a very private feeling. 

A little outside Saskatoon, I visited the Wanuskewin Heritage Park in the Opimihaw Creek Valley. There was a large friendly looking soapstone bear to greet visitors. 

It is an archaeological goldmine dating back 6,000 years in the lives of indigenous people and was a stop during the Amazing Race Canada 3, Episode 7 where the participants had to either build a t-pee or learn the hoop dance. Unfortunately the museum didn't have many artifacts on display. They had a display of really bad art. The outdoor area is quite vast and you can tour it on foot with some guideposts providing explanations, but compared to other sites I have been to this was was rather disappointing. Areas that had been buffalo jumps and buffalo traps had been excavated and then filled back in and were already grown over, so there really wasn't anything to see. Another example, when it comes to a medicine wheel:

Explanation of Medicine Wheel

Just a few rocks on the ground.

The things I found to be the most interesting, like these colorful ribbons tied to the trees:

weren't "interpreted" and when I asked about it back inside the museum, I was told it was because it was "to sacred." The highlight of my visit was the jingle dancer, unfortunately my video of her dancing didn't come out very well due to the lighting conditions. Click here to see a sample of jingle dancing. Sadly, at $8.50 for admission, this was the most disappointing side trip I have made since I started my RV adventure. 

While I was in Saskatoon I took in the Humboldt Bronco's Country Music Tribute Concert at the Sask Tel Centre. 

The place was a sea of green in honor of the Broncos and was rocking from start to finish, 3 1/2 hours in total. I'm not that into country music and don't really know much about the Canadian country music start, but they did put on a good show and I recognized a few of the songs. 

For those that are unfamiliar with the need to have a benefit concert, the reason was that on April 6th, 2018, a 22 wheeled transport truck carrying packages of insulation collided with the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team en route to a game in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. Tragically sixteen passengers were killed and 13 others were injured, when they were ejected from the coach style bus, which was equipped with seat belts, but none of the occupants were wearing them. The driver of the truck was very inexperienced. He ran a stop sign and caused an unthinkable tragedy that deeply effected the small Saskatchewan town. There was an unprecedented outpouring of support from hockey enthusiasts around the world. I was prepared to volunteer there for up to a week. I though they might be able to use some administrative support or something I could handle, but as it turned out when I inquired it was too soon after the event for them to be organized enough to make use of my talents, so instead I stayed clear of the town and moved on. 

The following night I attended a Rush National Lacrosse league game at the same venue. (I used to be a Toronto Rock season ticket holder.)

During my stay in Saskatoon, I also attended a sabbath synagogue service and went on a couple of bicycle rides along the river. I feel Saskatoon would be quite a livable city if I wanted to be situated more directly north of Arizona.

Calgary

April 19th, I headed to Calgary for the planned visit with my Nephew. I had a leisurely morning as the drive to Calgary wasn't very far from Ft. MacLeod. As I was hooking up getting ready to leave, I noticed the electrical cord that operates the trailer lights was a bit loose, where it connects to the trailer. I recalled a few days earlier the end of it had gotten a bit stuck between the end of the truck and the tail gate, but I didn't think any damage had been done. It wasn't serious, but I don't like putting off repairs. I asked the campground owner about repair places nearby. They had a couple of suggestions, but as it was near lunchtime the mechanics were all taking an hour off. Instead of waiting there until after lunch time, I arranged to go to a place a bit up the road. I called and set up an appointment for later in the day. They were able to fix it, while I spent some time in the library a few doors down the street. Pulling out of there I was thinking I would now be late for my planned dinner with friends that evening.

I had reserved a pull-through site at Mountain View Farm Campground and RV Park on the east side of Calgary in advance. During my contact with them they had not mentioned that their water and sewer connections were not working at each site yet; since the winter. When I arrived there was still quite a bit of snow and ice on most of the sites, which meant some slipping and sliding while setting up the trailer. Centrally located water and sewer services were available. My stay was to be 4 nights, so I could manage with filling up on arrival and dumping on departure. That was O.K., but a bit of a shock given they didn't notify me in advance and they weren't offering any discount for the inconvenience. I was aware the campground was, surprisingly, open year round, so I had though to myself that maybe they had built things in a special way in order for them to function during their bitterly cold winters, I guess I was wrong. The situation may have been exacerbated by a subliminal conflict between me and their proud German heritage. (In the middle of the summer I'm sure it would have been a bit more enjoyable place.)

By the time I filled my tank, I was running later, but given their flexibility, I was still able to visit with a friend from Hamilton's sister,who is also into RVing, and her husband that evening for dinner. We had a nice dinner, and I was able to catch up on my laundry while there.

Friday afternoon I drove the truck to a shopping mall on the outskirts of Calgary, not too far from the campground and took the rapid transit system downtown. I visited the Glenbow museum 

Tribute to the Humboldt Broncos after their deadly bus crash.

to see their display of first nations artifacts and mineral collection as well as other shows that were on at the time, and wondered around downtown a bit, 

Public Art - Wonderland Sculpture in front of Bow Building

Calgary Tower

prior to meeting up with my nephew at Trolley 5, a brew pub, when he was done work. They had lots of hockey games on their TV screens and the place was hopping with the after work crowd. The weather was quite mild and the outdoor patios were open. They had an interesting overhead conveyor system to transport growlers and howlers from the restaurant upstairs to the brewpub downstairs for refilling. We had seven months of catching up to do. The beer, the food and the service was quite good. I found my way back to the truck and campground quite easily even though it was dark out.

I found a spot for Dim Sum, in the suburbs Saturday morning and spent some time at a local library. Late Saturday afternoon we met at the Rose & Crown, an English Pub to watch a basketball game and have dinner. This time I drove the truck into town. 

Sunday I spent most of the day relaxing. In the evening we had dinner at Minas, a Brazilian Steak house. I hadn't been to one in quiet a while and he had never been, so it was fun. One of the highlights of the night was that wine by the bottle was half price, so be indulged in a nice bottle of Brazilian red, which complemented the grilled meats very nicely. I tried chicken heart for the first time, it tasted like liver to me. Other than meeting for these meals he was too busy with work and other things to do anything touristy with me, and his apartment was too messy to show me. 

I regret that we didn't take any selfies

Heading North to Canada from Salt Lake City, Utah

Next stop on the trip north was Idaho Falls, Idaho, where I spent two nights. Yes, there are falls there, but nothing as spectacular as Niagara Falls, Ontario. The weather while I was there was pretty wet and overcast so the photos weren't great. The drop isn't very much, but it is wide (I couldn't capture it all, so opted for the nicest part). The river runs through town.

Seeing as outdoor activities were out of the question, I partook in a couple of the small brew pubs in town. Snow Eagle was the better of the two for beer selection and menu by far. 

It always amazes me the variety of colors and flavors brew-masters can create, which are all still called beer. The other was Idaho brewing company. What made it unique was that they had a board covered with post-it-notes of the regulars buying each other future pints.

I stayed at the Snake River RV Park & Campground. They are the first campground that has given me a stuffed animal upon check in, of course a snake, with a business card attached that has all their particulars on one side and on the other side says "We hope you enjoyed your stay please come again!" This kind of pet I can handle. It doesn't need to be fed, watered or taken out for a walk. It is pink, orange and black and about 8" long. They needed to trim a few tree branches hanging over the site they assigned me to. They were quite responsive about it. I would recommend the campground if your travels find you in Idaho Falls. They are open year round.

An overnight stay in Butte, Montana was my last stop in the USA. Some RVers purchase maps of the continental US and put them on their rigs, usually on a slide out. Then they put the "stamp" for the state in place as they accomplish it. Often times on the RV Facebook groups I follow people will ask if you can put the stamp on if you just pass through a state. The typical answers are either you have to sleep there, or your map, your rules. I don't have the map, but I think you need to at least sleep in a state/province to count it, just passing through just doesn't cut it in my mind. 

I entered back into Canada on April 15th at the Coutts crossing in southern Alberta. This was the first time I entered Canada outside of Ontario. The border guards gave me a thorough questioning, but didn't go in to inspect the trailer. I enjoy traveling to the US, but it is always nice to get my wheels back onto Canadian turf. The red and white flags were a welcome sight.

I had been working on getting out of the states sooner than I had originally planned, in order to save my limited days for future travel. This however put me ahead of schedule for my planned visit with my nephew in Calgary, so I hung out in Fort MacLeod, Alberta for a few extra days at the Daisy May Campground. It was early in the season for them and still a bit muddy around, but I was happy with my site close to the entrance and office.

One afternoon I visited the Smashed in Head Buffalo Jump, a world heritage site, which was only a few kilometers from the campground. I was unfamiliar with Buffalo Jumps, as this was the first one I encountered. The museum was quite well done. For the uninitiated, when buffalo were prevalent, Indians on horseback would round some up and then drive them to the edge of a cliff. The Buffalo's would then "jump" to their deaths. Underneath the cliff, other Indians would butcher them, using all their parts for something. 

Side view of Buffalo Jump cliff. The drop is less than it used to be, due to the buildup of debris at the bottom.

Buffalo skeleton.

There was a surprisingly good Japanese restaurant in town. While having dinner there Sunday evening a young RCMP officer came in for take-out. I commented on how loaded his body was with gear. I guessed 50 lbs and was close, he said it was 55 lbs. Bullet proof vest, hand gun, stun gun, multiple sets of handcuffs, extra ammunition clips, radio, overdose kit, etc. We had quite an interesting chat about policing while he was waiting for his order to be prepared. He was quite frank with me. Times have changed since I was in grade one, where the local policeman came into class and said his lunch (sandwich and banana) were in his holster. 

The downtown is quite historic with many stores well preserved and vibrant. There is a good little library, offering meeting space. One afternoon a group of ladies were playing bridge there.

Unfortunately the Fort Museum was not yet open for the season. 

There is quite an active seniors center in town called Welcome Mat. I went in to play Euchre on Wednesday afternoon. Many have recently retired from farming and have moved into town. Most stayed there through the winter, as opposed to heading south. They were quite welcoming. I enjoyed my afternoon with them.