The many, many miles...Whew!

  OK, so where did I leave off?  Seems so long ago though it's only been 3 days.  A lot has happened to tell you all about, some good, some bad.
  The morning of July 13, we made our run for the Canadian border.  Passports are in hand, Canadian moola in the wallets, declarations completed.  We are set.  The drive was beautiful, and very relaxing.  Traffic was light and we had zero snarls on getting ready.

  The customs agent at the border asked the usual, i.e. "Passport please", and "please remove your sunglasses"  (gee, I forgot I had them on. ) The Q & A went something like this:

Is anyone else in the truck with you?"
No

"Is anyone  riding in the trailer?"
 No.

 "Why are you in Canada?"
 We are passing through on our way to Alaska.

  "How long will you be there?"
Permanently.

"How long will it take you to get through Canada?"
 Guessing, maybe 4 or 5 days. 

 "Do you have any alcohol or tobacco with you?"  I have a bottle of Champagne and a 5th of whiskey 3/4 full. 

 "Do you have any guns?" 
 Not with me, my hubby has them in the cargo trailer. 

 "Is that him behind you?"
 Yes

 "Do you have any mace or bear spray?" 
 No.  

  He forgot to ask me about fruits and veggies, which we made sure we had only the allotted amount with us.  He didn't ask about dairy, houseplants, pet food, or any of the other things we were cautioned on the Canadian Customs web site to avoid bringing (unless specifically allowed).  I was kind of disappointed.  He told me I was free to go but if I wanted to, I could park and wait on John.
  It took less time than we expected to get the cargo John's carrying through the border.  Hand over the paperwork and $25.00 (Canadian...cash only please), and we're on our way.  Not much else to say about the border except: are the customs officers getting younger, or am I just getting older?
  Down the road a few km (yes, we are now on the metric system), we stop at the first welcome center we come to.  John changes Trooper's speedometer to km and I change the Garmin to tell me what to do in metric terms (she's always bossing me around anyway.)  Couldn't she assume if I pull off the road I'm either getting fuel, food, or taking a much needed pause for the cause?

 Interesting rock formations and a Tyrannosaurus Rex

 It should be noted that they were flying the flags of Canada, Alberta, and the USA

   The rest stop was beautiful and we took a bit of time to let the fur babies walk in the soft grass.

  While we were relaxing, we met a lovely lady by the name of Barbara.  She was driving her Class C on her way from California to Calgary then Edmonton to visit her nieces.  She was traveling alone, except for her little dachshund Roxie & needed some help.  She was trying to follow a map and a GPS she got from the Good Sam Club.  It was giving directions slightly different from her map and she was really scared of getting lost. I got my maps and my itinerary (Mike would call that "the book of common knowledge) and joined her in her RV.  The GPS she had was really not user friendly, but I looked over on the chair & there was a Garmin nuvi like I have.  She plugged it in & gave me her niece's address in Calgary.  I programmed it in and invited her to follow us until she had to exit in Calgary.  During a quick break just before we got to Calgary, Barbara said the Garmin was following where I was leading and she now felt confident to complete her journey.  A smile and a wave as she exited let me know she would have a good trip.

  John and I drove on, enjoying the many, many miles of Canada, as far as the eye can see.  One thing I can say about the Queen Elizabeth II highway, it's very clean.  I never saw trash or junk yards or other eye sores that dot the highways of America.  When we got tired, we stopped for the night in Didsbury, Alberta at the Rosebud Valley Campground.  $26.00 (Canadian, cash only please) to hook up to electric.  No water, no sewer, no cable, no WiFi.  DVD time!!!

  The best part of this little place is that we were parked in a field of clover and the aroma washed gently over us with the breeze.  A nice 67(F), pleasant for sleeping with the windows open for the first time since leaving the stifling heat of Texas.

  We slept so well that we woke up at 6:30 a.m. ready to go.  The parking spot was so level we didn't even need to put down the jacks, nor disconnect from Goliath.  A very quick get-a-way.  Our goal was to reach Dawson Creek before nightfall.

  On this long drive we found laid out on either side of the road golden blanket of fragrant blooms.  It seemed as if all the farm fields were sown in this extremely attractive planting.  When we stopped for lunch, and to consult the Milepost Magazine (a must for this trip), we discovered that the magnificent plantings we were observing was canola to be processed into oil upon harvesting of the seeds.  I  knew how pleasing the oil is to the heart, but had no idea how pleasing to the eye the raw form was.

  Canada also has some very interesting names for towns, rivers, lakes, etc.  The ones we liked best were: 1) Head-Smashed-In, 2)Ma-Me-O Beach and 3) Lose Gun Lake.

    

  We continued on our journey, but encountered frequent construction zones.  Several of them had tons of gravel on the road and I could hear the pebbles bouncing under the truck and striking the RV,several areas of "frost heaves"  and slowing from  110 kph to 50 kph  (70mph to 35 mph for those who don't want to convert).  The RV was really bouncing and jerking in several of these areas, making the drive very tiring.  Determined, we pushed on.

  Unable to get a cell signal on our phones despite our frequent tries, we stopped at a Walmart (yes they are everywhere) to buy a pre-pay phone with Canadian connectivity.  As I walked by the back of the RV with John, we were astonished to see that one of the windows in our bedroom had disintegrated due to rock strike or severe bouncing. Also found the weather stripping from the top of the bedroom slide (on the opposite side of the broken window) was pulled from it's moorings and flapping in the breeze. Once again the $$$$ formed a mosh pit in my brain.

   Into Walmart for 1) a phone 2) something to cover the window 3) super glue. What do they say about the best laid plans?  Walmart wanted $128.95 for a phone and minutes were extra !!!!  I'm only gonna use it a couple of times, gee-sh is it made of gold?  There was no visqueene available, and the only plastic drop cloths they had were only 2.75 mil thick, about what a trash bag is.  Then a light bulb went off.  The plastic that comes with poster frames is just the right thickness.  

  Got back out to the RV, proud of my ingenuity only to find that John was now able to get a cell signal, I forgot the super glue, but the poster frames idea was a real success!

  We are now at the Northern Lights Campground in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.  Met a couple 3 RVs down from us who are from Pasadena, TX.  They are on their way back and tell us the roads are not getting any better, so this will be the repair until we get home.  John plans to buy 2 more tomorrow, "just in case."

  We plan to stay 2 nights to again recoupe, and be rested and awake to face the Rocky Mountains and the infamous Alaska Highway.   Miles traveled 2868, miles to go 1556.