Last night we almost froze. It had been so hot in Tennessee that we did not even think to pack blankets. You are NOT allowed to laugh at that! :-) The heater worked really well, but it was those first few hours when you think you are going to get warmer if you just lie still and then finally you get to the point where you just know you better get up and turn the heater higher and get some warm clothes on or you simply wont get to sleep at all....... When Frank got up this morning he put the heater up even more and I lay in bed pretending to sleep - just savoring the warmth!
After a good hot soaking shower we headed out of that campground swearing never to camp in a place that is on the side of a hill again, filled up with gas and headed north up on the 93, through Eureka into Canada. We have a shotgun with us and when we got to customs, we went in to get it all properly registered and all. They definately ask a good many more questions than last time we came through here. I do understand that they have a very serious job to do, but wonder if there is any immigration officer that has any remote speck of a sense of humor? After 12 years of dealing with them - I still have not found one! Anyway. We did the right thing, answered their questions, gave them our papers and registered the gun. The officer then came out to the rv to see the gun and then asked us both to step outside with him. He searched Skilpad, top to bottom while we sat outside basking in the sunshine...... It's difficult not to feel like a criminal sitting there while watching all the other rv's go straight on through, and I have to say that I wracked my brain trying to think if we forgot to tell them something! All I could come up with was the little box of wine we have, but I sure was not going to give that up that easily, so I kept quiet.. 10 minutes later we passed his gloved ins pection and were on our way with no further ado. Phew. Even after all these years, I still find my palms sweating when dealing with immigration people. And I just KNOW that they are going to want to take all my beef jerky when we come back in again! It took me months to make it all for this trip.....aaarrgh!
And then we were in Canada - the road opened up and it somehow felt free....... we both found ourselves breathing deeply and relaxing again. Last night I had been fortunate enough to be able to get online again and even managed to sign on to msn instant messenger where I found Penny online too! We chatted for a good while, getting cut off regularly.....very frustrating..... and I told Penny which road we were coming up on into Canada and that we would be passing through Cranbrook. She told me that her Grandma lives there and that she has plenty family there and sent an email to her cousins wife and told her we were coming t hrough. Tom and Miranda have contacts and it seemed as if we might be able to get a tv interview in while in Cranbrook. So this morning when we crossed over into Canada, I called Tom and he told me that he had managed to get it all set up! We went into town, bought the very necessary blankets and headed up the road to meet him and the tv and radio people. Tom is such a honey and it was wonderful to chat with him for a while. He did fantastically well to get all of this set up at such incredible short notice and even organised the company to give a donation! Thank you to Freightliner of Cranbrook and everyone that helped get this impromptu meeting to work so very well!....... A special thanks to Tom - and Penny, of course, for getting this ball rolling! So we were interviewed and photographed and will get a copy of the newspaper article - pity about not being able to see the newscast though. It was good to have an interview and get this out on the news again - now we feel as if we are doing something positive towards the main idea. So with many thanks, hugs and waves we headed out of town again, up to Radium Springs and the mountains.
The mountains are simply mind-bogglingly beautiful. There is not much snow or ice on them at all but they are totally amazing. The road winds though the middle of the mountains - so high that I have to lean almost out of my window to see the tops at times! Some of them have their own little cloud-puddle around their tops and others are dotted with sun spots that move around all the time. There is a milky blue river that wound itself around the base of the mountains, following the road and rushing over pebbles that gave it that sound that only a cold, clear river can. In places, the water was absolutely crystal clear and we could only imagine how cold it was!
There have obviously been a good few fires here and everything is starting to grow back again. The pink fire-weed, mixed in with the new-green of the grass and weeds made for some wonderful photographs. There are a good few different shades of pink flowers, together with the yellows, whites, blues and purples........Everywhere are only sticks left of the trees that were burned, most of them still standing but a good many lying down, their bark-less trunks catching the sunlight and adding a sparkle to the mountainsides - again, the camera really cannot capture it at all........ the clean air, the shuushing water, together with the faint smell of burn add to the visual picture - something a camera just does not capture. But I tried. Again and again and again. I did get a couple of good photos with Skilpad and the mountains and even a glacier in the background....... We are parked right below a glacier for tonight - not in a campground, just a pulloff. We have a stunning emerald green lake next to us, awesome mountains all around us and this incredible glacier dangling above it all......I can think of few other places I would rather be right now. I wish I knew if there were going to be aurora's tonight - that would seriously cap it all off!
I have learned where the best place is for the trash can. Below the freezer and food cupboard! Every morning we throw the trash out and put it there for the days ride. Today it came in handy twice in a totally diffent and unexpected way. The first time was when we did not clip the freezer closed properly and when we hit a goodly bump in the road, it sprung open spewing all the contents everywhere! After putting everything except the ice back again I noticed that the trash can was full - it had caught a whole lot of the beef jerky that is/was in the freezer! That made it easier to reload the freezer. And then later on we had to drive over a curb at a gas station (dont ask!) and the cupboard that h olds the food jerked open and all the cans fell out! The noise was horrendous and for one awful moment it sounded as if the roof was being ripped off the motorhome! My heart sank, but I got a laugh when I found that, once again, the trash can had filled itself up. So now it has a permanent place right there - but only when its empty!
Frank is still all bunged up and snotty so is in bed early with mootie (medicine). Its definately getting colder and there are three humongous crows sitting outside in a dead tree - yelling at us about something or other. The clouds are moving in and I dont think there is any chance for those northern lights tonight. Our cell phones switched themselves off - absolootle no signal at all so I cannot get online to send or get email, and we are on battery power for the night - that and propane. Its so quiet outside now - the traffic has almost died down completely and its getting close to my bedtime - even i f it is still fully light outside!
Its been a wonderuful day today. We also found ketchup chips, crunchies, aeros and smarties! Yes U3 - we will bring some home.....:-) These are candies that we all grew up with, but dont find in the normal stores in the USA. Its great to taste them again, but my hips are already yelling at me.......
On that really content note.......
Lots of love to all
U3 - stay safe!
Annie and Frank
XXXXXXXXXxxxxx
www.RoadrunnersUSA.com
www.livingwithcml.blogspot.com
www.PenniesforCancer.com
After a good hot soaking shower we headed out of that campground swearing never to camp in a place that is on the side of a hill again, filled up with gas and headed north up on the 93, through Eureka into Canada. We have a shotgun with us and when we got to customs, we went in to get it all properly registered and all. They definately ask a good many more questions than last time we came through here. I do understand that they have a very serious job to do, but wonder if there is any immigration officer that has any remote speck of a sense of humor? After 12 years of dealing with them - I still have not found one! Anyway. We did the right thing, answered their questions, gave them our papers and registered the gun. The officer then came out to the rv to see the gun and then asked us both to step outside with him. He searched Skilpad, top to bottom while we sat outside basking in the sunshine...... It's difficult not to feel like a criminal sitting there while watching all the other rv's go straight on through, and I have to say that I wracked my brain trying to think if we forgot to tell them something! All I could come up with was the little box of wine we have, but I sure was not going to give that up that easily, so I kept quiet.. 10 minutes later we passed his gloved ins pection and were on our way with no further ado. Phew. Even after all these years, I still find my palms sweating when dealing with immigration people. And I just KNOW that they are going to want to take all my beef jerky when we come back in again! It took me months to make it all for this trip.....aaarrgh!
And then we were in Canada - the road opened up and it somehow felt free....... we both found ourselves breathing deeply and relaxing again. Last night I had been fortunate enough to be able to get online again and even managed to sign on to msn instant messenger where I found Penny online too! We chatted for a good while, getting cut off regularly.....very frustrating..... and I told Penny which road we were coming up on into Canada and that we would be passing through Cranbrook. She told me that her Grandma lives there and that she has plenty family there and sent an email to her cousins wife and told her we were coming t hrough. Tom and Miranda have contacts and it seemed as if we might be able to get a tv interview in while in Cranbrook. So this morning when we crossed over into Canada, I called Tom and he told me that he had managed to get it all set up! We went into town, bought the very necessary blankets and headed up the road to meet him and the tv and radio people. Tom is such a honey and it was wonderful to chat with him for a while. He did fantastically well to get all of this set up at such incredible short notice and even organised the company to give a donation! Thank you to Freightliner of Cranbrook and everyone that helped get this impromptu meeting to work so very well!....... A special thanks to Tom - and Penny, of course, for getting this ball rolling! So we were interviewed and photographed and will get a copy of the newspaper article - pity about not being able to see the newscast though. It was good to have an interview and get this out on the news again - now we feel as if we are doing something positive towards the main idea. So with many thanks, hugs and waves we headed out of town again, up to Radium Springs and the mountains.
The mountains are simply mind-bogglingly beautiful. There is not much snow or ice on them at all but they are totally amazing. The road winds though the middle of the mountains - so high that I have to lean almost out of my window to see the tops at times! Some of them have their own little cloud-puddle around their tops and others are dotted with sun spots that move around all the time. There is a milky blue river that wound itself around the base of the mountains, following the road and rushing over pebbles that gave it that sound that only a cold, clear river can. In places, the water was absolutely crystal clear and we could only imagine how cold it was!
There have obviously been a good few fires here and everything is starting to grow back again. The pink fire-weed, mixed in with the new-green of the grass and weeds made for some wonderful photographs. There are a good few different shades of pink flowers, together with the yellows, whites, blues and purples........Everywhere are only sticks left of the trees that were burned, most of them still standing but a good many lying down, their bark-less trunks catching the sunlight and adding a sparkle to the mountainsides - again, the camera really cannot capture it at all........ the clean air, the shuushing water, together with the faint smell of burn add to the visual picture - something a camera just does not capture. But I tried. Again and again and again. I did get a couple of good photos with Skilpad and the mountains and even a glacier in the background....... We are parked right below a glacier for tonight - not in a campground, just a pulloff. We have a stunning emerald green lake next to us, awesome mountains all around us and this incredible glacier dangling above it all......I can think of few other places I would rather be right now. I wish I knew if there were going to be aurora's tonight - that would seriously cap it all off!
I have learned where the best place is for the trash can. Below the freezer and food cupboard! Every morning we throw the trash out and put it there for the days ride. Today it came in handy twice in a totally diffent and unexpected way. The first time was when we did not clip the freezer closed properly and when we hit a goodly bump in the road, it sprung open spewing all the contents everywhere! After putting everything except the ice back again I noticed that the trash can was full - it had caught a whole lot of the beef jerky that is/was in the freezer! That made it easier to reload the freezer. And then later on we had to drive over a curb at a gas station (dont ask!) and the cupboard that h olds the food jerked open and all the cans fell out! The noise was horrendous and for one awful moment it sounded as if the roof was being ripped off the motorhome! My heart sank, but I got a laugh when I found that, once again, the trash can had filled itself up. So now it has a permanent place right there - but only when its empty!
Frank is still all bunged up and snotty so is in bed early with mootie (medicine). Its definately getting colder and there are three humongous crows sitting outside in a dead tree - yelling at us about something or other. The clouds are moving in and I dont think there is any chance for those northern lights tonight. Our cell phones switched themselves off - absolootle no signal at all so I cannot get online to send or get email, and we are on battery power for the night - that and propane. Its so quiet outside now - the traffic has almost died down completely and its getting close to my bedtime - even i f it is still fully light outside!
Its been a wonderuful day today. We also found ketchup chips, crunchies, aeros and smarties! Yes U3 - we will bring some home.....:-) These are candies that we all grew up with, but dont find in the normal stores in the USA. Its great to taste them again, but my hips are already yelling at me.......
On that really content note.......
Lots of love to all
U3 - stay safe!
Annie and Frank
XXXXXXXXXxxxxx
www.RoadrunnersUSA.com
www.livingwithcml.blogspot.com
www.PenniesforCancer.com
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