June 20, 2013 by Rae

Stettler to Kelowna

Tar Sands and Fort Mac
Redwood Strands and Kitimatt
(This is our home) and down in the Shuswaps too
I’ve seen many nights feel like high noon from the Dome to Saskatoon
There’s confederation bridge and butterfly ridge and Sudbury and the Sault
I’ve been snowed in for days on the Trans Canada Highway
And that was in the month of June and this is our home

(Mike Plume Band, This is Our Home)

Bitch as I do about the Canadian government and the cost of living here, the variety of landscapes and climates of this vast country will never cease to amaze me. There hasn’t been a moment since I left my property that I didn’t look up and marvel at the beauty of the scenery, from the Prairies through the Badlands, into the foothills, and across the Rockie Mountains. That I have done this trip for the second and a half time, doesn’t make it stale at all.

I left Stettler at about 9:30 on Wednesday morning and drove straight through to Olds, where I conceded I wasn’t going to reach cheaper gas on the outskirts of Calgary. From Olds, I continued southwestward, passing Spring Hill RV Park north of Cochrane, where I stayed in late September of 2008.

(Spring Hill RV Park)

I didn’t go through the pretty town of Cochrane, instead veering west on highway 1A just before town, until I reached the junction for the Transcanada Highway.

(very low sky entering the Rockies)

From there, it was a short drive to Canmore where I got some groceries, using my Safeway card for the first time in a year. I bought $30 worth of food, all on sale, and paid only $20 with my Safeway discount!

The entrance to Banff National Park is right after Canmore. I elected to pay the $9.80 for a day pass so that I could stop if I wanted to without risking a fine. Having been to Banff and Lake Louise, I had no intention of detouring, but I still wanted to be able to pull over for a leg stretch, a view, or to use the bathroom.

That said, this was my third time driving across the Rockies and I didn’t have much better luck than the previous two trips since the weather was crappy; very cold and rainy. 🙁

(Not quite cold enough for snow, but it almost felt like it!)

Still, the drive was effortless. I don’t know what it is about this stretch, but it always makes for really good gas mileage. I’ve never done better than 500KM on a tank with my truck, but I ended up getting about 600KM on the tank I got in Olds. A good part of it is that you just drive straight through, so you don’t waste gas stopping at street lights and such, plus the stretch is mostly downhill. Several times, I put Moya in second gear and took my feet off the pedals, saving both fuel and wear and tear on the brakes.

I stopped at the Spiral tunnels and the entrance to Glacier Provincial Park, where the air smelled like evergreens and snow. I wish I could convey that smell through pixels; it will be a highlight of this summer.

(Lots of snow on the mountains, even though it’s late June.)

(This cut in the rock shows how much work it was to carve a road into these mountains.)

This trip, I was finally about to stop at the Rogers Pass discovery centre! It’s a small museum that makes a good leg stretch break.

(This is the first time I’ve noticed that the GPS screen more or less matches the terrain.)

I forgot that I was going into the Pacific time zone, so I hit Revelstoke much earlier than I would have planned. It felt too early to stop for the night, but I decided to find the 2008 turnout and see if I had internet there. If so, I would check if the Vernon Walmart was RV friendly, otherwise I would spend the night.

From Revelstoke I quickly found my first landmark, but drove further past it than I remembered doing in 2008, so I began to think that the turnout was gone. But nope! When I came to it, I recognized it instantly and pulled around to the far side. I had internet and the Vernon Walmart is NOT RV friendly, so I decided to stay put.

A Gregory Peck movie on Netflix occupied most of the evening (my favourite actor of all time), at the end of which I discovered that I had apparently left my iPad charging cord in Stettler! Oh NO. I left myself just enough juice to check emails in the morning and went to bed around 9:00 (10:00 my time).

Even though it was pouring rain, the truck bed felt cozy and warm. I would have slept soundly if trains hadn’t passed by about once every hour.

This morning, around 5:30, it was very damp out, but not raining, so that made it easier to repack for the day’s drive since I could leave the doors open. I had gained two neighbours, an RV and a semi.

I did the math and even with the gas prices averaging $1.35 per litre ($5.31 per gallon), taking my truck and sleeping in it is cheaper than it would have been to go with a subcompact and take a hotel. I’m going to spend about two weeks camping in the truck this summer (at least) and that will help me figure out what I need to make camping in it more comfortable and easier. A taller and non-leaky canopy is definitely in order! But it’s reassuring to know that I was dry even during last night’s downpour.

I pulled out and drove to Sicamous where I got gas and coffee. It began to pour again as I pulled onto highway 97 and it was a wet, miserable, couldn’t see anything drive into Kelowna. Sunny Okanagan my ass. This is my least favourite part of Canada. 🙁

My first stop was Walmart to see if I could find a cheap iPad charging cord, but nope. I tagged in with my friend Amber, changing our plans from dinner to lunch, and then I headed to a CIBC because I had left my ATM card in the reader at the Canmore Safeway. I HATE those friggin’ chip readers!!!

Getting the new card was painless and it’s one I can now use in the U.S. as it’s part of the Visa as well as Interac networks. I was warned that there are big fees, so I’m better off using my Visa or cash, but it’s nice to have a third option just in case.

Then, I went to Best Buy, which only opened at 10:00. Instead of waiting 15 minutes for them to open, I decided to go to a dollar store and see if I could find a super cheap iPad cord. It’s been my experience that using non-Apple cords is hit or miss and has absolutely nothing to do with price or brand, so it seemed like a worthwhile experiment.

My GPS directed me to a dollar store that had a cord for $12, cheaper than anything else I knew I’d find, but it wasn’t refundable if it didn’t work. Hmm. I knew that I had to get something marked iPad, not just iPhone or iPod Touch as the the iPad chargers offer more juice. I have a little Belkin cradle for my iPod Touch that I had hoped would tide me over until Donna can get my cord back to me, but I got the dreaded ‘charging is not supported with this accessory message.’ Anyway, I decided to take a gamble on the $12 cord, accepting that I’d be stuck using the iPod all weekend if the cord didn’t work. Yes, I am spoiled. 🙂

Well, the cord WORKS. YAY!!! It is charging veeeeeeeery slowly, but I don’t care. I’m just grateful I didn’t break the bank and have my iPad again.

I then headed out to Westbank to meet Amber at a Thai restaurant when I saw a sign that made me do a double take:

OMG Dollar Tree has come to Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀

I found Thai Fusion Restaurant without any trouble and Amber was right on time. We both had the chicken pad thai. It was fine, but not that flavourful beyond a little heat. I wasn’t surprised or disappointed since I know food tends to be bland out west. It was a nice portion and the prices were very reasonable.

Amber and I gabbed for almost two hours. It was so good to catch up!

I’m now at a library, catching up on some things and finishing up my slideshow. This branch closes at 6:00pm, so I’ll go find a parking lot to hang out in for a few hours before moving to my overnight spot, which I am not going to divulge for matters of safety, obviously.

The first event doesn’t start till 5:30 tomorrow, so I’ll likely spend a good chunk of time tomorrow at a different library.

May 26, 2013 by Rae

Soaked

I needed some fresh air and exercise last night, so well after supper, probably around 7:30, I decided to hike up to the lower petroglyphs viewing area, a distance of just over 4KM round trip. The sky was threatening rain, but I didn’t let it stop me since I’ve seen tons of sky like that in the last months and no rain has ever come.

It was a beautiful evening and the quiet country gravel road felt very isolated. I did pass a few vehicles, with the drivers waving at me, but I still felt rather alone in the world.

The hill up to the petroglyphs looks really steep so I thought getting to the top would be good exercise. Ha. I just kept up my brisk pace and before I knew it, I was at the top and not an iota out of breath. This is apparently the most challenging road to walk from the village, so I guess I’ll have to stick to it if I want to get a semblance of exercise. At 4KM round trip, I really should do it at least three times a week.

There is a campground at the very top of the hill with electrical hookups only and a VERY steep gravel access road. The campground gate was shut when I went down there a little while ago, so I don’t know what the sites are like.

The sky was starting to spit by this point, but I wasn’t concerned, being only about 15 minutes from home. I enjoyed the view for a bit, inhaled as much of that delicious damp prairie air as I could, and then started back down.

About a third of the way home, it started to rain lightly. Right at this point, I was passed by a truck and the driver offered me a lift. I thanked him and said I was fine.

The rain started to pick up a little, so I increased my pace. I was within view of main street when the rain began to come down hard in icy cold little needles. Another truck passed (!) and I again refused a ride. I was already sopping wet, so I might as well finish the walk properly.

By the time I got over the hump, I had gone from sopping wet to soaked. My skirt was completely sodden and very heavy. The roads were mini rivers. I kept up the pace, trying to look as dignified as I could to the drivers on main street (geeze there was a lot of traffic last night). A couple of minutes later, I was home. I hadn’t been wet long enough to be chilled, so a towel and flannel jammies later, I was very comfy.

The storm continued into the night, well after I went to bed. I couldn’t get internet, so I read the magazines I’d bought earlier in the day, then went to bed with a book.

It’s still very damp out there this morning and I’m selfishly disappointed that this rain has once again set me back in being able to movie Miranda to the back of the lot. I’m having charging issues and am hoping that I’ll get a bit more sun in the back, but the ground is still much too spongy.

Getting soaked not withstanding, I really enjoyed my walk last night and think it’s high time I got a couple of audio books onto my iPod Touch and got back into my beach habit of going for several long walks a day.

: The road east out of the hamlet.

: Our pretty, albeit dilapidated, church (now a museum).

: The log cabin and welcome centre for the petroglyphs.

: The log cabin is next to the church.

: Can you see the cemetery in the background?

: The road to the petroglyphs and the campground.

: The road starts out flat, humps, goes flat for a bit, and then climbs steadily.

: I’m past the first hump, looking back to the village.

: We were due for some rain…

: The cows were very vocal.

: Starting to climb and looking back towards the village.

: The cows’ mooing echoes off the hills and is quite loud in the evening. This is the exact same sound I would hear from my deck at my house in the Gatineau Hills. Very familiar and soothing!

: Cresting the big hill, which wasn’t nearly as impressive as I thought it was. I just strolled up there at a brisk pace, surprised that I could do so.

: This campground has electrical hookups, but no water or sewer.

: The road into the campground is very steep. I would not want to climb a gravel road like this in my rig. If I had no choice, I would separate the two vehicles.

: Looking at the sky and the road into the campground.

: View from the lower petroglyphs viewing area.

: The sky was very impressive.

: There are picnic facilities and pit toilets at the lower viewpoint.

: It was starting to spit and the sky was putting on an impressive thunder and lightening show. Time to go!

May 16, 2013 by Rae

Exploring the Environs

I still have tons of work to do this evening, but I took the afternoon off to get some fresh air. I started by walking around the village. Caroline told me that in the not so distant past, this village was the head of a big insurance company (its building now an apartment complex right across from my lot) and actually had a few businesses.

There are signs of this hey day all over, from a crumbling church to a large community hall, never mind the frost damaged sidewalks. There is also a swimming hole attached to a building with public showers and toilets. I look forward to that opening. The exterior of the building is a little scary, but if the showers are clean, they will be much appreciated.

I walked out to the cemetery and will need to go back out there with a camera, the spot being so pretty. The cemetery is obviously well tended. The bulk of the names on the headstones are French-Canadian as this is a French-Canadian community. I had a look at some of the other lots for sale, each bigger and more beautiful than the next, but I know I made the right choice. And a good view is just a block away!

Now, I wasn’t going to share this next tidbit, but, really, it’s too good not to. The majority of the residents of this community have one of two last names. The first last name is that of my maternal grand-mother. The other last name is that of my maternal grand-father, so the name of just about all my relatives on my mother’s side. WHAT?! That is a really weird coincidence. The names are common, but we’ve done the genealogy and we all appear to come from the same 17th century immigrants. So I am likely a distant blood relation of many of my neighbours. How weird is that?

Finally, I really did intend to keep the name of the village private, but there is a nearby attraction that shares the village’s name and which I simply cannot hide from the world, it is so wondrous. It’s only 2KM away, albeit uphill, so it could be a good place to hike to once or twice a week.

Some of you may remember the wonderful gift I got from Jody for my third RVing anniversary, a trip to Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park. This park has petroglyphs carved into vertical rock faces.

Well, there are some much rare petroglyphs in North America, ones written on horizontal surfaces. One such location is right here, at the St Victor Petroglyphs Historical Park.

It’s a bumpy drive up to the petroglyphs (so I glad I have my truck because even with it I almost lost my fillings). The petroglyphs are carved into sandstone and very faint. Truth be told, I couldn’t see anything today and made note of the idea conditions (rain or dusk) to see them. Standing up there, I felt the same magical connection to the world around me that I did at Writing-On-Stone and in the Badlands. These are places of immense power.

The pictures below are of the landscapes as seen from the petroglyph locations, mostly to prove to Caroline that I am NOT in stereotypical flat prairie landscapes. 🙂 Also, the crocuses were out!

April 8, 2013 by Rae

A Day in Dallas With a Local Guide

Once again, I am super grateful to have a local guide!

Ms. Cinnamon has lived in Dallas all her life, so she took me on a tour of her city today, from seedy west Dallas to the Turtle Creek district with its huge mansions. There was really too much info for my memory to do justice to it!

Before heading to Dealey Plaza, we went for lunch at EatZi‘s, an upscale European-market type place where you can find just about anything you could want to eat or drink. She chose a few salads and I zeroed in on the sushi! This place was awesome! Tip: try all the samples so that you’ll be a little full and less tempted to try one of everything! 😀

I’ll write about our afternoon at Dealey Plaza in another post. Once I’d had my fill of that, we walked around downtown a little bit and checked out the new Perot Museum of Science of Nature, but we were too close to the end of the day, so we’ll go later this week.

We drove around some more after and finished our day off with dinner at the Highland Park Cafeteria, a Dallas institution serving homestyle cooking. I enjoyed my chicken and sides. The portions were ginormous and I have leftovers for tomorrow!

Dallas doesn’t feel like a giant metropolis. The only city I can think of that comes close to it is Chicago, another city of neighbourhoods with a compact downtown core. Only Dallas is about 1/10th the size! Dallas has a lot of green spaces (that wilt and brown in warm weather), does not allow pandhandlers, and has lots of arts and culture.

I was sad to say goodbye to palm trees in San Antonio, but lo and behold, and to Ms. Cinnamon’s surprise, we saw a few today!

Tomorrow, I will post about Dealey Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository.

: Driving into downtown Dallas, you are greeted by glimmering skyscrapers.

: The new Perot Museum of Science and Nature.

: Dallas has a light rail service.

: In west Dallas heading downtown.

: It’s hilarious that this gorgeous bridge goes to seedy west Dallas.

: Dallas has unique skyscrapers. There aren’t two the same.

: Dallas has some fun street names, like Lover’s Lane.

: Lunch at EatZi’s; spicy tuna roll. YUM. Very fresh and very tasty!

: A sneak peek for the next post; this is the grassy knoll.

: In Dallas, squat red brick buildings survive in the shadow of towering glass skyscrapers.

: House of the Blues.

: Approaching the museum of science and nature on foot.

: What an odd building!

: Ms. Cinnamon took me to Fountain Place, which is below the pointy building you can see in the first picture of this gallery.

: The area is so serene.

: Lots of bubbling fountains.

: Ms. Cinnamon said not to step here in case the fountains start up again!

: Rows and rows and rows…

: … and rows of fountains.

: And fountains.

: So pretty!

: The pattern on this building was interesting.

: The flying red horses.

: I like the copy detail on the orange building.

: The trains pass through downtown.

: The building visibly flares at the bottom.

: Laundry chute? Body chute?

: This was the old courthouse.

: Highland Park Cafeteria.

March 25, 2013 by Rae

Downtown San Antonio, Including the Alamo, Riverwalk, and Mercado

The day was very slow to warm and I didn’t think I was going to end up going into San Antonio. We final hit double digits Celsius near noon and I decided to head out, wearing sandals, but also long thick leggings under my skirt and a long-sleeved top, and I stuffed my heaviest wool pashmina into my purse at the last minute. I wound up being very grateful for that shawl as I wore it all afternoon. It was warm in the sun, but absolutely freezing in shaded areas.

Teri, my host here at Hidden Valley had given me a detailed map with how to get to $5 a day parking downtown. I gave the map a glance before leaving and only noted the exit name… not that I had to get off I-35 and take I-10 to I-37, from which I would take said exit. So I wound up driving straight through town and had to double back! But once I was downtown, the parking lot was easy to find. It is at the corner of Bowie and Crockett, kitty corner from the giant mall.

First stop of the day was the Alamo! WOW! I can’t believe I’ve finally been to the Alamo!!! Wow! 😀

A number of people told me that I would be disappointed, but disappointment is all about expectations. No expectations, no disappointment. From a purely pragmatic point of view, I could understand how someone who is only moderately interested in the Alamo might not get much out of the site. There is a very long line to get into the shrine, an even longer line in the shrine snaking through the sparse exhibits, and there is no photography permitted.

But if you know the history, you can close your eyes and hear the rifles and cannons and death gurgles of men drowning in their own blood. In the room where women and children sought refuge, you can hear their muffled cries of terror. Standing within the halls of this former mission, I could understand how it has become a symbol of Texan independence.

The exhibits are wonderful for a history buff; lots of old documents and maps with a few artifacts, like a book belonging to Bowie and a rifle belonging to Crockett.

Attached to the Alamo shrine, there is a museum (again, no pictures). You can also see a movie, but the line for that was really, really long and I was ready for lunch.

The Alamo (which means cottonwood) is free to visit. You can pay $6 for an audio tour, but I opted out.

My thirst for living history slaked, it was time to find some lunch. I had done my research and headed to Sushi Zushi on the corner of St Mary’s and Commerce. Don’t give me that look! I haven’t had sushi since the beginning of January!!!!!!

From the restaurant, I was able to head down into the famous Riverwalk, where it was really cold along the water. What a beautiful area! I did the entire main loop and a little of the newer branch that heads north.

After, I headed across town to the marketplace to see the Mercado, colloquially known as ‘the Mexican flea market.’ If you want to get a sense of what it’s like to shop in a Mexican border town without having a bunch of shopkeepers hassle you, you have to check out this place. I was underwhelmed by the same tchotchkes that I saw in Nuevo Progreso and Tijuana.

That was the end of my day. Public transportation is super cheap in San Antonio, but the city is very walkable and compact, so I ended up hoofing my way back to the truck, enjoying the exercise and sunshine.

Gotta remember where I’m parked. 😉 There’s a giant mall right downtown and I was across from it.

Looking down Crockett.

Lots of lampposts right in the middle of the sidewalk. Odd.

Made it to Alamo Plaza

This is the iconic façade of the church that is now the Alamo shrine.

A very long line, but it moved quickly enough.

Lots of rules in the shrine. Men have to take off their hats, no pictures, no talking loudly, etc.

Gardens outside the shrine.

Exquisite sculpting on the shrine doors.

Closeup of the sculpting details.

Rear exit.

Entrance to the gift shop.

Wall, still in the Alamo Plaza.

Exit of the museum in the long barracks.

I just came around the shrine.

This is a post office and something else, probably a courthouse. I had to go through a metal detector and put my purse through an X-ray machine to get in.