5th Wheel Tales: Mount Kidd, Alberta, Canada - Trip Summary

Friday, May 23, 2008
We both got off work early and got on the road. Made it into North Dakota where we found a rest stop and crashed for the night. Had the furnace running - it was cold!

Saturday, May 24, 2008
Made it to Great Falls today and decided that was far enough. We were going to try and make it to Shelby, Montana, but it's been raining and we were both tired from the drive. Stayed at the KOA with full hook-ups and WiFi!

Sunday, May 25, 2008
Crossed the border without any issues. Getting into Canada was easy. It'll be interesting to see what happens on the return, entering into the US.

Stopped at Mary Jo's and delivered the items she inherited from Florence. We chatted for about an hour, met Stan and the kids, had some snacks, and then got back on the road.

Arrived at the campground just after they closed. The trip to the campground was easy. The weather was overcast with a slight rain but the roads are real good. There are only a handful of other campers in the park so we changed sites from a back-in site to a pull-through with a much better view of the mountains. We'll check-in with the manager in the AM to make sure it's ok.

We had a wolf in camp tonight! It was perfect timing. It really made Tom happy and hopefully has set the tone for the trip. Tom spotted him from inside the camper, just as I was finishing -up outside. We'll be keeping an eye for him again tomorrow night and hopefully will be able to get picture of it.

Monday, May 26, 2008
I love it when it's so quiet all that you can hear is the wind blowing in the trees and the rustle of a squirrel across the leaves. How restful and rejuvenating.

While it's still cold and cloudy today, we're enjoying our trip immensely. Tom had that smile on his face this morning that I've not seen in a while, and have missed a lot. It's good to see him unwinding and getting some rest. The stress at his office has been intense and I think this trip comes at the right time, despite the cold weather.

We checked out the town of Canmore today. What a lovely little town! Very much geared towards tourists and vacationers, but it has a personality that we both really liked. Very much like Uptown, only a little more "hip". Lots of people on bikes, neat little coffee shops and art galleries.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The weather broke today and we have only a partly cloudy sky. It's going to be a great day for seeing the sights.

We made it up to the ice fields and saw a glacier. Actually we saw a couple of glaciers. We made a stop on the way at the Num Ti Jah lodge and saw the Bow Glacier. The lodge there is totally off the grid. They get their power from a diesel generator and their communications by satellite. The setting by the lake is beautiful, but I can imagine how harsh it gets during the winter.

Continuing north we made it to the Athabasca glacier where Tom, despite the warning signs not to, walked out onto the glacier. It was absolutely unbelievable to see how much of the glacier has melted. Where we were standing should have been covered with over 100 feet of ice, and it was bare ground!

Stopped at Lake Louise on the way back. What a wonderful setting! We had dinner at the chalet and then headed back to camp.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Horseback riding day!! And what a fantastic ride it was! It was the best ride we've ever done. Much better than the Tetons. Because it's still early in the season, we crossed a lot of little streams as we worked our way up through the woods. The sounds and sights were terrific. We even saw an elk on the trail.

After the ride we headed south to Lake Kanasaskis. While it was still partially frozen, it was a beautiful site. So beautiful that there was a professional photographer there taking pictures of the mountains. He had one of those old fashioned cameras made from wood with the bellows and the black drape on the back.

Thursday, May 29, 2008
Today was to be our Brokeback locations and kayaking day. As it turned out, we only did the Brokeback locations. It was pretty windy, and the only place close to kayak was Barrier Lake, which had white caps on it.

We hit several Brokeback locations. It was a lot of fun to see the locations and compare to the shots in the movie. Took a bunch of photos, half of which I'm not quite looking at the camera. Just couldn't get my timing down with the timer on the camera. Oh well...

Friday, May 30, 2008
Broke camp and headed for home. Didn't get as early a start as I wanted, but were really in no rush. We tried to hook-up with our friend Sue in Bozeman but she’s headed out or town today, so it's not going to happen this trip.

Stopped at Fort Macleod for our final Brokeback location - the apartment over the laundry. There is even a plaque on the wall. It says it to 60 days to setup the shooting there and 3 days to shoot all the shots. It'll be fun to watch the movie again and see all the sights we've been to in person.

Crossing the border was no issue. Just had to wait for 20 minutes for our turn. Got asked some basic questions and we were on our way. We made it to Great Falls and called it a day. Decided we wanted hook-ups so we stayed at the same KOA that we stayed at on the way out.

Saturday, May 31, 2008
Slow start today. We needed some groceries and I decided it would be easier to get fuel without the camper so I unhitched and went into town to shop.

While the $55 for the full hook-ups was a bit pricey it was nice to have a long shower this AM and know that it wasn't burning up propane. We were doing a good enough job of that with the furnace. It's been cold these past 5 nights.

Stopped at a rest area just east of Billings and had dinner. I surprised Tom with rib eye steaks that I bought this morning at the store. We got out the Weber and grilled them up. They went real well with the potato salad and corn.

We've been hearing about more storms in the cities. Cell phone coverage has been pretty good today between Tom's phone and mine. Mary has been calling and giving us updates, plus I've been able to get in the internet with my phone and get some weather reports as well. Seems to have quieted down now, but looks like it's going to be a stormy summer.

We made it into North Dakota before calling it a night. Pulled into the rest area in the Theodore Roosevelt State Park. It was dark, so didn't see much, until the morning….

Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sun's up and so are we. Skipping the showers, but got to have some breakfast. All of a sudden Tom comes rushing into the camper yelling for the camera. Seems that the park we're in has free roaming buffalo and there is one about 50 yards from the camper! So after some pics we we’re on the road across the very flat, very boring, North Dakota.

Made it home just before 5 PM, safe and sound. Sure missed the girls!

Canada was absolutely wonderful! We'd go back again in a minute. However, we'd go a little later in the year. Even if there'd be more people, there would be less bears and warmer nights.