Heading East
We wish we had more time in Jasper and Banff. Our time frame put us on the weekend, the week before Labor Day. We could not find accommodations for staying longer. The two parks are big and the distance is too far to travel back and forth from Hinton. So we decided to move on and drive the Icefield Parkway to see as much as we could while towing the 5th wheel. The mountains surrounded us and they are huge. The sheer cliffs and the drive along the valley gives us a perspective of just how immense these mountains are. The glaciers and Icefield were far greater than we envisioned. The number of tour buses at the Glaciers was overwhelming making it impossible to just “pull over” while towing. We will work this kind of visit by coming in at an off time and not being a part of the crush of people. We took a large number of photos and will plan to return to hike and camp in Banff National Park. We were able to hike and see some of Jasper National Park since we had a site at Jasper Gates RV Park. Looks like we will be back next year to explore Banff and then over to British Columbia.
The closest accommodation was one night in Okotoks, Alberta just south of Calgary since we were heading into the Labor Day weekend. Everything was booked. We found a City RV Park run by the Lions Club. It was down next to the river, pretty and well thought out sites. Okotoks is a lovely town. However, they could only accommodate us for one night. We met a couple from Brooks, Alberta. Brooks is 2 hours east and these folk had come to participate in the Scottish Highland Games. We had a couple of nice visits with them. Perhaps our paths will cross again.
Throughout this trip, we have met interesting travelers like ourselves enjoying their lives. This is not a vacation. This is a lifestyle. Traveling and living is not the same as being on vacation. It is about being in different locations and finding the out-of-the-way places and things you might not see if you were on a vacation. An example would be in Hinton, Alberta. We would have unlikely toured the Beaver Boardwalk. It is a local treasure. While visiting with a neighboring RVer, we learned of this attraction. The recommendations of fellow travelers are some of the best information out there.
We packed up to head east on Canada one, the Trans-Canada Highway. Quickly the landscape changed and we were in the prairie and soon into the badlands of Alberta. The gently rolling landscape turned into great flat plains. Harvesting was underway and the dust from the machines was amazing. We landed in Maple Creek, a small farming community and stayed at Eagle Valley RV Campground just off the highway. This was an unusual park as all of the sites were alongside the camp road. The usual layout is that there are rows and units parked beside each other. It was a nice oasis in the middle of the Prairie. We were able to shop for food and get the truck washed in the 2 days we spent there.
We continued on to Brandon, Manitoba staying one night at Meadowlark RV Campground. The campground was easy to find and easy to get into and out. While we were there two ladies from the City were welcoming travelers to Brandon knocked on our door and chatted us up. We ended up talking about Florida and offered them information about our area. They were planning to visit our area early next year. We think that they got more than they expected. We wished them luck, and perhaps we will see them in Florida. We were just overnight in Brandon so we don’t have much to report.
As we saw Brandon in the rear view mirror, it was off to Arrow Head campground in IIL De Change, Manitoba, just south of Winnipeg. Our plan was to land there getting off the road the 4 days around Labor Day. Labor Day is a Canadian holiday as well, and there were a lot of RVs moving around. We had called around and found many campgrounds already booked. 4th of July and Labor Day weekend required pre-planning.
