As we travel north toward Canada our last stops in the USA are in Montana. A week visit with Handy Bob and Noreen in Roundup, a few days in Great Falls. Then overnight in Browning at an Indian casino before crossing the border at Babb into Canada and onto Calgary. The city is bustling with activity and new construction, the oil companies are moving their operations here. We watch from the Calgary Tower while having lunch. It has been a while sense we visited a city, we usually try to avoid them.
Springtime in the Rockies. We’ve decided to drive the Canada Hwy.1 through Banff and Jasper National Parks and it’s gorgeous. The skies are overcast but the views are spectacular. We spend the night along the highway in a huge rest area. That night we take the cars up to Lake Louise for desert and coffee at the 90+ year old Fairmont Chateau. This is the first time Linda and I have ever seen a large lake freeze over. Only the area close to shore is starting to thaw, and this is late May. The winter lodge visitors ice skated on Lake Louise just in front of the grounds. The old world elegance of the lodge allows a view of the Lake from behind large windows in a quiet area adjacent to the banquet dinning room.
Our next stops before leaving Alberta is the Columbia Ice Fields, Hinton, and Grande Prairie. It’s been cold and cloudy most of the time but the mountains and lakes are beautiful. Snow is still melting and the rivers and creeks are running strong. We’re stopping a lot to enjoy the scenery, taking our time. The last week of May we reach Dawson Creek, British Columbia. This is the official start of the Alaskan Highway. Mile 0. Thousands of US Troops, and civilian contractors built this road in 9 months, starting in 1942, ending in 1943. An unbelievable feat considering the winter, supplies and lack of experience. The bears have come out of their dens and are looking for anything to eat, they will forage about 18 hours a day and there’s 19 hours of daylight now.
As May comes to a close we take a 3 day break at Toad River. The campground there is a welcome stop, it’s time for housekeeping, a rest and watch the moose in the pond in the early evening. Toad River is a haven for campers, road maintance crew and travelers. They have fuel, restaurant, cabins, laundry, post office, Greyhound Bus stop, convenient store and more. We’ll soon go into Yukon Territory as we travel down the Alaska Highway……Skip and Linda
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