Travelling during the pandemic, we were hyper aware of staying distant, which is not conducive to being in urban areas. And, hyper aware of our Ontario licence plates being noticed and perhaps not being welcome, another reason to stay away from urban areas to lessen possible negative encounters. But, we really couldn’t just drive past Calgary without at least saying hello, from a distance, to our nephew and his wife, Mckenzie and Kyo.
We drove into Calgary, to the funky neighbourhood of Inglewood. We found a great parking spot in the Starbucks lot and got ourselves set up with breakfast in time to zoom into a wedding shower for Hayley. It was a bit chaotic and funny as the shower hosts did their best to include the zoom guests (Kyo and I) on an iffy WIFI connection, we even managed to play one of the games. When the food portion started, they tried to prop us up so we could be part of the festivities but we thought it best at that point to bow out and let them focus on the bride! We very much appreciated being included.
Bob and I meandered around the neighbourhood checking out the Next Page bookstore for books to start a child’s library for Kenz and Kyo’s baby girl expected in December. Then we moved east a bit to meet them for dinner at CharBar patio along side the Bow River. Such a lovely evening. It was so hard not to hug them goodbye.
That night we parked at the Grey Eagle Casino for the night – it is free to park overnight and was convenient for us. But it was weird. First there was a giant traffic jam to get in. Turns out they had just announced the opening of the casino including food services! We managed to get out of the casino line up and went to the empty special event parking lot. That was a good move because it turns out that is the lot for the RVs who are staying the night. But we were the only ones there and neither of us slept well. Partly because of the bright street lamps and also because Bob had noticed an odd grumbling of the engine and was concerned about what it might be.
Bob found a Dodge dealership not far away that opened at 7am for service so we were there for opening. They were wonderful, got us checked in, sent us over to Denny’s to wait a few hours while they did diagnostics. At Denny’s we got the call that the culprit was mud!!! The mud we had experienced 3 times now had built up underneath the van and on the engine fan and the fan was off balance due to the weight of the mud. They cleaned it all off and were sorry to say it was not covered by the warranty. We were just so happy to find it was an easy fix, and they gave us quick and excellent service. By 10 am we were on the road again heading towards the mountains.
Our drive from Calgary to Kootenay National Park was beautiful. As the mountains got closer, the roads got curvier. We pulled into a rest stop along the Bow River for a quick lunch with a beautiful view. The drive to Kootenay after the Banff turn-off has beautiful rock cuts and occasional mountain goat sightings to keep you entertained. I felt I was on prairie withdrawal for a while – as beautiful as the mountains are I find the prairies fascinating as well as very calming and beautiful in a minimalist way There is just so much more happening in terms of the landscape and things to watch for in the mountain drive . I really missed the simple elegant beauty of the Prairies.
The Redstreak campground in the Kootenay National Park is a great base, with a few hikes starting from the campground, you can walk into the Radium Hot Springs town. It was fun to stop in town at the Horse Thief pub for lunch after a hike and the small grocery store to take treats back to our camp site. We did a few short hikes in the area including Dog Lake – a very easy path over two suspension bridges and through dense woods that opens to a pristine lake.
It was great to have four nights in Kootenay National Park, to relax for a bit and get organized. Every once in a while, we have a clean up day, the van gets a thorough going over including the ‘garage’ – the space behind the back seats where all the hoses etc are. It’s amazing how much dust is collects. We drove south from Kootenay through Cranbrook, a beautiful drive. At Creston we went up the east side of Kootenay lake to take the lake ferry over to Balfour. The ferry is part of the highway system, no need to book, you just drive right up. A large group of motorcyclists were on the ferry. The area is a rider’s dream.
Love the bikers. And is that you on the Dog Lake Trail bridge? I love the perspective and lighting. We do have some wonderful prairie in Western MN. I didn’t appreciate it before Jim Brandenberg’s photography. He really opened my eyes to the beauty. He’s been a part of restoring an area called Touch the Sky Prairie but it’s sadly small since so much has been farmed now. Good the Grasslands NP are protected.
Yes, That’s me. Bob often gets shots of me without my knowledge. I get to vet them! Thanks for the tip on Jim’s work, I will look him up.