Bad Start–Good Ending Day & Roosevelt Nat Pk

BAD, BAD, BAD……Last night after we parked for the night at the closed weigh station I did a walk around inspection like I always do.  What I found blew my mind. I couldn’t believe it.  The Honda tow bar bracket (attached to the Honda) moved 2 inches up/down when I checked it.  It is not suppose to move at all, since it’s attached permanently behind the front end to the car frame.  It was dark and nothing could be done.  I had a hard time sleeping.  The next morning at 6 AM I decided to take the front end off the car – it’s just fiberglass and I had my $14.95 tool kit from the Pep Boys Auto store.  I got the front end off.  The bracket was suppose to have 8 blots/nuts.  It had only 7 and one of them was just setting there.  That left 6.  ALL were so loose that the entire bracket was moving up/down with a slight hand lift.  It was just about ready to pull off. I know it would not have gone 10 miles.  This type of bracket the tow safety chains are hooked to it.  Also, the emergency brake away switch is attached to it.  It other words, going down the road if the bracket gave away to the loose bolts, the entire bracket and front end would have pulled away from the car.  The car would not stop rolling.  That could have been a very bad accident to say the very least.  VERY BAD experience.  That’s an adventure that we know happened to friends of ours.  They were lucky – they just lost a car over a cliff.  I tighten the bolts and put the front end back on.  Needless to say I checked it several times and it appears to be OK for now.  Near future plans include to replace the nuts and blots and use locking nuts.  Why the installer would not use them on something like this is irresponsible in my back yard mechanic mind.  As a matter of fact, they should have been spot welded. 

 

As we get near Medora and Roosevelt Nat Pk the hills starting growing grass.  It’s friggin hot here too.

Then as we get off the exit for Medora, the community made sure we would see these elk.  That was a nice way to welcome us.

Then we went over to the Nat Pk and saw some buffalo and prairie dogs with no problem.  Evidently they all heard we had a rough morning so they all came out to great us. 

 

Peek a boo…

 

Mommy, mommy who are these important people.  Oh, they’re just tourists who had a bad morning.  Look good for them.  Stay near me. They will probably put us on their blog.

 

Of course there is always one in the group and he stuck his tongue out at us.  He was the grand poopa.

I'm telling you, don’t get out of that car.

 

Here they come everybody.  Give them that Kodak moment.

 

What did he say?

 

I’m leaving – just another tourist.

 

You think they might like me like this?

 

Let’s leave the tourist alone before the Ranger gets after  us again.  Yea, you’re right.  Bye Dennis & Carol.  We hope we made your day better now. Thanks for visiting us.

 

And then we went back to our 50 AMP with 2 ACs.  It’s friggin hot here.  Oh we got one good campfire story at the campground.  Just remind me about the guy that asked where we were located.  It started a campground thing and someone wanted someone to kiss someone’s behind and from there it got a moonie. Yes, moonie at the campground – just remind us when you see us.  Anyhow, depart tomorrow and stay somewhere in Minnesota.

See Ya………..

Lethbridge, Alberta & USA

I guess the city was named after this bridge.  Good thing they didn’t name it after the dog run.  It might have been called Poo City. We left Lethbridge and went 475 miles.  We pulled over at 6 PM and it was 95 degrees out. It’s 8 PM now and it’s 88 degrees here in our special area.

Here’s the USA border.  They had a lot of trick questions for me.  Due to my vast knowledge of the Queen’s English  (what & can you speak louder) they let us back in.

There she is in all of her glory…….Yea…….

They starve the animals up here in Montana..

and they got some real strange ones….

 

I wonder how they taste compared to Elk & Caribou?

 

Home sweet home.  Carol likes the closed weight stations for parking overnight.  I convinced her people get real upset if we would have parked on their scales.   I guess this is one step up from Wal-Mart.

This is Circle, MT.  The name is bigger than the city.  This scale lot I think is the town meeting place.  Obama might show up anytime. Tomorrow we go to Roosevelt Nat Pk near Medro, ND.  We decided to stay at a Good Sam Pk w/50 AMP to run both ACs while touring the park.  You know – the AC is for the cats….

See Ya….

Bow Valley and Lethbridge

Here’s the provincial park we stayed at in Bow Valley Sunday night.  We chased the rain clouds and never did catch them.  Rig needs a wash, car needs a wash, Carol & I took care of our wash.  She wouldn’t let me wash her though.  The park was not too crowded.  The next day we found out that there was a casino just down the road with a lot of RV’s on the back lot.

 

Carol talked me into one THOSE short walks.  It was marked 3/4 of a mile.

 

This was a river near the trail.  If you look hard you can find a RV with the perfect site, if you don’t drink too much.

Carol called these willow berries.  I call them pretty.

 

Carol called this fireweed.  I thought fireweed was red.  Just when I thought I knew something..Oh well..

 

A woodpecker did this or a very tall wood carver.

After an hour of a SHORT walk I saw a way out.  The steps went up to a field next to a road that went back to the campground.  I was gone and Carol followed.

Monday we drove thru Calgary.  Looks like any other city to us.  Not very interesting after being up north.

 

These people believe in power evidently.

This is a college in Lethbridge.  It’s in the side of a hill.  That was pretty cool.  Did it make tuition any cheaper I wonder.

 

This is what I call a Texas dog run…..sign says no leash.  You know they still wanted you to pick up the poo.  What's wrong with that?  I am all for dog owners picking up after their dog but come on….

 

This is our site at Bridgeview Campground for Monday night.  FHU 50 AMP $10.63 for Coast to Coast members.  Yes, I cleaned the front of the RV like I almost do everyday.  I even put a super size Escapees decal on finally.  The other decal came off in Dawson Creek when I power washed the windshield.  That was a real good power wash.

Tomorrow we cross over into the USA at Sweetgrass, MT and our first stop is a fuel stop in Shelby, MT.  We hang a left and go east heading for Elkhart, IN along with a few little stops along the way.  We told Terry and Nick Russell we would cook them up some Halibut from Homer, Alaska.  Nick is the editor of the Gypsy Journal magazine and his blog can be found at www.gypsyjournal.net/blog/.  Take a look.  They are having a rally in Celina, OH towards the end of September that we are planning to attend.  It’s going to be a real blast.

See Ya……….

Departed Hyder – Yellowhead hwy

THIS IS FOR SATURDAY & SUNDAY

Sunday we drove  425 miles.  We have been smelling the roses up here in Alaska and are ready for some lower 48 states roses.  We chased a big rain cloud but couldn’t catch it.  The rig and car need a wash even if it’s rain to get the underneath and top halfway clean.  We ended up in the Bow Valley Provincial Park just west of Calgary, Alberta by about 50 miles.

 

SATURDAY…We left Hyder in a light rain.  We got out of Dodge just in time, we think.  It drizzled hard Friday night.  If it would have rained hard it would have woke us up but it didn’t.  So it drizzled hard because it was very wet.  Once we got away from Stewart/Hyder and to the Yellowhead Hwy (40 mi) it stopped the hard drizzle and the sun came out.  We went about 450 miles Saturday.  I have a question since we have been away in the wilderness a little bit.  What is it called when there are  stripes on highways, smooth roads with shoulders, a lot of traffic, speed limits above 55mph, ignorant drivers, cities with red lights, clean vehicles, tall buildings, no ma pa type stores, fast foods, gas stations everywhere, etc. ?  What do you call that?  We think it’s called civilization.  Wow, it was nice without all that crap.  We both prefer the wilderness type setting.  Carol says as long as there is a  Wal-Mart with a few hundred miles also.

 

 

Sometimes the bridges are a little narrow.  You figure it out who goes first.

We consider this  an outstanding road up north.

 

Typical gas station but they call them Gas Bars in British Columbia in some places.  When you think about it it makes sense.

 

This was a big city for us. A double laner each way even.  They also had an overhead sign that showed us what pedestrians looked like in case we forgot.. 

 

I wonder how I get lost sometimes – everybody is asleep.  But she does have that Milepost handy in case of an emergency.

  One more night (Monday) in Canada.  No more funny money nor liters – YEA………..

See Ya…

Bears at Hyder

I was at the viewing bridge in Hyder at 5:45 AM.  The bear beat me there.  I guess she was hungry.

 

  

She left about 7 AM and so did I….

Stewart & Hyder 2nd Day

We got to the viewing bridge at Fish Creek at 6:30 AM and no bears.  We waited about two hours.  I took some pictures of the nearby Lagoon and a willow bush with berries.  Moose are said to really love those little red things.  No moose here though.

 

We left in search of ……?  Found this area that evidently had a bad falling out.

I guess it’s easier to put rocks around power poles that to dig a hole.   Or maybe it’s because they are at a base of some mountains that get a lot of snow.

We thought this was pretty.

Since we couldn’t find any bears to watch we thought we would go see Bear Glacier.  We knew it was going to wait for us.

 

These white things are chunks of ice that have fallen off the main glacier.  The glacier is in the background.

 

AND…….

Then that night we decided to go back to Hyder and the viewing stand at Fish Creek.  We got there about 9 PM and one small bear was in the creek.  There was a crowd of people who acted like they never seen a bear before.  I think I should have taken their pictures.  Anyhow, I got some pictures but really didn’t like any of them.  Carol made me put this on the blog.

 

I will go back tomorrow and plan to arrive a little before 6 AM.  I got my place picked out since I know how the crowd & bear move. 

See Ya…….