The other side of the border

Crossing the border into Canada at Sweetgrass, Montana was a breeze.  Just two vehicles in front of us.  The man didn’t even care that I was in the back seat.  He just wanted to know how many firearms Dad was trying to bring into Canada.  DUH…..none….as they aren’t allowed!!  And why we wanted to cross the border.  So I could roll in Canadian grass of course!!  And boy does this RV park have NICE grass!! 

We landed NW of Calgary in a Passport America park.  The landscape has taken on more of a prairie/farming look.  Mostly flat land with some rolling hills and the Rocky Mountains way off in the distance. 

The farmers are really working hard on the fields with 16 hours of daylight.  Seems strange to have so much daylight at 9:30 at night.

On the trip today, we stopped at a Flying J for coffee break.  What a line of RV's ...all waiting for their turn at the dump station.  The line wrapped right around the building. Now there is a good reason for the long line on a Monday.  This was Canada's long holiday weekend....Victoria Weekend....celebration of the Queen's birthday.  The weather was warm, shorts weather and everyone seemed to have taken advantage of the delightful weekend that was drawing to a close.  Back to work on Tuesday.  I remember those days when Momma and Dad had to head back to work...but that was a LONG time ago.  I sure like having them retired and spending so much time with me...turning me into an excellent traveler.

What a friendly bunch of people at Beaver Dam Golf and RV Resort. Jean just LOVES me.  She and her husband are the hosts.  She even offered to ‘let me out’ if Momma and Dad got tied up too long away from our rig.  They have happy hour every afternoon and lots of great suggestions and ideas of things to do, places to go and routes to use to get there.  Actually, there is so much to do, I don’t think the 3 nights are going to be enough time for everything.  They will have to pick and choose.

If Helena is known as the ‘lilac city’,

this area must be known as the  ‘dandelion country’.  Not only are we passing fields of dandelions, but some of the yards of these rural houses have a carpet of dandelions for their lawn. 

At first I thought they must be yellow wildflowers, but they are yellow dandelions….wild weeds.  I can just picture all the dandelion blows when the yellow flowers turn to seed.  It’ll be snowing blows.

Fort Calgary not only has a lot to offer as far as history displays, but the gal at the ticket counter was extremely helpful.  She would make a good tourist center guide.  The Fort was an enjoyable tour and a good overview of the history of Alberta.  The early buildings quickly erected at the fort were drafty and cold.  Would you believe the commander actually had the wood stove moved to HIS quarters....of course he had a mutiny on his hands!  All the men didn't like the cold any better than the commander.

Dad is examining the handcuffs.  I think he wants to see if they would be easy to escape from.

Hair color advertisement.  Picture should enlarge if you click on it.

Flour sack dress. 

Momma said if they had realized there was so much to take in at the Glenbow Museum, they would have saved it for another day.  Four floors worth of displays.  The warrior room had lots of interesting displays of protective gear.

Protective suits made of rope……some made of metal for the knights and even the horse's head.

There is even a 'space needle' in Calgary, similar to the one in Seattle, Washington but on a smaller scale.  I guess at one time it was the tallest structure in the area but now it is surrounded by taller buildings and hi-rises.  I doubt there is a 360 degree view unobstructed by buildings any more.  Momma said they had been spoiled by the Seattle Space Needle so they passed on Calgary's version.

The day ended with a rush to the store for a new coffee maker.  Dad saw the signs that the coffee maker was on its way out.  Momma had ordered a new one to be delivered to Island Park for arrival while they were visiting Tom and Nancy but....it didn't arrive.  Come to find out, between the time it was ordered...we'll ship it right out....and the time it was ready to be pulled to ship....a backorder developed.  Poor Dad.  At that time,  the coffee maker was still working, but it didn't sound too healthy.

Now everyone knows how important coffee breaks are.  I score a handful of cookie bones.  They may be small, but that means I get more to enjoy while Dad sips his coffee.  I was in a panic when I found out the store they rushed off to didn't have any more of the model he wanted on the shelf but Momma found a nice young gentleman at Bed, Bath and Beyond who called Canadian Tire and found out they had two on the shelf.  Go figure....would you expect to purchase home goods at a store named Canadian Tire?   Actually, I don't care what the name of the store was.  I'm just delighted we are back in coffee for coffee breaks and cookie bones.  Life is good!!

Hickory
......on the road again