Heading West 8.15.24

 

We had heard of the post-pandemic camping boom, but saw it in person when we started our journey.  We ended up spending time in the Michigan Dunes because the Illinois parks were full for camping, and we had to move to a different site at one point because not only was our site reserved, but the site was requested by number.  In subsequent days we had to make several phone calls before finding a site.  It seems the old days of driving until we felt like stopping and then looking for a campsite are gone.  We must plan ahead a bit more.

Visiting family at the beginning of a trip is a tradition, and this year we first saw Mom in Madison, had some lunch, and in the time-honored tradition of adult children, brought our laundry to her house!  We had a really good visit.  We also saw family in Minneapolis, Pete and Julie, June and daughter Fiona, and our daughter Geneva.  We had a very animated dinner including specialty pizza, at a local upscale restaurant. 

Heading north and west, we feel the need to get some miles behind us, meaning we are missing some historical and natural sights along the way.  Mostly at this point we are concerned with the electrical system complications (not yet resolved) and the water tank not working (this has been resolved).  It is also a time of getting used to traveling in a different country. 

We’ve always loved being in Canada.  Though I do realize it has some of the same problems of the US and indeed any industrialized country, it always seems better somehow.  It’s cleaner, calmer, and much less crowded.  Of course some of that is simply due to the lower population.  But how do we explain that people are just nicer, kinder, and the customer service from businesses is uniformly better?  And those Canadian accents you’ve heard parodied on TV?  They’re real.  The country is a lot more diverse than in the past, and you can hear it in Canadian speech.  An Indian accent overlaid with Canadian is quite striking!

The truck needed an oil change, which had to be done at a dealer because it was under warranty.  Toyota dealerships we contacted were all booked up, so we ended up in the city of Prince Albert, considerably farther north than we intended to be at that time.  It meant an extra day of driving and waiting for the appointment.  During the waiting times, of course, we always manage to get some work done. 

Driving west from Prince Albert, we ran into a severe thunderstorm.  When the storm cleared, the visibility was still very poor, and we got a severe weather warning on our cellphones, not from the storm, but from wildfire smoke!  In parts of Alberta the air is rated “unhealthy” due to the smoke. It is hard to show in pictures, but you can see the sun, which looked more like a full moonrise.  These photos were taken around 3 pm.  I’m not sure exactly where the wildfires are, but this is separate from the wildfires in Jasper, in British Columbia. 

Another thing we’d forgotten about Canada is … it’s big.  Look on the map and you’ll see vast distances, and large areas with few roads and fewer large cities.   We aren’t even really into the wilderness but we can feel it.  Farms are huge, like the big ranches in Wyoming or Montana, but greener, with multiple large corrugated metal grain silos.  Traffic is light and roads are long, with infrequent (and primitive - Hello, 1955!) rest stops.  Then there are the stores.  Canadian Tire is an awesome chain with auto parts, camping and RV supplies, home goods, and of course knowledgeable, cheerful salespeople.  And yesterday I shopped at a Real Canadian Superstore.  It made Wal-Mart look like a corner convenience store.  Shopping at a different store is part of the adventure, right?  Except we’d been driving all day, I was tired and stiff, and there were simply acres of food and home goods, of brands I’d never heard of.   I am a label reader and had to check for various ingredients.  Fortunately, the labels are in both French and English.  There was a cart system similar to Aldi but with Canadian dollar coins, of which I had none, so I used a basket, which quickly became heavy.  Even simple grocery shopping can be complicated on the road!