Canada, O Canada

Here we sit in Banff, Alberta, Canada.  Yes, it’s a tough assignment, but we’re taking one for the team.  I mean, really, temperatures in the 70’s, sunshine mixed with some light rain, Rocky Mountains as far as the eye can see... you guys have NO IDEA what we go through out here!

We have been having a great time since we hit the Cnada border a week ago.  We left Fairchild AFB in Washington on Wednesday and stayed overnight at a small private RV camp off Alberta Highway 22.  We were introduced to Canadian mosquitoes there…they make U.S. “skeeters” look downright anemic (pun intended).  These guys are BIG, aggressive, and rampant!

Next stop was Calgary, Alberta and the Calgary Stampede.  We joined a group of 30 other RV’ers from the Escapees RV Club at the Bow River’sEdge RV Park in Cochrane about 30 miles west of Calgary.  We were the youngest of the pack, but this was one active, fun group and we had a blast.

The Stampede is 99 years old this year and if you want a good time, next year’s centennial celebration is already being billed as one of the greatest shows ever.  Our first full day included time at the Stampede fairgrounds.  This was fairly typical of any state fair back in the states, lots of food, lots of rides, lots of agricultural exhibits, etc.

Daddy, thought of you with this one…

That evening we went to the chuckwagon races, officially known as the Rangeland Derby.  These were amazing.  Teams of 4 thoroughbred horses (1,500 lbs a piece) hitched to a small chuckwagon being raced around an oval track at full speed with two outriders who must arrive at the end of the track within 150 feet of their respective wagon or incur a time penalty.  The wagons raced in heats of 4 teams and how they managed to miss each other, I’ll never know.  The announcer mentioned that the horses are worth $30-40,000 each.  Total purse money for the week…$1,000,000!  They award daily money for the best time and on the final day, the top four teams compete for a $100K purse in the final race.  While we’d never heard of it, this is apparently a professional sport that has been around in Canada and the northern U.S. since the 1920’s.

Heading into the first turn

After the races we stayed put for the evening entertainment.  It was a Cirque d’Soleil style program by two groups called The Young Canadians and the Underground Circus.  Much like the Cirque programs, it was a convoluted story line, but the language was English and the action non-stop.  The Canadians provided the dancing and singing and the Circus provided the acrobatics.  One of the coolest parts was a 38-foot tall marionette that held an acrobat in a transparent sphere. 

Amazing!!

The show ended with fireworks bursting overhead while the Young Canadians sang their hearts out on-stage.  Unfortunately, no one was paying any attention to them - we were all busy ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the fireworks.

Ooh...Ahhh...!!!

We got back home from the Stampede at 1:00am, tumbled into bed to grab a quick nap as breakfast was at 0630 the next morning.  After breakfast. we all clambered aboard our tour bus for a trip up to Banff National Park.  I have to say that this part of Canada just keeps getting more and more beautiful.  Banff NP is the second oldest national park in the world, established in 1883.  It has around 3.9 million visitors a year.  During the day we drove around the park, stopping at various scenic vistas, wandered around the town, and made a new friend who is included in the friends of the day photos at the end of today’s blog.

Town of Banff, from Mt. Rundle

Rocky Mountains with Lake Vermillion in the distance

Friday we headed back to the Stampede for the rodeo and chuckwagon race semi-finals.  There was some exciting action.

Notice that all four hooves are in the air…

The day ended with a spectacular sunset… at 10 PM!  Summer days are long up in this part of the world.  It’s light by 0430 and dark about 2300.

Sunset at the Stampede

Our last day at the Stampede was for the rodeo finals.  The top winner in each category won $100,000 - but what a way to make a living.  The top calf roper was from Texas, so it made it easy to cheer for him.  Pretty amazing, it only took 3.6 seconds to rope and tie the calf!

3.6 seconds for the win

But not everyone's a winner.
One fight, one hand, one hoof…obviously not one team

Monday we packed up and moved a whole 2 hours north to Tunnel Mountain campground in Banff National Park.  We are spending four nights here before moving further north.  The place is great and who can argue with the view from the trailer door?

Morning coffee vista

Hard to complain

We are hanging out with a couple from Georgia that we met at the Stampede gathering and having a great time.  Yesterday was spent hiking up to the Johnston Canyon falls through some of the most beautiful country I’ve seen.  It’s an easy hike along a paved trail, but if you go, GO EARLY.  We got there at 0900 to an almost empty parking lot at the trailhead and by the time we left the cars were parked along the road for a good quarter-mile in both directions.  

Along Johnston Creek

Upper Falls of Johnston Creek

We had quite a storm move through the area two nights ago and the park had around 80 trees go down in the campgrounds.  The park rangers told us that quite a few tents were crushed and trees came down on several RVs, including our friends’ rig.  Luckily no one was hurt and our friends’ RV came through with only minor damage.  The next day the sun was out and the air was and still is pretty brisk (interpret this as pretty nippy!).

We are having a blast, but if you head this way be sure to save your pennies.  Canada is EXPENSIVE!    The campgrounds are not cheap (anywhere from $30/night to boondock - no electric/water/sewer hook-up for you non-RVers out there, to $45/night for full hook-ups).  Staples run 30-50% higher in price than back in the U.S. in the grocery stores while diesel is averaging $1.20/liter (multiply by 4 to get a gallon cost).  With the exchange rate only $1 Canadian to $1.04 U.S., there's not much chance of catching a break.  We've been doing lots of home eating as restaurant prices are also very high.  In fact, Heinz and I had our first dinner guests in the Airstream the other night, Pam, Buzz and kerri (cousin of a friend that was passing through the area) came over for some of Heinz's fresh caught salmon.

Today we were up early and headed up to the Lake Louise area.  What a shame, another lousy view... it was rainy and temperatures were only in the 50's, but we persevered and took the 2 km hike along the lakeshore.  Sigh...

Yes, that is the correct water color.

There are lots more pictures of the Stampede and Banff in Photobucket.  Hope you enjoy them.

Here are our friends of the day:

 Gosh, hang on while I pose for you!

Wait, you're not getting my best side...

Breakfast snack

Trust me, this one I took from the bus!

And the next two shots are of our friends of the day and the village idiots 

who just can't get their kids close enough to the wild animals...

Idaho to Washington

We've moved out from Idaho and are parked at Fairchild AFB FamCamp Washington for a couple of nights, getting ready to go to Canada.  We head north tomorrow, will stay in one of the Canadian Parks for a night, and arrive Wednesday in Calgary, Alberta for the last three days of the Stampede.  After the Stampede, we plan to spend a couple of weeks exploring the Canadian Rockies.

We left Mountain Home, Idaho and spent the last few days in Grangeville, ID.  The plan was to spend a a night or two in transit, but that got expanded pretty quickly as we got in the area.  First of all, the surrounding countryside was absolutely gorgeous - the town is on the edge of the Nez Perce National Forest and the Clearwater River.  Second, the salmon were running.  We kept seeing fishermen on the riverbanks, so we pulled into a local fishing shop to get the fishing scoop.  The rivers have all been running high due to the late snow melt.  One river normally flows 1,200 cubic feet per second (cfs), but was running 5,500 cfs... down from 8,000+ the week before.  The Salmon River was running over 54,000 cfs.  Needless to say, the salmon have been late getting up the river.

The eternal hope of fisherman.

But now that the salmon ARE here, Heinz wanted to try his luck.  We found a park to stay in (Bear Den RV Resort in Grangeville) - new, nice, clean.  Heinz went out that evening and got the appropriate fishing gear and a three-day license; his fly fishing gear was WAY too wimpy for these big dudes.

View from the trailer door at Bear Den Resort

We spent the next three days down on the banks of the Clearwater River - Heinz fishing, and I snapping photos and reading.  The area was quiet, soothing, and oh, so green; just as mountainous as the Sawtooth Range, but a more gentle mountain range, the Bitterroot Mountains.

The Bitterroot Mountains from the Clearwater River

After three days of fishing, Heinz defined fishing perfectly - Fishing is like gambling... one more cast/throw and I'll hit the jackpot.  And he did... caught a 23 inch and 31 inch Chinook Salmon.

Jackpot!

That night, we feasted on the freshest salmon we've ever had - yum!  

Three hours from river to plate.

I spent one afternoon exploring Grangeville while Heinz was down by the river.  The town was incorporated in 1889 after having been settled by gold prospectors in the 1860's.  The town is small, but has a couple of interesting sites.  There is a 100 year-old-continuously operating hardware store that still looks like it did in the 1920's, a saddlery that demonstrates saddle making on site, and close by is the Tolo Lake archaeological site where they have been excavating mammoth bones.

The drive up the western edge of Idaho and eastern edge of Washington was also very beautiful.  Along the way the farms were all very neat with huge barns and silos everywhere.  We spotted an incredibly beautiful yellow field of something.  My sister recognized the photo as being a canola field.  

Canola field in bloom

Here's the link to the photos we've added to the Idaho file in Photobucket if you're interested.  Enjoy.

Here's our friends of the day.

Idaho. What a surprise.

July already??  What happened to June?  It’s been 7 months since we retired and 5 ½ since we hit the road full time.  Boy, has the time flown!  Sorry we’ve been so long in posting, but we’ve been without good WiFi connectivity recently.

 

We’re in Idaho now.  We entered the state with no expectations beyond cattle ranches and potato farms.  Heinz had been in the state briefly over 20 years ago, but I’ve never been here before.   In short, we have been blown away by the place.  We entered the state from Utah, traveling through the high desert region up to Mountain Home AFB outside Mountain Home, ID.

The FamCamp at Mountain Home is small with only 22 spots, but the setting was serene and the camp quiet and never completely full.  There are loads of large, mature trees, green grass, and a cool breeze every evening.  I have to admit that it’s nice staying on military bases and hearing the Star Spangled Banner played every afternoon and Taps at night, although I wouldn’t complain if Reveille was played just a little later in the morning.  This base wasn't too bad though, the jets didn't start flying at 0600 and keep going until 2100 like they did down at Hill AFB.

The camp hosts at Mountain Home are in their mid/late 80’s and have been full-time RVing for the past 20 or so years after living full-time on a sailboat for the prior 10 years.  They are truly a stirring example of how to live life to the fullest.  They have been camp hosts for the summer season at the base for the past 12 years and spend their winters traveling internationally.  They choose a different place in the world to visit each winter.  In a casual conversation about how to enjoy retirement they mentioned at least 20 countries that they’ve visited over the years.  What inspiration!

Don (on left), 87 y/o camp host for Mountain Home FamCamp

Over the past few days we leisurely explored the local area and quickly put Idaho on our “gotta come back here” list.  Just a few quick facts about the state: entire state population is 1.5 million (New York City-8.3 million), number of people per square mile-18.9 (US average-87.3), the largest city and state capital, Boise, has 190,000 residents, there are 3,100 miles of rivers in the state and 65% of the landmass is National Forest with another 5% state parks.  After 1½ weeks in the state I have yet to see a potato farm!

We took a day and drove up to the Sawtooth National Forest.  The best-known towns in the area are Ketchum and Sun Valley.  The drive up to Ketchum was pretty, lots of cattle grazing and green foothills. The valleys are surrounded by mountain ranges, the Boulder, Sawtooth, White Cloud, Smoky and Pioneer.

Foothills leading up to Ketchum

Ketchum is a pretty little town with lots of new house construction in the area, mostly ski resort type places.  We ate dinner there at the Ketchum Grill…grilled Idaho trout and elk steak.  Yummy!

Idaho Trout with Black Bean and Corn Salsa and Elk Steaks with Tomato Tapenade

We kept driving north out of Ketchum into the Sawtooth National Forest, which includes the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.  The Area is said to have the cleanest air in the entire US - we believe it. When you stop and take a stroll along a trailhead all you can smell is the pine forest.  It also is home to the longest salmon migration in the continental US…900 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the headwaters of the Snake River.

Sawtooth Mountain Range and the National Forest north of Ketchum

We drove along the Salmon River from Ketchum to the town of Stanley at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains.  Actually, Stanley is more of a collection of rafting and other outdoor adventure companies, a hotel, and a couple of restaurants than a true town.  But what a view from the edge of town!

View from the north end of Stanley looking up the Salmon River

Along the way, we stopped at the Sawtooth Hatchery to check out their operations.  It was a first time at a fish hatchery for both of us.  According to our very knowledgeable summer intern guide, the hatcheries in Washington and Idaho were built and are funded by electric companies that built eight dams on the lower 150 miles of the Snake River.  This was the deal that the federal government worked out with them in an attempt to decrease the impact of the dams on the salmon population.

The Sawtooth Hatchery is devoted to collecting and hatching Chinook salmon eggs and collecting steelhead eggs for transport to two other Idaho hatcheries.  The hatchery collects the eggs as the adult salmon spawn, incubates them, then keeps the young fry for about 18 months before releasing them into the river to begin their 900 mile journey down to the Pacific Ocean.  At any given time the hatchery has around 200,000 Chinook fingerlings.  Once released, only about 10% of these will actually make it back to the ocean.  The rest will die due to drought, disease, predation, and hydroelectric power facilities (the fish get stuck in the reservoirs or can’t make it past the dams).   Amazingly, they make the journey tail-first!  As they near the ocean they undergo physiological changes that change them from a fresh-water fish to a salt-water fish.

Chinook salmon fingerlings in outside runs. These little guys will be released in about a year.

After two years in the Pacific on average, the fish suddenly decide it’s time to go back home and spawn. So, off they go to the mouth of the Columbia River to head upstream to wherever their birth river lies. The biologists think they find their way home by smell, each river tributary apparently smelling slightly different.  The fish quit eating when they enter the Columbia and can lose up to 50% of their initial body weight getting home, a journey of 2-3 months!  So that 30 lb. salmon caught in Idaho may have started its journey as a 60 lb. fish.  Only around 0.5% of those 200,000 released from the hatchery will make it back to the Snake or Salmon Rivers to spawn.  Once they spawn, the fish die 1 to 3 days later. Imagine, a journey of 900 miles to lay/fertilize eggs as your last act on earth.

We also spent a full day up in Boise looking around.  We started out at the Capital City Farmer’s Market. The market has local produce, herbs, flowers, specialty foods like elk, lamb and cheese, baked goods, wines, and local artwork for sale.  We got some really tasty tarts-peach/raspberry and rhubarb, nice new potatoes and cabbage, along with local wildflower honey and a jar of salsa verde that packs a punch. Heinz also introduced me to my first beef stick.  If you’ve never had one, it’s kind of like a spicy dried beef summer sausage, actually, it was pretty tasty.  I definitely recommend you try one.

Local morels on offer at the market

After the market, we drove around town a while looking at the neighborhoods.  There is a really nice historic district close to downtown Boise that is filled with Craftsman and Victorian style homes.  Almost all of them had huge trees and front yards filled with flowers.  Quite a few of them also had small vegetable gardens in the area between the street and the sidewalk.

Then we wandered over to the Old Idaho Penitentiary and Botanical Gardens.  I know, I know, what a combination.  But the Botanical Gardens are located in the area that was previously the vegetable garden for the penitentiary.  The Gardens were lovely, 50 acres planted into 13 specialty gardens.  There was lots of shade and a cool breeze that came in handy as it was rapidly turning HOT…96 degrees.

What a shame they didn't allow swimming!

After strolling around the gardens for a while, we wandered next door to the penitentiary.  It was built in 1872 and finally closed as an active prison in 1973.  The prison housed both male and female prisoners, although there were never more than about 15 females housed there at any one time.  However, there was not a separate Women’s Ward until 1905.  Before then the women were housed on the top floor of one of the cell houses.

Outer wall of the penitentiary, built 1872.

Cell House # 1, women were housed on the 4th level.

We spent the Fourth of July close to home.  Everyone staying at the FamCamp got together for a potluck BBQ.  Heinz made some great salsa (actually more of a pico de gallo consistency) from a recipe he found and tweaked.  Several people at the cookout asked for the recipe, so we’ve included it at the end of today’s blog entry, in case any of you are interested.   Along with lots of good food and mostly travel-related conversation, we were treated to a bagpipe concert by one of the campers.

Sandy entertaining us on the 4th of July

If you're enjoying the pictures of Idaho, this is the link to our collection so far on Photobucket.  We'll be adding more as we move north through the state.

We’ve now made it up to Grangeville, ID, so more on this area on our next blog.

In the meantime, here’s our friends of the day followed by that great salsa recipe.

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Recipe of the Day:

Tomato-Mango Salsa

Yield: about 2 ½ cups

2 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes

1-2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1 Anaheim pepper, stemmed and diced

¼ cup red onion, diced small

1/2 cup mango, diced small

2 garlic cloves, minced

¾ tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp lemon juice

½ cup minced cilantro leaves

Dice all vegetables – make them all the same size. Recipe calls for ½ cup of mango, but we added more till we got the sweeter flavor we like. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste – it took more than we thought. Refrigerate for an hour or longer, turning the mixture periodically to meld the flavors.