Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum

Posted on June 12, 2022 by liv2rv

We left St Albert and continued on our journey towards Alaska, stopping in Grand Prairie, Alberta for a few nights. Since the weather had rain, rain and more rain in the forecast, we opted to stay a few days in Grand Prairie. Going to museums are always excellent ideas on rainy days, so the four of us headed out to the Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum, located about 15 miles from Grand Prairie.

According to a plaque in the museum, Philip Currie found a toy dinosaur in a cereal box when he was six years old, and he decided to be a paleontologist. While he was working on his PhD, he started working for the Provincial Museum of Alberta (now called the Royal Alberta Museum) in Edmonton. Dr. Currie helped to found the Royal Terrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, Alberta.

This museum is located near the Pipestone Creek Bonebed, where the remains of a Pachyrhinosaurus was discovered by a local teacher, Al Lakusta, in 1974.

The museum has a platform with displays on the top floor, overlooking the main exhibits. It’s a bit hard to see the dinosaur’s hanging from the ceiling. There was a light of natural light in the museum, which made it hard for photos.

The Thalassomedon was a sea-dwelling reptile belonging to a group of plesiosaurs called elasmosaurs. They are known for their very long necks (62 vertebrae) and small heads. They have large, paddle-like limbs, and were around 40 feet in length.

The Tylosaurus is marine reptile, not a dinosaur. It was found in southwestern Manitoba, and was about 33 feet long.

The two big fish (about 12 feet) next to the Tylosaurus are called Ichthyodectes. Fossils of these fish have been found from Canada all the way down to Texas.

A Saurornitholestes and some other unknown creature!

Below is a Struthiomimus, a two-legged dinosaur that looked like an ostrich. It has a small head on a long neck, with long legs that allowed it to run quickly.

The Pachyrhinosaurus was a large four-legged dinosaur. This was the species found in the nearby bonebed back in 1974.

All of the humerus bones (upper arm) below were found at the Pipestone Creek bonebed. They are all from Pachyrhinosaurus’s of various ages.

This Styracosaurus skull was found in southern Alberta.

The Gorgosaurus skeleton, found in southern Alberta, is lizard about 26 feet in length, nose to tail.

The museum has an educational area, where you can look at slides of insects and other tiny specimens.

This is the Fossil Prep Lab where volunteers and staff are currently working on cleaning and stabilizing fossils that are found in the nearby bonebed.

A separate portion of the museum goes into the discovery of oil and gas in the region. It is a wonderful museum, with many more fossils and dinosaur’s on display than I have listed here.

Quote of the Day: “Dinosaurs are the best way to teach kids, and adults, the immensity of geologic time.” – Robert T. Bakker

Alberta Legislative Building

Posted on June 10, 2022 by liv2rv

After 5 days in High River, Alberta, we said our good-byes to Don and Kathy and moved on to St. Albert, just west of Edmonton, Alberta for a few days. We were there during the “long weekend,” as Victoria Day is referred to in Canada. Victoria Day was a good day to take a tour of the Alberta Legislative Building. We got a bonus parade/cannon firing that we were not aware was going to happen after our tour was completed.

The exterior of the 106 year old building is in the third and final year of reconstruction of the windows and sandstone exterior.

Below is a photograph of the exterior of the building before the remodeling started.

Inside photos of the rotunda. The fountain was built in 1959 for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Chambers of the Legislature. The Speaker sits in the large chair on the right. The press is assigned seats in the section above the speakers chair.

Special guests sit in the small section on the upper left, and the general public is allowed to sit in the section above the legislators. We were in an area similar to the public viewing area, but it is for guests of the legislators.

Per our tour guide, Alberta is the only legislature that displays the flags of all 10 Provinces and 3 Territories in Canada.

After we saw the chambers, a very excited security guard came up to our tour group. I was thinking something was wrong, based on the expression on her face. But she announced that we were invited in to see the Premier’s office. The current Premier of Alberta is Jason Kenney. The woman leading our tour group asked her multiple times if she was sure, and then she became excited as well.

Apparently this area is strictly off limits, and both the tour guide and security guard said they have never, ever, been “past that door.” It turns out a young man that works behind “that door” happened to be working on the holiday, saw our tour group, and invited us in. Yea! So we had a quick “bonus tour.”

First stop was the Cabinet Room, where the Premier meets with the Cabinet Ministers, as they are called in Canada.

Then we entered the Premier’s office.

There is a nice balcony off the office, with views of downtown Edmonton.

And this is the hallway behind “that door” containing offices of the staff that work for the Premier.

Fun Fact: The province of Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, Queen Victoria’s daughter. Princess Louise wanted the province named “Louiseland” but the legislators overruled her, and used her last name of Alberta instead.

After the tour ended, I watched our tour guide excitedly tell some of the other tour guides about being invited to see the Premier’s office. They were all amazed. So I guess it was a really big deal!

There is a large expanse of lawn outside the building, and we noticed a small marching band assembly, and some members of the military were setting up some cannons. I asked our tour guide what was going on, and she stated there would be a ceremony at noon, in honor of Victoria Day. So we decided to stay for that. The marching band only had about 100 yards to march from the parking lot, and they played the Canadian National Anthem along with God Save the Queen.

Before the firing started, we were told to stand about 75 yards away from the cannons. It was loud! First time we have ever witnessed something like that.

I took a lot of photos, and was able capture the explosion below.

It created a lot of smoke, and it was not a windy day, so the smoke lingered.

Eventually, you couldn’t even see the cannons.

Once the ceremony was done, the soldiers stood at attention until they were dismissed and took apart the cannons.

While we were in Edmonton, we met with our friend Lyle, at Edmonton Mall. Lyle is one of the many wonderful Canadian friends we have met in our RV park in Yuma. It was nice catching up with him, as he opted to go to Mexico instead of Yuma this past winter.

Quote of the Day: “Agreeable people are warm and friendly. They’re nice; they’re polite. You find a lot of them in Canada.” – Adam Grant

Heritage Park, Calgary, Alberta

Posted on June 9, 2022 by liv2rv

Heritage Park is referred to as “Canada’s largest living history experience.” We happened to attend on opening day for the season of 2022, and the employees were excited to have everything fully opened for the first time in two summers. The park covers the history of Canada from the mid-1800s to the 1930s. Covering over 127 acres, there is a lot to see and do for all ages. Plan on a lot of walking! As I previously blogged on, this park also contains the excellent Gasoline Alley Museum. If possible, I would recommend doing the park and museum separately. We just had one day, and it can be done, but you will be exhausted. Here’s another blog post where I went crazy with photos.

The park pays tribute to Alberta’s “Famous 5” women that fought for equal rights for all women in Canada. Since this is a post about the park, if you want to read more about what the women accomplished, click on this link. The Alberta Five

Interior photos of the house, a replica of Nellie McClung’s Calgary residence from 1923 – 1932.

There is a section called “Prospect Ridge” that talks about the history of prospecting for gold, coal mining, and oil drilling.

They have a “mini” replica of a coal mine that you can walk in.

In 1911 oil was discovered by W. S. Herron in southern Alberta. He started the Calgary Petroleum Products Company with A.W. Dingman. This is a reproduction of Dingman No. 1 Discovery Well.

Village Centre, circa 1910

The park has reproductions of buildings replicating life in the early 1900’s, with houses, drugstore, hotel, bakery, newspaper, post office, general stores, saloon and more. The buildings are open to tour and staffed by docents in period costumes explaining the history of the building.

The post office was not only the place to send and receive mail, but it served as the phone company as well. The postmaster knew all the gossip in town!

This structure is all that remains from the barracks of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (which eventually became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920) in Banff.

Wainwright Hotel and Bar Room circa 1907

The Strathmore and Bow Valley Standard newspaper was founded in 1909. It was a weekly paper. Back in the day, the owner did everything from reporting to printing the paper. It was a very labor intensive process.

The Montefiore Institute Synagogue was one of eleven Jewish farm colonies established across Canadian prairies between 1887 and 1914. This is a rare surviving example of a prairie synagogue that has been fully restored.

What’s a town without a bakery? This was a very popular stop, with fresh loaves of baked bread, cookies and cinnamon rolls. If you look close at the picture below, Karen and Al are sitting on the bench next door, with Dan in front of them, enjoying some freshly baked goods. The building they are sitting at is Baron’s Snooker, which contained a barber shop and snooker tables.

Snooker tables are similar to pool, but are considerably larger at 12 x 6 feet.

This house, built in 1907, has been restored to represent a Cottage Hospital.

The nurse is demonstrating the instruments and techniques used.

St Martin’s Church, constructed in 1896.

Interior of St Martin’s Church.

The docent played a few hymns on this church organ.

Gledhill’s Drugstore, built in Dundurn Saskatchewan in 1908. Pharmacists would set up shop in small communities to dispense medicinal powers and alcohol-based elixirs. In addition to providing basic medical advice, they administered first aid, pulled teeth and treated livestock. Since they earned little money from the drugs, they would sell toiletries, candy and basic supplies to supplement their income.

Wait, is there a dog in the display case in the above photo? It looks like it could be one of Makena’s relatives!

Peter Prince relocated from Quebec to Calgary in 1886 as manager of Wisconsin based Eau Claire and Bow Valley Lumber Company. In 1894, the very wealthy Mr Prince built this 3300 square foot home, with eight bedrooms and modern utilities.

The Burnside Ranch House, where one of the docents was preparing lunch for other volunteers. They have gardens, chickens, and pigs in the park, and try to live off the land, just as they did a century ago.

Hudson’s Bay Company Fur Trading Fort Circa 1860

This docent gave a very detailed discussion on the history of fur trading and the values of various pelts. Beaver pelts were highly valued.

Heritage Park was a lot of fun to visit (and a good way to get a lot of steps in!).

Quote of the Day: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey

Gasoline Alley Museum

Posted on June 5, 2022 by liv2rv

Gasoline Alley Museum located at Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta, is a “must see” if you are in the area. This museum is open year round. The historical village portion of Heritage Park is open mid-May to October. I will do a separate post on the historical village portion of the park. This post contains a lot of photos, so it may take some time to load if you have internet issues.

The museum contains antique cars, trucks, gas pumps and signage from petroleum companies. All of the items were donated from a local businessman, Ron Carey. In talking with one of the docents working in the museum, they received about 1/3 of his collection of vehicles. He also stated they believe the museum houses the largest collection of gas pumps in Canada.

Our friends that we are traveling with, Karen and Al Phillips, found the ”Phillips” gas pump.

The green vehicle on the right is a 1937 Terraplane “Big Boy” Pickup, featuring a waterfall grill. A 1912 Buick Model 2-A Express Truck is to the left.

The rear view of the trucks.

This is a 1924 unrestored International Truck that was found rusting away on a farm. It has been left as they found it.

The first outdoor gasoline pump was invented by Sylvanus Bowser. In 1905, the “Bowser Self-Measuring Gasoline Storage Pump,” a metal tank inside a wooden cabinet with a flexible hose and manual suction pump, was put into service. The Shell tank below is a model from 1911.

The first pumps were called “pre-visible pumps” since customers could not see what they were buying.

In 1915, “visible pumps” were invented. Gas was pumped from an underground storage tank into the “visible” glass tank, so customers could see what and how much they were buying. Apparently people felt they were getting cheated by the gas companies, so this solved the problem. 100 plus years later, people still feel cheated by the gas companies!

Clock-faced pumps began appearing in the 1920’s that were faster and more accurate than the visible pumps. A bell rang with every gallon dispensed, and the dial would show the total amount pumped.

In 1934, the computer pump was invented. It would “compute” the total sale in dollars and gallons.

A rare, fully restored 1926 Shell Tanker fuel delivery truck with a 500-gallon fuel tank and 12 5-gallon fuel cans.

1919 Oldsmobile 3/4 Ton Truck. Trucks like these were very popular with farmers and delivery companies.

1927 GMC Sedan Delivery Vehicle. The Imperial Bank of Canada had a fleet of maroon vehicles. This one was used to deliver packages.

1956 Plymouth Sport Suburban Station Wagon. The lighting doesn’t really show how bright pink this vehicle is. I think every person walking by said “wow, that’s really pink!”

1931 L-29 Cord, a popular front-wheel drive car.

1932 Auburn with a 6.4-liter V12 engine.

1905 Cadillac, found in an abandoned gold mine in Northern California. It was likely a Model E Runabout that was converted by a prospector into a truck. It has been preserved to the condition it was found in.

Front and rear photos of a 1915 Cadillac that was retrofitted in 1922 as a tow truck.

A 1908 Mitchell. The MItchell Motor Car Company was located in Racine, Wisconsin. We are both from Wisconsin, but I had never heard of the company until I saw this vehicle.

The museum has an extensive collection of signs.

Below, on the left is a 1909 McIntyre Model M high wheel runabout. A 1911 Model 49 Overland is on the right.

On the left is a 1918 Chevrolet 490 (named for it’s selling price of $490). It was designed to compete with the Ford Model T. The maroon vehicle is a 1922 Gray-Dort Model 19-B, produced in Chatham, Ontario.

Two photos of a 1933 Diamond T Brewery Truck Model 210-FF. Diamond Ts were considered to be the ”Cadillac of Trucks” based on their performance and construction.

The green vehicle is a 1945 Federal Dump Truck that could hall four yards. The red vehicle is a 1941 Chevrolet 1 1/2 ton Tow Truck.

A rare 1949 Endor Pixie Motorized Bicycle, with a two speed gearshift on the left handlebar and a twist grip throttle on the right. It had a top speed of 26 mph.

Front and rear photos of a 1928 Ford AR Roadster Pickup. This was a Canadian built model, because both the driver and passenger doors open. Fords built in the US had no drivers door that opened, to prevent drivers from stepping out and into traffic. In Canada, some provinces drove on the right, and some on the left, up until the 1940s. So two functional doors were needed.

This was just a wonderful museum. There is such a variety of vehicles on display, in various conditions. My photos are only a fraction of what they have on display here. If you are in the Calgary area, make sure to stop in – you won’t regret it.

Quote of the Day: “The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it.” – Dudley Moore

May 2022 Cost Updates and Instagram posts

Posted on June 3, 2022 by liv2rv

GAS PRICES IN CANADA

While we were waiting to cross the border into Canada on May 17, 2022 , we recorded the mileage on our motorhome at 10,925 miles. We have driven 902 miles from May 17 to the 31st, and have purchased 433.47 liters of gasoline, which equals 114.50 gallons. Total cost for fuel on the motorhome since crossing the border May 17th was $585.60. This works out to an average of $5.11/gallon. And this was all in the Province of Alberta. Where gas is cheap! Alberta prices ranged from 1.69/liter to 1.769/liter. Per our friend Don, gas is well regulated here, so you don’t get the wild price swings like in the US. One gallon of gas equals 3.78 liters (it’s all about the math!). We are now in British Columbia, and gas is over $2/liter.

May campground and entertainment costs

We had 15 nights of camping in Canada in May, at a total cost of $510.98 American, which works out to $34.07 per night. We have had full hookups (water/sewer/electric) and places with just electric (and the electric is 30 amps). There are many options to choose from, so your campground costs will vary. Don’t plan on having much for wi-fi! Even the campgrounds that advertise internet – it’s not always usable. (I’m currently writing this at 4:30 am – that’s when I can get on the campgrounds free wi-fi. It’s been light outside for about 45 minutes, so if feels more like 6 am.) We don’t have a satellite dish, and have always relied on over the air for television. We have not been able to pick up anything over the air, so if that is something that is important to you, pack a lot of DVD’s!

We have visited many museums and toured the local towns. Entertainment costs will vary based on your own personal interests. We have spent a total of $97.00 since May 17th on museums and sightseeing adventures. These are in American dollars. Right now, $1 Canadian equals 78 cents American, so we use our credit card as much as possible to get the more favorable exchange rate.

Prices in the grocery stores are comparable to costs in the United States for most products. Dairy and Canadian meat and chicken are a bit higher. Butter is sold by the pound (454 grams) but it is not divided into quarters like in the United States. I would have an issue with this for baking!

May Instagram posts

As promised, for those folks that are not on Instagram and/or don’t want to be on more social media sites, (thinking of you Ole!) I will have links to the posts that I made. So if you are interested in what else I have posted, just click on the links below. You can go through the photos on the posts by swiping to the left on the pictures. Given the limited internet, I will continue to use Instagram for quick updates on where we are. Instagram will always be the most current way to keep up. For more detailed posts on some of the places we have visited, I will continue to do blogs (although I need to stop taking so many photos!). I still have several more blogs to post on some more museums from May, so stay tuned.

If for some reason the links are not working, or you have any issues, please let me know at liv2rv@gmail.com

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Quote of the day: “Often, bumpy roads lead to beautiful places.” – Dave Martinez

The Military Museums

Posted on June 1, 2022 by liv2rv

Located in Calgary, Alberta, is The Military Museums (yes, plural). The building complex contains museums honoring the Air Force, Navy and Army, along with various divisions within the Army. Plan on spending several hours here, as there is a lot to see.

Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI)

Established in 1914 during World War I, the PPCLI is one of Canada’s most famous regiments. It was named after Her Royal Highness Princess Patricia of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Below depicts PPCLI soldiers using the Lewis Gun, an anti-aircraft machine gun used during WWII.

The PPCLI not only served during WWI, WWII and Korea, but most recently in Afghanistan. They had on display LAV III “Charlie” which was used in 2008 in Afghanistan.

Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC)

Almost 22,000 women were a part of the CWAC, and were stationed at Army bases in Canada and overseas. The women provided support services in transportation, medical and administrative areas. The museum pays tribute to their service. The CWAC was demobilized after WWII ended.

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

The RCAF was founded on April 1, 1924. The airman’s uniform was modeled after the Royal Air Force blue uniforms.

The museum has models of all the planes used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII. It’s a model airplane lovers dream display.

A separate building held several airplanes used by the RCAF. A CF-104 Starfighter was on display.

There was a platform to view the cockpit of the Starfighter.

The museum also contained a CF-18 Hornet.

How do you tell the difference between a Canadian Hornet and an American version? The Canadian Hornet has a large light on the side by the cockpit. It is used for identifying aircraft in the darkness of the Canadian Artic.

Naval Museum

This was my favorite section of the museum, as they had a large display of aircraft, drone boat, uniforms, torpedos, various weaponry and models of ships past and present.

Among the many models of ships in the museum, is the HMS Bellerophon. This is the first Bellerophon, launched October 1786.

To the more modern day HMCS Calgary II. It is a Halifax Class Patrol Frigate, commissioned in 1995.

In 1955 Canada purchased 39 McDonnel F2H-3 Banshee planes. These planes were used until 1962 when the Royal Canadian Navy discontinued the use of fighter aircraft.

Hammerhead, a remote controlled small attack boat, with a maximum speed of 40 knots/74 km hour. Developed in Canada in 2008, it is still in use. It is the first time I have seen a “drone” boat.

This gun mounting was used for training at the West Coast Fleet School in Canada until 1995.

Ho, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Rum!

The Royal Navy started the daily ration of rum to sailors around 1655. Rum was used as it kept better than beer in hot climates. Conditions were harsh on ships, and it was something the sailors looked forward to. The Canadian Navy followed the British and continued the tradition of rum rations until 1972. Below are various storage containers used for rum.

This copper set was used in WWII on HMCS Saguenay to measure out the daily issue of rum, about 2 5/8 ounces.

Naval Uniforms over the years

Enigma

The four-rotor Enigma machine was used by the German Navy in 1942 to securely transmit communications from Naval headquarters. The allies realized the only way to break the code was to capture an Enigma machine. The Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Griffon made the first capture of an Enigma machine and documents on April 26, 1940 from the German trawler Polaris off the coast of Norway. It has been suggested by post-war historians that intercepting and decoding German communications shortened the war and saved thousands of lives.

If you are in the Calgary area, we would highly recommend a visit to The Military Museums. My blog only covers a fraction of what they have on display. It is truly a remarkable place.

Quote of the Day: “We must never forget why we have and why we need our military. Our armed forces exist solely to ensure our nation is safe, so that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night, knowing we have ‘guardians at the gate.’ ” – Allen West

The Bomber Command Museum of Canada

Posted on May 30, 2022 by liv2rv

Our first stop in Canada was in High River, Alberta. From there, we were able to visit several museums/parks within a 45 minute drive. I will have several blog posts on these museums over the next several days. For quick updates, I will use Instagram, as that works well with limited internet. For the more interesting things, or rather the touristy places that I take a lot of photos at, I will do a blog post, as Instagram is limited to 10 photos. Our Instagram page is liv2rv. https://www.instagram.com. Occasionally I may just post a blog with links to the IG pages, for those that are not on IG.

Located about 20 miles south of High River is The Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca. The museum commemorates those that served in the Bomber Command division during World War II.

The memorial wall contains the names of over 10,000 Canadian Bomber Command members that died in World War II.

During WWII the bombing forces of Canada were under British command to fight in Europe against the Nazi’s. The bombers suffered great losses during daylight raids, so they began operating almost exclusively at night.

The museum has displays of the instrument panels from the Lancaster bomber airplane.

This is the pilot’s instrument panel and flying controls, along with a photograph of a pilot.

The Flight Engineer’s Panel

Dan was checking out the mockup of a Lancaster cockpit that you can sit in. This mockup was used in the 1992 film “Map of the Human Heart.”

Air training bases in Canada had their own fire department. This is a 1942 Ford Aerodrome/Crash Fire Truck. After the war, the town of Nanton used it as their first fire truck. It remained in service until 1977. It was called “Old Bumpy” due to it’s ride.

This is a 1942 De Havilland Tiger Moth. It was the most widely used basic training airplane under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

In 1939, the Royal Air Force established the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) which grew to 180,000 members during WWII. In 1941, the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division (WD) was formed. Over 17,000 Canadian women joined and served. The museum has a display honoring their service. The women in the Air Force were issued bicycles for transportation.

Canadair CT-114 Tutor. Originally used for training pilots from 1963-2000, the plane is now used by “The Snowbirds,” Canada’s air demonstration team.

The main feature of the museum is the Lancaster, a heavy bomber plane. It was the most successful bomber used in WWII.

Specially modified Lancaster were used to transport and deploy the Grand Slam Bomb. Forty one of these 22,400 pound bombs were dropped near the end of WWII. The museum houses a full-size mockup of the 25 foot long bomb.

A large number of Nose Art reproductions are contained throughout the museum. We always enjoy looking at the creativity on display.

Quote of the Day: “The Navy can lose us the war, but only the Air Force can win it. The fighters are our salvation, but the bombers alone provide the means of victory.” – Winston Churchill, September 1940 (this quote is on display at the museum)

Dogs are welcome in Canada

Posted on May 26, 2022 by liv2rv

Hello everyone, it’s me, Makena, your favorite dog blogger.

While my parents are busy playing tourists, I thought I would get you updated on my life. For the past eight summers, my parents have always worked. So I’m not sure what to expect this summer, since they will be playing tourists. I’m hoping they will be around more, and that I will have more places to sniff and pee. I’ll probably be spending a lot more time in my kennel with all the traveling. I’ve gotten pretty good at napping while they drive.

Traveling to Canada with a dog

My parents wrote about the requirements of traveling into Canada as a human, so I thought I would do the same for us four legged folks. We don’t need any special apps like the humans do, but we do need to be current on our rabies vaccination. Here is a link for more information.

https://travel.gc.ca/returning/customs/bringing-your-pet-to-canada

As with the humans, there are also food restrictions for pets. You can only bring a maximum of 20 kilograms of dog food into the country. The equates to a whopping 44 pounds of dog food. Well, I say whopping, because my dog food comes in 4.5 pound bags. But for those big dogs, like my friend Cody, that could be an issue. My mom stocked up on three bags of food for me, which should last me all summer, plus a large container of treats. I’m well under the 20 kilogram requirements. This is just something to be aware of if you have bigger dogs.

When we crossed over the border, the border officer did not inquire if I was on board. I slept through the crossing!

Hanging out with my peeps

I haven’t seen my buddy Cody since last October when we left Teton Cabins in Wyoming. Apparently he has been taking steroids or something, because he has gotten huge! But he also went to doggie obedience school, so he’s very well behaved now – except for that butt sniffing thing!

This was Cody and I when we first met last summer, after Cody adopted Karen and Al.

Now look at him!

Our first stop in Canada was High River, Alberta, where my friend Buddy lives. Even though Buddy and I are neighbors in Yuma, we like our space. My parents always force us to pose together.

But this is really how we like to be – socially distanced!

Now if only Cody can learn this – I will have all summer to teach him! Hopefully he is a fast learner.

Quote of the Day: “My fashion philosophy is, if you are not covered in dog hair, your life is empty.” – Elayne Boosler

Bienvenue au Canada

Posted on May 24, 2022 by liv2rv

We finally made it across the border into Canada! We had no issues crossing. The border guard only inquired about alcohol, firearms, tobacco products and weapons such as pepper spray (not allowed) and bear spray (allowed). They did not inquire about food or plants when we crossed at the Sweetgrass MT/Coutts, Alberta border.

The ArriveCAN app is still required, and that is where you enter your passport and vaccine status (you must be fully vaccinated). They did not inquire if we had a pet, and we did not offer. The big piece of advice that all the Canadians gave us was to just politely answer the Border officers questions in as few words as possible.

This webpage has the most current information if you are planning on traveling to Canada, via vehicle, cruise ship or airplane.

https://travel.gc.ca/

We feel very blessed

For two years, we have been trying to get to Alaska for the summer. In February 2020, we first started to hear about this thing called Covid-19. At the time, we were told it would be over “very quickly” and that only 7 Americans were sick, and they would be fine. So we continued to be optimistic that we would still be able to go in 2020. Well that information didn’t turnout so well.

The weekend before we crossed, we were at a campground in Shelby, Montana. I kept staring out the window of our RV at a giant United States flag at half staff. It had been lowered in memory of the one million Americans that have died because of Covid-19. It’s a humbling figure.

Not a day goes by that I don’t feel grateful for the life that I have. The last two years have really reinforced those feelings. Between Covid and family and friends battling serious illnesses, it just puts things in perspective. Life is so uncertain. Drown out the noise, and just do the best you can each and every day. Don’t live in fear, just live.

VERIZON COVERAGE

While we were waiting in line at the border, our phones dinged with a message from our carrier, Verizon. It welcomed us to Canada and said we would be on roaming coverage in Canada, and we would be limited to 0.5 GB of high speed data per line, per day. After that, it would switch to 2 G speed. I used up my data once, and let me tell you, 2 G speed is useless. We are doing our best to be thrifty. My phone is connected to TELLUS network, and Dan’s has connected to Roger’s Network. We have identical phones, but have no idea why we are on two different networks,

Karen and Al have both Verizon and AT&T. They have not had any issues with coverage in Canada with their AT&T plan, but Verizon has limited them as well.

INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

I have set up an Instagram page, and will use that for quick posts, due to the lack of cell/internet access. Our friend Bob “Buckeye” Miller started following us before I had even made a post – thanks Bob!

Here is a link to my first post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd0p-IGOyf5/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

So if you are looking for photos, you can click on the link. We have visited several interesting places so far, and I do want to post some blogs when I have more robust internet. 0.5 GB doesn’t allow for photos. But it seems to do fine on Instagram.

My Instagram account is a work in progress, so be patient.

We are currently in a campground in St Albert, Alberta, and they have free wi-fi, but you are limited to just two devices. I will try to get a few blog posts ready to go, but my photos are on a laptop. We are using our free device coupons on the iPads. We went to a nearby Walmart yesterday and I found an SD card adapter for my iPad that I will try out. Hopefully I can put the photos on the iPad using that device.

On a side note, the Walmart in St Albert no longer provides plastic bags. You have to bring your own reusable bags. I’m not sure if that is a city-wide ordinance here or not. Also, you have to put in a coin to get your shopping cart (like Aldi does). Can you imagine Walmart banning plastic bags at all their stores in the US?

Quote of the Day: “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” – Marcus Aurelius

Heading North to Alaska (finally)

Posted on May 13, 2022 by liv2rv

After two long years of waiting, we are finally making our way to Alaska! We left Arizona at the end of April, and have been slowly making our way north to the border. We will be meeting up with our friends Al and Karen on Sunday in Shelby, Montana, and plan on crossing into Alberta Canada on Tuesday, May 17th. We will be stopping in High River for a few days, and meeting up with Don and Kathy, our “neighbors” in Yuma.

In a matter of days, we went from the mid 90’s in Arizona, to our first winter weather advisory! It was actually enjoyable to finally get out of the heat.

Now we are getting pounded by the wind in Shelby. The motorhome has a full wall slide with a slide topper. After listening to it get battered around for an hour, we decided to put the slide in for the day. Definitely not a day to be driving an RV.

We had a nice winter in Yuma. Dan’s parents were able to rent a park model in our RV park for two months. Dan’s brother Gary and his wife Julia were also able to fly down for a visit, along with their daughter Jasmine, who lives in Arizona. Makena was even allowed to visit in the park model. Everyone looks so excited!

Dan’s mom Joan loves to line dance, and they have classes two days a week in the park. The line dancers also participated in the park’s Mardi Gras parade, and Joan donned her mask to dance along the streets!

Our friend Ellen (who is behind Joan in the picture above holding the Red Hat ladies banner) turned the big 70 this March, so we had her and Tom over to celebrate! Ellen loves her cannoli’s!

We had a few outings/meals/card days at Dave and Marilyn’s house. Marilyn decided it was time to bust out a giant bottle of wine that she had stored in their garage for the past 6 years. Nothing like 110 degree summers to properly “age” the wine!! The cork disintegrated as Dan tried to get it out. As you can expect, it was not the best testing wine! It was only fitting we used dixie cups for our tasting!

We had a nice surprise visit from our friend Judy. She has recently retired and decided to escape the weather in Wisconsin and visit some friends of hers in Sun City. They all made the trek out to Yuma for the day. These ladies enjoy golfing, and making “sand angels” in the sand traps on golf courses! Avid blog reader Keith promised to be with Judy the next time they visit!

Jasmine turned the big 30 in April, and her mom Julia, and sisters Brooke and Carmen flew down to help her celebrate. We were able to meet up with them for brunch, followed by an afternoon at a nearby park, where we attempted to play pickleball on the tennis court.

Carmen (mom to be), Julia, Jasmine, Brooke and I

This is our ninth year of full-time RV’ing, and this will be our first summer where we will not be working. It’s time to play tourist! For us, the price of gas has dropped about 50 cents per gallon since we left Arizona. Depending on what day it is, it’s either going up, or going back down. There’s nothing we can do about it, and we have waited two years for this trip. I plan on keeping track of all our expenses once we cross into Canada. Karen has done an excellent job planning our route, and we have booked almost all of our campgrounds already. We have a few flexible days in Canada on the way to Alaska.

Canada has an app, ArriveCan, that you have to complete before you cross the border. We have entered as much information ahead of time (passport and vaccine information), and then you have to complete the rest of the information 72 hours ahead of your arrival. So we will finish that up Sunday. From what we have heard so far, this app makes crossing the border a lot more efficient, because they will have all your information on file, and won’t have to enter the data as you cross. We shall find out on Tuesday how well it works for us.

INSTAGRAM

I have been looking into setting up an Instagram account for our travels. I think it will make it much easier to post updates than blogging. IG allows you to post up to 10 photos, and that’s what most people like to look at anyway. If I do set up an account, I will just post links on this blog, to each post that I do on Instagram. I’m not sure how much internet/cell service we will be getting in Canada and Alaska.

Back in 2014 when we were working at Crazy Horse, I recall talking with one of the college students working there for the summer. When I mentioned that I had a blog, she said “that’s old school, why don’t you do Instagram?!” Well, 8 years later, I guess I’m getting up to date with technology! I will let you know when I get that set up. I noticed they have Instagram for beginners videos on You Tube, so I will be watching a few of them!

Let’s get this long awaited journey started!

Quote of the Day: “Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before” – Dalai Lama

Liv2RV

Living and working around the country in a RV