Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
June 30 ~Day #51
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$5100
$62.24
$6068
$118.98
Miles by Road
Nautical Miles
Miles by Air
Miles by Train
Total Statute Miles
6924+00
3826
000
69
11427.4
Current Location: Green Haven Sun Club, Balgonie, Saskatchewan
Today’s Total Expenses: $62.24
Accommodation: $24.00
Food: $38.24
Mosquitos Everywhere
We knew we were in trouble when we set up the tent last night and a hungry hoard of mosquitos descended on us.
Lots & Lots of Rain Followed by Sunny Weather
That’s what happened here in Saskatchewan. There was so much rain that a portion of the Trans Canada Highway collapsed near Saskatchewan’s boarded with Alberta.
So now there is a lot of standing water and hot, sunny weather – a perfect environment for mosquitos to breed.
No Rest At All
If either of us got any sleep at all last night, I’m sure it wasn’t much.
I guess we expected to be bitten while we were setting up the tent, although the sheer number of mosquitos was totally unexpected.
What we weren’t prepared for was the second onslaught as we tried to settle down for the night.
Lurking in every corner of our tent and Jeep (don’t forget that we actually sleep in the Jeep) were hundreds, if not thousands, of bloodthirsty mosquitos.
We both got up several times through the night to try and kill as many as we could. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Many of them had already bitten us, so when we squished them they spurted blood – OUR BLOOD! There are now blood stains on the tent walls and even on the ceiling of the Jeep. I have no idea how I’m going to clean that up.
But it didn’t matter how many we killed, they just kept coming – wave after wave.
We even tried to bait them. We would each take turns just laying there and letting mosquitos land on us while the other one killed as many as possible.
Nothing worked. Nothing stopped them from biting us, buzzing in our ears or even trying to fly up our noses!
In despair, the only thing we could do was to cover ourselves completely with our sheets and blankets and try to get some fitful sleep while being dive-bombed all night. If an errant piece of flesh poked out, rest assured, a mosquito was on it.
Without a doubt, last night was the worst night we’ve had on this trip. I’d happily put up with freezing water pouring on me again or frosty nights. They’re a piece of cake compared with last night.
Taking Action
From what I saw, I do believe that Geoff suffered more bites than I did. And, that’s unusual. Any biting insects just seem to love me.
The main difference between us, though, is how our bodies react to the such bites.
Geoff says his bites are no longer itchy. I sure wish I could say the same. Mine are horribly itchy, red and welted. I really do try not to scratch. I know it will only make things worse. But, sometimes it is nearly impossible not to give in.
We both decided that we can’t possibly go through another night like that. We may even have to leave this campground.
In an effort to try to control the situation and salvage the days we had planned to spend here, we headed into Regina in search of an anti-itch cream, some insect repellant to prevent more bites and an insect spray, like RAID, to kill the ones still hiding in our tent and car.
Our first stop was Costco, who was totally sold out of both repellant and insecticide spray.
Looks like were weren’t the only ones to be experiencing this problem.
Next stop was Wal-Mart who was ALMOST sold out but we did manage to get a can of RAID and a bottle of Muskol lotion but their shelves were pretty bare.
Wish Us Luck
We have now liberally sprayed both the Jeep and the tent and plan to do so again a couple of hours before bedtime.
I have applied my anti-itch cream, which is helping a bit. We have both slathered ourselves with the Muskol lotion, yes, we even put some in our hair as the little buggers (pun intended) even bite us on the scalp. And, we will do that again before bedtime as well.
Stay or Go?
If we are able to get the situation under control and get a good night’s sleep then we will probably stay a few more days. If not, then we will have no choice but to move on to somewhere with less of a mosquito problem.
Canada Day
Finding an alternate place to stay may be a problem in itself as tomorrow is Canada Day.
Mosquito Post
I’ll bet you weren’t expecting a post all about mosquitos, were you.
I’ll let Geoff tell you tomorrow about how things go tonight.
Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
June 29 ~Day #50
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$5000
$197.54
$6005.76
$120.11
Miles by Road
Nautical Miles
Miles by Air
Miles by Train
Total Statute Miles
6406+518=6924
3826
000
69
11427.4
Current Location: Green Haven Sun Club, Balgonie, Saskatchewan
Rosedale Suspension Bridge
The 11 bridges road to Wayne, AB starts in Rosedale which is where you can find the Rosedale Suspension Bridge. This is a foot bridge across the Red Deer River that was used to transport the coal from the Star Coal Mine.
The Dinosaur Trail
The Tyrrell Museum is the must see highlight of Drumheller but there are many other natural attractions in the area. The information center provides a map with a circular route around the area called “The Dinosaur Trail” with all the attractions marked.
Horse Thief Canyon
The Dinosaur Trail takes you past the Tyrrell Museum and up to the top of the cliffs overlooking the Bad Lands. From the lookout you can see the Red Deer River valley where many dinosaur bones have been found.
Bleriot Ferry
You continue along the Dinosaur Trail to the Bleriot Ferry which is a small free ferry service across the river. You drive on, the ferry is cable winched across and you drive off. This is a modern version of the ferries that showed up in some of the old western movies we watched as kids.
Hoodoos
The trail loops back to Drumheller and we took highway 10 towards Rosedale again. Ten miles south of Drumheller is the official site of the Hoodoos. Hoodoos are present all over the area but the official site has a large collection in a small area. Unfortunately many moronic tourists crawling all over the area have managed to destroy in just a few years what took millions of years to form.
Believe it or not one particularly thoughtless cretin named “Dave” carved his name on the side of one just four weeks before we arrived. Because the Hoodoos are sandstone there is no way to safely repair the damage.
To prevent any further vandalism the area is be roped off and no one will be able to get too close. Thanks Dave you ruined it for everyone.
Atlas Coal Mine
A little further south on highway 10 is the Atlas Coal Mine where you can take an hour and a half guided tour. Unfortunately we were running late and still had quite a long drive to Regina which is our next stop.
Flooded Trans Canada Hwy
The Alberta Saskatchewan border area has had a lot of rain this season, far more than normal. Many towns were flooded and a portion of the Trans Canada Highway collapsed. We had heard about it on the news and were worried that we may not be able to get through. Fortunately the highway was reopened to single lane traffic just before we got there.
Green Haven Sun Club
It was getting dark when we arrived at the Green Haven Sun Club and the mosquitos were out in force. Getting the tent up while slapping away the little buggers was a miserable experience – but there was much worse to come …
Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
June 28 ~Day #49
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$4900
$64.44
$5808.22
$118.53
Miles by Road
Nautical Miles
Miles by Air
Miles by Train
Total Statute Miles
6253+153=6406
3826
000
69
10909.4
Current Location: Drumheller, Alberta
Today’s Total Expenses: $64.44
Accommodation: $15.00 (tenting at Last Chance Saloon)
Food: $33.44 ($4.09 for lunch at Wal-Mart and $29.35 for dinner at Last Chance Saloon)
Entertainment: $16.00
Heading Out to Drumheller
Packing up went fairly smoothly and we were back on the road again well before noon.
It wasn’t a very long drive as Drumheller isn’t that far away from Sundre.
Drumheller Info Center
Our first stop was the info center in downtown Drumheller to find out exactly what was in the area and what we should see.
You can’t miss the info center. It boasts a larger-than-life dinosaur right at its entrance.
Speaking of dinosaurs – the area is positively littered with variously coloured dinosaur recreations. They seem to be everywhere you look.
Drumheller is REALLY into dinosaurs!
Finding a Campground
One of the first things we wanted to do was find a place to pitch our tent for the night.
The info center gave us several suggestions and we began to check them out.
Most places seemed rather expensive – almost $30 for an unserviced tent lot that was squeezed in wherever they could find room.
Last Chance Saloon ~ Wayne, Alberta
Last Chance Saloon – Wayne, Alberta
We started to look farther afield when we stumbled upon the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne, Alberta. It’s a little off the beaten path and considered a ghost town – current population of Wayne – 27.
We stopped into the saloon because a sign at the road said “Camping – $15” and that suited our budget.
The price was indeed $15.00 for an unserviced lot, but there were flush toilets and showers ($1 each). We paid for our camping, checked out the menu at the saloon and decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the Last Chance Saloon when we returned for the night.
They also have rooms at the Rose Deer Hotel which is attached to the saloon.
Even if you don’t plan to stay here, it’s worth a visit, particularly on Wednesday nights when they have quart beer specials and frequently have live music as well.
Tyrrell Museum
With our accommodations secured for the evening we felt we had enough time to visit the Tyrrell museum, leaving all the other attractions we might want to see until tomorrow.
The Tyrrell Museum is a MUST SEE. The exhibits are extremely well done, logically laid out and well explained.
There are various videos you can stop to watch that are both informative and humorous.
We should, actually, have set aside the major part of a day to visit this museum. Yes – it’s that good!
Admission is reasonable for such an amazing museum. Check their website for current pricing.
Dinner at the Last Chance Saloon
This establishment is located between the 9th and 10th bridge of the 11 Bridges Park. There are actually 11 bridges in a very short distance. Almost all of them are a single lane – so be careful and yield when you need to.
We were really looking forward to dinner as we had checked out the menu earlier and thought their prices seemed reasonable.
We opted for the homemade meat pies. I had chicken and Geoff had beef. Now, when they say “homemade” they actually mean it. They were quite large with a flaky pastry and plenty of tasty filling. We had one pie each and shared a basket of fries. We also splurged and had a beer each.
Geoff and I both like dark beers so we inquired about that. What they had was a Traditional Ale from a small brewery called Big Rock. The beer was a lovely dark amber colour and went down really well.
At the end of our meal we were pleasantly full and passed on dessert.
Total cost? Less than $30!
There’s quite a story that goes along with this saloon and hotel and you’ll be able to read all about it when you stop in.
Off To Bed
As we made our way to our tent we realized we were the only ones camping there that night.
I’m sure that will change as the summer season gets into full swing.
Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
June 27 ~Day #48
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$4800
$31
$5743.78
$119.66
Miles by Road
Nautical Miles
Miles by Air
Miles by Train
Total Statute Miles
6253
3826
000
69
10756.4
Current Location: Sunny Chinooks
Today’s Total Expenses: $31.00
Accommodation: $31.00
Reading Naturally
This was another relax and do nothing day, lay in the sun, walk down to the river, spend time in the hot tub, lay back in the sun. Sunny Chinooks is building a new pool but they doubt it will be ready for this season.
They have quite a collection of naturist magazines including several back issues of “Naturally”. Vicky and I were passing the time reading some of them and I picked up the Fall 2008 edition.
We’re Famous
To my surprise on page 38 was an article entitled “Escape to Eleuthera” which is the island in the Bahamas we live on. Eleuthera has more than fifty fabulous beaches that you pretty much have all to yourselves. The problem is they are very hard to find and a tourist with only a week’s vacation has no hope of finding them. This is why we wrote “The Elusive Beaches of Eleuthera” which has become a must have purchase for anyone that comes to the island.
Rich and Cindy Thiboutot
Well the authors of the Naturally article, (Rich and Cindy Thiboutot) apparently agreed because they gave our book a terrific plug right in the article.
We are now writing an article for Naturally about how we discovered the Thiboutot piece in a pile of back issues in a naturist camp in Alberta.
Thanks again to the folks at Sunny Chinooks for letting us keep the Fall 2008 copy of Naturally.
Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
June 26 ~Day #47
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$4700
$31
$5712.78
$121.54
Miles by Road
Nautical Miles
Miles by Air
Miles by Train
Total Statute Miles
6253
3826
000
69
10756.4
Current Location: Sunny Chinooks near Sundre, Alberta
Today’s Total Expenses: $31.00
Sunny Chinooks Club House
Cold Evenings, Heavy Dew, Beautiful Days
We are still almost 4000 ft above sea level here, so the nights are pretty cold. The extra blankie we bought yesterday has helped at bit but cuddling through the night seems to help the most. Actually, Geoff is pretty much forced to cuddle as I, apparently, am taking up the lion’s share of the inflatable mattress. But he doesn’t seem to mind.
Each morning brings a heavy dew that usually burns off around 10:00am, or so and then the days have been amazingly sunny and warm. We’ve even had to resort to hats and sunscreen.
Warming in the Hot Tub
It has become our ritual during this stay to warm up in the hot tub each morning and to do the same thing each evening before going to bed.
Camping to save some money is a great idea, but sometimes it can be a little hard to take when the evenings are really cool.
Christmas in June
Our third day camping here brought an unexpected treat – Christmas in June!
It is, apparently, a tradition among the more permanent residents of the camp to celebrate Christmas in June as they are unlikely to see each other much in the winter.
We were invited to join in the festivities and are truly grateful.
Everyone pitched in and created a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Two turkeys were cooked to perfection and there were mashed potatoes, gravy, Brussel sprouts (my personal favourite) and more salads and side dishes than you can imagine. Ooops! Almost forgot to mention there was an abundant supply of cranberry sauce – also something I really like.
Then there was the dessert table. Well! It was fully stocked, to say the least, with items ranging from trifle to rhubarb crisp to traditional Christmas fruitcake and even a birthday cake (and I haven’t even come close to mentioning ALL the desserts).
I swear I gained at least 5 lbs just perusing all the selections before I even chose my dessert(s).
Unique Christmas Gift Exchange
Immediately following this fantastic meal that left us all feeling satisfied and happy, there was a unique form of gift exchange. I just hope I can explain it. It was such fun to watch.
We didn’t participate as it was simply serendipity that we arrived for this event, so we didn’t have any gifts to enter into the gift exchange. Also, because we are trying to travel very light, we really didn’t want anything extra added to our traveling load. But all the gifts were certainly lovely.
Here’s how this gift exchange works:
everyone picks a number from a hat – when your number is called, you pick a wrapped gift from the gift table, open it and display it to everyone else. When the next person’s number is called, they have the option of picking a wrapped gift from the gift table or STEALING yours! If yours gets “stolen” then you get to pick another wrapped gift. This goes on until all the gifts have been given out.
There appear to be only two rules – you can’t “steal” back a gift that was taken from you and a gift can only be “stolen” twice. So, if you’re the lucky person that steals it the second time – it’s yours to keep.
It was uproariously funny, with lots of good-natured “stealing” going on and plenty of sarcastic quips as items were stolen and re-stolen.
The evening ended with everyone sitting around a huge campfire until we all slowly headed off to bed when we could no longer keep our eyes open.
Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
June 25 ~Day #46
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$4600
$45.43
$5681.78
$123.51
Miles by Road
Nautical Miles
Miles by Air
Miles by Train
Total Statute Miles
6253
3826
000
69
10756.4
Current Location: Sunny Chinooks, Sundre, Alberta
I guess we should have invested in a tent heater before we started out on this trip but it really didn’t occur to us. Last night was cold – not as cold as it was at the Grand Canyon – but still colder than we are willing to bear.
The problem is the air in the air mattress we sleep on never gets warm. It wouldn’t make any difference how many blankets we pile on top of us – the mattress will remain cold.
We had to make a run into Sundre to do laundry and buy a few groceries so we decided to look for some kind of mattress pad. Sundre is a very small town without a lot of shops but we did find a quilted pad we hope will make some difference.
Also the Laundromat had free wi-fi so Vicky was able to call her son T and wish him happy birthday.
Sunny Chinooks is a cooperative where all the members help with running the camp. Jobs they can’t handle themselves they farm out to a contractor. For the past few days a contractor has been installing a fiberglass floor in the new shower building. He is doing a wonderful job but it really stinks and our tent is pitched downwind. He says he will be finished tonight and the smell will only last a few hours.
While he is here everyone is remaining clothed which feels very strange.
Yet another birthday to celebrate. Today is one of my granddaughters’ birthday. Happy Birthday, sweetie!
There seem to be a lot of birthdays happening during our journey and there are more to come. There’s even another one tomorrow so don’t forget to check Geoff’s post.
Calgary Storm
After that storm near Calgary yesterday and our late arrival at a motel for the night, we were happy to be on our way to a rustic but pleasant campground just outside of Sundre, Alberta.
Camping, Relaxing and Catching Up
We plan to spend several days of “downtime” at this campsite so we can catch up on our posts. We got behind on some of our posts and one of our readers even said he was getting “travel blog withdrawal”!
No Phones, No Internet. Yikes!
As I mentioned above, this campsite is rather rustic, so by the time we can get this posted this, too, will be out of date.
So, you’ll have a lot of reading to do to catch up!
Bringers of Sunny Weather
Apparently when we arrived here so did the sunny weather after a lot of cold, rainy days. We’re certainly happy to take credit for it.
We ended the day today around a roaring campfire meeting new friends and exchanging wonderful conversations and stories.
It started to cool down but we hoped we would be warm enough in our tent overnight – well – I’ll let Geoff tell you all about it tomorrow …
Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
June 23 ~Day #44
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$4400
$142.48
$5511.21
$125.25
Miles by Road
Nautical Miles
Miles by Air
Miles by Train
Total Statute Miles
5853+317=6170
3826
000
69
10673.4
Current Location: Cochrane, AB
Road Miles: 000
Today’s Total Expenses: $142.48
Transportation: $50 gas
Accommodation: $86.11 hotel
Food: $6.37 McDonalds
It was raining when we woke this morning so we had to time coffee and showers (us) between showers (rain). We ended up packing the tent away wet which I really don’t like to do but didn’t really have any choice.
Jasper, Alberta
Vicky had been to Jasper once before many years ago and was always talking about how beautiful it was but I think her memory of it had improved over time. It’s a nice little tourist town but nothing that special.
What I particularly don’t like is that you have to buy a park pass in order to visit. Vicky covered the charges yesterday so I won’t restate them but I certainly think they are too high. It’s not like the Canadian government had to build the mountains, they just stole them from the Indians – excuse me, First Nations or whatever the current politically correct term is.
Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93)
Anyhow there is no question as to how spectacular the scenery is, in fact there are no words to adequately describe the beauty of the drive from Jasper to Banff, Alberta down the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93). Every inch of the 142 mile drive provides another postcard perfect view you want to photograph.
Not far outside of town we noticed a bunch of cars stopped on the highway and a few people wandering around with cameras. So we naturally stopped too and got to add another wildlife encounter to yesterday’s elk. This time it was a family of Big Horn sheep grazing a few feet of the side of the highway. Eat your heart out Alaska!
We had to stop every few miles to get another photo of mountains, rivers or lakes. We really wasted a lot of money on the Alaska cruise when the scenery is so much better in our own backyard.
Athabasca Glacier
About half way between Jasper and Banff is the Athabasca Glacier. This one is melting pretty fast so if you want to see it you need to plan your trip soon. Vicky was here in 1980 and the ice was close to the road, now it is a fair hike to reach the ice face.
You can take a big wheel bus right on to the glacier but at $49 each plus tax we decided to pass. Are you seeing a pattern with all these attractions?
Lake Louise
Lake Louise is a popular destination within the park and the facilities are well developed. The scenery just couldn’t get any better. Snow capped mountains, treed slopes and a lake that is an incredible light blue – it’s breathtaking.
We would have liked to have rented a canoe but at $35 for half an hour, you guessed it – we passed. Maybe if all these overpriced attractions vendors would lower their prices to something reasonable they might be a little busier.
Banff, Alberta
Unlike Jasper you can visit Banff without buying a park pass and it is certainly the nicer of the two towns.
We were also treated to yet another up close wild life encounter – this time deer grazing on the side of the road.
Cochrane, AB
We had planned to stay at the Sunny Chinooks campground tonight but all the stops for photographs had put us way behind schedule.
Cochrane appears to be a bedroom community for Calgary. Lots of new housing at reasonable prices.
There are half a dozen hotels in town and they were all pretty much full. The best we could do was $86 for the night. That blew the budget but we will be camping in one spot for the next few days so that will bring down our average.
Today was my daughter’s birthday and I was afraid we might not have an Internet connection so that I could use Skype to call her and wish her a Happy Birthday.
There was supposed to be a WiFi connection at the campground we stayed in last night, but no matter what we did we just couldn’t get it to work.
But, as luck would have it, we stopped at a little market (Jim’s Food Market) in Clearwater, BC and were able to get a good enough signal so that we could call. The connection wasn’t great but we could at least hear each other most of the time even though it was a very short call.
Happy Birthday, sweetie! Love you. Hope you had a great day.
Mount Robson
Along the route to Jasper we stopped at Mount Robson. Mount Robson is 12,972 ft tall.
Note to BC Provincial Parks: I understand that Canada uses the metric system, but for most visitors 12,972 ft would seem way more impressive than the same height in meters (3954 m). All I’m suggesting is that you put BOTH measurements on the signs so people who are not familiar with the metric system don’t confuse it with feet or don’t need to do the conversion (which most of us would get wrong anyway).
Jasper National Park
We were a little taken aback at the cost to enter the park and the cost for camping, which I will cover a little later.
I will leave the rant to Geoff, who is much better at such things, but it seems to me that, being Canadian, we shouldn’t have to pay quite so much. We had planned to stay in the park longer, but not at these prices.
A senior’s day pass (good for 24 hours) into the Park was $16.60 for both of us. There is no discount for extra days and if you plan to stay a week or more, you might as well get the annual pass that is about $140, but at least it covers most Federal Parks.
Now, this does’t include the cost of camping. For a tent site with no electricity or water the cost was $27.40/night. Although there were toilets and showers, the toilets were a fair distance away – particularly for someone like me who generally needs to get up at least once a night – and the showers were way over by the entrance to the campground.
For the same amount of money, or even less, we’ve been able to stay at a reasonably nice hotel in the States.
I don’t want to sound negative but we are Canadian and pay Canadian taxes. Shouldn’t there be a different rate for taxpayers?
At the Grand Canyon, if you were a senior and a US resident or citizen, you received a significant discount for park entry fees and camping. And, although the park entry fee was $25.00, it was good for an entire week.
Wildlife Encounter
Okay, time to get more positive.
After popping into the Town of Jasper for a quick look we headed back to our campsite and actually passed three elk along the way, just grazing at the side of highway.
They didn’t seem to mind when we pulled over to video them. I guess they’re used to seeing humans around.
They are actually quite large. At first glance I thought the one I saw might actually be a moose.
So far we have seen more wildlife in the few days we’ve been in British Columbia than we saw during our two-week cruise in Alaska.
