Canada 1

And so we begin our Canadian journey.

Our first stop is:

Al's I-5 RV Sales and Service in Bellingham, WA!!!!!!!!

Regular followers of this blog will notice a trend everything we start out on a new journey.  For those of you who aren't regulars, just read back a few trips and you will see that every time we start out on a new journey we seem to either have problems that cause us to delay our start or something goes wrong with the coach that causes us to visit an RV shop.  This time it was a problem with our connection between the car lights and the coach.  It seems that a fuse was blown (not naming names!) for the car lights and Karl couldn't find where it was located.  So in the AM off to the RV service go.  Within 3 hours we were finally on the road.

For those of you who would like to follow us through our trip I would suggest that you may want to bookmark this page or even put it in your favorites because I am going to try and do a daily blog since we are trying to sightsee at each place we go.

So here we go!!!!!

We left on Sept. 7 and drove to Revelstoke in British Columbia for the night.  Didn't do anything since we've been into BC most of the summers we are up at the farm (which as of this post is SOLD)!

On the 8th we drove up to Calgary in Alberta and was going to stay there for two nights because there were some things we didn't get to see while we were up here last year during a Blue Knight convention.

Our first stop was Calgary Olympic Park.  It was at this sight that, during the 1988 Olympics, was the host area for ski jumping, freestyle skiing, bobsled and luge events were held.  Now it is used as a practice sight both during summer and winter.  The largest tower is 90 feet tall and is now used as a zip line tower in summer.  They don't use it for ski jumping because, remember, it's been 22 years since ski jumping there and the sport has so evolved that the end jump area is too small and it would cost tons of money to extend it.  The Ice House was closed for renovations while we were there because they are building a huge 4 arena complex for hockey.  But that is used for training on starts in luge and bobsled that is always covered inside in ice.  During the summer months you can try the bobsled/luge track, mountain bike park and the above mentioned zip line.

We next went to the Calgary tower for lunch and a great view.  It rises 626 feet above the city and has a revolving restaurant that has great food and even greater views.  The full rotation can be programmed to be either 45 minutes or an hour to complete.  Above the restaurant is an observation deck what gives a great view also.  But for those who know me and my fear of heights it was a rather scary sight, so the picture that I took of my feet above the city was a traumatic picture for me to take.  I am just very uncomfortable standing on something I can see through 626 feet above Mother Earth!  On top of the tower is a torch that was continually aflame during the Olympics, but now is only lit during special events.

Our last stop for the day was The Military Museums.  According to Karl is was a very well done museum that dealt with all things military in Canada.  You could take a long time in there, but we did a little rush because we didn't have much time.  They separated the different branches of the military and how it developed during time and wars.  For someone interested in military campaigns, weapons and strategy it would be well worth the visit.

Today we drove a short distance to Medicine Hat in Alberta and visited the historic Clay Industries district.  Because of the abundant amounts of clay soil and natural gas a clay factory was started in 1912 to create pottery and bricks for the area and exports.  They are in the process of trying to recreate the factory, but time and definitely money are in short supply right now.  For collectors the name Medalta pottery may ring a bell.  Unfortunately it didn't me.  But they created a lot of crocks and progressed into dishes for the Canadian Railroad in later years.  By the 1960's the factory was closed and didn't receive any help for preservation until the 1990's.  It is now owned by the city and they are starting to redo the factory.  They even have resident artists that stay there a year to do their art and will sell it out of the gift shop. 

Our final stop was at the Saamis teepee - the world's largest teepee.  It stands 20 stories high and inside each storyboard is 12 feet high.  The storyboards are done by First Nation artists that depict Indian history.  It was used during the Calgary Olympics then moved to Medicine Hat where it stands on  the Saamis archaeological site - the location of a 16th century buffalo camp.

Tomorrow we drive to Regina, Saskatchewan and plan on visiting the RCMP museum on Sunday.

Stay tuned!