Day 22

Rainy travel day with a few long steep grades that reduced MPG and the cost today was $5.77!

Day 21

Today was a day to relax however we did go to take photos of the Alaska Highway Mile 0 milepost. We picked up a few groceries, had a very good lunch at a diner. OUCH gas was $5.24 US gallon!

Day 20

It was another beautiful day to travel, 280 miles of secondary road, the scenic route to Alaska. Clear blue skies and as we journeyed there were deer, a female moose, two black bear and a male moose. We are now in Dawson Creek, BC and mile 0 of the Alaska Highway, 1390 miles long. It was 2,784 towing miles from home to here and a total of 3,425 including sightseeing.

Day 19

The four of us took a trip into the town of Jasper, AB and enjoyed the shops as we walked the town in the sunshine. Jim and I bought nice warm vests but we were at different stores and did not know the other was buying, that was funny! We had lunch at a local pub with very good food. We then drove up to see what the cost was for the Jasper Skytram. Since only Jim and I would do it, and had been there before, we opted to just watch and take photos of Jasper below. On our way back to the campground some elk were crossing a river so we stopped to take some pictures. It was a very nice relaxing day.

The town of Jasper

At the end of most every street was the mountains

Jasper from the Skytram center

Day 18

Finally on the road again, we headed back on our route through Banff and Jasper Provincial Parks.

The night before we had rain, hail and high winds and this morning it was cold with frost and snow. As we traveled into Banff they have animal overpasses, the roads are fenced and go over the overpasses which are covered with vegetation, what a cool Idea. As we traveled north to an elevation of about 6,800 feet we had more snow covered trees which looked like a surrealistic land. The mountains were all around us and beautiful. After a few hours we were on the ice field parkway and stopped at the visitor center. Our plan was to take an ice field tour on a special bus, but it was $53.00 each and we watched the buses go in and out of the fog, too pricey and no chance of views we did not go. We did have lunch there and continued our journey on a wavy bumpy road through Jasper Park. Once through the park the roads improved and on to our campground. Oh, the truck performed very well! 

Animal crossings 

Ice Field Visitor Center

Ice Field Bus

Female Big Horn Sheep as we passed by

Day 17

We did groceries, laundry and wait. The Ford dealer called about noon and the truck was ready, they replaced a fuel injector and said it was good to go. The first dealer should have caught it!

Day 16 

We traveled back to Calgary and to the Ford service department, now we continue to wait.

Day 15

After breakfast we took the truck to the shop to find out what was wrong. About 11:00 the shop called and told me that the Catalytic converter was bad and needed replaced. We did this at 40,000 miles and now 24,000 later the same thing. He called a Ford dealer in Calgary and made arrangements for us to bring the truck in. The converters were still under warranty. This meant backtracking 100 miles and loosing another two to three days. That makes about 5 days lost due to the truck. Fortunately we had several weeks planned for emergencies but did not expect it so soon.  

Day 14

We went for walks and hung around the campground and did not want to take the truck out. Later Jim and I went for a drive to Lake Moraine and Lodge and as expected it was frozen, so no reflection photos.

Day 13

After breakfast Karen and I went for a walk along the river then the four of us drove to Lake Louise. The lake was still frozen and snow covered with some open water near the shore. Another beautiful day as we walked along the boardwalk with the mountains and lake in front of us and the luxurious Chateau Lake Louise hotel behind us. We took a walk through the lobby and down the hall of retail shops, only for the very rich. We went into the village and had lunch then back to the campground where I took another walk along the river and took a few photos.

Lake Louise

Norma, Jim & Karen

Our friend Jim

Day 12

It was a nice morning to drive to Banff only had 100 miles to get to the campground near Lake Louise. We stopped in Banff to get our park passes and could not find a space to park our rigs so we parked in a hotel parking lot for buses

only. Karen and Norma stayed by the rigs as Jim and I went to get the passes and headed for Lake Louise campground. Unfortunately our truck started acting up again and we made it to the campground, it was a beautiful drive with a lot of snow peaked mountains, after we got set up I called an auto mechanic service and they agree to look at it right away. Since it is Friday they can’t work on the truck until Monday so we will be staying at least one extra day here in these beautiful mountains with a nice river about 50 yards away.