Banff National Park to Calgary

Sunday, September 17th

Another brisk morning of about 1C. Had a leisurely "get up" as we did not have to travel very far today ... about 1 1/2 hours to our reserved campsite north of Calgary.  This site is close to the repair people coming to fix our satelitte TV problem tomorrow morning.

By 9:15 we were all packed up and on the road. I was unable to take any pictures of the glorious scenery coming out of the park as we were travelling right into the sun so nothing would have turned out. Oh well .... we only have 200 Banff pictures already!

Shortly before 11 am we arrived at the "Balzac Campground" just a few minutes south of Airdrie. Not the best place we have stayed for sure but a great area for Freya. We took the last campsite at the end so we have no one in front or beside us on one side. I did know in advance that we were right beside the freeway but did not realize we were also on the direct landing flight path for Calgary International Airport with some of the planes coming right over top of the motorhome! Also noted there is trains going by not too far behind the campsite. A trifecta of noise! Good thing we have earplugs. Most of the campers here are workers or permanents but there are about 8 units besides us who pulled in for the night.

Views from the motorhome. Looks peaceful doesn't it. Not!!!!

Lots of hawks flying around.

Here it comes! Followed by others about every 3 minutes.

After a minimal set-up it was off to lunch ... 10 minutes down the freeway look what we found! They did not have many local craft beer on tap but the foods was pretty good. Definitely a sports bar for the locals. Packed on a Sunday afternoon for football.

 On the way out we noticed this car parked in the lot out front. Have no idea what this is.

Now we wait until tomorrow with fingers crossed that our TV situation is finally fixed!

Monday, September 18th

You definitely know it is Monday with the increase of traffic at 6 am heading to Calgary. Glad we are out of that rat race.

The repair guy for the satellite dish actually called Ray at 8 pm last night to confirm his appointment with us today. Great service. He arrived and within an hour we were up and running. As we thought there was a cable problem in the motor as we had replaced the stuff in the arm from the dish. The "C cable" connection in the motor part of the apparatus was corroded and that tells the dish to do everything! So the new LNB and cabling was not needed so now we have spares. We also have a new GPS installed on the roof. The people that installed our solar panels 4 years ago, covered the GPS for the satellite. That must have been why sometimes it took so long to connect. We had Mark put a new GPS on so that should not be a problem going forward. So after 3 weeks we now, finally, have our TV again.

Although this site is noisy it sure is close to any shopping you need to do. 5 minutes away is Costco, an outlet mall and Bass Pro. 10 minutes up the highway is Walmart and another huge mall with various stores and restaurants. While Ray did some minor repairs on Kastle, I shoped and fueled up the car at Costco. The price was fantastic compared to BC. The fuel price is even lower in Edmonton I am told. The cheapest gas I have found while in Surrey was $1.18/lt at Costco.

We are being rooked with gas prices in BC!

When I got back from shopping, Ray called up some friends,of ours, Mike and Lisa Folk, in Blackfalds near Red Deer, who we haven't seen for at least 20 years and will drive up to see them tomorrow since we have a free day. Years ago I was one of Lisa's bridesmaids at their wedding. They now raise Golden Retrievers so I hope I can get my puppy fix tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 19th

Up early after a great night's sleep, thanks to ear plugs! lol. A balmy -1.5C. We are finding that the fireplace left on over night maintains the inside temps around 60 F which we find is great for sleeping. But I sure jump out of bed and turn on both gas furnaces and climb back into bed for 15 minutes until the whole place is warmer. :)

There is mention of the first big "snow event" in areas near the Rocky Mountains in the next few days. Hopefully we miss it or we might have to hunker down for an extra day shortly after crossing into the USA on Thursday. I have not made any reservations so jello plans are okay. We  also hear that possible snow flurries may fall tomorrow in Calgary.

Today we were out the door at 8 am, heading to Red Deer to meet up with our friends.  It took about an hour and 15 minutes with some slower sections from road construction but not too bad. Once we arrived we had a couple hours of jaw wagging ... 20 years to catch up on.  A great visit. Unfortunately Mike had to go to a course for work at 11 am so we said good bye and stayed another hour visiting with Lisa and their son James. Lisa raises Golden Retriever dogs and some years ago, 2 of her dogs were in the film "Air Bud". The kennels name is Tynehead Retrievers (tyneheadretrievers.net).

By noon it was time to go as Ray's back was getting too sore sitting at the dining room table.

Lisa, Mike, Ray and Deb

James, Lisa, Mike and Ray.

Thanks guys for a great visit. Hope to see you next summer or the summer after.

Once back home it was "toes up" for the rest of the afternoon. It was only 14 C and very windy. Looking foward to heading south tomorrow with one last stop before crossing the border.

Sunset last night.