O Canada

We awake in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan amid shady trees and rows of fragrant lilac bushes. The lilacs are in full bloom here and in their purple glory. By 8am we are across town having our oil changed in Harvey, the RV, and leave by 11am. We are back on 16 West heading for Edmonton. I am relieved to know that this highway, called the Yellow Head, is not named for a huge pimple, but a scout for the fur trading companies known as tete jaune, yellow head, probably a blonde.

We pass through more gorgeous country and start to see hills and valleys as we near the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. We are now in Alberta and see huge farms and cooperative grain processing centers. These areas consist of immense grain elevators with railroad sidings. The agricultural equipment in the fields is very high tech and expensive. Farming is big business today and it takes much labor and know-how to bring all the food to our dinner tables. This is also cattle country and spring is calving time and we see so many cute babies in the fields. Alberta is the geographic center of Canada and the main flyway for migratory birds and we are able to view lots of birds and water fowl.

Lunch is at an Indian casino and we finally arrive at our campground around 6pm. Glowing Embers is west of the city and a huge place. We are lucky to get a shaded site backing up to a field. The bad news is that I moved the picnic table to, a bad place while Jeff was backing in and caused some damage when he put out the slide. So after some repair work to the storage unit and a few curses we are almost as good as new.

Let me explain about Harvey, the RV. He is 33’ long and over 50’ with the car in tow. You have to be very careful turning and pulling up to gas pumps. On the highway he drives easily and it is fun sitting up high with wall to wall windows to take in the views. Jeff and I sit in comfy leather chairs and behind us is the living room area. We have a swivel rocking chair and a three seat couch which converts to a sleeper. Behind the couch is a booth for eating or using the table with storage under the seats. The couch and booth are on a slide which means that we can move the room out 3’ when stopped giving us lots of extra floor space. Across from the booth is the kitchen with a double sink, 3 burner stove, microwave/convection oven, regular oven and refrigerator/freezer. There is lots of counter and drawer space and 2 slide out pantries for more storage. Windows cover most of the wall space and above them are cabinets. All the windows have honeycomb shades and blackout shades too.

Behind the kitchen is the bath area and bedroom with a stall shower, sink/vanity and across a toilet room with comfort height john and window. The queen bed is in the back and on a slide which gives us ample floor space. We have a triple closet with drawers underneath and more storage over the bed. Again there are windows everywhere for good ventilation. Harvey has large storage units underneath for bigger items like chairs, BBQ, tools and firewood.

This is very luxurious and I think much better than cheesy motels along the road. The best part of camping is being in nature and meeting interesting people.

Back to the campground we had dinner at their restaurant and slept great in the cool air. At 11pm the sky wasn’t completely dark and we are still moving further north.