On June 17, 2023, we left America for Canada! The border crossing was easy, and we entered Canada on our way to Granum, Alberta. Going through Calgary was crazy with the amount of rain we got. It rained so hard; we couldn’t hear each other talk in the truck! By the time we got to the campground, the rain had stopped, and the skies cleared (for the moment). We mingled with our caravan group, getting to know people.
I should take a moment to explain how this all works. Each evening before a travel day, we have a travel meeting. We are assigned into one of five groups; each group has 4 rigs (there are 20 of us on this caravan). The first group always contains the Wagon Master and three additional rigs. Paul and Melody are the Wagon Masters and are in charge of the trip. They go first each travel day so they can get to the campground, pay the bill, and determine who will be in each site. The rest of the people in their group help direct us as we arrive and get us into our campsite. During this trip we will all take turns being in the lead group. Each additional group of 4 rigs leave at 30-minute intervals so we don’t all arrive at the same time. There is also a Tail Gunner. Johnny and Linda are the tail gunners and are always at the end of the last group to make certain everyone gets to the next campground safely.
So, back to Granum, by the time we got there the weather had cleared and it was beautiful! We had a potluck dinner that night and a travel meeting to give us information regarding the following day’s drive to Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. The next day’s drive (Sunday June 18th, Father’s Day) to Rocky Mountain House was rainy, windy, and so cold! At Rocky Mountain House the weather was so bad that we held our travel meeting via walkie talkie radios as there was nowhere to meet and it was pouring rain! The next day (Monday, June 19) we traveled to Whitecourt, Alberta and weather did not improve. At this point all I can say about Canada is that it is very WET! At least we have 2 nights in Whitecourt as back-to-back-to-back travel days are difficult.
Tuesday, June 20th, the weather cleared a bit, and we were able to get a hike in. We hiked about 7 miles and although the road was paved (not Tom’s favorite way to hike) the scenery was beautiful, and it felt so good to get out of the trailer! This was the last day of Spring and the high temperature for today was 60 degrees! On another note, sunrise is at 5:15 a.m. and sunset is at 10:23 p.m.!
We ate dinner at Tim Hortons, because when in Canada you should always eat local! The next day was a travel day, so we all met and because the weather was finally nice and our group has not had a lot of opportunity to get to know each other, we had a fire at our Wagon Master’s site, after all we have until after 10:00 until it gets dark!
The first full day of summer found us on our way to Dawson Creek, British Columbia where we will begin our trip on the ALCAN (Alaska Canadian Highway). The weather cleared and we are hopefully in for some actual summer weather (by Canadian standards!).
Tom and Patti's RV Adventure 