Bill and Me in the Wee RV - North to Alaska: June 2014

Greetings from Prince George, British Columbia.....
This week we've rolled 2,793 miles through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, and Alberta in 90 sq. feet of living space and we're finally getting into a nice rhythm......and still speaking!

Soybeans and corn fields were lush and green as we crossed the heartland, but the back roads of Montana took us through several tired, parched old towns with unique establishments like the one we passed called the Coyote Club. Their faded sign claimed to be an "Event Center" offering a Bingo Parlor, Bar, and Funeral Home. Nice combination for dealing with those long, hard Montana winters.

We've enjoyed a couple of short hikes and some great bicycle rides. Weather has been great with chilly mornings in 40's and afternoons in 70's. Traffic and crowds have been surprisingly low until today which began the weekend they celebrate their national holiday Canada Day similar to our July 4th. Typical of USA, Canadian diesel fuel price yesterday jumped to $5/gal in "honor" of the holiday.

The WOW of the week was definitely the 143 mile Icefields Parkway in the Canadian Rockies between beautiful Banff and Jasper National Parks, so named for the 100 glaciers that line its western side. NEVER have we seen anything to compare with the incredible beauty of this drive. The Columbia Icefield is one of the largest masses of glacial ice outside the Arctic Circle, surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the Canadian Rockies. This awesome place is definitely a bucket list item!

Since I can't dazzle you with literary brilliance this post I'll try to entertain you with some of Wild Bill's best photos from this week....

This fellow with a big attitude showed
up right beside our Wee RV while we camped
at Teddy Roosevelt National Park in
North Dakota. Can't you just feel the love in that face?

First black bear encounter hiking (her two cubs didn't
make the photo)

The Lake Louise area has been identified as a "grizzly nursery" in Banff National Park, and we discovered AFTER we checked in that a permanent electric bear fence has been built around the Lake Louise Campground. Information we received AFTER we paid said, "Although the fence maintains a minimum voltage of 7000 volts, the current is very low and pulses. This combination ensures that a disturbing shock is delivered to a bear, but if people accidentally touch the wires they will not other wise be harmed." Disturbing shock, huh?

And we wondered why there were
so many empty campsites?

If you've been thinking you need to downsize the stuff in your garage and basement take a look at this place. It is actually the yard of a private residence, not a store, in Minnesota that we passed on a bike ride. A man was out in the yard and Bill asked if he could take some pictures.

When Bill asked the guy where he got
all those things he said, "My kids give them
to me." Betcha Father's Day, Christmas, and
his birthday are never boring.

Banff National Park Headquarters