Can't get the pictures to load - will try in the morning.

Almost to British Columbia

We are at a campground with all the frills tonight in Grande Prairie, Alberta. We just had a nice shower, did laundry, and have the Internet and cable TV (haven't had TV for 4 days-Eldon is excited). We slowed our pace in the Rockies and enjoyed the scenery. We spent one night in Banff, one at Lake Louise and one at Jasper. All beautiful. The campground in Lake Louise has electric fencing around the tent camping area due to the bears. Don't worry Carlynn - we're OK!We are glad to be surrounded by metal in a hard shell camper! Yesterday we stopped at the Columbia Icefields and took the tour to the Athabasca Glacier. We are are about 2 hours from Dawson Creek, British Columbia. It is the official start of the Alaska Highway. Pretty much any vehicle we see now from the States is headed for Alaska. Guess we won't be alone! The campgrounds have had a lot of Europeans in rental RV's. We have a lot of great pictures, it will be hard to pick which ones to post.
Comments from Eldon: Since the last posting, the views have become dramatic. Banff was very European, as was Lake Louise. Jasper was a regular, less touristy town. The acronym for Banff is Bring Assets Nothings For Free and it lives up to it's acronym. Lake Louise is the most photographed lake in the world and I can see why. The water has a high mineral content which gives it an emerald glow. It was awe inspiring. The animal count so far is one flock of Dall sheep, one black bear, 2 coyotes, 2 moose (one live, one roadkill-that's a heap of roadkill), 7 deer and one antelope. Can't wait to get to Dawson Creek.
Comments from Larry: An animal Eldon never mentioned is a marmot. I met my first one in Banff while I was resting under the camper. We saw each other at the same time and wow, what a race. It looks looks a chipmunk on steroids. They remind me of prairie dogs but they don't have holes, The marmots just chatter and make fun of me. I would like to see a prairie dog again.

We're ready to leave Fort MacLeod, Alberta where we spent last night. We are heading to Banff about 2 hours away. We'll stay the night there; then head into the Rockies on our way to Jasper. We are still seeing a lot of water in the fields and had more rain yesterday. We had an easy border crossing - they didn't ask about Larry so is safe!

Comments from Eldon: I am looking forward to a day without rain after 4 days of it. Customs was fun - I got the border patrol guy confused by talking too much and he forgot what he was supposed to ask me. So he just said, go ahead. It might be my new method for crossing borders. I washed the mud off the truck yesterday, but it didn't stay clean long. Oh well. Looking forward to the Rockies.

Comments from Larry: Eldon thinks he's really funny. He power washed the camper while I was in it. THAT is more scary than thunder storms. It would be nice if thought of others more than himself. I like Canada but the mountain roads might be scary - I'll let you know.

We traveled big sky country in Montana today. We have about 100 miles to go until we enter Canada. We had rain & wind all day. Even some hail which was pretty startling, but it didn't last long. We saw more flooding today. There are lakes in Montana where there shouldn't be any. The flooding is a major problem for the farmers & ranchers. You know you are out West when you see buffalo - which we did today, so we are out West (yea!) Just before stopping for the night in Havre, MT we encountered major road construction. Had to drive 2-3 miles of dirt road. As you can guess, with all the rain it was a total mess. Eldon's nicely waxed truck, camper, and scooter are totally covered in mud. I have a picture but left my camera back at the campground (I am at the nearby hotel/casino for the Wifi.) We plan to drive through the Canadian Rockies including Banff & Jasper on the way north. We decided to skip Glacier National Park for now. Sorry to disappoint, but no comments from Eldon & Larry today, they are back at the camper.

Almost to Montana

Tonight we are in Williston, ND - only about 25 miles to Montana. Last night we stayed in East Grand Forks, MN just across the Red River from North Dakota. The traveling has gone great. Uneventful and not a lot to look sometimes, but that's OK. Yesterday we saw the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Not much to it, but it is clear and blue. What a change by the time it gets to New Orleans. Today the most interesting part of the trip was the flooding around Minot, ND from the Mouse River. We didn't have any problem on US-2, but several side roads were closed and we saw buildings and railroad tracks underwater. We took our first picture in Rugby ND - it is the geographical center of North America. It was nice to get out the truck anyway! We will be staying in Montana tomorrow night before heading into Alberta (unless we decide to go to Glacier National Park first.) We are glad we chose US-2 for the trip - it's been good traveling. Today was all 4 lane divided highway with 70 mph speed limit (even though we only drive 62 most of the time). We've seen wood lands to prairie and are just getting into rolling foothills.
Comments from Eldon: Yesterday was a long day of traveling - the highway had more road kill than I've ever seen. There were deer, possum, raccoons and squirrel - it was a Yooper buffet! We are in Halliburton country now - lots of oil fields and Halliburton trucks. The campground is full of Halliburton workers in all kinds of housing; from tents to RV's to 1960's RV's to shells of 1960's RV's.
Comments from Larry: I can't believe animals are so dumb. How could you not see a car and get hit in the middle of the road. Cats are the smartest.

Alaska or bust

We are on the road again. This time, the ultimate roadtrip -------Alaska. We traveled the U.P. today on US-2. We stopped for the night about 20 miles into Wisconsin. It was sunny and not much traffic. What more can we ask for on our first day. We plan to take US-2 all the way to Montana and turn right! Larry was happy to get in the camper this morning - he picked his favorite sunny spot between the mattress and the front window.
Comments from Eldon: The drive today was beautful. We are in a nice quiet, shady campground tonight. Life is good.
Comments from Larry: Yes, the campground is great except for the black devil dog that keeps going by our site - dogs suck.

Asheville is a beautiful city. We spent the afternoon at the Biltmore estate. Wow - those people had way too much money! The estate had 255 rooms (43 of them are bathrooms). The basement has a huge pool and a 2 lane bowling alley. They wore 5 or 6 outfits a day. You had to wear a different outfit for each activity. And yes, there was a big laundry in the basement. The trip is winding down. We travel the Blue Ridge Parkway today through North Carolina and Virginia. We arrive at Chad's on Sunday and will be there for a week. Missy arrives there on the 7th. We have to get home in time to get our income taxes done!

Comments from Eldon: Touring the castle was not my cup of tea. It's just not right for one family to have so much but the dairy did have the best milk shake I've ever had. Rich cows are cool.

Comments from Larry: Once again, I didn't get to see anything - no pets are allowed. But the campground has a river and a lot of birds. I'd rather have that than a mansion anyway (although I'll let the mansion has a lot of mice).