Today I received my Mexican tourist card and vehicle insurance in the mail, so I am all set till Feb 2008! Photos show the picnic tables in my back yard almost covered in snow - and it is still November! It has snowed almost every day and night, but the sun is out today, but the temp is -24C, so it is COLD.
The men's World Cup downhill and Super-G races are over and Canada did extremely well with a silver in DH and gold in SG! Now the ladies races are gearing up. They have two downhills and a super-g scheduled. Every day there are training runs and the ski hill staff and volunteers are working around the clock to keep the course in shape.

I still have not negotiated a firm departure date, but it is safe to say it will be less than a month - and counting.

Harley has his vet certificate, his brush, and his food packed and he is ready to hit the road, too. In the meantime, he is trying to stay warm be sleeping in front of the wood stove.

A couple of photos taken today on the highway north of Lake Louise. I went as far north as the Jasper National Park boundary, and experienced every extreme of weather along the way! One moment it was sunny and nice, the next it was extremely windy, then just dumping snow at an alarming rate.
These photos were taken during one of several sunny breaks.

Only a few more sets of days off before Harley and I can load up the camper again and start another most excellent expedition! Lots of work to do though, in preparation. Foremost was the 8-10 inches of snow on the camper roof. This snow was close to a foot deep when it decided to rain for the best part of two days. This soaked into the snow, then froze, making it VERY heavy and very hard. So today I fired up the furnace in the camper to melt the interface and managed to shovel it all off without any damage to vents, or falling off myself. Also checked the battery level in the camper -while it was warm and comfortable inside. Also going through my notes, maps and plans from last year to make sure nothing gets missed. Already sent off for my Mexican insurance, visitor card, etc. This should save any delays waiting to cross the border like last year.
Tossed in a pic I took a couple of weeks ago - before all the snow started to fall.

Well, winter has certainly arrived in the mountains! The roads have been ugly on occasion, and there have been a lot of road wrecks as people forget how to drive in the winter.


But, on the bright side, I have been calculating the amount of time off I can use this winter, and it is looking fairly impressive! I might be on the road by Christmas and not back to work till late MARCH!!! How is that for a nice break? As well, I am thinking of altering my proposed 'normal route' a bit. Usually I drive straight south until it gets warm enough to put water in the camper, etc. That can often be 4-5 days of fairly ugly driving through all kinds of weather conditions before you can relax. This year, however, I am contemplating heading to the coast first, and having relatively warm weather all the way down? There are a few wi-fi 'enhancements' that I would like to pick up in northern California, so that may work out well. If things go as expected, I may be driving all the way to Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Baja.


So keeping busy in the meantime organizing Mexican vehicle insurance, medical insurance, and getting all the little details organized. 'George' (see link above right) is back at his winter destination in Santa Rosalia and reports that it is 84F down there now. Hope to meet up with him this year to say hello. Last year we just missed him as he was not home when I was there.



So, refresh your bookmarks, sit back and get ready for another adventure. Remember, you can click on any of the fine advertisers on the page (they pay me!), leave comments, or send me e-mail on the attached link. And for all previous posts, they are still online in the 'archives' section listed along the right hand side. So if you are bored (or envious!) check them out!
See ya.