The snows are slowly melting away in the high country.
Hey, this weekend the camper is back on the truck, and we are off to Writing on Stone Provincial Park, right near the Alberta/Montana border.
Hopefully the weather will be good for some photos of this area that I have never visited!


I know this is supposed to be an RV travel blog, but I just could not resist this one! It is related to my last trip as I did purchase this piece of equipment when I was in California. As you can see below, there are some stringent safety precautions that must be followed.
Your job is to figure out what the equipment is that I bought and set up.
Below are the safety instructions that came with it. Read them carefully, and only when you are not tired, or on drugs, or on poor footing!




I had a bit of difficulty coming up with the electrically nonconductive clothing. They do not have that department at Walmart! And I never forced any small products to do the work of a larger one, honest.
Children were never never allowed in the work area for this complex, dangerous operation.
And they were not allowed anywhere near the Solar Light phase, nor the Phasers phase.

I didn't have ANSI impact goggles, so I wore my oldest sun glasses.
But, I kept my products clean for safer performance. If you are guessing a Formula one race car, you are wrong. Space shuttle is also an incorrect guess. I never did any assembly when I was tired - because of the extreme danger. Nuclear reactor, perhaps? Nope, wrong again!


Okay, so I admit to having a beer within 12 hours of the installation, assembly, and testing phases, but I don't think I was under the influence?
I read all the labels on my toothpaste and deodorant to make sure they were not restricted compounds.I'm still trying to contract for a 'qualified technician' to attend to the regular service and maintenance this item requires.

I'll let you know soon what highly technical and dangerous equipment I was able to survive the installation and operation of - so far.

Since I know you like photos, here's one of a sub-adult grizzly bear I was watching today.




Stay tuned!

From the Cedar Mesa, Utah area the road led north into Moab. The weather was a mixed bag, and not as warm as I had become accustomed to further south.

I was attempting to meet up with some friends from home who were headed south with their truck camper. When trying to think of an easy to find area to meet them, I suggested an area I had previously visited along the access road to Canyonlands National Park.
Of course when I got there, I found that it had been changed completely and areas that had previously permitted camping, now did not!

My friends were having some communication issues, so it was not always easy to make contact with them. As a result I spent one night along a roadside where I hoped they would spot my rig as they traveled by. Unfortunately, they had been delayed by a snow storm in the high country of Idaho, and were not yet in the area.

I had also hoped to visit (for the first time!) Howard and Linda where they were hosting in Arches National Park. But the same weather and the requirement to get home convinced me to try to track them down at a later date.I'm not sure if Moab was hosting some sort of Jeep convention or not, but there was literally thousands of jeeps in town - of all shapes and sizes.

I think the roads must have been too good for them as almost half the ones I saw were on trailers - being towed by something else!
This one must have lost his trailer as it was on the road with the rest of us.
We were headed north, so it was not long before Idaho and soon Montana appeared on our horizon.I encountered the remains of the snowstorm that had delayed my friends the previous night.
And of course, the famous Budweiser sign.

Lots of windmills - making it a very windy area. Reminded me of Palm Springs, only colder.



Without fanfare and with no hassle and no lineups, I went through Canada Customs at Coutts, and was soon driving and fueling in kilometers and litres again. And, free of the rip-off rates that AT&T charges for their data, I turned on that function on my iPhone. With that active and Google Maps queued up, I was ready to find my way through Lethbridge without getting off course.
But first there was some big smokes in the distance - being pushed by the strong winds.

It may have just been fields burning off, but with that wind, it's lucky that Manitoba did not burn.
Lethbridge is known for it's wind, but it was so windy when I stopped to refuel that even the locals were talking about it.
In the middle of Lethbridge is this very weird structure ...
I have no idea what it is. Ideas, anyone?

Update: Thanks to reader Duane who advises that the structure is the cities' former water tower, which has been turned into a fine dining room and lounge!
After Lethbridge, it was like being on home turf again as we cruised into Calgary from the south, and immediately exited to the west towards the mountains. After a brief stop in Canmore to compare notes with my friend who had joined me for a week in California, it was on home to see the damage from the flooded basement!
And, as quietly as it had started, RoadTrip '09 (Part I?) came to an end.