Back in the USA

Yesterday we left Prince George, BC making our way back to the good ol' USA. The roads since we left Stewart have been good to very good and very welcome. It was a bit strange to be back in 'civilization' like stop lights and shopping malls and, of course, traffic. We had not really missed those things much, but kind of welcomed them.

We travelled to Jasper and then down the Ice Field Parkway to Lake Louise, which has thawed. We only stayed there a few minutes because the sun had gone down behind the mountain and the lake was not very photogenic. Though we went this route on the way up to Alaska, much of it seemed new because we were going the other way and the lighting was very different and beautiful from six weeks ago.

I had been trying to avoid the high price of fuel in British Columbia and got only what I needed to get me to Alberta, which has much lower taxes on fuel. Yesterday was Canada Day, a national holiday, and I had to get fuel at the only place available, which was on the Ice Field Parkway. Gas in BC was 1.149 per liter, but at this gas station on Canada Day it was 1.349 per liter, which comes to $4.34/gallon US. I got only enough to get me to Lake Louise, where it was 'only' $1.019/liter. We filled up there and continued on into the night. Yes, it got dark last night.....the first we had seen that in a long while. In fact, we pulled into one of the few rest stops in BC that allows overnight parking at around 11:00pm our time. Finally got lucky.

This morning we were on our way by 7:00 am and had about 100 miles to the border. We crossed into Idaho at the Eastport border crossing at around 9:45. I told the Border Patrol agent I was getting tired of meters, liters and loonies. We made our way to where we are now in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Being the 4th of July weekend, we thought we'd have a hard time getting a campsite. We pulled into Blackwell Island RV Resort and through good luck, they had a cancellation on one of their premier sites facing the river. But only for tonight. We'll be moving on in the morning.

One other thing we haven't encountered in quite awhile is HEAT. It is very warm here, around 84 degress and bright sunshine.....a real shocker for someone who's been living in the 50's and 60's for half the summer, and loving it!

We've been in touch with Rick and Kathy and it looks like we'll be meeting up with them in South Dakota in a week or so. We're looking forward to seeing someone familiar again. It'll be great.

Anyway, that's all for now, so take care, have fun and be safe.

Ron & Barb