Hazelton, BC to Kennewick, WA
August 4 - 14, 2019
On August 4 we left Hazelton and spent the night at Burns Lake Village Campground, a city park. John thought it was creepy but didn't tell me until the next day. We had a bad local neighbor and it was noisy, but it was free. I wouldn't recommend it.
On Monday, August 5 we spent the night at Purden Lake Provincial Park, which was really pretty. No cell service there though.
Tuesday, August 6 we drove to Mt. Robson Provincial Park, about an hour west of Jasper, AB. We did have some spotty cell service until we got to the provincial park, then there was none.
Neither one of us got a picture of the campground, probably because it rained a lot.
On Wednesday, August 7 we went into Jasper National Park in Alberta. We were going to stop at the visitor center but there was so much traffic and we couldn't find a place to park the 5th wheel so we didn't stop. We started down the Icefields Parkway through the national park, looking for a campground for the night. Since we don't plan ahead most of the time we didn't have a reservation. The first few campgrounds had a 25' or 27' length limit so we thought we'd spend the night in the parking lot at the Icefield Center. We pulled into a parking place but we couldn't get the slides open and the person next to us couldn't get their door open. So we moved on down the road, admiring the scenery along the way.
We finally found a place in Waterfowl Lakes Campground (again, no cell service). The campground was almost full but we found a site for two nights, even though it took 30 minutes to get into it. When John went back to the front to pay he noticed a sign that said best for 31' and under. Oh well, we made it in and it was a beautiful site with a river running behind it.
The next day, Thursday, we drove about an hour south to see Lake Louise. The scenery was just amazing. Turquoise blue lakes and rivers, glaciers with drop offs of what looked like hundreds of feet, and rough and jagged mountain peaks. Parts were beautiful wooded mountains and parts looked like a desert with no vegetation. Truly beautiful!
We got to Lake Louise Village and headed up to the parking lot by the lake. We saw signs that it was full, and it sure was, because they directed us back down the mountain.
We went to the visitor center at the Village and asked the ranger about getting up to the lake. She said that the parking lots were full and that there was a two hour wait for the shuttle, but she didn't tell us where to catch the shuttle. So we sat in the parking lot for a while, ate our lunch, and caught up on our email, etc. We decided to drive back up to the parking lot to see if there were any spots, but again we were directed back down. This time we followed the signs that said 'shuttle'. We easily found a parking place and walked right on the shuttle bus. So we finally got to see the lake!
It was quite warm and John saw an ice cream sign, so we went into the Fairmont Hotel and had a gelato to cool us down. Any excuse to have ice cream will do!
It was very beautiful but so crowded and hard to get around that I would never recommend coming in the summer. Go early June or after the middle of September. There were other lakes in the area that were also very pretty, being the same turquoise blue. We were going to stay three nights but decided to leave early.
On Friday, August 9 we drove to Fort Steele, BC and stayed at Fort Steele Campground (not to be confused with Fort Steele Resort & RV Park). We had cell service but it was very slow and intermittent. We did have full hookups which we needed.
On Friday, August 10 we crossed the border back into the United States! It was nice to be back 'home' again. We were randomly selected before we got to the border agent to have more questions asked and a search. I had used the potatoes but had a cut lemon which they took. They asked if we had any goat or lamb and we had bought a leg of lamb at Costco in Fairbanks, which John cut into steaks and vacuum wrapped and sealed. They also took what was left of that. If it had been in the original packaging they probably wouldn't have taken it. The agent was very nice and explained why they were taking the things they did. We chalked it up to a learning experience and know what not to do if we ever cross the border again.
That night we spent north of Coeur d'Alene, ID at Ravenwood RV Resort in Athol. It's a new park and they had one full hookups site left. We had a big thunderstorm that dropped 1/2" of rain.
The Lord has been so good to us in preparing campsites for us. We have always had a place to spend the night, and most of the time they are some of the best sites in the campground. We are truly blessed by this and the opportunity to take this trip.
On Sunday, August 11 we drove to Kennewick, WA.
The scenery here is so different than what we've been seeing, but also as beautiful.
We are staying at Columbia Sun RV Resort for a couple of weeks.
It's so nice to not have dirt and weeds. I was getting tired of cleaning the inside and having it all dirty again the next day. John did his best to keep the outside clean, but it never stayed clean very long. It's also nice to sit in one place for a while, although when our time is done here I will probably be glad to get on the road again.
John had the tires rotated on the truck, and we are replacing all the tires on the 5th wheel as two of them have rubber tread coming off in chunks. Also the gearbox on the bedroom slide will go in but not out, so we have a new motor and gearbox on order. Most importantly of all is that our friends Pam and Mark live here and we've been having a wonderful time catching up with and visiting them. Both of them were in our wedding so we go way back. Pam and I have already gone shopping and that was fun! Next week is the fair so we're going to that and also the rodeo. I haven't been to a rodeo since I was little so am looking forward to that. Who knows what else we'll do!
We're filling up our map and have more to go!
Roving on...
The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1
