Post 147: A Snails Trail – Day 6

A Snails Trail – Day 6

Today we left our camping spot by 8:30 am.  Before we left the parking lot, we got to see two little prairie dogs, in the field about 25 ft from our truck. They are so adorable and FAST lol.

We continued along the Trans Canada through the prairies.

We were able to by pass Calgary, but we did get to see the Olympic Bob sled run as we drove by.

Filling up along the way

We had to stop in Strathmore, Ab to fill up before we hit Calgary and were surprised that the gas was only $1.04 a litre… sigh, remember when it was .75??

Getting into the mountains at last

Once we were past Calgary, we kept our eyes open for the first glimpse of the majestic Rocky Mountains with awe inspiring scenery. 🙂 .  As we were driving along, we did manage to see a few  beautiful sites. 

Rivers that meandered by the highway were a turquoise colour and so vibrant. 

As we got into the foot hills of the Rockies, there were many opportunities to pull over by the waters edge and take pictures. But, if we did that we would never get anywhere. 

Stopping for gas in Lake Louise 

At this point, we were in dire need of some fuel, so we had to pull off at Lake Louise. Oddly enough the town was FULL TO OVER FLOWING. There were actually police telling you to go and park at a lot and they would shuttle you into the town of Lake Louise.

We were able to get past the police because we only wanted to fuel up, we were not planning on staying in town. 

Sadly, with all the construction and people waving you on at the intersections lol we missed the turn for the gas station. We ended up taking our 60 ft train part way through Lake Louise and had to make a U turn to get back where we were supposed to be.

Getting gas was an adventure in itself as this small Petro Canada was so busy. We had to wait to get 2 pumps free at the same time so we could pull through to fill our our truck.

Back on the road again

One very cool thing we saw,  many times,  was the animal pass over lol. Yes you read this right. They made a pass over the highway for the moose, elk and who ever to safely cross over the highway. The bridges were actually quite pretty.

How they funnel the animals to use these pass overs is by many klms of fencing up on both sides of the highway and right to the pass overs.

And here we thought they put up signs in the woods directing the elk along the right way lol (just kidding).

Banff National Park

We came upon a sign for Banff National Park that said you had to stop for a pass. We were thinking aww cripes, we only want to drive through. What is this going to cost us?

Then with some quick research we found out that you can get a DAY PASS for Banff National Park for $19.60 a car load for up to 7 people. Well that wasn’t so bad. 

Luckily, as we got closer to the gate, we saw another sign that read, Driving through – stay in the right hand lane. lol Guess where we went? No charge and we were able to by pass the line up of cars needing a Day Pass.

After many miles

After many miles of slowly climbing up the Rockies, we reached a point where we had to go down. Long sweeping curvy 2 lane roads at times with drop offs to gorgeous water below.

Thank goodness we have an Allison Transmission in our truck which assisted the slow decent while pulling our trailer. 

Our night time stop

We had  now reached the time where we were looking to stop for the night. Unfortunately, all we past were small towns which did not have suitable places to park and boon dock. 

Our only option for tonight was to.. “GASP” ..pay for a camp site. lol After searching through varies places with the spotty internet connection, we finally found a small place with high ratings. 

Campers Haven RV & Tent Park Motel in Donald, BC was where we decided to try. The website showed the campground had very high ratings.  We were not really sure why.  

To get a 25ft wide site (which is not very wide) was $33.60 for the night. We also opted for the non serviced lot. After all, that is what we  are used to lol. We would hate to think what a SERVICED lot cost.

The sites are wide open, with very few trees and so very close together. Luckily, because we chose to have a non serviced lot, we were off in a section all by ourselves. No one else around us. The SERVICED lots were wall to wall. So sad. Pass the salt please?

We were able to fill our water tank up before we parked and tomorrow before we leave we will empty our gray water. So, we guess that is some consolation.

We are about 704.1 klms to Horseshoe Bay where we will catch the ferry over to Vancouver Island. Now that will be a whole new adventure lol.

Good night, Hope you enjoy reading about our Snails Trail.