Rambling North America

A 182-day adventure by Rambling Bears Read more

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Rambling North America Rambling Bears
Stanley Park
September 13, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
The cold and flu tablets have kicked in a bit and, although I am not feeling a million dollars, I at least feel human again.
We caught the bus from Chinatown, across downtown Vancouver to the entrance are of Stanley Park. After a light lunch we set off on the Harbour side and managed to walk most of the Seawall before my energy levels started to lag and we decided to set off along some of the forest paths over the hill to Lost Lagoon, the Rose Gardens and back to the bus stop.
A bonus for the day was listening to the Fleet Foxes have their sound check at the Malkin Bowl not far from the bus stop. We managed to find a hole in the screen and stood there enjoying their music. We googled them but unfortunately they were booked out.the Bowl is only a relatively small, intimate open-air venue.Read more
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Granville Island
September 14, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Could we be more lucky with the weather? Another glorious day.
We caught one of the cute aqua buses at Village Dock, near Science World, and travelled along False Creek to spend the day on Granville Island. It was so nice to see Vancouver from the water, seeing it from a different perspective. Vancouver is a stunning city.
It was a good day enjoying the sunshine and wandering the the Granville Markets and the the rest of the island area. I loved the painted silos. Perhaps Newcastle Council could consider doing something similar to brighten up our silos at Carrington.Read more
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Ferry to Vancouver Island and Victoria
September 15, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
From the Rail Terminal in Vancouver we caught a coach that would take us to Vancouver Island, onto the ferry and to the British Colombian capital of Victoria- a pleasant trip.
Denise was waiting for us as promised and took us up to our apartment. Scored -what a beautiful place to spend the next few days. Once settled we headed off to find supplies for a spot of home cooking during our stay but not tonight.
Dinner was across the road and down an alley to Rebar for a lovely vegetarian meal.Read more
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Sunshine, Saturday and Walk, Walk, Walk
September 16, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
So we ave a few indoor activities planned for while we are staying in Victoria but today was beautiful, too nice to be inside, so it was a wandering - we started the day searching for a juice bar that Neil had read about. The juice shop was closed out but we did find out that Mobi was to be playing a charity concert tomorrow. in the Atrium. After purchasing tickets at a nearby record store we headed down to the Johnson Street Bridge (commonly called the Blue Bridge), along the Harbour past the marina, up to Parliament Building where a First Nations event was occurring outside on the grass back to the harbour to the Fisherman’s Wharf and on and on til we decided to head back or we might not make it back.
Neil availed himself of a gelato at the wharf, of course.Read more
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Music at the Atrium
September 17, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Just as well we have an inside event planned today as it is raining. Not heavily, but still an ideal day to, be inside rather than out walking in it.
The concert was a charity gig to raise funds for an organisation called Musicounts. They take musicians and instruments out to the schools to encourage students to get into music.
The first artist was a young Vancouverian, Chersea, who had been given support and encouraged by the organisation while a high school student. Next, Quoia. Also from Vancouver, they had worked with the organisation taking their music into schools across Canada. They were followed by Laura Mina Mitic, a local with the voice of an angel. And the highlight of the session - Mobi and his support singer, whose name I unfortunately missed.
Lucked into into that one!Read more
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Moving and A Marathon to Esquimalt
September 18, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Originally we had planned to just have the 3 nights here in Victoria, hire a car and travel around the island. However, we both feel like we need to stop and recuperate a bit. We have been on the move for a while. Unfortunately we were unable to stay in our gorgeous apartment and so we moved around the corner to The Janion.
I thought I had grabbed a bargain but forgot about the taxes being added on afterwards. And we were really whacked with them. So not a bargain but still in a central position and at the moment Neil still needs not to overdo the walking. The apartment is a micro apartment, the bed a pull-down, operating as a table and chairs by day, a bed by night. All fairly new and although very small and limited for space it appears to have everything we need.
The sun was still shining once we had shifted in and completed another grocery shop so another walk was in order, in the opposite direction to the first.
The walk, also along the waterfront, was a lot longer than I had anticipated and we ended up in the suburb of Esquimalt. No gelato at the end of the rainbow so the search was on for one on the way back. Neil needs his rewards! And so much for Neil not needing to overdo the walking!Read more
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The Royal British Columbia Museum
September 19, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
A dedicated indoor day, dedicated to improving our minds and learning sumpthin!
Love museums and this one was no exception. They had two special exhibits. One about the meaning of family and the changing nature of the definition of family and another about the heroic efforts of cancer victim, The rest of the museum had their regular exhibits but it was all highly informative and brilliantly done.
We took, another route back and visited Chinatown and walking down Fan Tan Alley, a very narrow alley lined with interesting shops.Read more
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British Columbia Parliamant House
September 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Today - Parliament House, originally known as the bird cage. Kid you not. The original parliament was a collection of different buildings of various styles and said to resemble bird cages. We had a free guided tour of the building which was excellent. We had a very enthusiastic guide. She was interesting and had an excellent sense of humour. We certainly learnt a lo more by having the guide than we would have had we gone round by ourselves. After the tour we were in time to attend Q and A time in the House of Representatives - enjoyable way to round off our Parliament experience.Read more
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Holland Point and Beacon Hill Park
September 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Our final day in and a beautiful sunny day greeted us. We have walked many kilometres while here and today was no different but we hadn’t made it to the beach as yet so off we trekked.
While passing the Fairmont Hotel we decided to have a closer look at their gardens and found their bee hives. Having their own bee hives seemed like a no brainer when they have such beautiful flowers in their gardens to attract many bees 🐝🐝.
The walk along Holland Point was nice and Beacon Hill Park was stunning.Read more
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Eastward Bound
September 22, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Moving onwards and eastwards today. Bus, ferry and train. We have had a lovely stay in Victoria and staying in one place for a week has allowed me to recuperate from the flu and although we have walked many a kilometre Neil's bad leg seems to also be a little stronger.
From Victoria we travelled by bus to Nanaimo, boarded the ferry, and, once back on the mainland we continued on to Vancouver by bus. Due to problems with the ferry before we commenced our journey we arrived in Vancouver a little later than expected but we had taken an earlier ferry than needed (just n case this sort of thing might happen) and were in plenty of time to make our train connection.
Plenty of time in fact to check in our bags and head off to the Olympic Village to have dinner. I had found the name of a recommended bat/restaurant in a magazine that we had been given on the bus. It was close to the rail station and we needed to refuel so we decided to give it a try. The Olympic Village had been built in 2010 for the Winter Olympics and is now a lovely housing/recreation area at the top end of False Creek not far from the Science Centre. The Tap and Barrel did not disappoint. We arrived at Happy Hour so enjoyed a discounted snack and entree, The snack - deep fried pickles with a dill sauce. An interesting concept and neither of us much of a fan of the pickles you buy in Australia but they were delicious. Both of us very much enjoyed our mains as well so it was with content, full Ellie's that we left there and walked further along the creek path for our last moments in Vancouver.
Back to the station we boarded our train for the 25 hour journey to Edmonton.Read more
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The Journey to Edmonton
September 23, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Via Rail gives itself a pretty big wrap on the comfort of their carriages on the Canadian, the train that we will be spending quite some time on on and off over the coming weeks. The seats themselves (we are travelling economy) offer a large amount of space and the carriages are clean but refurbishment would be timely. Although the seats have an extender part at the front it is difficult to get comfortable to sleep and as this is an overnight journey a comfortable sleep would have been appreciated. Definitely time to replace the ageing seats with a more comfortable option.
So we spent the first 9 to 10 hours of the journey in darkness. The first town of note in daylight was Kamploops and from there we followed a meandering river through a relatively narrow valley passing through farmland and forests.
It's a slow journey as the freight trains have priority and have right of way when it is single track. The freight trains are many and massive, some with three engines and can be up to 1600 metres long. It takes quite a lot of time for these long ones to pass us by. We were late arriving in Jasper but made up for a bit of the time by having a quickish stop there but we are currently stopped again so hopefully we will not be too late getting to Edmonton as it will be almost mid-night by the time we get to our hotel without being late.Read more
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Edmonton
September 24, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We arrived! And we were late. At 1.45am we checked into our hotel. As written yesterday freight trains have priority over passenger trains. When they are moving through passenger trains wait and wait. For almost an hour we waited in Edmonton not far from the station but not close enough to arrive at the station. The journey Vancouver to Edmonton was 28 hours. At three in the morning we had showered and were ready for bed. It was the sleep of the dead waking just shy of 11 am.
Our activity today was to wander West Edmonton Mall, once the largest mall in the world. First stop - brunch.
It's quite a mall and it was very busy. Most likely because it was Sunday. The waterworld was popular.Read more
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Hitting the Highway
September 25, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
We were unable to get our van until after 1pm so although we were staying on the outskirts of town we went for a wander around the local factory outlets and Walmart superstore to fill in time. Our shuttle arrived early and was waiting for us on our return. On arrival at the pickup depot we filled in all the paper work, signed our lives away and were ready for the walkthrough of our van. We breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the van we were assigned was one of their smaller models - a lot like the one we hope to buy in the not too distant future, a campervan as opposed to a RV.
Next we loaded her up and were ready for the highway.
Although on the outskirts of Edmonton we still needed to navigate the highways and loops and bi-ways to escape the joint then were on our Way to Spruce Grove to stock up on essentials. Whether the instructions were a little wrong or we misheard them, I don’t know, but we went a little astray before arriving in Spruce Grove. It gave Neil time to adjust to the van and the driving.
Stocked up we really hit the highway and began to leave the late afternoon traffic behind.
First campsite investigated was a tad on the smelly side. Second site was to be down by Wabamun Lake but the area was being revamped and had the construction crews in. So rather than go too far into the night we camped in the car park of a provincial camping ground. Their office was manned by rangers and they had gone home for the night and the car park was in the forest and secluded. Just right.Read more
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The road Lake Wabamun to Jasper
September 26, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
Today the adventure really kicked off. The country side before hitting the mountains was stunning then once we started to climb into the mountains - wow!
Today the aim was to get to Jasper. This year it is Canada’s 150th birthday and entry into all national parks across Canada is free. I read about this last year and applied for our pass well in advance.
Before heading into Jasper I decided that we should head out to Maligne Lake rather than backtrack in the morning. Almost a really stupid idea as we were running low on gas and the distance was more than I had allowed for. However, all was well. We coasted into Jasper after the sightseeing on the smell of an oily rag and refuelled.
We had seen some campsite possibilities on the road into Maligne Lake so decided to head back for the night.

The set of photos here is along the highway to the Maligne Lake turn-off.
WeRead more
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The three M's
September 26, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake
There were massive car parks at both Maligne Canyon and Maligne Lake and just as well. Although late in the season there are still massive numbers of tourists around, either in rented cars, RVs and campervan like us or tourist buses.
The photos say it all. From just below Medicine Lake onwards there was snow lying on the ground still from last week’s snow event - very beautiful.
Medicine Lake held stark contrasts - beautiful scenery and the devastation of he bushfires in August.Read more
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The Icefields Parkway Jasper to Bow Lake
September 27, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
Another beautiful day in paradise! Everywhere you look there is perfect postcard scenery - waterfalls, mountains rivers and glaciers - a stunning landscape.
Today we didn’t travel as far but took our time to take in the magnificent scenery.
Campsite 3 is overlooking Bow Lake.Read more
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Bow Lake to Banff
September 28, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Wow. What a sight to wake up to - clear blue skies, no a breath of wind and the stunning Bow Lake and Glacier. Can’t be beaten.
After a relaxing morning walk we were on the highway once again.
The highlight of today was to have been Lake Louise However, once we got ther we were confronted with a traffic explosion - traffic controllers ( well there had to be), too many tourists and too many RVs. We made an executive decision to call in at Lake Louise Village for a coffee and supplies and move on as there is so many beautiful things to see missing one was not going to hurt and possibly saved a major headache.
After a brief interlude on the wrong road, we corrected our direction and headed onto the Bow River Pathway to Johnson Canyon and onto Banff.
Camping tonight is in a camping ground out on Tunnel Mountain Trail- hot showers!Read more
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Banff to Brooks
September 29, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
After a wander around downtown Banff we hit the highway again following the Bow River Pathway once again rather than the major highway passing through the quaint old town of Cochrane before bi-passing Calgary our way to Brooks.
On approaching Cochrane it appeared to be a satellite extension of Calgary with many new estates popping up,all over the place. We needed a break but decided to head into the downtown area. Glad we did - a genuine prairie pioneer town with most of their original buildings still used and many for the same original use. Pity that we will miss their Outhouse Derby tomorrow but we don’t have the time to hang around.
We arrived in Brooks after dark and were unable to ding the river campsite I had hoped for so tonight is our first Walmart carpark campsite. We are not the only ones.Read more
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Wandering Anchorage
September 29, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Got a lift into downtown Anchorage to explore Alaska’s ‘big’ city. For Alaska, it is the biggest city in Alaska which I guess is not saying a great deal as the population of the entire state is only around 742,000.
Anchorage has the feel of a country town. Not a large country town despite the fact that is has a few tall buildings but a sprawled out town with wide streets and definitely no traffic issues.
Loved the gardens in their little parks and their use of veggies to give different foliage colours amongst the flowers.
After our exploration we took the scenic route back to out BnB along the bay.Read more
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Dinosaur Provincial Park
September 30, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
The reason we headed down onto the prairies was to follow the path of the dinosaurs. Today we visited the Dinosaur Provincial Park. It’s all about The Badlands, Hoodoos and Coulees. The Dinosaur Provincial Park is still a live dig with a small area open to visitors with a small caravan park and a museum.
The Badlands are a very barren area with the exception of the Red Deer river and the cottonwoods growing along its verge. Not the same beauty as the Rockies but stunning just the same.
We spotted moose scat on the cottonwood trail by the Red Deer River but the animal itself remains elusive.Read more
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Brooks to Drumhellar
September 30, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 16 °C
Today we followed the Dinosaur trail across prairie farms to the Badlands of the Dinosaur Provincial Park, across prairies again to the Badlands of Drumhellar.
A winter storm event has been forecast and as the afternoon wore on and we were approaching Drumhellar the clouds closed in and the wind blew up.Read more
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Entering Drumhellar
September 30, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 16 °C
On the way into Drumhellar we briefly visited the Alas Coal Mine.
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Dinosaurs Galore
October 1, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 7 °C
Today started out windy, cloudy and cold and remained that way for the remainder of the day.
Drumhellar has embraced the dinosaur in a big way. There are dinosaurs of varying sizes on every other corner and in various shades of the rainbow. Outside the tourist info centre there is a massive dinosaur that you can climb inside and stand in his mouth to get an aerial shot of the town. Kitch, most certainly, but all part of the Drumhellar experience. Dinosaurs are important to this town and region. Dinosaurs and tourism has brought the place back to life and given the locals jobs.
Today’s activity was the Royal Tyrrel dinosaur museum. One word - wow! A not to be missed activity if visiting anywhere in Alberta. 200,000 dinosaur bones and fossils have been found in the badlands area of Alberta. The museum is a mix of real fossils and bones and recreations. The fossils are an ever changing display as only a small number of those found can be displayed. The museum is also a working museum with a large lab for their research.
From Drumhellar we made our way to Red Deer for the night. Walmart car park.Read more
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Red Deer to Edmonton
October 2, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
The wind howled all night rocking the van at regular intervals as the gusts came through. At some stage during the early morning the rain turned to snow and we woke to a blanket of white across the Walmart car park.
The QE2 highway back to Edmonton was regularly cleared by the snow ploughs barrelling along. Silly me for imagining that they would do that job in a sedate manner. Because it was snowing continuously the road remained slippery. Neil stayed at a cautious speed but that could not be said for many others. Cars and semis that were not travelling with caution or respect for the first snow storm of the season ended up off the side or in the middle. And it was not just one or two. The tow trucks were in for a busy day!
We arrived safely in Edmonton, refuelled and headed to a RV for the night. The weather was clear. Don’t think Edmonton had snow. Rain perhaps. But is was very windy and cold.
We chose a RV park that was right next door to the van depot. We needed to do a dump and a cleanup before returning the van in the morning. What a bad choice. It was expensive, the water hookup was lousy and the showers were an extra and needed to be payed for. We’ll go one more night without the shower.
After dinner we began having trouble with the gas/co2 alarm. With a lot of phone calls to Canadream, and of lot of mucking around we finally managed to silence the thing and go to bed to get warm. In for a cold, cold night.Read more
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Van Return, household chores and dinner
October 3, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C
Very cold start to the morning this morning. We attempted tor out he furnace on but had trouble with the heat pump coming on as well. Soooo it was a no go. Luckily we managed to boil water for a culpable before the bloody alarm went off again and this morning we could not reset it. It was determined to annoy us for the rest of the time while we cleaned the van to get it back to slick and span and return it.
Returning the vehicle presented no problems. Everything we were supposed to do was done. We payed for the extra kms then got a transfer to our hotel, Comfort Inn and Suites, in downtown Edmonton.
This afternoon was for cleaning. First ourselves then a load of washing and drying.
We didn’t venture far today, just down the street a little fo dinner.Read more
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