Day 24, 18 June 2015

Boise, ID to Pollock, ID 154 miles

As we drove north from Boise, the scenery changed from flat plain, dry grass to rounded green hills, to steeper, evergreen covered mountains with a white water river along side the road. The road narrowed, curved more, and lost its guardrails, making the drive more fun with each mile.  The Payette River meandered near the road, and the occasional raft and kayak outfitter told the story of its turbulence and wild personality. We did see kayakers in the white water, we saw photographers, some amateur, some pro, and we found ourselves trying to capture images of the gurgling white water.  This was a slow, but beautiful drive through the Boise and Payette National Forests. Our campground was really nice, too. Nestled between the hills, it was owned and managed by a creative young couple who planted a garden, built an old western façade over the utility sheds, and stocked a nice selection of food items (including Spam, which we have not purchased since leaving Hawaii). We commandeered the nicest site in the RV park – a pull-through right next to the river with a stone fire pit.  It’s actually the nicest campsite we’ve had since we began this adventure. Life is good!

Beautiful Payette River

Creative town facade in campground

Salsa garden

Beautiful campsite

 

These Nutty Buddies are good!

Day 25, 19 June 2015

Pollock, ID to Coeur D’Alene, ID 232 miles

We followed the Salmon River for a while, through the canyon. Occasionally, we stopped at historic markers for a break, like Lawyer’s Canyon, named for an Indian leader called ”The Lawyer” by early traders for his grasp of the English language and ability to communicate. He learned English before the missionaries came in 1836 and helped them translate the Bible. There were beautiful patches of yellow flowering crops among the green. We think that was Canola. Originally bred from rapeseed at the University of Manitoba, Canada in the early 1970s, to lower the erucic acid level, the name Can(ada)+o(il)+l(ow)+a(cid) was coined to avoid the negative connotations of rapeseed. We camped at the Blackwell Island RV Park and Marina in Coeur D’Alene. We got the last pull-through site available (It is Friday). The campground is big (182 sites), with a beach along the Spokane River, and the marina has a floating (literally) restaurant.

Laywer's Canyon with canola field

Hell's Canyon

Floating restaurant

Campground beach on Spokane River

Campground Fire Hydrant

Day 26, 20 June 2015

Coeur D’Alene, ID to Fort Steele, BC 160 miles

Ran some errands in Coeur D’Alene prior to heading north, including Albertson’s for groceries (with a $10 coupon from the campground), Staples for some binders (using Charli’s $10 coupon and $16 rewards cash), and FedExOffice (formerly Kinko’s) to get all our RV and truck manuals 3-hole-drilled – all in an effort to organize the bag full of installation manuals, warranty literature, and reference materials that came with Rocky (finally have an indexed reference binder instead of a bag full of loose paper). After a nice lunch, we took off for Canada. The road north was scenic, going through the mountains, passing near lakes, and winding through heavily wooded forests. At the border, the Canadian border patrol did have a few questions, and they did search Rocky, but we left unscathed. We made it to the Fort Steele Resort and RV Park, nicely set in the foothills with friendly BC neighbors, watching the sun set, playing beer pong, shooting baskets, and dipping in the pool.

Another beautiful campground

Al's handiwork

Nice mountains

Day 27, 21 June 2015

Fort Steele, BC to Calgary, AB 250 miles

We enjoyed the scenery on the way to Calgary, especially the first half through the mountains from Fort Steele, through Fernie, to Crows Nest Pass. We drove through this area years ago on a ski trip, but we never before saw it in the summer, and it was Charli's first time in Alberta. What luck to find fellow loopers Roland and Alex (from Tosca II) at home in Calgary – on a break from their Great Loop adventure to teach a course this week at the University of Calgary. They were so nice to invite us to celebrate Father’s Day with them and their two sons, Ted and Stewart, and grand daughter, Tory, over a delicious BBQ dinner. We met when we were on the loop two years ago. They hope to cross their wake this year in Florida, and we hope to celebrate that achievement with them this Fall.

Fernie

Crow's Nest Pass

Road to Calgary

Alex and Rowland with us at their beautiful home in Calgary