Day 7-May 19, 2017- Great Falls, MT to Banff,AB

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Up at 5:30 a.m. and temperature was 42° and sunny. Dick's RV park was right next to the highway we did not hear any noise because we were in a dead sleep, so tired from today's travel. Still getting up around 5:30 as body clock is still off. Had breakfast and got on the road to Banff by 8 AM. Blue skies and no clouds on the way to Canadian border at Sweetgrass., which is 120 miles north of Great Falls. Mostly flat farmland along interstate 15, a great highway to travel on with speed limit at 80 mph although I was set at 70 because I'm not that comfortable going above 70 in the RV. And still had some wind to contend with. About 75 miles north of Great Falls we started to get into some more hilly areas and you could see the Canadian Rocky Mountains off in the distance. Elevation at that point was about 3450 feet and it will be interesting to see how we gain as we move toward the mountains. We were somewhat apprehensive about crossing the Canadian border although we are not carrying anything in violation of regulations. We had to wait in line at Sweetgrass for about a half an hour. Since our RV is the lead vehicle it appears that we got most of the questions, and general in nature but no problem if you answer honestly. The one interesting question by the immigration person was "you only get one chance to answer this question so Think carefully before you answer"… Do you have any firearms?". Obviously the answer was no and we moved through the border. Tom and Al joined us within a few and we moved on toward Banff. Gasoline got down to about a half a tank and we figured it was time to fill up before we go to Calgary although we had sufficient gas to actually make it all the way. Decided to stop in Lethbridge but Shell gas on the wrong side of the road and too bothersome to try and turn around so we moved on to the next town and found a out-of-the-way station before getting to Calgary. Fill up was at a rate of a dollar a liter and it cost us $100 Canadian to fill up… I still haven't translated the actual cost in American dollars/gallons. As we got into Calgary the traffic was her horrendous as usual, with a big city with a population of around 1.5 million. "There was no quarter given" by any of the drivers on the road and it was harrowing to say the least. As we got off the exit toward the route we were following there was an accident and we turned off to the right just before the intersection… Tom and Al following behind us had to stop and ultimately were unable to catch up with us. We ended up taking different routes to Banff but arrived at about the same time at Tunnel Mountain Campground… We had not made a reservation in advance so availability was questionable for two nights we planned on staying. Finally, they were able to accommodate Dorrie & I in one location with Al&Sur and Tom&Peggy in another… We don't have move for the second night but Tom and Al will have to move tomorrow. This campground only has electric hook up and no water or dumb facilities on RV site. Needless to say, any inconvenience was made up by the spectacular view of the Canadian Rockies from our RV as we had dinner. 3From Naples got together later for a confab to figure out plans for tomorrow. Looks like we'll head for a day trip to Lake Louise and back to Banff later in the day. There is a shuttle set up to Lake Louise and is very convenient. Due to the fact that Monday the 22nd is Victoria Day the campground is overcrowded and "alcohol has been banned for the weekend". Somehow will survive. Happy Birthday Pegg.
P.S. sorry for the late publication, I know how you all look forward to reading these posts early in the day… No Internet accessible.

Miles today 394 ---Total 1916

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