Alaska Day 71

Tuesday July 25, 2006 Snookumchuck, BC to St. Marys, MT Log 227 Miles

We stopped for diesel in the community of Crowsnest Pass, where an old settler welcomed us and informed us of a sight we should not miss just up the road. Frank Slide was a rock slide in 1903, when a wedge of limestone 1 kilometer wide, 425 meters long and 150 meters deep broke of the crest of Turtle Mountain, and boulders bounced and rolled down the side for 90 seconds. The sound was heard for miles around, and many of the 600 residents of the coal mining town lost their lives. The night shift mine workers were able to tunnel their way out, after the slide closed off the opeing of the mine.

The highway took us up to 5000 feet at Waterton National Park in Alberta, and we also came through quite a bit of rolling hills and farming country.

Then back into the Lower 48 and good ole USA (eh). One of the border crossing officials at Chief Mountain, Highway 6 Canada and 17 USA, was originally from Abilene. Back to cell phone service and our own 24/7 rolling-down-the-highway internet. Our home for the evening is the KOA just outside of Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, where we look forward to meeting up with Bob and Myrna, our Longview neighbors. Bob had made our reservation there because they had cabins for them, and we noticed how cute the cabins are when we drove in.

Wilma is surprised that she is given a site in the middle of the row, and not at the end near a cabin. Upon inquiring where her friends are, she is told they are in the site next to hers; "no, they are staying in a cabin." "They are in a site just like yours." At this point, Wilma does not feel she should argue with the clerk, so she goes back to the RV and tells Herb about the conversation. We have exactly three minutes to decide:

(a) The clerk's computer is wrong.

(b) Bob does not want to stay too near Herb.

(c) Bob-full-of-surprises rented a motor home.

(d) Bob-full-of-surprises bought a motor home.

When we drive into our site, we see Texas plates on the motor home next to us, and then we look for Myrna's black car -- and there it is! We quickly agree that when we hug hello, we will not act like anything is different or unexpected, that it is normal to have our neighbors in a motor home. We want to ignore Bob's surprise. But that doesn't last long, and we have a good laugh over his secret that David and Patti (other Longview neighbors) kept from us. A nice dinner together in the evening.

Pictures are here.

Walldog, Willie and Jake