Left Buffalo Pound Provincial Park, a wonderful little oasis in the long, hot, flat, almost-treeless road across the plains with the hope of making it close to Calgary by 7:30.
When I last traveled the Trans-Canada highway in 2000 and 2001, it was a pleasant, two-lane drive that ambled though the towns along the way. No more. Two lanes in each direction separated by a wide medium strip. Too bad. I enjoyed stopping at every little town before. Now it is a big deal.
I chose Popular Grove as my camping spot for the night because it was right at the 7:30 point, 1 km off the highway, with nearby laundry facilities.
When i arrived, I was immediately distracted by the dogs barking for reasons that should be obvious in the top photo below. The barking went on for two hours since the two resident cats were not intimidated, now were they ready to move on. Erde finally made peace with them but that was problem her cunning instead of her surrender.
Forgot to take my cell phone out from my hidden pants pocket when I washed it and so now I am without a cell phone. I will pick one up tomorrow on my way to Banff. I really don't need one for me, but I need it for the dogs' special needs.
One of my rules on these trips is to walk slowly around the new sites to be cautious about hidden things that could trip me. At night, I wear a headlamp with the red light on o keeps the bugs away. From now on, I will turn on the bright light and point my head down to the ground instead if straight head. The reason is that last night as I walked to the Defender, I tripped over the nearly hidden fire pit (see bottom photo). As i fell to the ground, I nearly smashed my head against the white pole nearby.. Fortunately, I fell properly and did not break an arm or leg. But my leg was soaked with blood from a two-inch gash in my shin. My first-aid kit handled everything and I did not need the surgical suturing kit I have in it. I will spare my readers the photo of the wound because it is not pretty. I have camped in almost 250 campsites during my road trips, and this is the first time anything like this happened. But it could have been worse, much worse, and so I need to replace my cell phone. The satellite phone I have with me is good only if I have it on me and am within view if the satellite.
Time to get back on he road. Today was pass 4000 miles and at Banff we finish leg 2 of 4 to get to Alaska.
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