We are sitting in Great Falls, Montana at the Dick's RV Campground waiting for all of the people in our caravan to arrive. We have been out and about doing a little sightseeing of the area. We visited several dams and waterfalls. Also have gotten chores out of the way.
Each day a few more people arrive.
July 10, 2012........Caravan to Calgary and Alaska begins
Our 60 day caravan to Calgary Stampede and Alaska begins today in Great Falls , Mt. We have 19 RV’s going on this trip along with a WagonMaster & a Tailgunner…..so 21 RV’s in all.
People have been coming in gradually over the last week and we’ve had time to sit around and chat and meet everyone. Today is our official beginning with an Orientation from 1 to 3 PM. Lots of information has been given out. Sounds like we are going to have a fabulous time.
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| The group gathers for Orientation |
July 11, 2012------On The Road
Today is a travel day. We left the campground around 8 AM. I think most people got a fairly early start, as we are all excited to begin our adventure. We seem to have a very nice group of people.
Before we start our travels for the day, the TailGunner comes around checking everyones tires and our hitches to make sure everything looks good. Mrs. TailGunner stands outside with her walkie/talkie and CB Radio checking as each person leaves the campground. She’s checking to make sure all antennas are down, all hatch doors are closed and locked and anything else that may have been missed on our rigs before we leave. We call to her on our radios as we leave and she reminds us to turn our odometers to 0, keep our headlights on and to have a great day. They stay behind until everyone has left. They then leave the campground and check every site that they recommended we stop to sightsee to make sure no one has any problems. They are always the last to arrive at the campground, making sure we are all safe and sound.
We have 218.3 Miles to cover today. This will bring us to Hill Spring (Great Canadian Barn Dance & Family Campground). We will stay here for 2 nights. We will be crossing the border in 115 miles. Everyone is a little anxious about crossing. We have been told they sometimes search your coach for alcohol, fruits, veggies, tobacco and guns. We were all very fortunate to pass through with no problems. We are now in Canada for the next 3 weeks. No talking on the phone for that whole time as it is $.69 a minute,,,,however, we can text on my (Rita’s) phone. Weather is hot.
Adventure Caravan has given us a Travel Log. Each day is posted in here with mile markers as to where to turn and things to stop and see along the way. It is very well put together. Each day before we start we need to set our trip odometer to 0. Then they give us turn by turn directions by our odometer readings.
July 12, 2012......Hill Spring, Alberta, Ca
We are at Hill Spring , AB
Today our tour bus arrived at 8:30 AM to take us to the Remington Carriage Museum
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| A Hearse |
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| A schoolbus |
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| Schoolbus |
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| A Camper |
We then re-boarded the bus for an hour drive to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. We were treated to a private tour by a Native Indian from the Blackfoot Tribe. He told us about the lifestyle of the prehistoric Plains Peoples, which included how they gathered their food, their ceremonies and family life. There was also a display of buffalo standing on the edge of the cliff ready to jump off. In the fall of the year the Indians would gather thousands of buffalo and move them down a path towards a cliff. They then caused a stampede. The buffalos at the front of the stampede got to the edge and tried to stop but the buffalos in the back kept pushing ahead and they all went over the cliff. We watched a short moving showing how it was all done and then he brought us up to the top of the mountain to the kill site.
He then explained to us how Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump got its name. According to one of the Blackfoot oral traditions, a young boy wanted to witness the plunge of countless buffalo as his people drove them over the sandstone cliff. Standing under the shelter of a ledge, he watched the great beasts fall past. The hunt was unusually good that day.
As the bodies mounted, he became trapped between the animals and the cliff. When his people came to do the butchering, they found him with his skull crushed by the weight of the buffalo carcasses. This is why they named this buffalo jump “Head-Smashed-In.”
We spent several hours here and could have stayed several hours longer if we had the time.
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| Buffalos getting ready to jump off cliff |
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| Top of Mountain at Kill Site (cliff) |
On our bus drive back to the campground, we passed some huge farms. He explained to us that one of the farmers farmed 90,000 acres of land. Each of his combines (machine that harvests the crops) cost one million dollars. He had at least 15 to 20 combines along the road. The farmlands are beautiful.
Tonight we were treated to dinner and a show at the Barn in the campground. Dinner was very good and the show was absolutely wonderful. It was a family musical tribute to the West. It was a father, son & his wife and their two sons, the wife’s father, and an uncle. I can’t believe how talented they all were. The boys were 14 yrs old and approximately 19 yrs old. They could play several instruments expertly. They all had wonderful voices too. When the boys were just toddlers, the parents said it was mandatory that they take piano lessons. This would enable them to learn how to play other instruments later on. The older boy plays the saxophone, keyboard and guitar. The younger boy plays the fiddle and keyboard. Lots of talent on that stage.
The meal was prepared by the wives and served by the men. The boys helped to clean up. A true family affair.
A long but wonderful day. Both museums were great and the dinner and musical was excellent.
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