LOCATION: Northern Idaho, near Sandpoint.
WEATHER: Mild; high about 75. Smoky!
Our plan was to leave Jasper at 9:00 AM as we have a long day driving. One of the tires was a bit flat, so George had to pump it up. Consequently, we ended up leaving at about 10:00. We said farewell to Uncle Leo and Aunt Martha and headed out.
For some reason, our GPS kept telling us that we were going in the wrong direction, and the spunky voice demanded that we make a u-turn. We were going south, so felt certain that we were ok. Our only fear was that the GPS was trying to re-route us due to road closures. There was no one to ask, so we continued onward. We were on the beautiful Icefields Parkway that goes between Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff.
We saw lots of high mountain peaks with glaciers clinging to their sides.
Closer to Banff, we saw the famous Columbia Glacier with a glass-floored overlook.
We drove through a few towns in southern British Columbia famous for their hot springs, like Radium Hot Springs (sounds a bit scary, doesn't it?).
It was smoky all the way. At one point, there was a sign warning of wildfires along the highway for the next 15 miles. It instructed us to not stop and to hurry through. Side roads and scenic look-outs were roped off to block entrance, with policemen watching. One town appeared to be evacuated. We didn't see any actual fires, but the smoke was very thick.
Even though it was mid-afternoon, the sky was dark with the sun appearing as a big, red ball.
We were lucky at the US Border and breezed through without much hassle. Since we weren't carrying any fruit, vegetables or weapons, I guess we were a safe bet.
We finally arrived at our destination, this lovely park, and met up with our friends Tony and Jenny. The drive took longer than we had planned, but it was comforting to know that we had a reserved campsite and a meal waiting for us compliments of Tony and Jenny.
After setting up, we ate dinner with them on a picnic table (so nice to do that) and caught up with each other's travels since we were last together on Haida Gwaii.
Note to "bonkers" - one of my blog readers. She/he asked me about how we handle health insurance while traveling. We are covered by Medicare. Luckily we haven't had to use it much. We also have supplemental insurance through Mayo Clinic, our former employer, which covers what Medicare does not. Thankfully, it also includes international emergency treatment. I twisted my ankle about 10 days ago. Now that we are back in the US, I'm going to an Urgent Care Center to get it x-rayed as it has not healed very well. I'm not sure if insurance would have covered the x-rays in Canada.
DINNER - a la Tony and Jenny --- grilled chicken and a Caesar salad. I must get Tony's recipe for the chicken sauce.
Welcome back to the USA!
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