June 20
Leaving Glacier NP yesterday we were about 120 mi from the Canada/US border at British Columbia. It was a lovely drive heading north & we drove through a lovely ski & resort area of MT called Whitefish. It looked like a fun place to visit any time of the year & it wasn’t too far from the closest airport, Kalispel, which services the Glacier area. We had been advised that the border crossings in BC could be a lot tougher than crossing in Alberta. When we got to the drive up window at the CAN border patrol Steve, of course, had all his paperwork in order & had all the right answers prepared. Since we had a shotgun on board we were invited to come inside for further registration & tax payment for the weapon. This is when it turned “cute.” All the border agents were very serious & didn’t adapt quickly to Steve’s humor. Before leaving home Steve had gone into his file of various leftover money from various foreign countries he/we have traveled over the years & he brought along some old CAN money. So he handed his old money & a little new money we had bought in a town heading to the border to the agent who immediately looked at it & turned it over & over & then said, “Had this around awhile, have you?” Steve said “Yes, is it still good?” “Yes, it is still legal tender.” was the answer. The date on the bills was 1958. All the agents in the border station gathered around. All trying to look at it & all trying to buy it. The head agent asked if we wanted it back but we said “No. You all enjoy it & whatever it’s worth is.” Immediately everyone was friendly & helpful to us. “Do we need any help? Directions? Etc?” The main agent did come on board the BF to verify the serial number on the shotgun, but that is routine, he assured us & while he was outside with us he gave us more helpful tips about CAN. A friendly start to the new country. In hindsight we don’t really know where the money came from since we don’t recollect ever being in Canada these past 40 years together. Maybe it was grandparent money.
Driving for a few more hours & viewing the Canadian Rockies ahead of us most of the time, it was a pleasant drive & fun getting adjusted to new signages, the metric system & wondering what CAN rest stops would be like. Well, they are beautiful & most often were located near a stream or otherwise scenic area in order to enjoy a pleasant picnic and/or rest. We drove to Radium Hot Springs in the Kootenay National Park just south of Banff National Park & found a beautiful campground called Canyon RV Resort on Sinclair Creek. Wow! I immediately was reminded of some of the beautiful campgrounds we had stayed in when we were in Europe. Flowers! Trees! Grass! Babling & rushing creek with campsites all along the creek. Neat clean wash rooms with dish washing areas outside the wash rooms. It is so nice! I could remember thinking how we thought the Europeans were so much more civilized about camping than Americans & this brought it all back. We enjoyed a campfire last night & the light evening skies until nearly 11 pm. The summer solstice is quite near!
Today we are in pursuit of the hot springs in the area. Want to try out the 130 degree hot mineral water pool temps & the 80 degree cool pool temps. From there we continue north to Banff NP & Lake Louise which, as rumor has it, a superb Mecca!
