Aug 03, 2021
Smoky ride home
This is the third and final post of our vacation including the last three days in Banff. The first post is here and the second, posted yesterday is here.
We were driving at 8AM ( only 30 minutes behind schedule ). It was smoky and a cool 48F. We drove less than five minutes and came up on some elk.
What a lovely surprise.
It all happened so fast that it was difficult to get perfect shots.
We just stopped the RV and stayed put as they moved past us. Perfect goodbye to Banff.
The girls settled in and were asleep very quickly.
We drove thru smoke, a bit of drizzle at one point and we experienced high winds just past Golden. We made good time driving the speed limit.
We stopped just past Revelstoke in that huge open area to pee the girls. We stopped for 20 minutes, one did nothing and the other pooped. Neither were interested in breakfast kibble nor water.
As we carried on, the girls were alert and playful. Here they are doing a tug of war with my sock. They were asleep within ten minutes of driving. They are going to be great traveling dogs.
Three Valley Gap Chateau. This is an out of control fire burning just across the lake around the bend and today, 13 days later the fire has grown and keeps burning and as of this morning is 500 hectares. It was only 60 hectares when we passed by.
First thing we see as we round the bend. This fire is 18KM west of Revelstoke.
This map ( from July 20 ) shows the Trans Canada Highway on the other side of the lake. So we were very close as we drove past.
It was burning strong 13 days ago.
We could not slow down as there were vehicles behind us. As I snapped this photo, just below here where firefighters put irrigation over the roofs of two homes. I also noticed that all the trains were at a full stop, not moving anywhere.
Impossible to see because of the smoke. To Colin’s left is the Mara Lake fire near Sicamous. This is where we had to do a small detour.
As we drove ahead to the detour I saw all this smoke, another new fire.
There was no signage as to our detour to the west but once we got to the end we could see lots of indication of the detour heading east.
Top right shows the fire area and the road that has been closed. We drove to the left and turned left at Canoe at 97B. Very heavy smoke as we passed by our usual connection to 97A. Now there are fires all along the lake on the top left.
We stopped in Vernon at the Superstore to use the dump @ 1:15PST. We left Banff at 7AM our time ( PST ) which is an hour behind MST in Alberta. So we left Banff at 8AM MST but really was 7AM PST, our time. We needed to dump before we got back home. Yes we did dump in Banff the night prior but really wanted to empty the tanks fully. While the tanks were draining Colin took the girls to a lovely grass patch where the girls both did both 😉 I could not believe that they slept six hours out of the seven hours we drove to get to this spot in Vernon. They really did great. It certainly made our trip home much easier. We are so happy with these two pups.
Within five minutes of leaving the dump station in Vernon the girls fell into a deep sleep. Definitely great travel dogs. The drive from Banff to our home was 308 miles. The entire trip from July 8th to our return on July 22nd was a 1,214.6 mile drive. It was a great two week vacation. I don’t think that we have had a summer vacation in over 25 years and perhaps longer. It was wonderful to get away in the RV, our last trip was our return from Mexico in March of 2020.
Back to real time.
Taken yesterday, August 2nd.
Today, late afternoon. So exciting to see a bit of blue up there and a big less of the smoke. Still hot at 93F and 100F with the humidex. Sadly the anticipated rain showers/ttundershowers have greatly decreased. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature. The airport opened around 3:30PM, it was closed for 48 hours.
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That is a lot of smoke! Beautiful elk pictures, they must have been a sight to see!
Yes a lot of smoke and which got worse and now we have a very short reprieve.
So much information in the last several post. Very sorry to read of the death of the veterinarian that cared for your puppies in Mexico. So very sad for his family. Praying for rain not only for our NW States but forWestern Canada, too. Must be very difficult to live with the constant smoke and I do hope it is over soon. The pictures of the puppies always brings a smile to my face and the pictures of the Elk an even bigger smile. Thank you sharing your vacation with us.
I know I just keep digging into more info to add, kinda of an educational thing. The smoke is suffocating at times and if you remember I am claustrophobic. Last night it was clear enough that we could open out windows to fresh/smoky air.
Thanks for the pictures!
I LOVE the Three Valley Gap area and hope to make a trip back again.
Sequoia travels so good as well! If I have a blanket in my lap, she settles right down.
She loves to be outside too, definitely sisters 🙂
Opal is the complete opposite, anxious car rider and would rather be inside.
Our triplets are the best and Opal as well.
Great pictures of the Elk and I love the last cartoon. That is great news that the girls like travelling 🙂
So happy that they will be good travellers – that is if we ever can drive our of Canada again.
Horrid fire and smoke. Hope that blue sky gets bigger. I’ve had only one experience, and that was minor compared to what’s going on up there. In 2011, I lived in the countryside, with only one way out and one way in. When things were burning, I kept trying to plan how to get out. Never even came close, but the air I remember well…I am glad you are near a big body of water….
All we can do is deal with it one day at a time. We also only have one way out and one way in.