Bragg Creek

May 24, 2019 

We expected a sunny day today but that was not to happen. Ground squirrels and chipmunks scampered about as we readied to leave the campsite and go into the downtown of Banff. The clouds were hiding the mountains and a steady rain was falling.

When we parked in the public RV parking lot we parked beside a converted camper van.  The couple with the van expressed interest in our rig and asked some questions about the Armadillo.  They introduced themselves as Sharron and Jerry.  They had rented the van and were on the way to meet friends in Radium. They were looking at other RV options. We showed them the virtues of the Armadillo and Debbie gave them an Armadillo business card.

 Debbie was looking for a special type of toque but it seemed she was one week late as most of the stores had removed their winter stock. She did buy some goodies for the grandkids.We enjoyed a lunch and coffee at Evelyn’s Coffee Shop on Banff Avenue.  As I was looking around I noticed a young couple behind me and the lady was busy typing on a portable keyboard and using her cell phone.  My curiosity got the best of me and I tapped her on her shoulder and asked her if she was typing a blog?  She said she was and I then proceeded to tell her that I too was building a blog for our trip.  Our conversation continued and we learned that Chelsea and her husband Richard, are from New Zealand and they have been in Canada since October and they are doing a North America tour, going across Canada and then on down to Florida!!  We had a great conversation, exchanging blog information.   They were a pleasure to meet as they have been travelling the world since they got married.  Starting in South East Asia, Indonesia and beyond.  Oh to be young again!!  We will check out their blog. Globetrotting Dandelions!!  As we were leaving Canmore, Debbie noticed that we had already received an email from them and they had checked out our blog!  As we’re leaving Canmore we saw their Truck/camper rig and waved at them. We just might cross paths again on our journey. 

At about 3:30 pm, we pulled into the Gooseberry campsite in the Elbow Valley Provincial Park and set up our campsite for the night.

After setting up camp and getting ready for supper, we met Laura, who was walking past our site.  She commented on the trailer and she mentioned that she and her husband John were camping a few sites over in an A-liner trailer and she was interested in the Armadillo.  We had an interesting conversation with her and she invited us to her trailer to meet John after our supper.   Shortly after we met Serge and his wife Lindsay, and parents Curt and Pat.  Serge and Lindsay own a 15 ft. Boler, and Curt and Pat have a large 30ft motorhome.  We talked at length on various topics.  Serge knew the virtues of the Armadillo and discussed the changes from the Boler. Pat was born in Newfoundland and Curt is from Churchill, both destinations that we are headed for.  Pat gave us some tips on visiting Newfoundland and we learned that they are going back to Newfoundland for a trip in June. We agreed to see them also after supper. After supper we made our way to Laura and John’s trailer, and we enjoyed some glasses of wine and exchanged stories.  John is a retired archeologist and Laura a physician.  They are frequent visitors to the Kananaskis. They have travelled the world particularly on various dig sites.   They live in Calgary and Laura works in Public Health, spearheading various health initiatives.  

While we were enjoying their company, the rain started up with a vengeance and was soaking the roads and forest around us.  When it was time to go, we said goodnight and went outside to retrieve our shoes, which had been left outside the trailer and were now totally filled with water!  It was a soggy walk home and we decided that the rain was too strong to do any further visiting.  We returned to the trailer and climbed into bed, listening to the sound of rain pelting on the roof.