ALBERTA SUNRISE

April 18

Alberta Sunrise

Our first day in Canada runs up very, very cold and a beautiful sunrise.  With the furnace running on full power, we have our breakfast before we're heading out on the road. We take Highway 36 which starts at the town of Warner and runs straight north for most of the day.  

Abandoned Homestead on the prairie

Suddenly we are running into a dense fog. I know another motor home is in front of me but it has disappeared in grey fog. I switch on all the lights so other drivers can see us, but there are vehicles coming down the road without ANY lights. What are people thinking? The fog area is about 60 miles wide, and I praise the Lord when finally the fog  is lifted off.

The great white North stretches for hundreds of miles. Some snow has melted and many fields have been flooded.  Alberta is the province with the least curves in the road. Here we can drive 50 miles without the slightest bend in the road. We cross the North Saskatchewan River - still covered in ice. From time to time we stop to let Molly out and have a bite to eat or something to drink. The hours are passing by until we finally reach Cold Lake, AB after 9 hours on the road. Another major leg of the journey is done. We plan staying in Cold Lake 1 month before we are heading east to Campobello Island in New Brunswick.

Still frozen lake in Alberta

Entrance to Cold Lake, Alberta

April 17

In the middle of Montana

As we get up it becomes clear that the weather has changed to a grey sky and RAIN!  O, - and it is cold as well. There is hardly any daylight when we leave Sheridan in a big downpour. From Sheridan the I-90 runs northward, then turning west at Hardin.

At Billings we leave the I-90 and turn onto Hwy 87 north. It’s a country-style highway only but with extremely little traffic.  It runs through the town of Roundup and Lewistown before it descends to Great Falls, where we hit the I-15 north. Interestingly, the weather had a few lighter moments with a little sunshine after all, but we did encounter snow flurries as well.  The ever-stretching plains along the highway are still covered in snow, but the road stays clear.

At about 6pm we arrive at the Canadian border. We pay a few bucks in duties for our case of red wine and wow….we are back in Canada. From the Mexican border to the Canadian border we made it again. Now we have another 18kms to the Alberta town of Milk River. We park at the Tourist Information Center, which is closed for the season and call it a day. Hopefully it is not going to be too cold tonight. 

Endless seems the road in Montana

Mountain Range in northern Montana