Steve – Page 633 – Steve and Judy's Travels!

July 24, 2017

Five days of driving

And we’re back on schedule. We’re at Anacortes, Washington, and done with moving every day. 2017 summer trip map Another rather small spot.

But the view works.

We’re right on the water. Dinner on the deck at Anthony’s, looking out over the marina.

Dungeness crab, shrimp, and artichoke dip; and clam chowder. Yum.

July 23, 2017

When we’re spelling a word to someone and want to be sure they get every letter right, we use words to represent each letter so it’s all perfectly clear. If we want to spell the word “bat” and make sure the listener knows the exact word, we spell it “Bravo, Alpha, Tango”. That’s it. No question. But when we’re reciting numbers to someone, say over the phone and we don’t have the greatest connection, to make the numbers we’re saying perfectly clear, all we can do is say each number slower, or louder, over and over until we think they’ve got it. We don’t get any phonetic tool like the one that gets us clarity with letters. We’re almost through with our end-run around the wildfires in British Columbia, to rejoin our leisurely trip at Vancouver. We’re at Moses Lake, Washington.

2017 summer trip map Nice park to walk in nearby. Nice lake. The RV Park is crowded and full, but no problem. It’s not our destination, only an overnight.

July 22, 2017

Birds

We haven’t been driving through especially birdy places, but we’ve been keeping an eye out. Our most recent sightings have been: A trumpeter swan from a long way away.

A red-necked grebe from really close.

And boreal chickadees. No photo of the boreal chickadees; they wouldn’t hold still long enough. Bit by bit, our bird count grows. We’re at 421 for the year. We’re at the Missoula KOA, along with many others.

2017 summer trip map We were lucky to get a spot. They’re totally full.

July 21, 2017

Voltaren gel

It’s prescription only. It helps with joint pain, but it’s really expensive, so it’s like gold at our 55 and older park in the Valley. Partially used tubes get passed around. Judy uses it for the pain in her wrists. Our tube is running low on this trip though, so Judy asked a pharmacist at a drug store in Saskatchewan if there was anything non-prescription she could use until she got the prescription renewed back in the states. She got an unexpected response. Voltaren gel is over-the-counter in Canada; no prescription required. After our insurance covers their share, it still costs us ninety dollars for a two-tube prescription 1% active ingredient. Here in Canada Judy bought a tube of non-prescription 2.3% Voltaren gel for $18. $18 Canadian! (As best I can calculate, that’s about $2.47 U.S. J) I know there can be business reasons for charging more for a drug than it takes to produce it. There are research and development costs to cover. There is our free-market economy that allows producers to charge what the market will bear. But I have to wonder, why would the free-market be so different in Canada than in the U.S.? Back in the USSA. We’re in Shelby Montana. 2017 summer trip map Another city park. Lake Sheloole.

It feels like looking out across rolling grasslands of Dances with Wolves.

July 20, 2017

You can’t get there from here

First, we meant to go through the Canadian Rockies at Jasper National Park, but Jasper is such a popular destination, we couldn’t get a reservation anywhere near it, so we re-routed. We were taking a more northerly route up to Dawson Creek (the official start of the Alaskan Highway), then following Highway 97 down through Prince George to Vancouver. We were okay with reservations through Dawson Creek, but everything south of Prince George is on fire. Our reservations at Prince George have been commandeered for wildfire evacuees, and Highway 97 is closed. So plans change. There isn’t another way through Canada to get to Vancouver from here without going through forest fires, so we’re doing an end-around, and heading south through Calgary and Lethbridge, back into the States, across Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and back up to Vancouver to rejoin our travel plans. 2017 summer trip map The weather has been cool and nice; a little rainy the last couple days, but today the wind drift brought the fire smoke over our way. It’s very hazy. We’re spending the night at RV There Yet Campground in Red Deer.