Tuesday 25th April – the two of us back on the road

Axel: 'Why have they left me with these two amateurs?'

Having said our goodbyes to Mark and Yvette last night as they were both working early, we were responsible for the house this morning - and making sure that Axel got outside in the snow for a leg stretch and a wee before we left.  By the time we had re-stocked the RV with our fresh laundry and enjoyed a last spacious shower we left at our usual late time of noon! 

The snow-covered back garden this morning

 It feels almost like it’s back to normal - heading out just the two of us into the unknown after three very sociable weeks.  Time to reflect on our US journey map so far (below) before updating the last couple of weeks since we reached Canada.

The complete US road trip route - pre Canada

Route from Montana to Alberta via Vancouver Island

 

We drove through Calgary city and then south on Highway 2 towards Nanton, the home of Canadian Bomber Command.  See, the first day on our own again and I’m dragged to yet another aircraft museum! But we haven’t seen the Canadian perspective on their air force yet and the significant role they played in the Second World War – there were interesting displays about Canadian airmen in relation to the dam-busters operations, the Great escape and the bombers activities the night before the D-Day landings.  They also have one of only four functioning Lancaster bombers left in existence:

Lancaster bomber - you can tell it is still functional due to the oil trays collecting all the leaking oil!

Where did you get that hat?

The Visitor's centre in Vulcan

We spent over an hour at the museum before heading east for half an hour to another location that had been recommended by our hosts of the last few days – the town of Vulcan.  Originally named after the God of fire, following the success of the Star Trek franchise they decided to cash in and become ‘Trek central’ for Canada. We visited the spaceship-shaped visitor centre (left) complete with Captain’s chair and Trekkie memorabilia, their Starship enterprise monument (unveiled in 1995) and the memorial to the most famous Vulcan of them all – Leonard Nimoy who visited the town in April 2010.  Despite not being Trekkies, it was an interesting and unique stop. 

Captain's chair

Nimoy's hand-print made during his 2010 visit

 

Our next port of call would be shut by the time we reached it, so we decided to save that for tomorrow and started looking at alternative stop-off points for the night, settling on Little Bow Provincial Park just south of Vulcan.  Having forgotten to get any more cash out, we just about managed to cobble together the 33 dollars required to register for the night before selecting our spot.  There was only one other motorhome in the whole park. Back to the responsibility of making our own decisions – how far to drive each day, in what direction and for how long? And which of the hundreds of available camping sites is the right one?  Eek, too many choices!