We're Not in Kansas, eh?

Visiting Art & Sharon

When I've vacationed in other countries such as Sweden, Cuba or Spain, I've had an expectation that things will be different. Immersion is impossible for me in those countries since I do not speak those languages, and as a consequence I am not aware of local issues and problems that form the foundation of what is important to the the people there. For example, I tried but unsuccessfully to get an English newspaper in Cuba. Perhaps this fact, more than any other, is what gives Americans such a bad reputation when traveling outside our own country.

In Canada, I do speak the language (at least in Alberta) so I am up on the news. We watch local TV stations, read the local newspaper. In addition, conversations with our friends and their interactions with their friends and families gives us an intimate sense of what's going on here and what's important to them.

We've had enough conversations with our Canadian friends during winters in the US to get a sense of their view of the world. Even so, living in their neighborhood, watching them demonstrate their commitment to their town, province, and country presents a fuller spectrum of Canada and its people when compared to our life in the US.

For example, the folks we've met here are impacted by the recession much as we are. Their retirement funds have been reduced by the stock market decline. Canada has many of the same industries as the US, though often with different names. Shopping centers look very similar, and the inside of a Walmart is just like in the US. But other different stores compete with Walmart, places like Canadian Tire. Learning the names of common Canadian stores helps us know where to find things, and having done that, we think we can fit right in.

But we often bump into the differences and realize that we're still foreigners, no more adept at being part of the culture here than a 4 year old would be, still learning the customs and practices.

Canadian coins

Some of that comes in little language differences. For example, they don't write checks, they write checques. They don't go to college, they go to university. Not to "the" university, just "to university". And they go out and aboot, not out and about. They have a labour party, and red, green and blue are colours. Subtle, perhaps, but distinctive, eh?

Then there's the money. Canadians are less inclined to waste things as we are in the US. That shows up in the money in that they have 1 and 2 dollar coins, playfully called loonies and toonies, because they have loons on one side. No dollar bills. Every bill denomination is a different color, easy to tell apart. This all adds up to a more efficient method for handling money. Also, they have the picture of a living person on their money, not dead presidents.

Of course, y'all know that we have our own regional peculiarities in the US. Uffda! But the major regional difference in Canada is put forth in writing and made visible throughout the country, on road signs, on packages in the stores, and any official document. That's the French spoken by Quebecers, making Canada a bilingual country. This annoys some Canadians, since it's unlawful to post signs in English in Quebec itself. We see some bilingual things in the US, too, but its not enforced by law. It's more likely to be a marketing ploy to make the US more attractive to our visitors.

There's more international pictorial road signs here, too. That takes a little getting used to. A sign with a little picture of a road on the left and a picture of a truck on the right means "Trucks entering the highway from the right". Or a picture of a little person, with a big X under him, means "Pedestrian crossing". Easy when you learn it, bur it requires some learning.

So, I'm glad to be here to experience firsthand a life with similarities and differences, that works as well or maybe better than life in the United States. I'm glad to be doing it before my brain solidifies and rejects the differences as bad or wierd, as may happen when I get senile. I'm glad to have good friends in another country, that can share their lives and gently remind us that there are other ways to do things that make them just as happy. As Mark Twain said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice". And as Maya Angelou said, "Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." We're getting there. In the case of Canada, we first had to recognize that it's not just like another state. We had to discard our inbred arrogance.

Waterton Lakes

Waterton Lake

Canada has many fine national Parks. While staying in Pincher Creek, we decided to trip down to Waterton Lakes on a sunny afternoon. We were not disappointed.

Waterton Lakes is the Canadian part of the International Peace Park, at the north end of Glacier National Park in the US. The lake itself straddles the boundary between the US and Canada. It is nestled in the Canadian Rockies, as you can see from the pictures.

I'm the sort of person who is in awe of the mountainous terrain. I had to restrain myself from taking thousands of pictures, just because they were there. As it was, I took about 500.

Prince of Wales Hotel

We started our tour of the park in the village at the top of the lake. The village includes shops and restaurants, and the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel at the top of a mesa overlooking the lake. Tourists can catch a boat trip around the lake. Lodges and private cottages dot the town.

Waterton contains several campgrounds. One is near the village on the lake. Another is a winter camping site in the Copper Canyon.

Bighorn sheep grazing in town

Wildlife is abundant here, and the deer and the bighorn sheep know that they're safe from people in the park, so the wander around town just like the tourists. If they get tired, they just lay down in the shade of a cottage. I suspect that the neatly trimmed lawn are delicious to them, too. Of course, the tourists love to gawk at them, so traffic comes to a halt while everybody in the car gets a good look.

Foraging black bears

Later in the afternoon, we took the road into Copper Canyon, a long winding ravine that runs east-west between the mountains. An RCMP officer gave us directions to where a pair of black bears were foraging in the hillside meadow farther down the canyon. We had no difficulty locating them, we just stopped where all the cars were parked. They were about 200 yards up the hill from the road, fairly indifferent to our presence.

Finally, we realized that we had started too late in the day for this trip, though having the late afternoon sun for taking pictures was a bonus. We've just started on our northern adventure, and we realize that this is just the beginning. There's so much to see!

Consuelo shooting me shooting her

Consuelo discovered my secret that taking pictures is a way to visualize the landscapes with an added perspective. It forces you to frame the vastness in a place like Waterton in a very small window, and as a result, you start to look into the frame and see more detail. At least I do. The result is that she took my camera and went to work, depriving me of some of my fun. But she ha d that fun with the camera. Who know, this could become a photo team. 3 eyes are always better than one!

Pincher Creek, Alberta

Pincher Creek Countryside

We're in Canada, in a little town called Pincher Creek in Alberta. Pincher Creek is in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, just north of the International Peace Park which is comprised of Waterton Lakes National Park on the Canadian side and Glacier National Park on the US side. Pincher is known as one of the windiest places on earth, and has a huge windfarm to prove it.

We're parked at the home of our friends Art and Sharon Bonertz. They have been wonderful hosts, feeding us wonderful food and they have a full hookup RV site right in their front yard.

This is our second trip to Pincher, and we've lost count of how many times we've visited with Art and Sharon somewhere. They spent a month with us at Jekyll Island last winter.

Art promised to build a bike rack for Consuelo for her three-wheeler incumbent bike. We've been carrying her trike on the back of out VW bug on a standard bike rack. It will travel OK there, but it's heavy and rides off balance. The new rack will mount on the tow bar hitch on the back of the motorhome. He fabricated most of it after he got home from Jekyll, and has been waiting for us to arrive to do the final fitting. It will work well, but still needs a bit of modification to balance properly.

Cooperative back scratching

Yesterday we ventured out to find the local Wal-Mart (they're everywhere) to pick up some odds and ends and replenish our larder.

Our trip into Canada turned out to be a bit challenging. We left the city in shorts, as they were expecting highs in the 80's and were well on their way by the time we got on the road. We cruised up to Shelby, MT, stopping there to fill our gas tank. We then took US 2 over to Cut Bank, MT, and took the rural road up to the border crossing at Del Bonita, Alberta.

Soon after we got out of Cut Bank, the west wind started blasting across the open prairies in what I perceived to be 30-40 mph with higher gusts. It was strong enough to open the awning over our slide which started bouncing in and out. I went to the roof and was able to secure the latches with a couple bungee cords, which stabilized that one. The smaller bedroom window awning tried to unfurl, but only came out a few inches again and again. Fortunately, our large awning was on the lee side of the coach. The wind continued until we arrived in Pincher Creek, alternately a cross wind and head wind as we zig-zagged in a west then north direction across the high prairie.
Pincher Creek Windmills

The border crossing was easy this time. Whereas we had been told to leave our coach whit the border agents searched it the last time we entered Canada, we only had a visit from a nice customs agent this time. We did have to produce vaccination papers for our pup, not unexpected. And of course we had our passports ready.

We're about 1/2 way through our planned week long Pincher visit.

Montana

World Famous!?

I know my head has been under a bushel, but World Famous applied to the Bucking Horse Sale in Miles City, Montana escaped me somehow. Perchance World Famous can be applied to an event that one person saw, then he/she traveled all over the world? Or, maybe the folks out there have their tongue stuck into their cheek?

Aside from debating the superlative adjective, there were people attending this event from around the northwest states. The campground we found was full, so we eneded up in an overflow site with electric only. This confounded our plans to get some laundry done while we were there, so we adjusted our plan to stay only one night instead of two.

Miles City Hitching Post

I found this hitching post amusing, perhaps because my Yankee mind is not ensnared in the cliche which surrounds the western natives. I find it funny because it appears that the horses all got away and left their bits behind, but the tree was not so fortunate, humorously attesting to the lack of cowboy skills of the locals.

So, instead of Miles City, we spent two nights in Great Falls. That may have been a blessing, because Great Falls offered some views and interesting history not to be found in Miles City

Black Eagle Falls & Dam

Great Falls was the major challenge for the Lewis and Clark Expedition as they worked their way up the Missouri River. They had heard that there was a large waterfall on the Missouri from the Native Americans as they approached from the east. Their perception was one big waterfall which they could get by with a simple portage. After arriving there, they found not one, but 5 waterfalls, plus numerous cascades. They surveyed routes, and decided to carry their boats and gear around to the south of the river, over a distance of 18 miles. The portage took them a month to complete.

Rainbow Falls & Dam

Today, the 4 of the 5 falls are complemented with dams which channel the Missouri through hydroelectric powere plants to produce powere for the region. The 5th waterfall eneded up under the water behind one of the dams.

We parked in Dick's Campgorund in Great Falls. It's a little hard to find the entrance, but it had spacious pull through sites. Disk's was nearly full, to, but it was because the Canadians had a long weekend for Vicrtoria Day, and the Albertians were venturing south to escape the cold, windy days that were still lingering on up north.

North Dakota

North Dakota Capitol

Yes, that building in the background is the Capitol of North Dakota. Around Bismarck, it's called the skyscraper. They claim it's not the tallest structure in North Dakota; that honor goes to a 2000 foot TV tower. So, I guess it's just the tallest building in North Dakota.

We found time for a walk around the ground on a crisp May morning. The grounds are adorned with various statues, generally representing the historical development of North Dakota. The statue in front of the capitol is of the Pioneer Family. The settlement of North Dakota by Europeans is a story of hardship, working difficult land with few resources. The pioneers built sod huts, huddled together for warmth in arctic winters, and scraped meager crops out of the hard prairie. Somebody had to do it. I'm really glad it wasn't me.

Buffalo Statue

The buffalo is another important icon in the history of North Dakota. Plains Indians hunted them for food, clothing, bowstrings, dishes, and numerous other elements of life. The white men hunted them for the sheer sport of killing a big animal, nearly sending them into extinction.

Lewis and Clark ventured up the Missouri River in search of the mythical Northwest Passage. They hired a french trapper, Charbonneau, to guide for them. He brought along his Indian wife, Sakakawea (also spelled Sakagawea), which turned out to be a most fortunate event. Having a woman in the party suggested that the expedition was peaceful. In addition, Sakakawea's brother turned out to be a Shoshone chief that they encountered, and her presence pacified the skittish tribe.
Sakakwea

The statue of Sakakwea on the capitol grounds was sculpted by Chicago artist Leonard Crunell and unveiled in 1910, shortly after the 100th anniversary of Lewis and Clark's expedition. Crunell used a woman named Mink, also known as Hannah Levings, as the model for Sakakwea. Mink is a direct descendant of Sakakwea.

Killing the goose

We're in Rochester, Minnesota, our old home town, visiting friends and getting our annual physicals. Our physicals turned out well, everything under control. After our checkups, we partied with my old work friends, played some golf, and looked around Rochester for update and changes.

The dam at Silver Lake

One surprising change was the shores of Silver Lake, which was across the street from where we camped, the Silver Lake Travel Trailer Park. Silver Lake is a man made body of water, created by the damming of the Zumbro River. Having a lake helps Rochester feel as if it belongs to Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes, since Rochester, and the surrounding Olmsted County has no natural lakes.

Up the river from the lake is the coal fired power plant of Rochester Public Utilities. The plant is run by a friend of mine, Wally Schlink, who I got a chance to play golf with, have lunch and visit while I was there. But I digress. The power plant has a history of warming thew water in the river, and consequently the lake, such that the lake never freezes in the winter. Even in temperatures of 30 degrees below zero F the lake doesn't freeze over.

Rochester's iconic geese

Now I'll be the first to admit that Canadian Geese aren't the smartest animals on the planet. They seem to be focussed on finding meals and perfecting flying around in V formations. They also seem to have a contest to see who can have the largest flock of goslings. Once the goslings can swim, the parents parade them around the lake in a line so that all the other geese can count them.

Notwithstanding their lack of intelligence, the have enough smarts to know when their tushie is warm. And a lake that never freezes has got to be a big attraction for them. Since they don't bother to fly Northwest Airlines south for the winter, a shorter flight appeals to them. Fewer frequent flier miles, but then there's that nice warm lake, which I imagine is almost as good as sex to them.

The beat goes on

Whatever is going on in their little minds, they found Rochester to be a great spa in the winter time. Reports of 30,000 to 50,000 geese camping out on the shores of Silver Lake were not unusual. To keep their geese happy, the city put out boxes full of corn for visitors to buy and feed to the geese. Hey, the geese like the lake, the people like the geese, the city makes a few bucks and has a natural icon in their fake lake.

But their is often a black lining behind a silver cloud when you try to fool mother nature. In this case, it was tons of goose poop. In the lake, on the lawns of the houses around the lake. Traffic jams. And perhaps disease in the Med City. So the city fathers and mothers took action before they got goosed out of office. They passed resolutions to ask th e geese to move on. They decided to forego the nickels and dimes from the goose food. They said that the geese must go.

Now, it seems to me that the most efficient way to get rid of the geese would be to shut down the power plant, since it's the warm water that was the attraction that got the geese there in the first place. But that really would have been killing the golden goose. So they decided to try ecologic measures to encourage the geese to spend their winters in Iowa, or maybe even Missouri. They took away the goose food. Bad restaurants, or no restaurants, is known to kill tourism. But the geese have a great time flying their big Vs to all the corn fields around Rochester and picking them over for droppings from the corn machines. So the food alone would be a marginal success. And convincing the farmers not to grow corn didn't look like a workable solution.

"Beautified" lake shore

The next steps, from what I see, were to put fences around the lake. In some areas, wires with dangling aluminum foil were strung between the fences at the shore and fences along the sidewalk. Prairie wildflowers were planted between the fences, to further make the shores unattractive to the geese.

And from what I see, most the geese either cashed in their frequent flier miles and had left town by now, or the measures are by and large working. A few geese lingered around the lake, probably the ones that had heard the stories from great grandpa about the wonders of the hot springs in Rochester and came to see for themselves. A few goslings were around the lake, some caught on the wrong side if the fence from their frantic parents.

So far, it seems to me that the ban the goose project has traded one sort of ugly for another sort of ugly. I suppose it took years for the geese to establish Rochester as a prime destination, they're not going to want to go down to Branson anytime soon. And besides, Branson has its own anti waterfowl program underway.