Canada Farewell Tour

The last night with the Kodiak had come. Our buyer confirmed after I shared the results of the inspection that they would go ahead with the purchase the next day. So this was it. We found a place in Calgary along the Bow River, which we also camped aside in Lake Louise just a couple weeks prior (though it felt like months ago). It was a public parking area that people used to access the riverside for walking, cycling and to use the park across a nearby bridge. It made for a good compromise between having a semblance of nature and remaining within the city for the final handoff the next day. We arrived around 5pm and took advantage of the the remaining sunlight to go for a riverside walk.  We also crossed the bridge and went down by the river so Kenting could get one last water sample. Then I went for a jog and picked up a few beers to enjoy our final night in our roamer, listening to some tunes and doing some packing. A pretty standard evening made special because it was the last. ...

On the way to Calgary my wife took the wheel so I could make arrangements to get four new tires in the back and an inspection of the vehicle as soon as possible. We also had to work around a vet appointment and a meeting with the Canada Food Inpsection Agency so that Kenting could be "exported" to South Korea. The tire appointment was easy enough--we got an appointment for that afternoon. The inspection took some doing, but a company that mostly works on large freight trucks but is certified to inspect RVs slotted us in the next day. It makes a huge difference to be in a city of some size. Had we remained in the smaller towns we were looking at a two week delay. So, we were forced to check into a hotel for the night. After all, if our house on wheels is in the shop, then we become effectively homeless. This is a bit more difficult to manage with a dog. I left wife and dog in the hotel and got the tires on that afternoon. It went off without a hitch and the boys at Fountain Ti...

With the help of two classy folks, we were able to get out of our rut and move forward to our final destination--Calgary, to sell the Kodiak. We were riding with a winter tire on in the back, along with the all seasons, so we really didn't want to take any more pleasure tours at that point. Loathe as I was to admit it, the trip was effectively over as a result of the blown tire. But, since it was Thanksgiving weekend still, we had to wait for the world to reopen before we could move things forward. After escaping isolation, we managed to drive a little under two hours before dusk. There seemed no cause to tempt fate and risk running into an animal after what we experienced, so we found a highway rest area with good reviews on iOverlander and parked for the night.  It was actually a pretty decent spot with a little lake/large pond behind and some cows fenced in a tree-heavy field beside. Kenting was naturally intrigued by the cows, but also cautious of them. He had no inclination to...

We took a detour eastward after Banff because we heard the badlands around Drumheller, Alberta were worth checking out. This proved to be the case! They were definitely not something I expected to see in the middle of the prairies. It was a 3-hour drive from Lake Louis through the Rocky Mountains and pure prairie before a rusty canyon suddenly opened and we found the town nestled within. It was quite surreal given the seemingly endless flatlands of yellow we had just cut through. I found a local brewery and that seemed a fine enough jumping point to check out the town before heading to what would hopefully be our free parking spot for the night. Drumheller, once a hotbed for coal mining decades ago, now hangs its hat on the treasure trove of fossils found in the canyons of the region--hence the dinosaur statues everywhere, and the alternative names for every street in town (Stegosaurus Lane is also known lamely as 5th Avenue, or some such). The inner child thought this was all pretty c...