Day 16: Canada Day

Today was July 1, Canada Day.  After a very chilly night, we slept in a bit, had a good breakfast, and gave Ranger a long walk, knowing that we were going to leave him in the RV for the afternoon.

Our morning walk was on a bike trail around the campgrounds, a total of 6.4 km. (We didn’t walk the whole thing though, maybe 3 or 3 ½ miles of it.)  Shortly after leaving our site, we saw an elk just a few campers’ down the road, and after that saw another along the main road into the campgrounds.  Heading out from there, we encountered a group of elk, perhaps five adults and several babies.  Then…a white-tailed deer.  Plenty of wildlife out here, but not that many birds!  At one point along the way, a jogger passed us, going in the same direction, and within a couple of minutes she came back toward us with news that there was “a small black bear” just off the side of the trail up ahead.  We chose to give it some space and took a detour through the campground road. 

Our two-hour walk left us ready for some relaxation, then basic clean-up of the RV.  I did dishes and wiped down surfaces while Dan washed windows. We have picked up a huge amount of dirt along the way!

Around 2:00 we took the bus downtown, leaving Ranger in the RV.  The town was full of people celebrating Canada Day. There were lots of red t-shirts and Canadian flags: flag face-painting, flags worn around the shoulders like a cape, small flags on sticks attached to hats and glasses.  One city park was full of booths and tents with children’s activities, while the larger park along the river was full of booths with food and crafts, along with live music and dancing on a stage.  We walked along the Bow River to the Fenland Trail, about 2 km through a swampy area along the river, hoping to see some interesting birds, but robins were all we sighted.  Coming back into town, we found that the bus service back to the campground was interrupted due to the 5 o’clock Canada Day parade.  Rather than walk all the way up the hill, we had a sandwich and cold drink in a local bar from which I was able to see some of the bands, floats, and so forth of what was a substantial parade.  We headed for a bus stop that was somewhat off the main street, hoping for a bus ride back to the campground.  When a bus showed up about 30 minutes’ late, it was already packed with riders so we could not get on.  A young man across the street asked what we would pay him to drive us up, so we and another couple (from the Netherlands) crammed into his pick-up truck for a handful of “loonies and twonies”.  What a relief to finally get back to the campsite for some relaxation!

Today was the first real summer day we have experienced so far, sunny and hot.  It was a real relief after all the rain and clouds of the past weeks.