Monday, July 7, 2014

Day 21: Relaxing day in Jasper


We stayed around the campground on this Sunday.  As we were going to be plugged in all day, I started dinner in the crock-pot…easy dinners from leftovers for the next few nights.  It rained on and off all day, just gentle steady rain, but between showers we were able to take Ranger for a walk around the perimeter of the campground, almost a two-hour walk with stops to watch birds.  There are many more birds here than we’ve seen in the past few weeks, though nothing unusual or spectacular: robins, crows, ravens, mountain chickadees, juncos, pileated woodpeckers, and such. We also saw several groups of elk along the way.

We ate dinner sitting around the campfire, and when we had had enough of the fire, Dan went to see whether the people in the next site would like to take our remaining firewood while I did the clean-up.  When he hadn’t returned in quite a long time, I went over, and we ended up having a conversation with a family from Denmark who had flown over and rented an RV.  Dan asked whether they had ever travelled in the US, and the man replied that he had lived in Maine for about three years.  I asked where in Maine, and when he said, “a small marine science center on the coast”, Dan and I both said, “Darling Marine Center!”  Yes, the man had earned his PhD there, the same place Kelly went for hers.  He was there a number of years before her and now teaches microbiology and toxicology at a university in Denmark.  Small world!

After a week of enjoying the Canadian Rockies, we will be spending more time driving this week, with over 1100 miles to go before we reach Alaska.  No specific plans for the coming days---just drive and stop for the night when we feel like it.  Next weekend will be spent in Tok, Alaska!


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