Photo of the day:
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| Lake Minnewanka |
It rained most of the night and throughout the day, but we got in a couple hikes, a scenic drive, took a dump (more later), tested the propane gas leak alarm, did some laundry, and bought some groceries. Geez, we must be tired.
We haven't yet shared our elaborate daily breakfast, so here it is. Cheerios and/or Flakes with strawberries plus coffee or tea. Tasty, fast, and easy to clean up. Yep, we aren't skipping technology as the tablets prove.
Here's our campground map. We are staying at Tunnel Mountain Village II and are in site C55, which is in the lower left. We've learned a few things...when we planned our trip, we picked our sites by trying to be away from other sites. That has worked well, but it also means you are further from the restroom and showers. It also means you are more alone/remote when the campground has alerts like cougar sightings!!
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Our first hike was about 4 miles, and we headed from the campground to Hoodoos Overlook. We had some sprinkles along the way, but we are still benefiting from good weather. The hike provided some great views into the valley where the Bow River meanders. It also provided a view back towards the town of Banff and the Banff Springs Hotel.
We scanned the river for animals, but there were none to be found.
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| The Banff Springs Hotel in the distance. |
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| The "Hoodoos" are the white rock formations near the center. (There are a few more not shown) |
On the way back from the Hoodoos Overlook, we crossed paths with some elk. It was out first elk sighting. Lynda made sure we stayed the recommended 30 meters away while Dave did the Midwest-tornado thing and wanted to get closer.
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| Our first elk sighting. She/he doesn't seem too concerned. (but Lynda was.) |
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| Elk butt |
As we neared our camper after we finished our hike, we heard an alarm going off and wondered whose RV was disturbing the peace. Well, as it turns out, it was ours. Let's just say we were lucky we were not smoking when we opened the door! Apparently, one of the stovetop knobs was turned just enough to fill the RV with propane gas. We opened all the windows and vents, and Dave turned off the propane while Lynda read the manual for what to do. Thankfully, all seems to be fine now (although we might have to refill our propane sooner than expected!) and we check the knobs each time we leave the RV.
In the early afternoon, we decided to take a scenic drive since it was raining again. Before we started the drive, we stopped by the dump station to empty our tanks, a first for us. We have mostly been using campground showers and toilets, so our grey water (washing dishes, shower, brushing teeth) was 1/2 full, and our black water (toilet) was almost empty. Per the instructions, we emptied just the grey tank since the black water wasn't full enough. Sorry, no pictures, but it was a relatively painless process. Glad we brought rubber gloves, though.
The scenic drive was the Lake Minnewanka Loop. The first stop was a short hike at Johnson Lake. We got enough sun peeking through to show the awesome green colors of the lake.
We also ran into 4 deer on the hike. Lynda did not want to go any further since we left the bear spray in the RV.
After Johnson Lake, we got to the drive's namesake, Lake Minnewanka. Very cool.
On the way back from the drive, we stopped in town and did laundry and also grabbed some groceries for the next several days as supplies might be more limited.
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| A little treat while waiting for laundry. |
Our fancy dinner was brats and corn. We used the grill for the 2nd time to cook the brats. We have a lot of propane to use, so we hope to grill more often.
Some might know Dave's experience with fire, so this car at the local fire station caught his attention. Plus, there was that whole propane incident earlier today.
The rain seems to have stopped for now, so time to make some dinner. Thanks for reading!
Total distance traveled: 0 km/0 miles
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